Loooola...la la la la Loooola

I used to laugh at people that said their pet was a "family member." Now, I soooo get that. Lola has been my tag along buddy now for 1 1/2 years and I've loved every minute of it. Yes, even the chewing up of my favorite heels, her eating my socks and throwing them back up, that she’s taken over the entire back seat of my car with dog hair and nasty half gnawed on bones, that she refuses to “COME!” when I’m already late, that she takes up 90% of the bed at night, and well…I could go on and on. Even in all these crazy moments, it has been comforting, healing, and so much fun to have my pal with me.

Which brings me to why I am posting today. Over the last month or so, I have been feeling convicted about having such a big dog in my very small apartment. Especially in the summer time when I can’t take her with me. I feel like I’m being selfish by keeping her, but honestly, a good part of the time when I’m not at work, she’s in her kennel. This makes me very sad and I know it’s not good for her. Courtney and Brian Garrison, who have 2 dog “family members” have agreed to take Lola for a time. I dropped her off this past Saturday and I will say, it has been much harder than I thought it would be. However, I know she is in good hands, running outdoors in a big back yard with other dogs…the way it should be. For this, I find much comfort and am so grateful. Thank you, Court & Brian.

I love you, Lola!

Lola's first day HOME!

...at the dog park meeting new friends.



"Come on mom, hurry up!"

...this is how we'd roll.

...she even climbed Enchanted Rock.  What a dog!

...like most labs, Lola loved the water.

...most often my view.


...annoyed that I'm taking pictures during her nap time.

...ask Ryan to say "lola" sometime.  Cutest thing ever.  This trip was so funny because Lola kept licking Ryan's head and all Jess and I would hear from the back seat was, "NO Lola!"

...boot camp for Lola with Daddy Paul in Dallas.

...Lola at the Loft.

 

Happy 4th LOLA!  You are the best dog ever and I love you very much!

Last two days in Hawaii

Every morning we headed down to the breakfast buffet, we would see these wonderful paintings and pick one out for the blog.  This one was above our heads the last day.



Then we decided to head into Ka'annappali to spend a few hours there.  We started off Sunday morning with church on the beach.  It was wonderful to sing praises to the Lord overlooking His beautiful creation!


It was fun to watch the "passer-bys" reaction to different things the pastor was saying.


Then we headed to black rock to scuba!


Angie watched over our stuff and soaked up the sun while we swam in.


As jessica commented, "nice scuba hair!"


This picture makes me laugh.  This was the very start of the rest of the day laugh attack!  I think the sun had gotten the best of us.











Angie, this still makes me laugh out loud.  I truly don't think I've ever laughed so hard.  We all had tears running down our faces!


This meal was the best sushi I've had...ever.  And wouldn't you know...I can't remember the name of the restaurant.  That's what I get for waiting so long to finish posting!


Love you Es!  Loved blogging in bed with our rum and cokes!

Angie, I loved walking down into the lobby every morning to find you drinking kona coffee and enjoying your quiet time.  You are so good at living and appreciating every moment!



Great vacation girls!!! Where are we headed next?!

Maui Day 5

Back to the Honolua Store...this time with the girls for breakfast and some shopping.

After breakfast we decided to put the top down and drive around Kapalua.  Jess, I showed them where you got Maui'ed.  I forgot how beautiful it all is.  Angie and I decided we are going to get married here too!  (Yes, I'm driving and taking a picture.  :)

Back to the VIP tent!  It was still a bit windy and cool so we covered up and watched some crazy reality show on VH1.   

This is our friend Anthony who helped us all week.  We kept running into him and his family in Lahina for dinner too.  Fun guy.

We had to head back to our favorite place of course...Longhi's.  

for some great music (playing "One" by U2)

and their famous Longhitini's.

Then we ran across the street to watch the sunset.



Esther loves old books, so I knew she would love this old bookstore.  Best shop on the island.

Lahaina Galleries and Vladimir Kush are some of my favorite art galleries to visit in Maui.  I think that Esther had mentioned Elizabeth and Rick liked this picture.

No story with this guy...we just thought he looked fun.

Of course we had to show Esther the Banyan Tree!  My favorite.

Maui Day 4

ALOHA!

This has become our morning coffee hang out.

Every morning this Red Crested Cardinal joins us for breakfast.

Want to know what we did all day....you're looking at it!!! Seriously. :) It was awesome.







Esther walked down to the ocean so I secretly followed her to catch this shot.







