There she is, Miss Hawaii USA!

Rhonee and Bill were so kind as to invite Colleen and I to be there esteemed guests at the final gathering and fundraiser for Radasha Ho'ohuli - Miss Hawaii USA - prior to her departure to Balitimore for the Miss USA pageant! It was a BLAST! Tons of great food, people and even a drag show=) Those girls can move!!!

All the ladies were given crown to wear (paper, but still just as special) and Colleen and I wore ours with pride! At one point, mine slipped from its prestine place upon my head and fell crashing - well, as crashing as sparkling cardboard can get - to the floor. Wouldn't you know it, Miss Hawaii USA was there to pick it up for me and *GASP* re-crowned me. It was a moment I will cherish forever! LOL!


After the event Colleen and I proceeded to cruise home in the convertible, with our crowns proudly in place, jamming some classic Hawaiian tunes - ah, Hawaii, how I love thee!!!

All in all it was a wonderful night out on the town with wonderful people! Thanks fellas for the invite!!! We'll have to do it again soon=)

Good luck on April 21st Radasha! We'll be watching!

Blast from the past!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tony Harvey!!! That's right - bringing it back old school to the days of the LG corps and all of its glory....Mr. Tony Harvey paid me, and the island of Oahu, a visit! It was good to see a familiar face and catch up on old times. We had a couple of laughs and chatted about Wisco, LGs, and life in general. The next day we took to the streets of Waikiki and saw the sights. Sadly, not a glass slipper lady in sight nor the plethora of street performers that Kalakaua and Kuhio Avenues are accustomed to. Ah well! Safe travels back to the mainland Tony - thanks for the laughs...see you this summer=)

Day O' The Irish

HAPPY ST. PATTY's DAY!!!

Well, the day O' the Irish isn't quite the same here in Hawaii where the weather is warm and the beer isn't all green! Regardless, the block party downtown was a good time and there were plenty of outrageous outfilts and the antics of those who had been "socializing" all day were quite amusing!!! Headed downtown with the ladies and met up with some classmates from school. After all the hard core studying for midterms it was nice to get out a bit. I needed to take a deep breathe! Hopefully the Luck O the Irish will carry over into my midterm grades!


Here I am sending out my Happy St. Patty's Day message to my friends and loved ones! (kind of a goofy pic!!!)

Takin' em out in Honolulu

Of course, when we had the energy we also took Kate and Jess out on the town to show them what nightlife in Honolulu is all about. One night we took Kate to the Europe Party and met up with Colleen and her friend Rhonee.

Another night we took Jess and Kate to a typical Thursday night at Magoo's with all the other HPU students. AND amidst all the hustle and bustle of the girls visiting, my friend Jared from San Diego came and met up with us at Magoos...his Marine squadron (The Bats) was training on Oahu and he actually had the evening free!


After Magoos we went to the Dawg House (lame name, lame place - but the ladies were not ready to stop the party)! It has been sad and lonely since they left...not seeing Kate sleeping on the living room futon with her bright lime green eye mask! Miss you ladies...come back ANYTIME

Kate and Jess' trip to the North Shore

The Wednesday that Kate and Jess were both here we decided to take a trip up to the North Shore to check out another side of the island. The girls rented a red Mustang and away we went. We stopped at the Dole Plantation and the girls loved the Dole Whip!

Then we headed to the beach! Sadly there was not a huge north shore winter swell, but the signs on the beach are no joke.

While there we saw whales breaching off the coast of Waimea from Johnny Angel's (yes, that is his real name - he is Pioneer Surfer Jose Angel's son!!!) lifeguard tower. I wish we would have been able to see them up close! After chatting with Johnny a bit about the whales and life as a lifeguard in Hawaii - they are USLA! - we headed to what is now being called Turtle Beach. Kate was obsessed with the turtles and took TONS of pics. We spent over 2 hours looking at wild sea turtles swimming in the waters near the beach and coming up on the beach. We also me a guy named Abe who is the "turtle guard" and puts up ropes to keep people from touching, sitting on, and feeding the turtles!


We then drove to Waimea nature center and checked out the waterfall. On a normal day you can swim in the fresh moutain water pool at the bottom of the waterfall, but due to all the rains from the day before the pool was closed. We did get to take pictures and enjoy the nature

Hiking Diamond Head

Kate, Jess, and I decided to venture up to the top of Diamond Head...Something that, although I have lived here for 6 or 7 months, I had never done! It was an easy excursion except for at the top when you had to crawl through this funny little tunnel-esque structure and hope you didn't stand up too early and hit your head. In all honestly, I am surprised that the structure has not been condemned by the national park system!

Tubing

So, even when the swells are up and wakeboarding is not a possibility we still know how to have fun on the boat...TUBING!!! We have been going out on the boat about once a week (thanks Josh) and livin' it up in the Hawaiian sun.

The day after Valentine's Day my friend Jen (cute little surfer girl that she is) Colleen (the best roommate in Hawaii) and I jumped on the tube and got our workout for the day!

Then about a week later one of my best friends from High School, Kate, flew to Hawaii for a 12 day vacation and we took her out for a spin as well (twice in fact!)




Then kate asked me to marry her!

Well, actually, when we weren't on the tube together and she was trying her hand at wakeboarding she entrusted me with her wedding ring and band - guess it was safer on my ring finger (we are the same size!) than in the ocean!