I love flying...NOT

Oh the joys of traveling. After having a nice, relaxing, final weekend with Elena and her family, I am on my way home. We had game night Saturday which got a little heated and sassy...remembered me of Vogler game nights as well. My flight was originally supposed to leave at 7 pm Monday night, however to my unfortunate discovery it go changed to 10:20 am it would depart Hilo, HI. because of this change I would have a 10 hour layover in Maui. Greatttt another boring layover! I've survived so far, just 4 more hours and then my next flights and then I'm home!!!! I'm currently on my 5th movie since my morning flight even landed 30 minutes early. Good thing I was worried about missing my connecting flight.... oh well. I'm just glad to almost be home!

Oh, Thursday

We started the day with the plan of dropping Elena's mom off at work, coming back to the house for breakfast, and then heading to Akaka Falls to check it out. However, things don't always work out as planned! We got home and about a half hour later her mom called saying she needed the car to go to a client's house. So, Elena and I drove back to her work and asked her to drop us off at the library where we would hangout for an hour or so until she was done and would pick us up.

The car her mom owns is a prius so you don't need a key in the ignition to start it/drive. When Elena and I were dropped off at the library, Elena had the key in her bag and her mom didn't have a key. The car continued driving but once it would be turned off her mom would not be able to turn it back on without the key. SO, the solution was one of Elena's dad's dive students, Jake, drove over to the library, picked Elena and I up, and we set out to try and find her mom. However, her mom only gave us the street name and not an address number, so we had no idea which end of the street the house was one. After first going down the wrong end, I spotted the car parked outside a house. Elena sheepishly went and knocked on the door, but after a minute of no one answering, we deducted that it was the wrong house....awkward. We were just happy no one answered. We then looked across the street and next door to guess which was the right house. Luckily, Elena guessed correctly and we found her mom. After we got the key situation figured out and had the car back for the day we got some food, watched an episode of Monk waiting for the rain to die down a little, and then set out for Akaka Falls, our destination for the day.

We got to the Falls no problem, not too far away. However, to our unfortunate discovery, you had to pay to get in. I had a few single bills with me, but we decided we would skip the walk since it was raining harder when we got there so Elena just took my picture with the picture of the falls and explained how tall it was compared to us. I got a good visual, and we stayed dry.

A crazy unexpected day, but then again, life is more fun when the unexpected happens!

a few random pictures

The beach!

my two-toned arm from the wet suit :(

car washing pro

randomness of the past few days

The past few days we spent mostly lounging around and enjoying being "summertime lazy". Saturday night we went back to volcanoes national park to see the volcano glow, but unfortunately it was raining and cloudy so we couldn't see it. Sunday we spent cleaning the house for the arrival of Elena's brother, Sterling, and grandmother from Oregon on Monday afternoon. They flew into Kona, which is 2 hours away from Elena's house so her and I got up early to spend the morning in Kona looking around and then we would meet her parents at the airport. We beat her parents to the airport, and after driving around the airport about 11 times keeping our eyes out for them, we finally found them! They were both awake enough so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach on Kona side. The weather was really weird. It was raining where Elena lived, cloudy at the airport, but hot an sunny at the beach. Strange, strange. Regardless, we enjoyed lounging at the beach and getting tan, and swimming in the waves/water which was the perfect temperature! And despite Elena ruining my driving reputation by telling her parents I was the typical new england crazy driver, I drove Elena and I back safely. I officially drove in Hawaii woot woot! Today our task was to wash the cars. Her moms car was easy, but the one that had been sitting in the driveway not and didn't work was pretty darn dirty! While Elena and Sterling began waxing her mom's car I decided I would start tackling the dirty, white expedition. Everyone can just call me the car washing pro from now on. I went all out on that car, daddy you should be proud! I even climbed on the roof to scrub the dirt off. It was like when I would climb into the rooftop carrier for trips, but instead I had a hose and scrubbing brush. I also probably got half the water on my clothes...but hey, free shower for the win!

we like to live on the edge

Elena's internet is down so her and I are currently at starbucks using their free wifi to update our blogs haha. (check hers out! veggielocomoco.blogspot.com) On Wednesday we went to Volcanoes National Park. It was super cool!! Unfortunately it was raining so it wasn't as pretty according to Elena, but it was still fun to drive around. We walked through the lava tube made by flowing lava that hardened on the outside while in the middle it was still hot and flowing creating a tunnel. We also saw an active volcano from a distance. It wasn't erupting into the air or anything, but it was smoking!!

