Browse Category: outta here

Catching Up

tea

On Friday afternoon, I got to catch up with an old friend.  Yoon has been living in Hawaii for about 7 years now and it’s so fun to hang out with her again.  In the afteroon, we had Afternoon Tea at the Moana.  We spent about 2 hours sipping tea and enjoying the mini sandwiches and pastries.  The pot of tea was constantly refilled the whole time and they didn’t rush us out even though we were the last ones done and they were getting ready for the dinner service.

Yoon

In the evening, we met up at Lulu’s for some bar food and drinks and to listen to Manoa DNA, which is a local cover band made up of a Dad, and his two sons Nick and Alex.  They are one talented family with a very rich sound and lots of energy.  Yoon was so excited to share her favorite local band with us and we were certainly not disappointed.

cousins

Afterward, we went over to Duke’s to meet up with Brother, Joy, and the cousins.  It was fun to just sit with them, relax, and laugh about random stuff.  It’s rare to have everyone together at once so this was definitely a special day.  I wish my family and friends were always this accessible to me.

Married!! Woo!

Married!

Brother got married today and I gained a little sister.  At 8:45 am there was a light sprinkle and then the sun peeked out at 8:55.  We got the ceremony started and the ceremony was over by 9:05.  It was short but very sweet.  It was also one of the most intimate weddings I’ve ever attended (almost 40 guests) and it was perfect.  Joy looked stunning and Brother was a ball of excitement.  In fact, he couldn’t sleep very well the night before and decided to start his day at 4:30 am.

Group

Jump

We spent 9:05-10:00 am taking photos with the sun shining bright.  Then, at exactly 10:00 am, it began to rain and it was just in time for Brunch to begin.  Nice timing!  My mom said she prayed for some sun until 10 and she got it!

Brunch

Brunch was inside The Veranda, overlooking the ocean, and was complete with mimosas, eggs benedict, and just about every breakfast item you could imagine.  I gave a stirring speech that managed to get Brother teary-eyed along with my cousins sitting in the corner of the room.

Family

This is certainly a happy day for us Chimmys and Chammys.  🙂 Yay!

Ah…

lava flow

Above: My lava flow; Below: Jes checking out the view

Waikiki

Crackberry camera did a pretty good job!

Aloha from Waikiki!  Jes and I arrived at noon today and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on a nice refreshing beverage.  The weather is very pleasant today with a nice tradewind, less humidity, gentle sun, and occasional sprinkles for a nice cooling effect.  We did a little shopping for stuff to wear for tomorrow’s wedding and met up with the family for a bit.  Jes is taking a nap, Brother is relaxing in the courtyard with Joy, and I’m just watching the sunset from our balcony.

dusk

Yoon was kinda enough to pick us up from the airport and helped check us in to the hotel at a special Kama’aina rate.  On top of that, with Jes’ SPG membership, they upgraded us from a city view room to a partial ocean view room.  Score!  Anyway, it’s nice to finally be on vacation and in the presence of family that I don’t get to see very often.  Let the festivities begin!

Snow Day!

snowman

Saturday turned out to be a day of playing in the snow after all. It just didn’t involve skis. Ryan and his sister made an enormous snowman.

koa&horses

Koa got to hang out with the horses, smell the chickens, and run off-leash in the snow.

Vyl and I made a snowboard ramp and a bunch of snowballs to throw at Bang. Ryan and Bang tried out the ramp but it was kinda of a dud considering the snow was super slushy by the time it was ready.

napping

In the meantime, Jes took a super nap with the heater on in the apartment and Jack wasn’t having a very good day, which made Ryan’s supposed day off a little stressful.

messy face

Little J was super clingy and grumpy, didn’t eat very much, and didn’t appreciate the snow either.

crying viking

Poor little guy must have really missed his mommy ‘cuz he got all worked up and ended took 2 monster naps that afternoon.

Once Jes woke up from his nap, he tried the X3 chains on our tires and they sorta fit. It will just have to do. The afternoon ended with a really yummy ribs dinner made by Ryan’s mom complete with pasta salad, potato salad, and corn bread.

clear road

At 5 pm, it was time to head out. Ryan drove ahead of us with his mom’s truck and we made it out of the rough spots with a couple slips but the chains really saved us. We lucked out on the weather (no snow or rain) and got home by 8 pm. It’s a good thing we left when he did because it started pouring overnight and today was blustery and stormy as well. I guess we’ll just have to try again next time.

Here are the photos from the trip.

Snowed In

snowy road

We drove up I-80 last night in the rain and then eventually got some snow as we entered Auburn.  We planned to stay at Ryan’s mom’s house for the night and drive another hour up to the mountain this morning.  Well, things didn’t exactly go as planned.  Last night, we drove the 330xi through 6-inches of snow all the way through the windy narrow roads to the house and thought we were home free.  Then it happened…Ryan’s car (also 4WD) got stuck in a ditch and then we got stuck behind him because we stopped. It took a good hour to tow, push, and rev the cars out and up the driveway to the house. This is just a gratuitous photo of our car in the driveway with the racks installed.

330xi

We slept in the barn, which has a cute little 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment inside.  We brought the Aerobed and the Bangs brought their sleeping bags that I think held up in the cold better than our comforter.  Koa didn’t get much sleep last night b/c he couldn’t find a warm spot to sleep…that was until he wedged himself between Bang and Vyl’s sleeping bags.

sniffin the tractor

This morning Koa had a good time running with the horses, sniffin’ the grounds, and peeing on the snow.  We got up early and piled into one car and headed out.  We didn’t make it past the first hill outside of the driveway and got stuck again.

towing

Oh boo….so Ryan’s mom’s truck towed him out and now we’re hanging out in a warm toasty house watching Cars.  We had friends driving up this morning and ended up stuck on I-80 with a 4-hour wait only to turn around.  So, I guess things could be worse.  I’m not sure how or when we’ll going home but we’ll sit here for now.  I guess it’s a good thing I got Monday off after all.

Booked and Registered

morefitnessOn Friday, I got my days off approved so I hopped on the computer and booked our flights to NYC and registered for the race. Yay!  This has got to be one of the cheapest races ever. Registration was only 25 bucks!! AND it includes a free one-year subscription to Fitness Magazine. Score! It’ll be in the Spring (end of April) and the route goes through Central Park.  Should be fun!!!  The race is scheduled smack dab in the middle of our 5-day trip so hopefully it will give me ample time to explore and recover.