Ali's Truths, Universally Acknowledged . . .

On to bigger and better things!

2008-07-15T23:05:48Z

So, livejournal has been great, but the designer in me needs more customizable options. Thus, I have moved my blog over to blogger. This blog will be up for a while longer, so if you've missed something it'll still be there to read. From now on, come visit me here: http://alijoy313.blogspot.com/. And yes, I designed the look of my new blog. It's pretty neat looking if I do say so myself.

Man's Best Friend or Like Man Like Dog

2008-07-12T16:42:03Z

Sometimes I think that I am becoming immune to the weird people at the library. I mean, after awhile nothing is as weird or fantastic as something as I've seen before. Then of course there are days like this last Thursday that remind me that people can still surprise me. My favorite was this man in an electric wheel chair. From what Tommy said he seems to come in quite frequently and is rather nice. The odd thing about him is that he takes his dog around the town with him. He's a small dog and sits between the man's feet. (I don't know what kind he is, mostly because I don't care about dog breeds.) Anyway, if you look at the dog and then at the man you'll do a double take, because they look alike. I don't know if it's the man looks like his dog or visa versa, but whatever it is it really is quite bizarre.

I also try not to judge everyone who comes into library, but once they come and talk to me I have a rough time not categorizing them. A group of people came in to get internet access. Because they were not members I had to set up a password for them. I think there were four of them, maybe five but either hearing or comprehension or both were not their strong suits. When I get the print out to assign them a computer and password I then circle their computer number and write their password at the top of the slip. Then as I hand it to them I say "You are on computer x" at which point I direct them to approximately where it is "and your password is xxx, all lowercase letters." Ok, as you see this not really difficult to understand. Well, these people required me to say that at least three times before they went off in search of their computer. Most of them had dreadlocks and grungy clothes, then based on their comprehension ability I'm thinking they must still be high or the drugs have fried their brains. It was just weird. I wish I could have taken pictures of them, to prove my point.

4th of July

2008-07-08T04:20:25Z

I had a wonderful 4th of July. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures. I woke up at 5 am so that I could be up at Evergreen Park by 6 am for the Lion's Club annual 4th of July breakfast. I have done this for three years now and absolutely love it. Once I got there I helped set up tables, tape down table clothes and put salt and pepper on the tables. Then I joined the pancake group and got to work. We started mixing the batter with enormous wire whisks. What a mess that was! Then they found us some drills with some mixing bits and things went a little smoother. I worked with two people from my ward, Briar and Seth. They were a lot of fun. Basically I switched between pouring batter on the grills and flipping pancakes. After about an hour or two we really got it down to a system. We made pancakes from about 7 am until 11 am. I'm sure we served like 3,000 people. That was about the amount we did last year and it felt even more crowded this year. By the end of our shift we started getting bored so we made some creative pancakes: the bat signal, happy faces, letters, mickeys and shapes. Then I walked home, which was a 1.1 mile walk. Oh, I almost forgot. So, I was basically just walking between the two grills and the buckets of batter. Can you guess how far all total I walked? (I know, it's like a bad story problem.) I walked .5 miles. The space I had to walk around was no more than 10 feet. Interesting huh.

When I got home I took a shower and had lunch. I took a shower because I had pancake batter everywhere, even on my legs. It was gross! Then I took a three hour nap - ah what bliss! Then my friends Katrina and Aaron came over and we watched Star Wars Episode IV. I'm getting in the mood to watch Episode VI on Friday night. We had a BBQ for dinner and then followed it up by teaching Aaron how to play Canasta. (We played again on Sunday and both he and Katrina are getting pretty good.) Around 9 pm my sister, Melissa came over and we all walked over to Sugarhouse park and watched the fireworks. They had some really neat cascading ones this year. On a random note, it seems like for at least the last 5+ years I have sat within ten feet of my high school madrigal partner. I think it's a rather odd coincidence. When we got back to the house we played more Canasta, until midnight when we were all too tired to continue. All total I walked just shy of 4 miles. It really was a fun holiday!

I Knew It!!!

2008-06-30T19:51:23Z

Reading romance novels really is good for your health.

Here is a clip of a six part show discussing the role of romantic fiction in women's lives. It takes about an hour to watch all six, but I enjoyed it.

Things I Am Thinking About . . .

2008-06-30T17:12:53Z

How cute my niece is. I saw her today and she is just cute as a button.

My brothers are great dads. It's fun to watch them all get into the role of fatherhood, whether it's with their own kids or someone else's.

Why no one sits by me at church. I play the organ, thus I have to save my seat in the audience. For the last couple times however, no one has sat within 10 feet of me. I mean come on, who else would leave their bags and SHOES under a bench? I know my shoes don't smell, so it can't be that. It also didn't help that my friends didn't save my seat when I had to play the piano for our first meeting. I was forced to sit on the second row all by myself without my stuff because there was no room for me on my row.

I love homemade raspberry ice cream.
I am in the mood for some Indian Braids at Rocky Mountain Pizza.
How awesome the cinematography for the old version of The Thomas Crown Affair. All I can say is wow!!!
Honk! the musical. I went with my friend Beckie to see this yesterday and I am still laughing. It was a great show for the whole family. It is the story of the Ugly Duckling. I've been watching clips on youtube today, just to reminisce.
The cute boy who played the cat in Honk!. He practically stole the show. And on top of it all he was a great tap dancer!
I love Marcia Lynn McClure!!! This last week I read The Prairie Prince for the first time. It was cute. Then I reread An Old-fashioned Romance. I think I am an MLM addict. I should go to meetings - oh wait, they're called book clubs.
The Incredible Hulk. My oh my! I really liked this movie. It was just a fun time. I need to see it again.
Edward Norton is my new favorite hottie. I think I have watched the kiss scene from The Illusionist 20 times this last week.
Why isn't The Gnomemobile one of the more famous Disney movies?
Why can't people just support you in your decisions? Why do they feel they should tell you what to do or that they know better?
Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange was a delightful retelling of Persuasion.
I wish there was going to be more Mick St. John.
Why do people only want to help you with what they want to help you with? Why don't they want to help you with what you need help with?
Homemade cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven are amazing!
Why is it so hard to decide on a movie to watch the evening you want to watch it?
The Last Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn was a nice diversion this last week.
Why do somethings that start out as a good decision in the beginning turn out to be a bad decision in the end?
Why is it once you hear the Imperial March that you can't get it out of your head?

The Walker Bank Building

2008-06-27T20:37:59Z

A week or two ago I went to the airport to pick up my friends. On the way, I looked out my window toward downtown and saw that the top of one of the buildings had blinking blue lights. As I got closer I was able to read that it was the Walker Bank building. I pointed it out to my mom (who was driving because, as most people know, I don't like to drive. I can and will drive, I just prefer others to. But ask anyone I've driven with, they will tell you that I am one fantastic navigator). She said that the Walker building has been the weather forecast beacon for the city ever since she could remember. She couldn't remember what the different colors meant or the blinking, but she remembers seeing it when she was younger. Now, I think that I am a very observant person, but I had never noticed this phenomenon before. So, I went home and looked it up (after I picked up my friends of course).

The Walker Building had been used to tell the city what the weather was going to be the following day. However, several years ago they were forced to put a stop to it, due to some city or air regulations. I didn't really follow that part. Well anyway, in the last year or so they were able to put the tower on the historical register and rebuild it. Which they have done. As of March of this year, the building has continued it's long standing tradition. It again tells the city what the weather will be like tomorrow. By far this is one of the coolest things I have learned about our city.

Here's the guide, if you want to know:
Blue means clear skies
Flashing Blue means cloudy skies
Red means rain
Flashing Red means snow.

I found these pictures of the Walker Bank building and tower on the internet.

And The Fun Continues . . .

2008-06-18T03:39:57Z

It's about 9:30 pm and mom and I have just put in a good evening's worth of work moving rocks. Yep, we were at it again. And I thought my fingers hurt this morning!!! Now my palms are sore and red. If I'd worked much longer I might have had blisters. Thank goodness it gets dark! Here are some more pictures, after we stopped tonight.

This is the rock pile now. Talk about making a dent!

Can you see the 's' now? It looks pretty cool I think.

Another view, on the other side of the wood chip bridge.

Where the rocks end.

Prison Work and an Attempted Stalking

2008-06-17T16:55:09Z

We all laugh at the thought of prisoners moving rocks up a hill one day and then down the hill the next. When we think about it, it really is rather funny. When you experience it - not so funny.

