I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack... unfortunately

Don't ask me why.... but we came back from Maui. Crazy, I know! I wish I could live there and be on vacation full time, ha ha! But I'm happy to say that we had the best week! We've been planning this family trip for over 2 years and there were only 2 downsides. The first, Trevor and Alycia weren't able to make it :( We missed you guys! Having adult responsibilities is the worst, ha. And the second, we weren't thinking when we booked the trip and we only got 1 rental car. Eric and I definitely needed our own car, but you live and learn!
We stayed at a beach front hotel and loved every second of it. It was amazing to walk down the path and be on the beach! We explored a lot and spent more than enough time at the beach. I'm STILL finding sand in odd places, ha ha. The worst part of the trip was definitely the red eye flight home. I thought I'd be tired enough from playing that I'd sleep the whole way but NOPE! There is just no possible way to get comfortable on those awful planes. If only I could afford first class :) I was so dang tired after our flight that I curled up on the nasty LAX floor and took a nap during our lay over. Speaking of lay overs... those suck pretty bad. The airlines changed our flight plan just a couple weeks before the trip and added 4 hour lay overs in LA both ways. We are not happy customers. But enough complaining from me! I can't wait to share our experiences.... but until then here are a couple pictures of heaven!

The view from our balcony. Waking up each morning and eating breakfast was the BEST! So beautiful.

One stretch of our beach. We played on the stretch that wasn't rocky :)

The island across the ocean from our beach, but I don't know which island it is :)

The path leading from our hotel to our beach. I wanna go back!

P.S. No sunburns for me... woo hoo!

a peek into our home

I want to post a couple pictures of our home and talk about it for the sake of journaling.... but I feel no attachment to this house. It just doesn't feel like "home". I mean, the house is very nice and SO big for just the two of us, but it definitely feels like a rental. I've only hung 3 pictures on the wall, ha ha. Maybe if I host a little blogger party at my house it will make me decorate and have this place looking like it's "ours"? Except Eric would KILL me if I tried that :)

Our living room is really big, but it's an odd shape. If I could have my Christmas tree up all year then that spot in front of the bay windows would be perfect. But for now it's just an awkward, empty space. And yes, that is totally a huge teddy bear sitting in the chair in the corner :) We brought it out for our friends kids to play with and never put it away, ha ha!

I need to decorate above the cabinets!

I promise we have a 6th chair :) Eric was using it in the other room.

Our messy closet :) But it's huge! (Do you like our cheap "drawers"? We aren't buying a nice set until we buy a house so that they won't get scratched and ruined during moves.)

Eric loves his wall of hats (he has a billion more not pictured). In case you can't tell... he's a red sox lover :)

I have pictures lining the walls on the floor.... someday they'll go up?

Our house has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a 2 car garage. Nice and big :) It's been really nice to live in a house versus an apartment so that we can get an idea of what we like, and what we don't like for when we buy a home! I am so grateful to be living in such a nice house!  And who knows, maybe by the time we move out it will finally feel like home? :)

the last time I was in Hawaii...

- I was 15 years old.

- We spent a week in Oahu.

- Our taxi was a limo. That's the only time I've ridden in a limo :)

- My older brother, Trevor, wanted to be sure he went home with a tan so he didn't wear any sunscreen our first day there. My parents decided not to fight him on it since he was 18.... he'd learn his lesson real fast :) Trevor burned so bad that his skin was blue. I'm thinking the rest of the week wasn't very pleasant for him!

- I learned to surf along with my brothers and my dad.

- I was out surfing for too long and didn't reapply my sunscreen soon enough so the back of my legs fried. My skin was purple (we were a colorful family that week). My little brother, Derrick, couldn't resist telling me I looked like I "had a stick up my butt" anytime we walked somewhere. My skin was so fried that I could barely bend my knees! Random strangers would stop me and ask me if I was aware that my legs were burned pretty badly. As if the pain didn't clue me in on that fact....

- We enjoyed the best shrimp I've ever had!

- We did not do one hike that whole week. No hiking to waterfalls, and no hiking up a volcano!

- I met a boy, crushed on him, and got a kiss at the end of the trip :)


This time when I'm in Hawaii....

-We'll be in Maui.

- I plan on swimming in sunscreen. No sunburns this time, please!

- I probably won't be surfing. Eric definitely doesn't want to learn to surf.

- We're planning on hiking to some waterfalls and doing a bike ride down a volcano. Gotta make up for missing out on the last trip!

- I hope to drink my weight in Pina Coladas. The virgin kind, of course :)

- I will take TONS of pictures of the scenery... I really didn't take any on my last trip.

- We probably won't eat enough food, we have to pay the tabs this time. Being an adult is such a bummer sometimes, ha ha ha!

- I plan on kissing a boy, a lot. His name is Eric in case you were wondering....

little letters {to our mother's}

Dear Mom, all I can say is thank you for not killing me when I was a teenager :) I'm sorry I put you through those bratty times, I guess it's a good thing I was the only girl? Ha ha. But seriously, thank you for teaching me right from wrong, and everything in between (besides how to sew... but that's just not a talent we were meant to have). I am extremely grateful for all that you have done for me, and continue to do for me and Eric! Happy Mother's Day, we love you!

Dear Mom B, I am so lucky and so happy that I am apart of your family! I truly feel blessed to have you in my life! I just want to thank you for raising Eric to be the man that he is today. He is so dedicated, so loyal, so hard working, and so faithful and it's because of his parents! He could not have had better examples to learn from! Thank you for loving us and always being there for us! Happy Mother's Day, we love you!
P.S. We didn't get a picture together on the wedding day :( If I could go back and do pictures again I would have a lot more taken of me and Eric with EACH of our parents. Darn it. But look how cute this picture is :)

not really a weekend review

Uncle Eric's just playin' with Isaac :)

Our weekend was spent hanging out with our families! Sunday we celebrated an early mother's day with my family (hellllllo crab legs! I haven't had those in over 3 years... way too long!) and we spent our Monday with Eric's family. Do you know what the BEST feeling is? Going from one family to the other and experiencing the same feelings of love, comfort, and acceptance! I feel 100% at home when I'm at my in-laws, and I know Eric feels the same at my parents. How lucky are we?? I feel like I gained more family when we got married. There really is no separation of children and in-law children. We are all loved JUST the same (well if I'm being honest.... Eric and Alycia are probably more loved than me and Trevor :) haha). I realize how lucky I am because some don't get along with their in-laws, and some just can't wrap their minds around the fact that they have gained family members, versus their children's spouses, or their spouses family. Make sense? I am just feeling so grateful to be apart of one big happy family :) Because that's the way it should be, no?