This is our hotel view walking back up from the beach.


Around 4 we decided to have a little cheese and fresh fruit picnic.

We are total sun junkies! We were the last ones to leave the tents.



Fun dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. We sang along to all the songs and ate lots of fried food. :) Jess, the same guy that played the night we were here for your rehearsal dinner party is still here. He said hi.

After we got home from dinner we got into our comfy clothes and started to crawl in bed. Then Angie and I decided we still had a little left for the day and headed down to the lobby to chat and listen to the music. Thanks Angie, that was fun.

...just in case you didn't catch how big the glass was!

Publish Post

(Rainy) Maui Day 3

ALOHA!  Well, today's forecast was rainy and overcast.  We decided to stay around the hotel  for some personal rest time.



Day 3 started out with a great workout over looking the ocean in the newly renovated fitness center.  What a way to start the day...taking care of mind, body, and soul!


Angie had a something totally different in mind for taking care of her mind, body, and soul...she headed to the spa!  Nice job, Ang!



I, of course, pulled out the crossword, comfy clothes, Enya on the ipod, and sat in the hotel lobby overlooking the ocean.



Esther made her way to the lobby as well, however, was much more productive finishing lesson plans for her students.  I felt guilty for about 30 seconds...then not so much.

As they day progressed and my stomach started to growl I headed over to the hotel restaurant for a little sandwich...FOR $18!!!  No matter which way I looked at it, I just couldn't justify spending that on a cold sandwich.   I decided I would walk up to the Honolua Store around the corner from the hotel.  Well, it started to rain hard as soon as I walked out, so I asked the valet to get the car.  He said, "just take ours" and threw me the keys to the Ritz Escalade.



I felt like I was walking into the store at camp when you were a kid.  It had old rickety screen doors that I loved.  


You will also be happy to know that I got a wonderful hot panini sandwich for $6.50! That's more like it.



Across the street was this sweet chapel.



Waiting for Angie to return, we decided to make a rum and coke while we updated our blogs in bed!  Great way to spend a rainy day.

Later the three of us headed back to the lobby for some dinner and palm tree painting!



My favorite picture and favorite meal so far.  The sushi here is wonderful.  I think we've had it 3x in the 2 days that we've been here.  



Walking back to the room we past this in the window.

Mahalo!

Maui Day 2

Good Morning! We've been talking about the Ritz brunch for days...it's finally here! Maui tradition...Mimosa's!


I included this picture for some before and after pictures in the tanning department. So clearly, this is the "before." Every morning they bring a new sample smoothie to the table. Today was strawberry cream smoothie! Yummy.


Angie caught wind of the VIP tents and insisted we get one for the day!

Obviously, Esther and I strongly disapproved!

Big time! This tent is way cooler than I am! Sofa, flat screen, fridge, personal server, fan, and SHADE!



Nothing but blue skies!

View from our tent. It's whale season, so every once and awhile we would see the water blow and move where the whales were. Later this evening we talked with a local that said there are so many whales that you could walk on their heads from here to the next island!

Forgot to mention wireless Internet.


I loved this view. Honestly, the background reminds me of a scene out of The Goonies. If you're a true goonies fan...you get this!

This was taken after a day by the pool and showers. Ready to head to Lahina of dinner.

First stop...Kimo's for Wicked Wahine's. Tradition.

Funny story, remind me to tell you later.


Evans, look at your beautiful bride!


We had a WONDERFUL meal at Lahina Grill which is new to Maui as of the last 8 months. Everyone that we asked recommended this and Sansei. We are headed to Sansei on Thursday night for karaoke...should be some great blog material!



I think Esther should paint these flowers that are at the entrance of our hotel.

Home again, home again...back to our swanky hotel lounge...that we haven't enjoyed...yet.

Night!

Made it to Maui!

Well, after 9 hours of flying time...we finally made it!

This is this morning at 9am...we were so giddy!
(Sorry, this post is going to be short and sweet because I'm exhausted! )

I'm not sure if you can see the two ladies next to Esther, but they were hilarious!!! Dressed head to toe for St. Patricks Day.

The beautiful Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua. View of the lobby and restaurants from our balcony.

Pool and ocean view (which I'll get a better picture of in the morning)



We made it...and had cabana boy take our first picture! We would have taken it in our super cute convertible, however, it was raining when we got here!

Where blogging and quiet time will be taking place!



Great sushi dinner at the hotel and then straight to bed.

Love you all! See you tomorrow.