We are xeriscaping our backyard right now. This means we are getting drought tolerant plants and making sure it doesn't need a lot of water. In the end the it will be awesome. In the beginning and the middle, it feels a little like prison. Last weekend mom and I dug an 's' shaped trench through part of our backyard. Just to give you an idea, we only dug about a foot deep and no more than two feet wide. All total we dug up enough dirt to have dug up a coffin 6 feet under. It was a lot of dirt! Then we went to Walmart and bought three bags of river rocks. (You can see the rocks in part of the trench.) Rocks are expensive, so we started small and thought that every time we went to Walmart we'd just pick up another bag or two. Seeing how long the trench is we figured this would take all summer to complete. We also bought some plants this last weekend and started planting them around the area. It doesn't look like much, but in the end it will be neat.

On Sunday, I think, my brother Ryan told us about some free rocks down by his house. I guess someone had just dumped a pile of rocks that were free for the taking. After realizing how expensive rocks are, we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity. Ryan could help us at noon yesterday, so that's when we did it. We piled our trunk and his trunk full of rocks, in the blazing noon day sun I might add. We emptied his trunk of rocks on the parking in front of his house. Then we went back and filled his trunk again and then emptied it on his parking again. Then we went back one more time and filled his trunk full of rocks. Oh, I forgot to mention that we picked up and moved all the rocks by hand!!! We then went back to my house and unloaded all of the rocks from his trunk and ours into my backyard. Then mom had to go and Ryan left shortly after. It was exhausting work!

After dinner last night, mom and I discussed moving the rocks and I said that I would be ok to do another load or two of rocks, seeing as how they are free and all. So, off we went back to the rock pile and loaded our trunk. It went a lot slower with just us two girls doing it. Then we took it back and unloaded it. Mom stopped by one of our neighbors on the way home and borrowed a bike pump so we could pump up the wheel barrow's wheels. So, she pumped up the wheels while I unloaded the trunk. (On the way home we were wracking our brains to figure out who we knew that had a bike pump. We even went so far as to consider stalking one of the many bikers we passed on the way home to see if they had a pump.)

It was about 8:30ish at night when we finished and I again said that if the rocks are free I could handle doing another load. So again we went down and filled up the trunk and then came back and unloaded it. By the time we were finally finished it was after 9:30pm. In the whole process I only managed to drop a rock on my foot once and I smash my fingers several times, only one time bad enough to start it bleeding. And I can't describe adequately how sore the pads of my fingers are. And the worst part of it all is after at least four hours of intense labor I gained a whole pound and a half. What the . . . it's just not fair! Mom lost a pound though, good for her I guess. I just hope I built some massive muscle. I doubt it thought.

This is one side of our backyard. If you look closely you can see the 's' trench.
Those rocks are the three bags we got at Walmart. And make sure to check out our cute 13 plants.

This is the other side. The trench is straight under the tree and then curves off to the right.

Here is what a trunk load of rocks looks like. This was our first run in the evening.

This is the amount of rocks we took at noon.

This is the pile after our second trip in the evening. BTW this is easily $2000 worth of rocks.

Wonderful, Wonderful Day!

2008-06-12T19:32:18Z

Get excited, today was library day and after weeks of regular patron weirdness I have something new. A tall man came into the library today. He was probably 6 ft something and was pretty skinny. I think he was in his fifties, but I didn't ask him. He was wearing forest green pants, a white collared shirt, a green jacket and a big, white cowboy hat. His face was longish to begin with, but to accentuate the longness he also had a longish goatee. So he came up to the desk and said to Tommy, "I eat sit ups for breakfast." And then he left. It reminded me of all of those Chuck Norris jokes, except this was real. It was funny!

Also in other wonderful news my little niece was born yesterday early, early in the morning. She is so cute and tiny. Here's a picture of me holding her.

Heroes Wallpaper

2008-06-09T02:20:35Z

Ever since I watched the first season of Heroes I have loved the art in it. I love the sketches and the pop art/comic book style of it all. Issac did some great work! My most favorite was always the sketch of Peter and Simone kissing in the rain under the red umbrella. Well, I found a high resolution version of it online yesterday, so I just had to make a new background for my computer. The quote by the way, is from The Lake House. And as always if you want a larger copy just let me know. If your monitor is a different size just give the resolution and I'll crop it.

Books and Movies Galore!

2008-06-07T18:06:01Z

I was sitting in my room this morning looking over my bookshelves and it occurred to me that I have not posted any updates about books I've read or movies I've seen since April. Granted, I've had a lot going on, but I feel a little neglectful. I mean, I haven't been so busy that I haven't read 8 books, 6 ebooks and seen 2 new movies since April 24. So, below is a list of said books, ebooks and movies. I can't promise there won't be spoilers, but I will highlight the names of the books in my reviews, so you can just read about the ones you want.

Books:
The Whispered Kiss by Marcia Lynn McClure
Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen Woodiwiss
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Dangerous to Love by Elizabeth Thornton
Whisper His Name by Elizabeth Thornton
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Accidental Mistress by Tracy Ann Warren
His Favorite Mistress by Tracy Ann Warren

Ebooks by Marcia Lynn McClure:
The General's Ambition
Kissing Cousins
Weathered Too Young
The Windswept Flame
Daydreams
Saphyre Snow

Movies:
Love's Unfolding Dream
Ratatouille

So I guess I'll start with the books first. The Whispered Kiss I read when on the airplane to Hawaii and then finished it a couple of days later while sitting on my hotel balcony. This was not my favorite book that MLM has written, but it still was a delightful read. I loved the Beauty and the Beast plot line. I thought the whispering and kissing was a little cheesy, but then again you read her books for the cheese. I think I'd have to say that The Heavenly Surrender is still my favorite printed book that MLM has written.

Ashes in the Wind was wonderful! I think I'm hooked on Kathleen Woodiwiss. I love the epic romance plot of her books. This one takes place during the Civil War and although this isn't my favorite time period, the book was still enjoyable. I'm still not sure why Alaina would let Cole marry her cousin, when she was the one he wanted, but I guess it all helped the plot along and intensified the romantic tension. (I love good romantic tension!) Furthermore, it was a little unbelievable that Alaina and Cole would be thrown together so many times, especially the two times that she rescues him. I loved how little by little he moved his furnishings into her room, until they finally get together and then he moves them all back. It was very cute! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't get through it fast enough.

The Host I started in Hawaii, but could only find time to read a couple of chapters at a time. Everyone I've talked to has said that the beginning is just incredibly slow. I have to be honest, I didn't think it was slow at all. It took a couple of chapters for me to get into the characters but it wasn't bad. On Memorial Day I read from page 200 to the end in one sitting. So, I thought was most gripping from that point on. Actually, I really started enjoying the story once I came up with what I thought the ending might be. (BTW I was spot on with my thoughts of what the ending would be!) I was a little uncertain where it all was headed, but once I started guessing at the ending it became more and more intriguing. The two souls in one body was weird, but I got used to it after awhile. And I just have to say Ian rocks! He is my favorite! It was an enjoyable read and if you like sci-fi fantasy books, this one will be fun for you.

Dangerous To Love looked really fun when I saw it at the library. I like Elizabeth Thornton, so I knew I was in for a good time. As I started reading it however, it seemed vaguely familiar. So, I went back through my book lists and found out that yes, I had read it before. I am a little chagrined to admit it, but it is the second book this year that I have read only to realize after I was into it that I had read it once before. This book reminded me a lot of To Love an Earl also by Elizabeth Thornton, which is my favorite book by her. Although the characters are different and the stories for all intense purposes are different the general plot lines are the same. I love in the end when she gives their names at the ball how he slid the ring on her finger and kissed the hem of her gown. I think I read that part 20 times.

Whisper His Name was interesting but definitely not a favorite. I hated all of the misunderstandings led to some really horrible outcomes. She goes to prison because of what he did. I was not very happy about that. I wouldn't want to end up with someone who took part in sending me to prison. I did like that he was a reluctant spy. That made for some fun encounters.

The Goose Girl was fantastic! I really enjoy Shannon Hale's writing style. When I was finished with the book I got out our copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales and read their version of the story. Shannon Hale hit right on. Even some of the names were the same. I loved the end and how everything turns out happily ever after. I had wondered if the horse trainer that came to visit the goose girl was perhaps the prince. She did a really good job of keeping me guessing.

The Accidental Mistress and His Favorite Mistress were ok. They would have been better had they not been part of a trilogy where the first book was so amazing. In comparison to My Fair Mistress they were just lame. Maybe if I read them again not together I'll like them better. The romance was good and all, but they story wasn't all that fun.