Photo Credit for this post: Elena

On Thursday we went to Waipio Valley. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into!! It was very pretty, but man was it a hike! For those of you who know, picture Grandma and Papa Vogler's driveway and multiply it by at least 10 and that's what we hiked down and then up again. It was wicked steep and scary and tiring!! But it was beautiful at the bottom and Elena and I made the best of it by making a "rap video" on the way back up. (I'll see if I can upload that at some point later since it's on my phone) 

At the bottom we walked along the beach and we even befriended a dog that was wandering about. He wouldn't leave us alone so we just continued exploring. We also saw some horses just chillin down there. Then these dumb people came and decided they would give the horses some chips so then the horses wouldn't stop following us!!! I kept my distance since I'm not a big fan of them. Then this other car came and the people were looking at the horses. They then decided it'd be fun to feed a horse BEER. That was Elena and my cue to leave haha. So we began our trip back up the never ending hill. We were hoping a car would drive by us and we were walking up we could hitchhike with but no cars came. Oh well, now we can say we walked the whole thing!!! 

After making it safely back to our car at the top, eating lunch, and resting our tired legs, we went to downtown Honoka'a. It was super small but a cute little town. We got some delicious fudge from one of the local shops so that was a nice treat for all our hard work. After more resting and eating our fudge we made our way home. This morning we both woke up very sore from yesterday, but it was definitely worth it!

a day of true adventure

We had quite the day today. Started off by getting locked out of the house after dropping her mom off at work. Elena couldn't find her keys in the morning so she just used her mom's car key, but didn't have house keys. We thought her dad would still be home when we got back but alas, he had left. But not leaving before he locked the house up. Our only way in was for Elena to hardcore par-core the back of the house. Luckily we found a ladder laying on the ground so we were able to lean it against the house and she climbed up and over the banister to open the back door. Of course 5 minutes after we were back in the house her dad came home....and mind you, it was only 7:30 a.m. so we were not completely awake and coherent.

After using our awesome breaking-into-houses skills, we piled into the truck and went for my first pleasure dive now that I'm certified!! We went to Leleiwi and the deepest we went was about 47 feet so that was a little nerve-racking! But it was an awesome dive. We saw a ton more fish, (I saw the smallest Nemo clown fish ever!!!) some gorgeous coral, an octopus (!!!!), and turtles!!! Can't believe I've swam with dolphins and turtles now, I'm so lucky!! We saw 4 or 5 turtles total, and one caught me off guard at first. I was looking at one swimming when Elena's dad caught my attention and was pointing to something to my right. I looked down but all I saw was coral so I was confused when he was laughing. Then Elena grabbed my arm and pointed to the right at the bottom where a pretty big turtle was just chilling on the ground! It was wicked cool. Made me think of finding Nemo with the turtles all swimming around.

After our sweet dive Elena and I stopped at Wal-mart to get some stuff and we saw this wicked sketchy thing going down. The 2 cars parked across from us in the lot had 2 cops there! One was writing a citation while talking to a mom in a car with a little boy in the driving seat (they were parked of course) and then there was another cop checking out the back of a pickup truck full of luggage! It looked like a drug bust or the people were running or something. I really wanted to know what was going on but it was awkward we were just staring so we left haha.

To finish off our day, we finished making our cake balls we started yesterday! I made a mess again naturally. They're super yummy and we even put silver jimmies on some of them. And YES, the bottle said jimmies like back home. Yay New England slang!

I'm certified!!!

Started off the morning bright and early again by going to a park to relax for a couple hours. It was a nice sunny day so the weather was perfect to lay on the grass and do nothing! After that Elena decided it would be fun to explore a "porta potty graveyard". We had driven by a whole bunch of them just chillin together and she wanted to check it out. However when we returned to their location we discovered they were literally in someone's backyard...I would not want to be their neighbor that's for sure!!!

After that adventure we went to Big Island Candies! It was a small little chocolate store that had some free samples throughout the store to try. They were super delicious so I decided to buy some. Definitely worth it! After our chocolate spree we headed back to the house where I took all my quizzes and final test to become a certified scuba diver. I passed woohoo!!!!!! I am not an open-water certified diver. I bet a lot of people never thought that would happen given my snorkel experience last summer with my best friend- a monk seal....


















To finish off the day Elena's mom was in the mood to make cake balls. Naturally I'm not going to turn down that offer! It got pretty messy though. Elena and I had to mix it with our hands. It was worth it in the end when i got to eat the extra off my fingers! Unfortunately I discovered just how messy it was to do so. We didn't finish them but hopefully tomorrow we shall. I'm wicked excited!

relaxing weekend

We didn't do too much this weekend, just relaxed which was nice since we were exhausted from camping. Sunday morning we had brunch with a couple from church who are very friendly. Their daughter actually went to Union too! They had a nice yard with lots of fruit growing everywhere and they let us pick some and eat it. Elena forced me to try some kind of cherry- I didn't like it.

