Well guys, today has been hard. The movers came and took everything away except what we could fit into our suitcases. Bye bye worldly possessions, until we meet again... in September! Anywho, I didn't know that having an empty house and sleeping in a hotel would hit me this hard. I'm a straight up mess. No lie. I keep thinking back to all of our memories here in Hawaii and how this is where we started our family. Aria was born here, we had our first home together here, I started my career here. So many firsts and now it is time to say goodbye.

So I've been sitting here reminiscing and decided I would share my top 10 memories of Hawaii. Maybe it will help me a little bit to share them and maybe they will make you smile. So here goes:

10. My first day at Honowai...
       Wow. The beginning of my career. How can I forget showing up in my best professional wear unaware of the laid back style and that my outfit was going to make me sweat buckets within minutes. Everything was new but I immediately knew I could trust my new teaching team. And that's where it all began.



9. Florida Georgia Line Concert...
    My dad is awesome! Because he gave me one heck of a 24th birthday present, Florida Georgia Line tickets. This is still the greatest concert I have been too and a night out with Ethan that I will never forget. Plus, seeing them in Aloha shirts was pretty awesome.

8. Valentine's 2013...
    This was definitely a night I will never forget. Where we live in Hawaii, it's rare to see a sky full of stars and that is one of the things I miss most about Pelham. I used to love looking at the stars and took the beauty for granted until I didn't have it anymore. So Ethan decided he was going to take me to a part of the island with no street lights and we were going to sit in the back of the car and just look at the starts... Well, it was super duper cloudy on that part of the island and no stars in sight! He was so disappointing, but it turned out to be a great night. We just drove around and talked for hours.

7. Swimming with my sister in the ocean at sunset...
    The calm of the ocean and the colors of the sky. Just me and Ariana out in the ocean having conversations about anything and everything. No one knows your soul quite like a sister does.

6. Our Anniversary at Aulani...
   Aulani is such a beautiful resort and I was so excited when Ethan surprised me with a night away for our anniversary (After I got over the amount of money it costs for one night.) It was the first resort I had stayed in and the first place with fluffy robes!! Ethan covered the floors with every FB post we had sent each other over our years together and we got a signed photo from Mickey and Minnie!!



5. Swimming with sharks...
    This one is really recent and I've already posted about it so I won't say much except that it was an adventure I will never forget and I'm so glad I got to share it with Andrea!

4. Camping on the beach and kayaking out to Chinaman's hat...
     This is still one of my favorite memories and one of the first great weekends we had here in Hawaii. I finally felt at home. Even though Kim didn't know me very well, she reached out and invited Ethan and I to go camping with her and Pete and their friends. So many laughs and scrapes from the coral (I fell out of the kayak.) I love the sound of the ocean right outside of the tent and the beautiful scenery. I fell in love with the ocean a little more that weekend.



3. Aria's first Christmas...
    5 months old and the girl knew how to open her some presents! And it was so great to share the holiday with my dad. The funniest thing was how tired she got after opening only a part of her presents. We had to take a nap break!



2. Our first night in Hawaii...
    This night will forever be embedded in my memory. After a day of traveling and being exhausted we had finally made it to our hotel room and reality set in. We were in Hawaii, thousands of miles away from everyone we knew. We laid in bed, had a good little cry (much needed) and passed out. It's always a great thing to not even have to say anything, but to just have someone who shares what you are feeling.

1. The birth of our daughter...
    I won't go into detail about Aria's birth story or anything like that because most of you have heard it and what mother doesn't put this as number one. haha But the birth of Aria is the greatest take away from everything that has happened here in Hawaii. No matter what, this is where her life began. This is where it all started and I will be forever grateful for the wonderful nurses and doctors who helped us through the 36+ hours of her birth. My greatest gift and fondest memory is from Hawaii... It's hard to say goodbye.



Aloha Hawaii