Ebooks are wonderful. But ebooks by Marica Lynn McClure are . . . mmmm . . . more than wonderful. I already own two of them, Summer Storms and The Rogue Knight and both of those were a lot of fun. They are short so they don't take hours to read, but it's like they pack the best parts of the story together. My friend Jill reads them at work and then sends them along to me and so far I've enjoyed them all. But let me go over them quickly anyway. The General's Ambition was a little bit creepy and could have had a lot more romantic scenes. Kissing Cousins was my favorite. Actually I think it is my all time favorite MLM story period! Granted the hero's name is kind of silly, but you don't read MLM for the names. This story was fun and clever and had some of the best romantic scenes. I also liked that you got to read what the guys were thinking instead of just the main girl. Weathered Too Young seemed a little underdeveloped. She had some great ideas for the story, but they just weren't well developed. Plus there was a serious lack of romantic scenes. She did redeem herself in the sequel The Windswept Flame. I loved all of the interactions between the two main characters. And I loved the dancing in the moonlight part. Daydreams is probably second to Kissing Cousins. I loved how he kept calling her the "candy stripper" and that she was one of his favorite things of the year. I'm surprised that he didn't go after her sooner, but it was fun to see how they met when she went looking for a job. And then lastly there was Saphyre Snow. Yes, this is the story of Snow White. I thought that it was going to be weird, but it wasn't. It actually was one of her best developed ebooks. I totally did not see the end coming. I mean I knew who she'd end up with, but I didn't expect what happened in the final confrontation with the evil queen. I loved the part about the executioner's kiss. That was interesting. I think there could have been a few more romantic scenes, but it was still a fine story.

Let's finish with movies. Love's Unfolding Dream was cute. It's not as good as some of the others in the Love Comes Softly series, but it was fun to watch. And I did get a little teary when the old lady offers to pay for the girl's schooling. Ratatouille was not as good as I wanted it to be. The story was good and uplifting, but I didn't like that everyone had French accents except the main guy and the rat. Furthermore, it was hard to understand some of the dialog because of the accents. I kind of wanted to go to sleep in the middle of it. That's never a good sign.

As a side note, this week my sister bought me a copy of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. This time it is the paperback version and no, I am not lending it out to anyone. If you want to know why you can read about how my first copy was stolen here.

I dreamed a dream . . . and it was wonderful!

2008-06-01T18:03:16Z

I have read several romance novels as well as watched several romantic movies this last week, so it could easily be said that I have that on my brain. (Although, the difference between this and other weeks I do not know!) So with that in mind I have to share this most wonderful dream of mine.

My best friend and I lived in a farming town. Her family owned this huge farm for generations and generations. My family moved to the town and helped work their farm, although we lived in a house down the road a bit. For as long as I could remember living there the daughter of the farm owners and myself were friends. Well every summer my friend's cousins would come over for a week to a month long vacation. It just depended on how long they could take off from work. My friend's grandpa had been wealthy man with several business ventures which he passed on to his children as they became old enough and mature enough to handle them. My friend's dad inherited the farm and one of her uncle's inherited a candy plantation. Back to the family vacations. My family was always invited to any parties that my friend's family held because we were friends as well as employees. Well ever since I was old enough to be love I was in love with my friend's cousin.

(I think perhaps I should assign names to the characters so that it will be easier to follow, although in my dream they had no names. My friend's name is Susan, her uncle's name who owns the candy plantation is Uncle Bob and her cousin that I'm in love with who's dad is Uncle Bob is Johnny. I think those are good names.)

So anyway for as long as I could remember I have been in love with Johnny. As I grew older I always anticipated summer with great excitement for it meant I would get to see Johnny. Johnny was a few years older than me, but not enough that I ever thought he was too old. Johnny always tolerated Susan and I hanging around him or spying on him during these vacations. He was never mean, but that didn't mean he didn't tease us just a little bit. But even his teasing was wonderful because it meant that he was giving me attention. One summer when I was in high school Susan's dad asked Johnny if he'd like to stay the year and help work the farm. Johnny had graduated high school by then and was not getting along with his dad, Uncle Bob. Johnny and his dad argued all the time over the candy plantation. Uncle Bob wanted him to take a bigger role in the business and Johnny didn't want to. He was the only son Uncle Bob had, so it was inevitable that he would inherit the candy plantation, but Johnny was not interested in it. So, he accepted this opportunity to work my friend's farm with alacrity. I was so excited. Now I would get to see him more and more! Although this was case, Johnny always had a girlfriend, so he never spent a lot of time with me and Susan during his time off. I need to add here that Johnny was a very attractive man. He was tall with dark curly hair. And since he's been working hard labor most of his life he was very muscular. Yeah, he was good looking.

The years passed by. Susan and I graduated high school and then college. During this time Johnny continued working on the farm and going from girlfriend to girlfriend. This began to irritate me more and more as the years went by because I couldn't understand why I was never chosen for the girlfriend position. Johnny teased, flirted, chatted, argued and even lectured me at times. He would always tell me how unsuitable my current boyfriend was for me and would nag me to break up with him. But even when I was free Johnny never asked me out. It was so frustrating!

The summer of Susan and my college graduation we decided to do something special. We were going to take a trip together. Some vacation that we could always look back on with fondness. Something that would symbolize our last adventure before we gave into our adult lives and after college adult jobs. While we were trying to decide where we wanted to go, Uncle Bob got sick and asked Johnny to come home. Johnny was not particularly keen to do so, but he had mellowed a lot in the years working on the farm. He knew he would have to go back some day, so he figured this was his dad's way of telling him it was time. When Susan and I were saying our goodbyes to Johnny he asked us if we'd like to spend our vacation at his candy plantation. He said that we might enjoy it and that we might take some of the attention away from him. Well, it took me about a millisecond to decide that's where I wanted to go. Susan, being the wonderful friend that she was, agreed almost as readily. She wanted to give me my chance and who wouldn't want to spend a summer eating candy she said.

A month or so later summer finally came around and Susan and I were off to Johnny's candy plantation. (It wasn't really Johnny's, at least not yet, but I couldn't help but think of it that way.) When we arrived Uncle Bob came and picked us up from the airport. He didn't look or sound as sick as he had led us or Johnny for that matter to believe. It seems Uncle Bob wanted to retire and could think of no better way to get Johnny home than to say he was sick. We stayed at Uncle Bob's house, where a reluctant Johnny was staying as well. That night at dinner I found out that Johnny had invited his most heinous girlfriend yet to stay for a few weeks. Miranda, Johnny's girlfriend, was horrible. No one liked her. She was self-centered, rude and very much the princess. For the life of us, Susan and I could not figure out why he was dating her. She was just so obnoxious. Well, Uncle Bob disliked her more than we did, so I guess Johnny was able to get back that way.

Johnny spent as little time with Uncle Bob in the office as possible and even less on the plantation. But he still spent a good portion of his day away from the house, so Susan and I had to babysit Miranda. We both agreed that Hell couldn't be much worse than a week, not make that a day with Miranda. A week or two after our arrival Miranda just up and packed her bags. She was mad, we could all tell, but she wouldn't tell us why. To be honest none of us pressed her much for a reason, we were just glad that she was leaving. Johnny was at the office when Miranda packed and left, so we couldn't ask him either. That night at dinner nothing was said about her leaving. No one wanted to talk about her. We'd spent enough time with her, why would we want to waste any more thinking about her?

The next day a group was coming to the plantation to tour it and Uncle Bob asked Johnny, Susan and me to go along and make sure there were no problems. He also thought it would be a fun excursion for us all. He even gave Johnny the day off to go. Susan and I had never been on the tour so we were totally excited. Johnny was less enthusiastic, but tried not to put a damper on our fun.

The next day dawned and after breakfast Johnny escorted us down to the fields where the tour would start. It had been so many years since Johnny had been on the tour or even to the plantation for that matter that no one even recognized who he was. He told us he was glad. It would mean that he had a day to just be himself. When the group showed up Johnny mingled in with them. Well, a couple of very forward girls pulled Johnny along with them. I was secretly irritated by this, but Susan wouldn't let me dwell on it for long. As the tour went along Susan and I politely listened to what our guide had to say, but in the in between times we ran through the fields and orchards playing all sorts of silly games. It was a lot of fun. I would have been very gratified if I had looked Johnny's way to see the envy there, but alas only Susan ever saw that look.

We entered one of the factories and because of our antics Susan and I were the last ones in, so we had to sit at the back. That was fine, but we could hardly hear what our guide was saying. So instead I watched Johnny. At first I was just irritated. What made those girls think that he was theirs for the taking. Then I got worried because they were just the sort of girls that Johnny chose for his girlfriends. Susan watched me getting angrier as the lecture continued. Finally she told me that she would intercept the girls on our way to the next building so that I could hurry up and catch Johnny. I didn't think it was much of a plan, but what else did I have? I couldn't sit and watch Johnny with those girls much longer.

