Hawaii Five-O!

We made it safely to Hawaii! We left Washington in its horrible state of flooding. (Check out Mary's blog to see pics of that) I don't know if it has been what I expected. I guess I don't really know what I was expecting except sandy beaches and sunsets! We have been on the go since we arrived though, searching for apartments and scheduling around Austin's baseball. It has been interesting to say the least. I saw my first prostitute(s) last night, again, interesting. Overall, the only word for it is adventure. We have been endlessly searching for apartments since we arrived. So, here's the update on what we've been doing the past month, with, yes, pictures! (You're welcome Mom!!!) In no specific order: Here we are in Bellingham on the Bay!

As we were heading to Montana for Christmas (Dec 19th), this is what the area around I-5 looked like, it was covered in about 2-3 feet of snow. When we returned in January (3rd) it was warming up and melting/raining and the western state literally shut down because of floods, mudslides and other disasters. Again, refer to Mary's blog for more pics.

Here's Aust with his frosty flavor savor on our first trip on Mt Baker. The second time was way better, they had over 100 inch base and 1-2 feet of fresh POW. It was a little wet and snowing the entire time, so the mountain was deserted. We had fresh lines and each run to ourselves after lunch. It was amazing and ranks in the top 3 of my best days of riding ever! When we stayed at the ranch, I woke up early and got to take in the amazing sunrise! It took my breath away so I took about 20 pictures of it! It just kept getting deeper pink and orange! Amazing!Family: L to R: Ira, Rachelle, Debbie, Cody, Kathe, Quinn, Mary, Austin, Lauren, Case and Luca Dog! We got together for dinner the night before and were taking off to the Boiling River!

The boys and me before an early morning duck hunt. We weren't successful at all, it was georgeous to be out that early though!Diamond Head and Waikiki.

Beautiful water from above.Here I am on Kailua Beach, it's a little blurry, but you get the general idea! Yup, beauty!

Little story with this one: On our flight, I asked Austin if he's seen any sea turtles when snorkeling or on the beach, and he hasn't. So yesterday, I dropped Austin off at a golf course for a baseball fundraiser and drove myself up to the North Shore and randomly stopped at a beach because I saw some huge waves surfers were catching. When I got in the sand, I saw this lump roped off with signs around saying, malame na honu = don't touch the turtle. A SEA TURTLE! On practically my first day in Hawaii, I get to see a green sea turtle on the beach sunning itself! I sat and cherished my time with it. The beach wasn't very busy and it was amazing being in the company of this beautiful soul. Needless to say, when I picked up Austin later and showed him the pictures, he was wishing he was with me and not at the golf course!

A close of of the honu. It was about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. I felt like a total tourist snapping pictures of it, but even the locals were mesmerized by it's presence.

These were semi-beginner surfers on Haleiwa. They were very entertaining!

It's going to be very different getting used to island living. For the most part, people are very polite and friendly. The city will be a big change for this small town girl, but Austin is very patient and he knows the routine here, so he's helping me each moment! It was a huge change going from tons of snow and sub-zero temperatures to mid 70's and 80's, but with a lot of SPF and a good sunhat, I think I'll be able to adjust for a few months! Aloha!