Hawaii, last time, and this time, almost...

Last time we went to Hawaii, something very exciting happened... Spencer and I got engaged. In honor of our upcoming Hawaii trip I would like to tell the story....

On June 16, 2007, we left for Hawaii. We got there on a Sunday night and just visited family a little while before we went to bed. Hawaii was so much fun! We went to Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay and went snorkeling, Polynesian Cultural Center, the Hawaii Temple, Dole Pineapple Plantation, Swap meet, and the beach several times. We also went snorkeling at a place called sharks cove. JR (Spencer's brother) took me surfing on North Shore. We went to a place called the blow hole, which was cool, we tried to go hiking but the trail was closed by the time we got there. JR just let us use his car, so it was just Spencer and I most of the time.

Monday, the day after we got there, was the day Spencer proposed. I thought for sure that it would be toward the end of the week, because I thought that the ring was not done yet and that his mom was going to Fed Ex it to us sometime that week. Boy was I wrong. Before we left, his mother gave us some stuff to give to JR. One of the packages contained the ring, that I carried the whole time!! That Spencer is soo tricky! Anyway, Monday night after we had gone exploring and seeing all there is to see, Spencer asked JR where a beach was that we could go to, and we went. I didn’t think anything of it, but it sure was a beautiful night. The sun was just setting, I took so many pictures and even a video. Spencer kept asking me if I wanted to walk here or there and I didn’t understand why. Eventually everyone around kind of cleared out and we walked over to this place made of rocks that jetted out into the water. We talked for a minute and then he hugged me and said some sweet things, then he asked me if I would marry him and pulled out the little box and opened it up and showed me a beautiful ring. ( He didn’t kneel, cause I had told him before that I didn’t want him to, I’d rather be face to face.) I was so surprised that he had the ring and everything just took me by surprise and I said “shut up!” I reached for the ring and he said “ you can’t have it till you say yes”. (This is really making me laugh, reminiscing like this).. So I said yes and we put it on. We stayed out on the beach a while longer and just soaked it in, and then we headed back to JR and Valerie’s house. As soon as we got there Valerie and JR were waiting just inside the front door and asked to see my hand. They were excited and congratulated us! It was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had!

This is the night we got engaged!

Well, we are now going back to Hawaii, a year and a half later...I am so excited because we will get to go back to the spot where I made the best decision I have ever made, to marry Spencer!

See you in December!

Who names their child Le-a?

I saw this on our friends blog and had to post it... thanks Paul and Melanie!

Le-a

How would you pronounce that name in the title? You would say "Leah," right? Think again.Paul heard a story today about a woman in Louisiana who was suing the school district because everyone pronounced her daughter's name wrong. It was spelled "Le-a". In the newspaper article about the lawsuit, the mother was quoted saying, "The dash ain't silent!" That's right folks. Her name was pronounced "La-dash-a."

Finances, thank goodness its over... and it's snowing, but not in Hawaii

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the future...in specific, the R word... you guessed it, RETIREMENT. Now, I know some of you are thinking that it is way too early to be thinking of retirement, but really it's not. There are so many things to consider when thinking about retirement...rates of return, inflation, life expectancy, quality of life, cost of living, employer contribution, lack of Social Security Benefits etc. I have been thinking a lot about these things lately and am feeling a little stressed out. I know, I know, retirement is a long way off and who knows how things will change before then.... BUT I do know, that to have a decent, retired life, you must plan early. So, where do I start? Well, Spencer and I are thinking of meeting with a financial advisor of some sort, so we can get this whole thing organized. Does anyone know someone who does this, and is good at it? I can't wait to get this all figured out I will sleep better.... both now and when I retire!

Also, does anyone else feel like this last presidential elections campaigning was the longest of all time?? My gosh, I feel like I have been listening to the same arguments for decades. Well, after all this work for both parties, the election is over and regarless of who won or didn't win I am SO GRATEFUL it is over.....ahh...a sigh of relief....


In other news, we got the first snow of the season last night. It was beautiful! AND there are officially 15 days until we leave for Hawaii..... another sigh of relief...


Okay, so we didn't get this much, but maybe on top of Timp..
Ahh Hawaii awaits....

We are not white trash.....nope

So I have to give you a little backround before I allow myself to post this picture... If nothing else it will give you a good laugh...

We are in the process of remodeling our bathroom, so we took down the old wallpaper that was there (as well as some of the drywall that came with it). Then, this morning after I left for work, Spencer sent me a text saying that we were out of toilet paper, and he included this picture...

Yes, that is a roll of paper towels on the back of the toilet... and yes, I am pretty sure this verifies that we are indeed...white trash...

Pumpkin Carving and Hot Chocolate...

Last night we went over to our friends Jethro & Robyn's house for pumpkin carving and hot chocolate! There were about 10 of us over there and each couple did a pumpkin together. Except for Spencer and I because I saw this pattern in Better Homes and Gardens Maganzine that I have been thinking about for weeks and I really wanted to try! So... we had a fun night of pumpkin carving! I love this time of year!!

Mine is the one in the middle, in case you can't tell, its a haunted house,there is a witch in the bottom left window and a a ghost in the top right window.. okay so it looks better with the lights on!