Susan, master planner extraordinaire, was good to her word. She caught up to the girls and started asking them all sorts of questions. I didn't hear most of what she was saying, but I could tell that as soon as she said that the owner was her uncle they were hooked. I just barely caught up to Johnny before anyone else could intercept him. I grabbed his arm so quickly and hard that he looked down and started to pull me off. But when he saw who I was he grinned down at me and moved my hand down until I had a better grasp of his arm. I was elated. He hadn't been mad. He actually seemed to like having me there. While we were walking to the next building he thanked me for getting him away from those girls, actually he called them harpies. As we continued on he started telling me about the plantation and how they made the candy. He was a virtual fount of knowledge about the place. The more he talked the more I could see his love of the place. He couldn't hide it, even though he valiantly tried to remain aloof in his descriptions. I could tell it was just an act.

We arrived at the packaging building a few minutes before the rest of our group. In the building there were a couple of girls handing out an assortment of candy for us to try. I hardly noticed them, my attention was captivated by Johnny. He politely declined and took me to wait for the group by the candy store, inside the building. He pointed to some cinnamon candies and said he wished today had been cinnamon day because those were his favorite candies that they made. I looked at him and said, "you know, you almost own this place. You could probably ask for a sample." He just laughed and told me that he didn't want to fluster the sample girls. I thought that was kind. The rest of our group came in during this interlude and swarmed around the sample girls.

Johnny looked at me with a mischievous grin and asked if I would like to skip out on the rest of the tour. I thought "hmmm, listen to the rest of the tour or spend the rest of the afternoon with Johnny?" I readily agreed to his proposition. We wandered around the buildings. He told me bits and pieces about the plantation and factories interspersed with tidbits about growing up here. At one point we stopped at a double drinking fountain for a quick drink of water. How it started I don't remember, but our drink quickly turned into a water fight that ended with us chasing around the fields outside.

Johnny finally caught up to me in his mom's flower garden. And to my wonderment didn't let me go when he captured me. He just looked at me and looked at me. I was mesmerized. I didn't want to look away, but I couldn't fathom why he was staring at me. Then he whispered "Oh hell! I've been wanting to do this since I met you." Then to my delight and amazement he kissed me. All 6 foot something of handsomeness held me and kissed me the way I had always wanted him too. After a moment or two, or a century or two, I couldn't tell, he pulled back to look at me. He whispered "You have to know I've always wanted to do that." Mutely I shook my head from side to side. He continued with "Ever since I met you, I've wanted to do that. I thought you were too young and then I thought you thought me too old. And then you were always dating someone else or away at college. I never got my chance. Heck, I never thought I'd ever get my chance. So I dated girl after girl I didn't much care about, while waiting for my chance. How I hoped you'd come up here to stay. But then I thought I'd lost you again because of Miranda. She irritated everyone, even me. I thought you avoided me because you were mad at me. But here you are and . . . I don't want . . . no . . . I don't think I can let you go." Then he kissed me again. When we parted I whispered "I don't want you to Johnny." He kissed me again and then grabbed my hand and walked with me back to the house.

And then I woke up. I tried real hard to go back to that dream, but it was not to be.

Hawaiian Pronounciation Guide

2008-05-25T23:54:54Z

I think I finally got the hang of pronouncing their words, so I thought I'd write it down, so in a few years I'll have something to help me remember. All you really have to do is worry about vowel sounds. Every vowel is pronounced even if it repeats. A - sounds like ah, E - sounds like a (the letter) or eh? (like the Canadians), I - sounds like ee (the letter), O - sounds like o (the letter) and U - sounds like uh. Keep these vowel sounds in mind and you can pronounce anything Hawaiian.

Hawaii Day Twelve - Home at Last!

2008-05-25T23:30:50Z

I have just finished uploading all of the pictures for the trip. Feel free to look back through the entries, to see any photos you might have missed.

We are back. We arrived back in Salt Lake at 7:30am this morning. I am so glad to be home. Home sweet home. Let me back track a little. I need to post Hawaii Day Twelve. We woke up around 7 am on Saturday morning. The ship had docked back in Honolulu. We got dressed and went up to the Aloha Cafe for our last meal aboard the ship. I had my usual: scrambled eggs, sausage, croissant, mandarin oranges, pears and chocolate milk. Mom had a sticky bun, scrambled egg, bacon, cantaloupe and oj. After a leisurely breakfast we went back to the room to finish packing our last minute things. Mom and I were pretty much packed, so I checked my email and posted to the blog. At 9:30 am we left the ship and went into the warehouse on the dock. There we found out luggage and got in line for transportation to the airport.

We arrived at the airport between 10:30 and 11:00 am. We checked in. Mom and I were worried that our bags would be over 50 lbs. Luckily for us mine was 45 lbs and Mom's was 48 lbs. We then got in line at security, where I had to get rid of most of my snacks. (Said snacks included, chocolate milk, raspberry yogurt, 2 apples, 2 tangerines and half a bottle of fruit juice.) Other than that we got through security just fine. We met up with Sue, Andy and Jeff around 11:30 am by the food court in the Honolulu airport. We sat around a table in the food court and talked for a couple of hours. In the interim Mom and I ate a pepperoni personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. At 3:00 pm we walked Sue, Andy and Jeff to their terminal gate. We stayed with them until they boarded at 4:00 pm. Then Mom and I walked back and found a table next to an outlet, so I plugged in the laptop. Mom sat and knitted a scarf while I tried to check our email. The internet only worked for a little while, so I ended up going through pictures and shrinking them for the web. We tried to watch a movie, but with the airport having no windows, just a breezeway, we couldn't hear it over the airplanes. For dinner we had the same thing as lunch. Did I say that Pizza Hut is my favorite pizza? Well it is. I would like to try and get sick of it. After dinner Mom and I walked around the terminals and finally ended up sitting at our gate. We read our books until the sun went down, then we got out the cards and played several games of Canasta. I won one round. All of the rest Mom really skunked me! At 8:30 pm Mom and I took turns going on walks around the terminal.

Then at 9:30 pm we boarded the plane. We sat in seats 42 D and 42 E. I sat in the middle of the middle section. Mom sat on the aisle. I wish we'd had a window. It would have made the trip so much better. We both tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep. About four hours into our six hour flight I started feeling nauseous. I got a really bad stomach ache and felt like I was going to throw up any minute. I didn't throw up, but those last two hours were miserable!!! We landed at 7:30 am. Our bags were already on the carousel when we got to it. We went upstairs to the upper parking lot to wait for Victoria to pick us up. I even took the barf bag in the car, just a precaution. Then we unpacked our bags and started putting stuff away or over for laundry. Right now, I am exhausted. I haven't slept since Friday night and it is now 5 pm on Sunday. I think I'm going to call it a early night.

Waiting in the warehouse for a bus to take us to the airport

We are in the airport terminal here. Can you see - there are no walls?
It's a very open air structure. It's really bizarre. It doesn't feel very secure.

Hawaii Day Eleven

2008-05-24T18:46:28Z

We all met up at the Aloha Cafe for breakfast at 8 am. I had a croissant, chocolate milk, scrambled eggs, sausage, mandarin oranges and a half of a pear. Mom had sticky bun, cantaloupe, oj, bacon and scrambled eggs. After we ate, we caught the free shuttle to Walmart in Kauai. (Pronounced like Hawaii, just switch the 'H' for a 'K'). It was frustrating finding souvenirs that we had purchased elsewhere cheaper at Walmart. That aside, we were able to pick up some essentials for our travel home tomorrow. I bought National Treasure 2 and The Mask of Zorro on dvd. We are going to be arriving at the airport somewhere around noon. Sue, Andy and Jeff's flight leaves around 5 pm. Our flight leaves around 9:30 pm. Yeah, it's going to be a long day at the airport tomorrow! We purchased our stuff and caught the shuttle back to the ship.

Mom and I went for a dip in the pool and then met up with Sue on the sun deck and read. Mom laid out in the sun and got a slight burn on her back. Around noon we went back to the room and changed clothes. Then we went to the Aloha Cafe for lunch. I had a slice of pepperoni pizza, a wheat roll, some roast and potatoes, fruit and vanilla ice cream. Mom had a hamburger, salad, French fries, cantaloupe, pineapple and grapes. After lunch we went out on deck to watch the ship depart from the dock in Kauai. It was interesting to watch such a big ship move sideways and frontways to get out to open seas. When we got bored we headed to the game room and played many games of Nertz. It was nice to just relax with nothing to do and no where to go.

