A Week in Paradise...The Relaxing Part

After our hike, Stephen and I spent the rest of our week in Hawaii taking full advantage of the sea, the sun, and our completely open schedule. It was so nice to not be working and to be traveling together for a change. 

Tunnels Beach where we swam, snorkeled, and slept in the sun.

We did a lot of cruising in this baby that Stephen surprised me by renting. We were getting our rental car on his Hertz points he's acquired by traveling for work so Stephen kept making jokes that our car was going to be the very worst they had. I think this was a bit more his fantasy than mine but it was really fun to drive.

We got to go on a helicopter tour of Kauai right before we left for Oahu. It was amazing! They said that 70% of the island is only visible by
helicopter. Besides a tiny bit of motion sickness, I am so glad we did this. These next few pictures were taken through glass so don't mind the spots of rain.

This is the coast and the beach that we hiked and camped. It was beautiful from the air and amazing that it only took us a few minutes to fly right past what took us eight hours to hike.

We saw dozens of waterfalls, Kauai is one of the wettest place on earth and they have constant rain and waterfalls year-round. 

In Oahu we got to go to the Laie temple, and BYU Hawaii campus (I had to scout it out for my sister Lyndsay who is determined to go there and probably study "Laying on the Beach").

Matsumoto's Shave Ice, this is the most epic shaved ice I have ever experienced. Ice cream in the bottom, the fluffiest shaved ice on top of that, all topped with syrup and sweetened condensed milk. Sorry for the crooked picture, it was a timer on the trunk.

Our last day in Hawaii we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. What a great idea this place is. I kept thinking the whole time we were on this trip that I wanted to have some Hawaiian food or see some hula dancers or just get a feel for the culture there (the native culture not the hoards of tourists). This was the perfect place.

The Kalalau Trail

Stephen and I just got back from our Hawaiian adventure, it was so amazing! We spend five days on Kauai and three on Oahu. The most memorable thing we did was hike the Kalalau trail so it gets its own post, once I feel that all of my many readers can appreciate this hike I'll post a few others from the trip.

This hike goes along the coast of Kauai, a portion that can only be accessed by boat or by foot (Why didn't we take a boat you may be asking? I was asking myself that same thing during parts of the hike). The trail begins at a beautiful beach and 11 miles later, ends at another beautiful beach inhabited by adventurous campers and hippies. We did the hike the first and second days that we were there.

Here we are at the beginning just thinking that we are so tough...

22 miles or not, you can't argue with this view.

We went right along the coast, in and out of all of these valleys.

We had a few streams to cross and we had to purify the water along the way so we'd have enough to drink.  Neither of us had ever done this since we aren't avid backpackers and we felt like the little boy on the movie "Up" when he gets to go to the bathroom in the wilderness for the first time, "I've always wanted to try this!"

The trail was pretty thin and get a little hairy at some points, good thing we aren't afraid of heights or cliffs.

We were SO excited when we finally got to the beach! This was the last bit of energy we had until the next morning, we crashed on the beach all afternoon and night.

This is my favorite picture, can you believe this camping spot? Yep, that is our tiny little tent down there in the sand.

These mountains were so stunning, it looks like something straight out of a postcard or a movie to me.

The next day was pretty long. I have done 10+ miles hikes before but this terrain was nothing we were used to and we both were blistered and sore. We made it in and out in eight hours each way with one night camping on the beach. 22 miles later we were really stiff and ready to relax for the rest of our trip.

We treated ourselves to some amazing burgers and pretty much whatever else we wanted for the rest of the time, we felt we had earned it. 

Once we were done I really wasn't sure the whole thing was worth it but after some relaxing on the beach and pampering I decided it was. I don't think I would do it again but for the amazing views I am so glad we experienced it. 

A Weekend For Celebration

Well, it's official, I finished my first year of teaching! It had it's ups and downs and my students definitely noticed my excitement on the last day ("Mrs. Young, are you really that excited to have us gone? You seem REALLY excited") but mostly I am just proud of myself. With one exception I didn't make any parent hate me and with a couple of exceptions my students end-of-level test scores went up from last year. While those things are important I think the best part of teaching this year were the times when I got to bond with those special little kids. One girl told me on the last day how much it helped her when her parents were being sent to federal prisons for 8-10 years and I just gave her a hug and told her that she was special and smart and could make better choices with her life (that was a sad situation, don't tell anyone I hugged her, I don't want to be sued). Another girl said thank you for helping her though her parents divorce this year. Several of them told me thank you for being a nice teacher, except every once in a while when I could be the wicked witch teacher (yep, it happened). Teaching can be such a rewarding job.

This is where I would post a picture of those cute fourth graders if I was allowed

As great as those kids are, I think the thing that made this year so great for me was my amazing group of coworkers. There were five new teachers at my school this year and I think we helped bring a great energy to mix in with those ole' veterans. I just loved going to work every day to see all of these wonderful ladies.

Kristy, Me, Cassidy, Morgan, and the sweet sign in front of the school that looks like it's been there since the school opened in the 50's.

In other exciting news this weekend, it's mine and Stephen's second anniversary! It seems like we have been married a lot longer than that to me, it's been a busy couple of years. I love being married to such an amazing and supportive husband, it was the best decision I have ever made and the most wonderful two years. 

I decided to start an anniversary tradition. On our one-year anniversary we had the top of our wedding cake that had been waiting in our freezer. Our cake was made by a close friend of my sister and it was delicious, it even tasted good a year later. I emailed her and got the recipe that she used and I think I'll try to make it every year on or around our anniversary. This year was the pilot year. I baked them into cupcakes and took them to our ward BBQ. One lady was crazy about them and over the pulpit today, in her testimony, said they "took her to another place" and I'm pretty sure she meant a good place. I think that is a pretty good review.

They are vanilla cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate ganache frosting. I filled them with raspberry and all, it was a little tricky but worked great in the end. 

For our anniversary/school being over/my being alone 3 nights a week while Stephen travels for work, we are going to Hawaii next week! Stephen has traveled more weeks than not these past 9 months and it has been really awful for me but the points and miles racked up pretty fast. I'm going to find out next week if having him gone so much is worth it. We are spending five days on Kauai and three on Oahu. I am most excited for our 22 mile backpack trip on Kauai to see a part of the island not accessible by vehicle, it's going to look something like this...I hope:

I feel so spoiled but then again, we wouldn't be going if it weren't basically free. I have paid for this trip not in dollars but in having my husband away so much. I hope it makes up for some of that, I think it will. 

Les Miserables

Stephen and I got to go to Les Mis this week at the Capitol Theater with my family. It was amazing as always, such a wonderful book and musical. My parents gave us the tickets for Easter and it was fun to have them come down, they even came and helped me pack up my classroom for the big room change this summer! I have gladly had songs from this musical in my head all week since.

One of Zac's classmates in his architecture program designed this interactive...exhibit? next to the theater. It was pretty fun to play on, Kamie performed some feats of strength and my dad was like a kid in a candy store. I think most people walking by thought we were messing around on a construction site.

Oh, and by the way, TOMORROW IS MY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Bring on the summer please.