10 Year Anniversary Adventure in Hawaii!

Did you know I have a making-shutterfly-books-addiction? Full disclosure: I DO. 

The longer I put off making this post, the more I realized it was because it just wouldn't look the way I wanted to preserve my memories of this AWESOME adventure we had together, and also because when I printed it next year the formatting would get completely messed up anyway!

So...

I guess I will just do my top ten memories here and when I get around to finishing the book (and giving it to Kent as a special random surprise) I will share a link or something for those of you who want the full blow by blow. There are a ton of pictures in this post, but is maybe like a tenth of the pictures we took lol!

And now without further ado and in no particular order:

Our Top Ten Favorite Memories from Our Hawaiian Adventure 

(The Allison Version)

10. The FOOD!

Buying food and making food and feeding people food and cleaning up from food preparation is a huge part of my life!! To not have to cut up or mix together or pick apart or cool down or warm up or convince anyone to eat their food was hands down one of the best parts of this vacation. When I was eating a meal, that is all was doing. Just eating my food. Sometimes Kent and I would laugh and talk, and look around just soaking it all in, sure. But mostly what I noticed was that I sat down, stayed seated the entire meal, just peacefully enjoying my food, and then we would leave. WOW! And it was all so good!!!

9. The Car Rides!

Again, I think this has everything to do with my current stage in life. But to serenely stare out the window at the beautiful scenery while listening to a book or talk with Kent was bliss! Kent got me a book on CD for Christmas- Timeline, which is the first movie we saw together when we started dating. Sweet right? We also listened to these talks on CD about marriage that were super funny and brought up awesome discussion material!

8. The Temple!

I am so grateful we took the time to attend the temple. It is such a peaceful and fulfilling place!

7. The Luau!

We got to go to the Luau held at our hotel which is supposedly the best one on the island. It was a fantastic and relaxing experience. And the people we sat next to were from Australia so that was fun!

6. The View from the Helicopter, but NOT the Ride!

We were so excited about this experience but it turned out to be a bit of a bummer. As soon as we got to the volcano it smelled so horrible and was all of a sudden so hot we felt super air sick. I think I have a lot more experience trying not to throw up than Kent ;o] So we got some awesome pictures but for a steep price!

5. The Hiking- Especially Spelunking!

I LOVE caves! And so I jumped at the chance to do a little last minute adventure- I was grateful Kent was willing to be spontaneous despite his AMAZING itinerary! 

We figure that we hiked/explored almost 50 miles that week! (Which is why the beach isn't in my top ten- we only went once!)

4. The Volcanoes!

We were both super excited to see the volcanoes (despite Natalie being worried about it!), and it was cool, but honestly, all the pictures you see online are false advertising! There isn't lava constantly flowing freely into the waves like all the videos show. It does happen obviously, but not on a daily basis, and definitely not the day we were there! But it was still a great experience. 

3. The Sunset and Stargazing!  

This was one of the most indescribable and breathtaking experiences I have ever had. We watched the sunset and got to see the stars in all their glory from the tallest mountain in the world! (Okay so if you count from the base of the mountain at the bottom of the sea =o] but still!) It was super windy and freezing, but worth every second!

2. The Historical Sites!

I LOVE history! It was so interesting to find out and experience so much that I had never known about before in such a short amount of time. 

1. The Time Together!!

It was wonderful to be with Kent. Several different times I thought "I remember this guy!". It is just so easy to get lost in the trench work of raising a family that we forget to SEE each other. The thing that stands out in my mind the most after this trip is the desire I feel to have a deep and authentic relationship with my husband!

 Happy Ten Year Anniversary Kent! 

Thanks for taking me!!

I love you!!!