Around 5 pm Mom, Sue and I went for a walk around the deck (well, actually three times around, because that makes a mile). After we were done we stopped by the railing and viewed the Napali Coast line of Kauai. It was amazing! Many movies have been filmed there such as Jurassic Park and South Pacific. (Bali Hai is really the Napali Coastline.) It truly was a magnificent sight. Then we went up and packed our suitcases so they could transport them to the docks in the morning. When everyone was together we went down and ate at the Skyline restaurant. I had chilled strawberry soup, lots of rolls, broiled salmon and raspberry sherbet. The sherbet wasn't all I had hoped for and the salmon was not quite cooked all the way. Our service was rather slow, so that didn't help matters either.

After dinner we went back to our rooms where I sat on the balcony and read, and Mom took a little nap. Around 9 pm we went down to the last night Variety show which was quite good. There was a little bit from each of the night shows in this performance. There was the comedian, the magician, the band, the pianists, the singers and the hula dancer. It was a fun program, even though the theater felt like an ice box. We came back up, took showers, finished packing and now we're going to bed. Good night!

We love Wal-mart!

The pool and sun deck. That's me in the bottom picture, having a nice time in the frigid water.

If you look carefully you can find me in the top two pictures.

Waiting for the ship to leave the harbor.

The lighthouse as we are leaving the harbor.

Playing Ziltch in the game room on the ship

The Nepali Coast line. It was a magnificent sight!

This is also a part of the Nepali Coast. This is where they filmed Bali Hai for South Pacific

Jeff and me wandering around in the ship's lobby / foyer

Hawaii Day Ten

2008-05-24T18:45:30Z

Mom and I had an early excursion today – we had to meet the bus at 7:40 am. I'm telling you, there's no rest for the vacationers. So, just the two of us went to the Aloha Cafe Breakfast Buffet. I had chocolate milk, a cinnamon roll, scrambled eggs and some fruit. Mom had a quarter of a waffle, apricots, mandarin oranges, bacon, eggs and oj. Then we hurried down to meet our bus. Today we toured Kauai. Our first stop was just a bathroom break. It reminded me of the Crystal palace in Oahu. It was some little mom and pop store that sold all sorts of touristy stuff. To me it was a waste of time and money (people buying over priced stuff).

Then we hopped back on the bus and drove up to Waimea Canyon. All I can say is wow! It's like the Grand Canyon, but lush and tropical. It was a very frightening ride up and back. I'm a nervous passenger on straight roads in a small car that I'm seat belted in. Put me in a non-seat belt bus on a curvy mountain road with cliffs on one side and I start thinking about what death is like. Besides that, it was a very cool view. I even tried to take a panorama picture. We'll see how that turned out. Then we went down to the Spouting Horn. This on a rocky beach where water flows into a lava tube and pushes it up on of the holes in the tube. It's a lot like a geyser. That was awesome. There was also a little shopping area where Mom bought herself a black pearl bracelet that will match her necklace back home. After that we went to lunch at Keoki's Paradise. They had a small buffet lined up for us. There was salad, spiced rice, pulled pork, teryaki chicken, a chopped fruit bowl and some pineapple bars. I like the pork until I got a chunk of fat in my mouth. The fruit was ok, because there were only slim pickings by the time we made it through the line. And everything else was just not my style. Between lunch and now I have eaten half a tangerine, cheerios, raspberry yogurt, an Andes mint and popcorn. I am definitely not starving.

So, after lunch we drove through a tree tunnel. It is located along an old horse and buggy trail where one of the original owners planted a lot of trees that eventually formed the tunnel. It was neat. Then we passed by some man-made pools on the beach. It's called Lydgate Beach Park. Then we drove aways up another canyon to see the Opeakaa Falls. I don't think I have ever seen that large of a waterfall with my own eyes before. It was breathtaking.

Then we went on a river boat ride to see the fern grotto. It was spectacular. Mom said that she think that's what heaven will look like. It has been raining a good portion of the day which was lucky for us, kind of, because there was a mud waterfall at the grotto. When we got back to shore we headed back to the ship. We arrived around 4:00 pm. Mom and I looked around for a free wi-fi signal, but ended up with a big zero. That was unfortunate. During this time Sue, Andy and Jeff came back from their snorkeling excursion. So we all got ready and went down for dinner at the Skyline restaurant. I had white bean minestrone, broiled salmon, lots of rolls and chocolate frozen yogurt. Everything was delicious, the salmon was a little dry though. Mom had a Caesar salad, the broiled salmon, some rolls and the chocolate frozen yogurt.

Then we went in search of popcorn only to find that the machine was broken. Grrr! So we picked up some playing cards and dice and went down to the game room. We ended up playing Zilch. It was kind of fun. We played until the evening show, which turned out to be a crew member talent show. Mom described it well when she said it was slightly better than a roadshow. I sat through most of it wishing I could be reading or taking a shower or even sleeping. It was only about 45 minutes long though, so that was a blessing. Then we went back to our rooms to get ready for bed. All of that sitting today made me really tired.

The lighthouse we saw as we pulled into the Kauai Port

This should be fairly simple to figure out where we are.

Click on this image to see my efforts at a panorama image of Weimea Canyon

The Spouting Horn

Lunch at Keiko's restaurant

In front of Opeakaa Falls

The muddy waterfall at the fern grotto (keep in mind it was raining the whole time we were there)

In front of some of the beautiful plants in the fern grotto.

Mom is standing by the elephant ear plant and the red ginger plant.

The Spider Lilly. This was such a cool looking flower.

The river boat that took us to the fern grotto

View from the river boat. I love how green everything is.

The Donavon's Creek house

Hawaii Day Nine

2008-05-24T18:44:05Z

Aloha Kona! We are on the opposite side of the big island today. We ate breakfast this morning at 7 am. (The early mornings are killing me!) I had chocolate milk, scrambled eggs, a cinnamon roll, pineapple, cantaloupe and sausage. Mom had oj, cantaloupe, hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs and a pecan sticky bun. We had to be transported or tendered, if you know what that means, from the ship to the land by life boat (which can hold up to 150 people, but for comfort's sake they only allowed 80 on).

Andy, Mom and I went on the same excursion together. We went dolphin watching, snorkeling and sailing. Sue and Jeff went kayaking and snorkeling. We had to drive a little ways to the dock where we boarded a Catamaran. There were about 24 of us on this excursion. It was a nice group. As we drove out of the marina we were able to see a few dolphins swimming in the bay. One of them even jumped up. Then we drove a little bit further, past a lava tube to the bay. At the bay we were given snorkeling equipment and inter tubes to help us float. Then we jumped off the boat and into the water. It was amazing! Neither Mom or I had ever been snorkeling, so this was a grand adventure.

We saw lots of tropical fish and corals. I think we were out in the water for 30 to 45 minutes. It was a lot of fun! They had sandwiches, drinks, pretzels and fruit on board. It was nice to have snack. I had a tuna sandwich, pretzels and juice. Mom didn't feel all that well so she just sat at the back of the boat. I think there were three of four people who were seasick in our group. After the snorkeling we went sailing around. It was during this time that Mom cast her breakfast into the ocean. I think that helped her feel a little better, but oh, the rocking. I know she was thinking of that line in French Kiss “stop the rocking. Stop the rocking!” We sailed past the dolphins again when we went back to the marina. They were much more playful at noon.

We went back to the ship, changed out of our clothes and had some lunch. I had a slice of pepperoni pizza, a piece of French bread, cantaloupe and a small vanilla ice cream cone. Mom had a small salad and a small Caesar salad, a roll and a small chocolate and vanilla twist ice cream cone. When we were done with lunch we boarded the boats and headed back to shop at Kona. We went in several of the local stores. We got a couple of things at the bead store and the ABC store. (ABC stores are everywhere. I think they have All Blocks Covered). After that we went back to the ship because Mom still isn't feeling all that well.

Now we are getting ready for dinner at the steak restaurant on the ship. They charge you to dine there, but for some reason, Andy didn't get the right discount or something, so they gave him and his party a free dinner there. So, a free steak dinner it is! So we ate dinner at the Lazy J Texas Steakhouse. I had a shrimp cocktail (I just had one shrimp because that's not my thing), a chef's salad (again not my thing), a 5 oz fillet minion with garlic mashed potatoes and some Parmesan potato chunks, rolls and coconut sorbet. I loved the potatoes!!! It would be hard for me to say which kind I liked better. They were both exceptional. The steak was good as well. I asked them what flavor of sorbet they had today and they said they'd go check and let me know so I could decide if I wanted it or not. Instead they just brought it up. I do not like coconut! My only exception is a Mounds bar. Other than that, I don't want any. I was so irritated. I debated between the sorbet and the chocolate cake. Obviously I chose wrong, but I think I might have chosen wrong either way. Furthermore I hate having to eat something (waste my carbs) on something I don't like, but I feel guilty not eating. I think I'm just not a fancy food girl. I'm a potato, cheese, skim milk and fresh chocolate chip cookies girl. Mom had the stuffed mushroom. It was just one mushroom that was easily five inches in diameter. Then she had a lettuce wedge with the blue cheese she didn't ask for. She a fillet minion and the two types of potatoes as well. She also had the coconut ice cream. She didn't like it either.