After brunch we went to a farmers market. It was really big and super duper cool! Everyone selling stuff was hippie-like with dreads or colorful hair and stuff. I got a couple souvenirs there too which was nice. It was a hot day so we didn't stay too long and headed back to the house where we just relaxed more. One can never get too much lay around time!


I'd love to hear from everyone back home! Send me a comment, message, email, facebook, text or whatever to tell me what's going on with everyone who is reading what I'm up to!

swimming with Nemo's friends

I spent Thursday and Friday in the water all day practically! Thursday morning we got up at 4:30 a.m. which was extremely difficult since I am NOT an early riser. However I must admit Elena and I have been going to bed at 8 every night and waking up by 7 basically every day so I'm proud of myself! After we packed the car we hit the road around 5:20 for a 2 hour drive to Kona. First we snorkeled with dolphins!!! They weren't near the shore so after considering snorkeling almost a mile out to where they were, we decided to rent a kayak for the morning. I'm glad we did!! It took a bit to get out where they were roaming but it was SO worth it. There was at least 20 dolphins, maybe more, and even babies just swimming along. I didn't touch any of them, but they were pretty close! Some even swam up to the surface, jumped in the air twirling and then diving down again. By far the coolest thing ever!!!!

After we followed the dolphins around for a while and getting called a "dolphin magnet", we continued kayaking further to where a monument was for captain cook. The guy who rented us the kayak said Kealakeua Bay is one of the best snorkeling places so we were excited. It was indeed pretty awesome! As soon as we hit the water there were fish everywhere. We saw rainbow fish, bright yellow fish, Nemo's friend Gill, (I have no idea of what their actual names are) a few needle fish, and so many more! It was definitely worth paying for the kayak.

Once we were done snorkeling we kayaked back to shore where Elena's dad was waiting. After eating lunch and resting for a little while, we hit the water again, but this time in scuba gear. I still had a couple other skills to master, mostly clearing my mask of water and taking it off and putting it back on underwater. A little nerve-racking but I did it! We didn't stay very long diving at this place because we needed to set up camp which was an hour away and it was getting late. We got dinner, made a stop at a gas station and after AAA came and unlocked our truck since the key was inside (not my fault, just throwing that out there), we made it to camp and set up our tents. It was a nice beautiful drive because the sun was setting as we drove the coast. A great site to end a great day!

We went to bed by 8 p.m. and got up around 6:30 for breakfast and packing up. Luckily we spent the day diving at the same place we camped so we didn't have to go far at all. We did a total of 3 dives today and some surface basic skills such as swimming 200 yards, treading water for 10 minutes, and practicing diving with our snorkel gear on. It was really fun! We saw a ton more fish, part of a crash site, and lots and lots of coral! I even found a cool shell as a souvenir.

To top the day off we got shave ice! A Hawaiian specialty and it tasted wicked good after being in the sun all day. My face got burnt a little from kayaking and my hands, JUST my hands, are darker than my arms from being in a wet-suit. I also have a tan from wearing the booties from kayaking so I have some weird tan lines. Not to mention my hair was frosty with me for having it in a braid the last two days enduring so much saltwater. It took me a good 5 minutes to untangle that mess! Oh well, part of the experience!

the break wall

Today we walked the break wall!! It was another gorgeous day out so after a busy morning of preparations we made our way over to enjoy the nice weather. 

The break wall reminded me of the Cape back home. It was a wicked long line of rocks piled on each other leading to the ocean. We only walked maybe a quarter of the way since it was so long. After a little ways we stopped and laid out and enjoyed the sun! We climbed down the side (on the left in the photo which is the Hilo side and a lot calmer) to put our feet in the water since it was so hot. We saw a turtle and some fish in the water too which was neat! Reminded me of Finding Nemo.

Elena and I got a great tan today so we were both excited. After our walk we went to Kozmic Cones and got ice-cream which was super yummy! I'm loving it here! 

diving day 2

Yesterday was my second scuba lesson! It was a beautiful sunny day so we took advantage of it. We dove down to about 12 or 13 feet. I practiced more skills in case I need them and did everything except filling my mask with water and clearing it. It's really hard!! It was hard to see underwater though because for some reason the water was foggy. But I saw some more coral, fish, and held a sea cucumber!! Unfortunately no underwater pictures yet.

After we were done with my lesson Elena's dad had another student to take out so Elena and I got to lay out in the nice sun on the beach and tan. I lost my shorts tan yay! It was nice to just relax and enjoy the weather and not have anything to worry about. It's beautiful weather again today so hopefully we have fun doing whatever is planned!

mother's day- shout out to my maj!

