The Long Winding Road

Today we got in the car and saw the Island of Maui. The Road to Hana is 35 miles of very curvy and narrow road. It is also a very scenic ride. Once we made it to Hana we decided to keep going and check out the other side of Haleakala Volcano. We hiked up 2 miles to see a beautiful waterfall and hiked 2 more miles back to the car. Since we had already gone this far we decided not to backtrack on the road to Hana, but keep going around the island. We are glad we did as it was also very scenic. After spending most of the day in the car, we are looking forward to our snorkeling adventure tomorrow. I hope you were all able to enjoy your own warm weather I heard Wisconsin had!

Standing on Top of the World

We had an awesome day today. Bright and early this morning we got picked up at 3:15 to make about an hour and a half trip up 10,000 feet to Haleakala Crater. Here we had a spectacular view of the full moon and an even more amazing view of the sunrise. I'm not normally up before the sun, so this was particularly inspiring. After taking over a hundred photos (yes, I promise that we will go through and delete some), we got on our bikes and headed down the volcano. Ok, I can't lie. I was nervous. The guide said we were going about 20mph, but on a bike I felt like I was doing 65mph. Let's just say the brakes on my bike got a pretty good work out. The excursion was totally worth every penny and we took some amazing photos. The weather was perfect today and we were able to enjoy some beach time as well. We didn't get a phone call about going fishing tomorrow, so it looks like we will be driving the road to Hana.

Hawaii Day 2

Today's adventures began before the sun came up. We had to get our butts to the airport to catch a 6:18 flight to Maui. The flight itself was only about 20 minutes long, and by 7:00a.m. we were heading to the rental car place. I was a little nervous about my car reservation. Although we had a confirmation number it seemed that all rental cars on Maui were booked for the week so I wasn't sure how legit my reservation was. I did not have to worry . . . we not only had a car, we had one that wasn't a clown car. This week we are driving a Toyota Corolla. We got in the car and headed to our hotel, the Sheraton Maui. By 8:00a.m. we were checking in. For those of you that know me, I'm still normally waking up around this time so I'm not used to getting so much accomplished before 8:00a.m. Our room wasn't ready, but we were able to store our luggage and enjoy the beach, pool, and lounge chairs. Mostly we just chilled and try to catch a nap. We also booked our excursions for the week. Tomorrow we will have another early morning as we will catch a shuttle at 3:15a.m. to go to the top of a mountain to watch the sun rise, and then ride bicycles down the mountain. It looks like Tuesday we will probably drive to Hana. On Wednesday we will take a snorkeling, whale watching, dolphin watching trip around Lanai, and on Thursday we are hoping to go deep sea fishing. We just need another couple who wants to share a boat to reserve and we will be good to go. If not, we won't be doing it. So everything has fallen into place and our week looks set. Hope you all enjoyed the warm weather I heard you had at home!!!

We're in Hawaii

We were able to get on the flight to Hawaii!! After a long 9 hour flight and one good book later we finally made it.  Thanks Jen for giving me "No Time For Goodbyes".  It made the flight go by a little quicker.  I read the whole thing on the way here.  Good thing you gave me a couple of other books as well.  Now I'm just waiting for Tom to get out of the shower so we can go grab dinner.  We're off to Maui bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:18.

Sean is 5!

We had a very good weekend in Iowa celebrating Sean's 5th birthday. After celebrating his birthday on Saturday with his friends, the weather was perfect for sledding. Since my sister lives on a hill this works out quite nice. Saturday evening we had fun playing carnival games at the local high school fundraiser.

Sunday we made it home in time for the Superbowl. Although the game was on, I really wasn't paying much attention as I have finally joined the world of Facebook. Maybe I'll do a better job of keeping that updated! :)

Not A Lot Going On . . . Yet

Well, as you can probably tell from the lack of blog postings, not a lot of exciting things have been happening in 2009. You probably also assumed that without a blog posting on January 1st, that we probably didn't win at Bingo. Your assumptions would be correct. Although we had a good time (most of us anyway. I don't think Bingo was really up Tom's alley), we didn't win anything at the casino on New Year's Eve.

So far in January we've tried to stay warm, and that's about it. Next weekend however, is my nephew Sean's 5th birthday and we look forward to going to Iowa to celebrate it with him. The following weekend, we have our fingers crossed to be one of the lucky few to board a free Uncle Sam flight to Hawaii for a week's vacation. Seats are limited and we won't know for sure if there is room for us until about the day before. If we don't make the flight, I will be searching the internet for a last minute vacation anywhere warm with a beach. We are definitely ready to take a break from this Wisconsin winter.

That's about it for now. I hope to be blogging very soon from the beaches of Hawaii!!!

Medieval Times, Medieval Measures

We had a great Christmas, and even though it was quite hectic, it was fun to spend it with so many members of our family. Once the craziness of the holidays settled down, my mom, Tom, and I had a good time taking Sean and Beth to the Medieval Times dinner and theater in Schaumburg IL. Sean had already been dubbed a knight this past summer, so he was all set for his experience. We were quite pleased that Beth was entertained as well (she was mostly excited about the horsies).

We are now looking forward to New Year's Eve, where Tom, Todd, Kris and I will be playing BINGO for something like 8 hours at Potawotomi Bingo and Casino. It starts at 3:30p.m. and goes to about 1:30a.m. and includes approximately 71 games of Bingo. I may never want to play Bingo again, but at least there's a chance (although it may be a small chance) that we may actually walk away a little richer in 2009.

Enjoy the rest of 2008 and I look forward to blogging in 2009!!

Merry Christmas!!

Tom and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

Once again it's snowing!! I can't believe how much we've been getting dumped on lately. No worries about a white Christmas!

We bought ourselves an early Christmas present and have gotten a new bedroom furniture set. However, with us it never seems to be as easy as just making the purchase and enjoying it. The first set that we bought we actually ended up returning to Steinhafels. Thank goodness they have a 30 day happiness guarantee. The set itself looked awesome, but once I started moving stuff from my old dressers to the new dressers and I couldn't fit everything in it, I knew it wasn't going to work. It just wasn't functional. So Tom and I went back to Steinhafels and bought a different set. Now I am completely happy, as I have more than enough room and it still looks great. The second set was actually cheaper than the first so we bought some lamps and a plant to help decorate the room. It all worked out in the end.We hope everyone has a very joyous Christmas and a healthy, happy 2009!!!

New Car Pictures

Here they are . . . a couple of pictures of my new car!

2 Cases of Beer

Once again I am surprised how long it has taken me to make a post, so I'll just get right to it.

First, the bathrooms are almost completely done. Thanks go out to my brother-in-law Pete for coming over on Black Friday and helping us knock out some of the finishing work in the bathrooms. The cabinet in the master bathroom has been painted and put back together. Tom and I feel pretty good about the bathrooms, but those that have come to visit us and seen the bathrooms have suggested we also change the counter tops. We'll see about that. I'm just happy to have the bathroom back in working order.

Second, my big news is that I have bought a new car! I sold the Eclipse for $4,750 and 2 cases of beer! Yup, I said beer. What's up with the beer portion of that deal? Well the gentlemen we sold the car to was a pretty tough negotiator, but he also works for Miller. He happened to have a couple of cases in his trunk . . . so it helped seal the deal. My new car is a 2009 Subaru Forester. I have been loving it with the current weather. Being an all-wheel drive vehicle it has handled beautifully in these slick conditions. I don't have a picture of my actual car (haven't gotten around to taking one yet), but you can see the model here.