So after our somewhat disappointing dinner we went to the Hollywood Theater and saw the Show time Tonight: Music of the Night show. They featured songs only by Andrew Lloyd Webber. There was Phantom, Cats, Starlight Express and Jesus Christ Superstar.. I really enjoyed it. I just wish that they didn't have mikes. They probably could do just fine without. Other than that, they were spectacular. Then we headed back up to the room for an early night. Mom's still not feeling well and we have an early excursion tomorrow.

This is the catamaran we went out to snorkel on.

This is me as we are sailing to the bay we are going to snorkel.

Andy and me snorkeling. I'm on the right.

We had to be transported from about where we are standing to the ship in the background.

At the Lazy J Texas Steakhouse, with my Fillet Minion.

Jeff at the steakhouse, getting ready to go at it!

Mom at the steakhouse with her Fillet Minion

Hawaii Day Eight

2008-05-24T18:42:08Z

We went to breakfast at 8:30 down at the Skyline restaurant. I had the same things as yesterday (croissant, hot chocolate with a kettle to refill, sausage, watermelon, cantaloupe and an egg omelet). I was bummed about the omelet because they put green onions on it when I specifically asked for cheese only. I hate onions, so I didn't eat much of the omelet. Mom had oj, watermelon, cantaloupe, half a waffle and a croissant. After breakfast Sue, Andy and Jeff went off on a bike riding excursion. We sat up on the sun deck/ pool deck and read and watched the crew's emergency drills. It was very interesting. Then we changed clothes and went up to the lunch buffet and made a sandwich, cheese chunks and fruit to go. We took our lunch with us on our tour of the volcanoes. I forgot to mention that today we are visiting the big island of Hawaii and the city of Hilo. We first went to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut plantation. I tried one of the nuts, but I'm not a big fan. We were able to see how they processed the nuts and we drove through several groves of Macadamia trees.

Then we drove up to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We were able to see the Kilauea volcano and the steam that was erupting from it. It was fascinating. I've never seen a volcano in real life. We went into the volcano museum where we saw a neat picture. From one side it looked like the people in the boat were heading away from the volcano and from the other side it looked like they were heading right for it. I know it has something to do with perspective, but what, I do not know. Then we visited the Thurston Lava Tube. This was probably my favorite part of the excursion. We hiked down, a very steep grade, for about 5 minutes into some rain forest that had very different plants. Then we came to this cave that was really a tunnel that lava flowed through 400 years ago. It was damp and dark and wonderful! On our way back to the ship we stopped at some of the volcano's steam vents. The steam can cook a pig in three hours. Amazing!

I also learned the history/ folktale about the Ohia Lenua tree. It was said that one of the princesses asked a certain man to marry her. When he refused her she turned him into a knarly tree (mostly seen in sparse areas – like the top of the volcano). The man had turned the princess down because he was in love with someone else. When his love found out what had happened she went to the priests and asked what they could do to turn him back. They said there was nothing they could do to bring him back. But they could turn her into a flower to live with him forever. That's what happened and to this day the tree and the flower grow together. It's said that if you pick the flower it will rain because the Gods are sad that you separated the two lovers. I have really enjoyed listening to the history and folktales that they have here.

For dinner we went to the Aloha Cafe, which rhymes with buffet, and there you go! It was a pretty large buffet, with a little bit of everything. I had some prime rib, green beans, a couple of sourdough and sweet white rolls, vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit. Mom had a chef's salad, prime rib, a roll and ice cream. We stopped in the Gold Rush Saloon for some popcorn. (Jeff and Andy found the popcorn machine yesterday and it seems like we just can't get enough. We took the popcorn down to the magic show. The magician was very entertaining and funny. I wish he'd done more tricks, but overall it was very good. We hurried from there to the Mardis Gras Cabaret Lounge to listen to a comedian. It was the same comedian we heard a couple of days ago. He was pretty funny as well. Then we went back up to the Saloon and buffet and got popcorn and ice cream cones. We took all of the food down to our balconies and waited for the lava flow. Around 10 pm we sailed about ½ a mile away from an active lava flow. It was amazing! I mean, you read about these things in books and such but to actually see it in real life is something else. It's almost indescribable. It was definitely worth waiting up for.

Mom and I sitting in front of the Kilauea volcano.

Hiking down to the lava tube. It was so beautiful down there.

The entrance to the lava tube

Inside the lava tube

Mom at the end of the lava tube and going up the stairs.

The Ohea Lenua flower. I think this is one of my favorite pictures.

Both of us in front of the steam vents

Popcorn, Popcorn and more Popcorn!

This is the lava flow from the Kilauea volcano. This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It was amazing!!!

Hawaii Day Seven

2008-05-24T18:34:30Z

Today was a good day. We were able to sleep in a little bit. It was much needed. Once everyone was ready we went down to the Skyline restaurant for breakfast. I had a croissant, cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, sausage, an egg and cheese omelet and hot chocolate that came with a tea pot to pour out seconds and thirds. It was delicious. Mom even gave me her whipped cream to add to the hot chocolate, so I was set to go. Mom had oj, a waffle, cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple. After breakfast Sue, Mom and I took the bus to a local mall in Maui – Queen Ka'ahumana Center. We mainly just window shopped there, but we had a nice time. We decided to walk back from the mall by way of the fabric store. Mom wanted to get some Hawaiian prints to make skirts or robes out of. We picked out some really great fabrics.

We went back to the ship and had lunch at the Cadillac Diner. Both Mom and I had fish and chips. It was pretty good, but not my favorite yet. After lunch we went up to the buffet and each got some ice cream cones and popcorn. Mmmm! Mom, Sue and I went out to the pool and swam around a bit, then sat on loungers while we read books. It was nice and relaxing. We then went back and changed into our dinner clothes and headed down to the Skyline restaurant for dinner. I had chilled carrot and orange soup (pretty good, but I have a canker sore on my tongue, so the citrus was too much!), beef wellington (I've never had this before. I quite liked the beef, but not so much the mushroom and bread shell), several rolls and strawberry sherbet. Mom had a Caesar salad, steak, rolls and the strawberry ice cream.

After dinner went to the Hollywood theater and watched a Broadway variety show. The singers were great and it was fun to try to remember or guess which musical the songs were from. When that was over we went upstairs to the Mardi Gras Cabaret lounge and watched the not so newly wed game. They had four couples ranging from 3 weeks married to 66 years. The old guy – 66 years – was a riot. He had a rough time remembering the questions and would then ramble on about something for a couple of minutes. It was hilarious. You couldn't help but laugh! And now I am here in our room typing away and getting ready for bed.

Shopping at Queen Ka'ahumana Center

Mom and me in the Maui fabric store. Mom was in seventh heaven!

Sue and I eating at the Cadillac Diner.

Ice cream is creative business.

Ice cream is scary business

Ice cream is serious business.

Mom and Sue sun bathing (in the shade) on the pool deck.

Waiting in the Mardi Gras Nightclub for "The Not-So Newly Wed Game"

Hawaii Day Six

2008-05-19T18:39:28Z

Today was another early morning. I am starting to think that we will have more early mornings than sleep-in ones. I wake up later at home than I have here. At 7 am we hit the breakfast buffet. It was amazing. I had chocolate milk, oj, eggs, sausage, croissant, pineapple, peaches, cantaloupe and mandarin oranges. Mmmm! Mom had oj, bacon, sausage, eggs, mandarin oranges, peach, cantaloupe, hash browns and o'brien potatoes. After breakfast we headed down to our tour bus for our tour of Maui. Yes, today we are on the island of Maui. We will also be there tomorrow. Our first stop was Iao (sounds like eow) point. It was a lookout point for the Maui armies. We went on a couple little hikes around the point and then bot back on the bus.

Our next stop was the Maui Tropical Gardens plantation. It had a wonderful train tour around the plantation to show us all of the things that they grow there. We also got to see a demonstration on how to crack, peel and open a coconut. We had dinner after the train ride at a restaurant right there on the plantation. There was some teriyaki chicken, rice, shrimp, roll, a fruit bowl and cake for dessert. I mainly ate the chicken, rice and fruit. The rest was not so great. We finished off with a scoop of ice cream. I had vanilla and mom had orange and vanilla ice cream with pineapple chunks.