First of all, happy mother's day maja!! I wish I could be home with you, but I hope you had a fantastic day! I love you!!

Today we stayed around the house doing yard work. Elena has 2 small dogs, 3 cats, 2 horses, and 5 chickens. This morning I woke up with one dog laying on my ankles, one dog laying on my side, and a cat in my face sniffing my mouth- a little frightening to wake up to but no big deal. Every morning we take the dogs out and feed the horses.

I mowed the lawn today and got a nice shorts tan. Great, my first tan in Hawaii for the summer and its an awkward tan! Oh well hopefully it'll go away soon.


After we finished helping in the yard we made Elena's mom a late lunch/dinner of lasagna, potatoes, casserole, and fruit salad. It was yummy!

Then Elena introduced me to African Tulip Tree buds. When you break the tip off and squeeze it, it squirts water out like a water gun! It was pretty neat and was a nice cool down after working outside!

 After dinner Elena and her mom got their guitars, her dad got his flute and they had me grab my ukulele and we played for a little while. And, I've been roped into playing for children's story with them this week at church....Oi.

thai food with my bffl

I tried thai food for the first time today! A friend from church graduated college so we went out to dinner. Elena and I shared the Chiang Mai Fried Rice dish. Mild of course because I can't handle spicy food! (Mom, you should be proud of me for trying it, you know how picky I am!) 

All the dish names sound similar so when the waitress brought a dish over, Elena assumed it was ours. Mistake #1. Mistake #2, taking a bite of it! It was very spicy and I didn't know how much I would be able to eat. As Elena took a couple bites, she realized we had accepted someone else's dish. Imagine our embarrassment when we had to ask whose dish we were eating! Thankfully the person it belonged to laughed it off and wasn't frosty with us. All and all, a good way to end the night! Lots of memories!

"I got you this piece of lava, it represents all of my hard work"

7 am rise and shine! Started the morning off by making pancakes and hash browns for breakfast. I impressed Elena's mom with my pancake skills so that was basically a win! During breakfast we skyped her grandparents in Cyprus (wicked cool accents!!) and then we went to church! I met a ton of new people, not to mention being announced to everyone in the middle of church. Elena and I stood up and she told everyone my name and where I was from. Embarrassing, but I survived. Here in Hawaii you call your elders auntie or uncle followed by their name, so I guess you could say I met a lot of aunts and uncles!

Elena's parents are super cool. Her mom is nice and her dad is quite sassy. He reminds me of my family and how much I miss them! Even though he knows my name, he refers to me as "the girl". He teases me a lot which makes me feel like I'm part of the family so I'm glad!

We went to Kapoho today and snorkeled around a bit. There were different mini pools that we got to swim in. We went when it was low tide so most of the pools were shallow and we had to do a lot of crawling. Despite the warnings of Elena's dad to wear a shirt so I don't scrape my stomach, I decided not to. Rookie mistake...I came out with a couple scrapes on my stomach and on my knee but nothing too bad. We saw lots of fishes, crabs, and brain coral!!! That's what I call it at least, I don't know the technical term. We also saw purple coral which was the coolest naturally since I love purple.

Unfortunately no pictures to show for now, but hopefully I can get some from her dad's camera he can use underwater. That's all folks!

living it up in Hilo, Hawaii

I started off on my trip Monday May 7. The trip was about 20 hours total with a 10 hour layover in California. I've never been so bored from 11:30 P.M. until 9:30 A.M. My first flight from Omaha to Denver, the airport lady taking my boarding pass asked me how old I was. I guess I still look like I need a chaperon. And it probably didn't help my case of looking like a 19-year old in college that I had my red with purple and yellow spots dragon pillow pet in my hand. 

Finally I made it to Hawaii and Elena and her dad picked me up. We did a couple errands and got food but when we got back around 7:30 P.M. I went straight to bed since I had only gotten about 45 minutes of sleep during my layover.

The next day we woke up at 5:45 wide awake because of the time change! We hit downtown Hilo and visited the farmers market and shopped around a bit. I tried a couple new foods which were delicious!

Trying Lychee- super yummy!

Elena and I also went to Rainbow Falls where we saw a sweet waterfall and some neat trees. One of the trees looked like the grandmother willow from Pocahontas! It made me want to burst into Disney songs! 

Today, Friday, I had my first SCUBA diving lesson. We stayed in shallow water since I was just beginning, but I learned basic tricks and techniques such as breathing underwater, clearing my mask of water, and recovering my regulator if I lose it. Kind of scary but so cool! We saw a few fish, a little tiny eel, and a super sneaky camouflage crab! I can't wait to keep diving!