Our last stop was at the Maui Maritime Center. They had some really nice exhibits. I really liked the jelly fish and the big fish tank that you could sit and watch or walk through the tunnel. I bought a couple of postcards and since we had a little extra time Mom and I wrote them out. Now all we have to do is find a post box. Our tour guide/bus driver was very informative and had a fun sense of humor.

When we got back to the ship Andy, Jeff, Mom and I went over to the nearest grocery/drug store and picked up some two-liters of Pepsi. When we got back to the ship I took my contacts out and took a nap. This motion sickness medication seems to dry my eyes and mouth up. I could not wait until I could take my contacts out. While I napped Mom went on a quest for ice for her Pepsi and then read for a little while. We all met up again for dinner at the Liberty restaurant. This was fancy dress, so we got all dressed up to go. I had black bean soup (which was a little bit too spicy for me), garlic chicken (that was very moist) and banana ice cream for dessert (wow! It was wonderful!) And then of course there was some great rolls that I ate too many of. Mom had a Caesar salad, broiled salmon and banana split cheesecake. She didn't really like her meal. It just wasn't top notch.

We walked around the ship and took pictures as well as walked through some of the shops. After that we came back up to the room and changed clothes and waited around for the show tonight. The show tonight was all Elton John music, performed by someone who looked and acted like him. I guess that makes him an impersonator. It was fun to listen to a lot of famous Elton John songs. I didn't realize that he was the original performer for some of these famous songs. It was a bit to loud and the moving lights made me worry about getting epilepsy. The piano playing was exceptional! When we got back to the room we were a little bit munchy so we looked for an open buffet. Alas, they were all closed. I guess that's God's way of helping us diet. Now, I am going out on the deck to read and look at the beautiful city lights of Maui.

Standing in front of Iao Peak. What do you think it looks like?

On the train at the Maui Tropical Gardens Plantation

Will I took this picture just for you! This windmill fan was at the Plantation as well.

Both Mom and I in front of the pretty fountain at the Maui Ocean Center.

At almost every place we stopped we bought a post card or two.
This is when we had a little time to spare and wrote them out.

Mom in front of our ship

Me in front of our ship

Eating dinner at the Liberty Restaurant. This was our fancy dress dinner, if you couldn't tell.

I have to admit, I look rather silly in the picture, but I had to post it.
I think I want a wall just like this one, found in the Liberty Restaurant.

Hawaii Day Five

2008-05-19T18:37:54Z

We had to get our bags packed and ready for travel to the ship by 8:30 this morning. I had mine mostly packed last night, so that wasn't such a big deal. Then we went to breakfast at CJ's New York Deli. I had a three egg and cheese omelet with hash potatoes, pineapple and two pieces of whole wheat toast. It was way to much for me to eat, but it certainly was delicious. Mom had a waffle and shared some of my food. We went back to the hotel where I checked my email, for the last time until I get off the ship it looks like. Then I met up with Mom and Sue for a walk along the beach. It was wonderful. I don't know whether I mentioned this before, but we stayed on Waikiki beach. I didn't even know where that was before I came. Well, after the walk we sat by the pool and chatted until it was time to check out.

We then got on bus that took us to the ship: NCL's Pride of America. It's a beautiful ship and very large. We had to go through security to get on the ship and then we had to wait in another line to get registered. It easily took us 45 minutes to get from the bus to the ship which was only 50 feet from where we were dropped off. First thing we did when we got aboard the ship was to have lunch. We went to the Skyline restaurant, which is decorated like the an art deco New York skyline. Very vintage. I love it! I had chilled banana soup, tilapia on rice and a peach and blueberry cobbler for dessert. It was all very tasty. I haven't ever had banana soup or Tilapia before. Mom had salad, the tilapia and cobbler for dessert as well. We then toured around the ship and stopped in the Hollywood theater and listened to an orientation about shopping on the islands. After that we were able to go up to our rooms. We are staying on the 7^th floor, starboard side in room 7146. We have an adjoining door to Sue, Andy and Jeff's room AND we have a balcony (which I keep gazing out every so often as I am typing this). We had to go to the mandatory safety drill at 4:30, which was interesting and informative. We all looked very dorky sitting in the fancy restaurant wearing our life vests. By the time we got back to our rooms our suit cases had been delivered, so we unpacked. The rooms are rather small, so we needed to pack our suitcases out of the way. Mom and I finished before the others, so we went on a tour of the rest of the ship. They have some pretty cool stuff here.

We then went to dinner at the Skyline restaurant where we sat at a table by a window at the back of the ship. I had chilled peach soup (easily my favorite soup, it should have been dessert) then potato soup, roast chicken with mashed potatoes and a chocolate pudding type thing for dessert. Everything was good, but the dessert was way too rich for me. I could only eat a few bites. The rolls and bread aboard the ship are just wonderful. I have eaten way too many! Mom had shrimp cocktail, onion soup, mahi mahi and coconut cheese cake. Dinner took about 1 ½ to 2 hours, so we were able to look out our window and watch the ship take off. It was neat. For our evening entertainment we went to a comedy show with Chris Alpine. He was very funny. I think everyone enjoyed it. Then we all headed back to our rooms for the night

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Penguins in front of our hotel

The turtles that lived with the penguins.

Sun bathing beauties! We were out for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Yeah, this is where I sunburned my legs - even with a little sun block!

Jeff and me in the hotel lobby

This is our ship. Our cabins were on the opposite side however. (The Starboard side).

Mom getting ready to board the ship

I am in front of the ship getting ready to board

View from the door of our cabin

View from the balcony

This is our bathroom. Small it most certainly is!

Aren't we cute in our life vests? I think our practical style sense might just catch on.

Hawaii Day Four

2008-05-17T01:52:57Z

Today was a rather early morning. We had to be out at the bus stop before 8 am to meet up with our tour bus. We went for a tour of the north island. It was fantastic. We first went to the Dole plantation, as in Dole pineapple and other fruits. We ate the most delicious pineapple ice cream. They even put fresh pineapple bits around the ice cream. I can't even begin to describe just how delectable it was!!! Then we went on a train ride around the plantation. It was interesting to see how pineapples are grown, as well as some other fruits and plants. We then went through the Dole botanical gardens, which were wonderful. I have never seen some of the flowers they had there in real life. After our wanderings through the garden we went into the shop where I picked up some vintage postcards and a t-shirt.

We boarded the bus and head up to Banzai Pipeline, which is a beach. This is where the big waves are. There were about 9 foot waves today, but in the winter they can get waves that are up to three stories tall. Amazing! We went down on the beach, at the top of this ridge of sand. The ridge dropped about 20 or so feet to the actual water. We thought we were safe for taking pictures and just observing the general splendor. We thought wrong! We totally got wet, from the waist down. It was rather funny! Then we continued around and saw where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park. We also went through the mountains and some of the towns. It was really interesting and quite enjoyable. Although, the ice cream was the best part!

We came back to the hotel and Mom and Sue left to do laundry. I stayed here and worked on the computer. Then I met up with Andy and Jeff at the beach where we swam in the ocean for a while. It was very relaxing and wonderful. We all got cleaned up and went to dinner at CJ's New York Deli, which is inside the hotel complex. Mom and I shared a BBQ Brisket sandwich. It was very good and very messy. When we were done we headed back to the lobby and found some sofas where we could watch the hotel's night entertainment. It was a lot like the Polynesian Cultural Center's night show – although not quite as good. They ended with fireworks over the water, which really was spectacular. We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Andy and Jeff, while Sue took a shower. Then we worked on getting all packed up so we will be ready to head to the cruise ship in the morning.

In front of the Dole Plantation

Eating our delectable pineapple ice cream!!!

Look at the pretty flower at the Dole botanical gardens.

Isn't that beautiful tree bark? It really is that colorful. No one painted it. It's the Rainbow Eucalyptus tree.
(Sorry about the small pic, I don't know what happened)

Where should I go?

Mom by the red pineapples

At the North Beach

Caught by a wave!

Hawaii Day Three

2008-05-17T01:44:45Z

We woke up at 7:40 am this morning. That's an improvement from yesterday! First thing, Mom and I went in search of free wi-fi. We tried several locations, only to find that the only free place is in our hotel's lobby. Go figure! Then we met up with Sue, Andy and Jeff at the pool and swam a bit or relaxed in the sun. It was blissful! Once we all got showers and ready for the day we took a bus to the Alamoana mall. We ate lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen. I definitely ate more French bread than I should have! Mom, Sue and I split the 5 cheese and tomato pizza. It was ok. I woke up with a migraine this morning and lunch time was when the medicine started kicking in and making me feel all sorts of weird, so I wasn't in the best frame of mind to enjoy my food. After lunch we wandered the mall going in and out of some of the most expensive stores I have ever seen. It was amazing! After about an hour or two of that we headed to the food court and all had some ice cream from Dairy Queen. It was quite refreshing.

We took the bus back to our hotel where Mom, Sue and I went to relax in the Jacuzzi for a while. Our building is the has the only one in the whole complex, so we thought we had better make good use of it. We then got ready for the evening and went out for a walk on the town. We walked a long way and ended up eating dinner at a burger joint. Cheeseburger in Paradise was the name, I think. Mom and I split some cheese fries and a basket of baby cheese burgers. They were maybe 2 inches in diameter. They were so cute. As we walked back we sauntered in and out of some of the shops and markets. It was enjoyable, but exhausting all the same. We got back to the hotel at around 9:30 pm and are all ready to go to sleep. We averaged about 5.5 miles of walking today. Now I don't feel so bad about all of the bread that I ate!

All of us at the mall

Me, Jeff and Andy in the pool.

Can you see how small our cheeseburgers are? Cuters!

Hawaii Day Two

2008-05-15T19:25:27Z

Because of the time zone changes we all went to bed rather early last night. Which then led to being awake rather early – before 6am. It was just peachy! I sat out on the deck and read for about an hour. That was really fun. Mom and I tried to find the free wi-fi to check our email, but we were unsuccessful. Then we went out for breakfast at this 24 hour cafe right across the street from the hotel. It was pretty good. I forgot that I really only like mom's pancakes. The eggs were good protein though.

After breakfast we caught the bus for a two hour ride to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It is on the other side of the island from where our hotel is. The ride was neat. We traveled through the mountain. The Polynesian Cultural Center is hosted by the students from BYU Hawaii. In fact the park is just behind the University. We got there just as it opened – around 11:30 AM. We got the Ali'i package which came with an IMAX show, a luau dinner and a night show. First thing we did when we got there was to look around the shops. They had some great clothing. (In the end Mom and I ended up buying sarongs for ourselves). Then we had a quick bite to eat – Mom and I shared a fish and sticks meal. It was really quite good. After lunch we each got a shell necklace and then we started into the park.

We first went to a house that showed us the Hawaiian quilt making craft. The ones we saw were all hand made and were just beautiful. As we were leaving the house one of the hosts stopped us and showed us a way to get through the park in a timely manner. We first went to Tonga where Andy was chosen to help play the drums. They gave him a hat to wear for being helpful, that was made out of leaves. It was rather funny. Then we went to Tahiti and learned about the islands of French Polynesia, Tahitian musical instruments and finally how to dance. It was funny to watch us all attempt it, but I really think that I want to be proficient. It's really good exercise and it's cool to watch. Hawaii was next, where we learned about all of the Hawaiian musical instruments and their origins. That was fascinating!

We then found a place along the river to watch the canoe pageant. That was very interesting. Each of the islands had a canoe in which people were dressed in native clothes and performed native dances for us to watch. I really enjoyed it. (Mom kept suggesting I give some of the men there my calling card or phone number. I have to say I was sorely tempted. Those beautifully sculpted torsoes and bulging muscles were enough to drool and sigh over!!!) We then hopped the tram to tour BYU Hawaii and then it took us to the Honolulu temple. What a beautiful temple! I didn't realize that it was the fifth temple built. At the temple they gave us each a flower to put in our hair. We came back to see the IMAX movie about the Coral Reef. I think I have seen it before, but I can't remember where.

The Luau dinner came next. They greeted us with real flower leis and then showed us to our seats. We watched them take the roast pig out of the ground and then they performed some song and dance for us. The dinner was buffet style. I had fruit salad, pineapple and watermelon chunks, rice, a purple sweet potato, purple roll, pork and fish. Everything was good except for the fish which was nasty. Not a one of us liked it. Then for dessert I had a piece of Guava cake, chocolate macadamia cake and a bite of a pineapple bar. I didn't like the pineapple bar, but the other two were good. After dinner we went to the night show, Horizon, where they showcased each culture with music and dancing. I really liked the fire dancing and batons, as well as the Tahitian dancing. That was a very enjoyable show. We left right after the show and caught the bus for our two hour ride back to the hotel. We got back at 11:30 pm, so you can only guess how tired we all are. I think we all napped a little on the ride back.

Jeff and me in front of some statues at the Polynesian Cultural Center (which I will refer to as the PCC)

Mom and me in front of the PCC

Mom and me in front of statues as that PCC

Inside the PCC by one of the waterfalls

Andy's hat. Can you see the fish on the top?

Sue and me waiting for the the river pageant

In front of the Laie Hawaii Temple

Andy, Jeff and me at the luau

Sue and Mom at the luau

Me eating at the luau. Can you see my purple roll?

Mom eating food at the luau

Hawaii Day One

2008-05-15T19:22:59Z

We left for the airport around 11am and it was smooth sailing. There were no lines anywhere. We didn't have to wait to get our tickets, check our bags or even go through security. In fact the longest line that we went through was to get our Pizza Hut pizza for lunch. I love their personal pans! Our plane left at 12:15 pm. It was a pretty big plane with two seats on either side and three in the middle. I think it is the biggest plane I have ever been on. Mom and I sat on one of the sides, in seats 23F and 23G. I got the window (which was freezing!) and she got the aisle. For snacks we each were given a sandwich, chips, cookies and peanuts, oh and drinks of course. We were luckier that Sue, Andy and Jeff – they had to pay for the in flight food. They also showed 27 Dresses and Enchanted. I brought my airplane headphone adapter, so I could listen to them when I wanted – mainly just the end. By the way, the noise canceling earphones I bought are fantastic! They block out a lot of the airplane noise. I finished a Sudoku puzzle and started reading The Whispered Kiss by Marcia Lynn McClure. Mom typed on the laptop (which she didn't realize only had a two hour battery life) and then read some of her non-fiction. Our flight arrived in Honolulu at 2:30pm local time. (Which is 4 hours ahead of Utah). There was someone waiting at the gate to help us get our luggage and transportation. It was really slick. The airport was something else, I tell you. I'll try to remember to take pictures when we leave. It is really cool. A good part of it is outdoors.

We arrived at our hotel around 3pm. Oh, we had the most crazy driver take us to the hotel. He went on all of these back roads and residential streets and went really fast only to then stop really fast. We were grateful that we had our seat belts on! We are staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village here in Honolulu. It was in the hotel lobby that we met up with Sue, Andy and Jeff. They left the airport before us, but for some reason (aka the crazy driver) we arrived about 15 minutes ahead of them. Mom and Andy checked into the hotel for us. Andy got them to upgrade our rooms, which are really nice. We have a balcony, sitting area, desk, flat screen tv, a beautiful bathroom, fridge and a tv and phone in the bathroom. We are staying in the Ali'i Tower. What a coincidence! We are the only tower in the village that has our own private swimming pool. Pretty cool.

Once we were all checked in and put all our stuff in our rooms we went for a walk along the beach, which is about 50 steps from our hotel. It was beautiful! Then we walked through the shops in the hotel village and then we went out on the main drag and looked for a place to eat, since we all were famished. We ended up at Planet Hollywood. Mom and I split a cheese burger and fries. And I drank so much water I felt like a fish. It was nice to sit down, eat and catch up. Then we walked back to the hotel, looked around a bit and went back to our rooms. Mom and I wanted to go for a swim, but all of the pools close at 8pm, so we just took showers instead. (I needed one too, since a bird flew by and pooped in my hair, and on Sue's shirt and Jeff's arm). After we all had retired for the evening, we ended up meeting up by the pool, quite accidentally during our evening outings. Everything is so expensive here. Not that I thought that it wouldn't be, but it's like the price one the mainland, plus 50%. It's just crazy!

Our hotel

This is our room.

View from the door way of our room.

Our swivel flat screen tv.

Can you see the tv in the bathroom!?!

Yes, I'm on the phone in the bathroom and so is mom!

This is the view from Sue, Andy and Jeff's room. Beautiful isn't it!

Me, Jeff and Mom at the beach by our hotel

Me walking along the beach by our hotel.

Jeff and I by a fawn statue in one of the courtyards in our hotel.

Andy, Jeff and me at Planet Hollywood.

It takes a while for me to upload pictures, so if there aren't any with an entry check back later or the next day. I hope to have them up as soon as possible! But I'm not going to stress about it. I'm having fun and in Hawaii!!!