THANKS BRYNN!!

we got our pictures from brynn this week and i just want to show you my favorites....there are many many more than this....

my new job

I started work a few weeks ago at Kualoa Ranch just a 20 minute drive from home in laie. check out this picture of the 4,000 acres of the working cattle ranch and tourist attraction. the thing I love about this place is the owners won't sell any of the land to developers, even though they have been offered millions for small pieces of it. they want to preserve the land and have actually found some plant species on the land that were considered extinct. It is an amazing part of the island in which many hollywood blockbusters have been filmed as well as the notorious TV series Lost.
anyway, so I work at the information desk in the visitors center. I just answer questions about tours and the surrounding area and check in guests and keep a big smile on my face everyday. I love my job so far! I get to use my japanese and play little tricks on the unassuming Japanese tourists. today a family came in and one of them spoke really good English so he was asking me questions and then translating for his family. they would ask him questions in japanese and then he asked me in english. When we finished up and they decided which tour to take the sister asked him where the restrooms were and I quickly replied in perfect japanese, "toire wa achira ni arimasu yo!" she just glanced at me with an incredulous look and turned to the direction of the toilet. nobody expects japanese to come out of a haole girl...hahaha!

Honeymoon time...oh yeah!!

Kauai
we arrived early saturday morning on the green island and headed north, destination NA PALI. we were in no rush- it was our honeymoon after all- so we stopped in hanalei at a fun little farmers market for some fresh, locally grown papaya and bananas. then we grabbed lunch and took it to this sweet secluded beach and pile of rocks. while we were eating we discovered that there was a blow hole right next to us (a blow hole is formed by waves slaming against the rocks and creating a cave like formation allowing the water to enter and blow out of a hole in the top).

the view was breathtaking in every direction from the time we jumped in our car until we got to ke'e beach and the end of the road. we strapped on our shoes and headed up the mountain right next to the beach. it was such a fun hike and a breathtaking view nearly every step of the way to hanakapi'ai beach. we enjoyed every minute of it.
the coast is basically straight cliffs and ocean. the waves crash against the rocks below where you hike and the views are spectacular of the blue blue ocean and majestic mountains. it was a perfect day to do the na pali coast and we were grateful that we did it our first day because the rest of the time that we were there it was voggy (volcanic fog=vog).
this sign kind of scared us of swimming in the ocean at the beach so we played it safe and kept our upper bodies out of the water. it was a strong current. after our first day of adventure exploring we checked into our hotel that we had booked on orbitz.com. it was the cheapest on we found and for good reason. we went to the front desk and felt like we were going back in time a few decades- retro carpet and dusty flower centerpieces. they checked us into our room overlooking the pool instead of the parking lot- they got us really excited for that. we were so tired we just wanted to crash so we grabbed our bags and found our room. we couldn't believe when we entered our room they had put us in a room with two twin beds. ha ha ha ha ha!! we laughed so hard...didn't we tell them this was our honeymoon? needless to say we got a different room not much nicer than the first and decided to check out and find something else- maybe splurge a little. the next day we went to a waterfall that had a rope swing above the falls. it was a blast swinging from it (check out the video).


we also checked out some other waterfalls and beaches but we knew we needed to find a different hotel so we spent a lot of time calling places for rates. we gave up on calling after a few answering machines- no one answers the phone on kauai. we asked our waitress for some tips on a good hotel to stay at. she told us not to go to po'ipu because that is a really expensive, touristy spot. so we went against her advice and headed to po'ipu. we went to the most expensive looking hotel we saw first and went in to try to negotiate a deal. they had kama'aina rates (for locals) and luckily because i have a hawaiian ID they gave us a sweet deal. i went online today to see what our room usually goes for (299.99 before taxes) and we only paid 156.76 total!! it was well worth it too. we had a beach front room with a balcony and the beach and jacuzzi were awesome! this is a picture of jauno (scared to get in the cold water-oooh) and our room is up on the left. it felt so much more like a honeymoon, there on the beach. we went to a local diner and got dinner and the most amazing cheesecake. i'll never forget that cheesecake...that we ate with a coffee straw. we also got free virgin drinks cuz we told them we were on our honeymoon. oh, snap.
okay, wow... this is long. the next day we went to waiamea and my camera died. i got water in it...boo. it was voggy anyway but beautiful. i am relying on jordans picts that he will take in june when he and dad go to kauai.
so we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our honeymoon...even the hotel kerfuffle.

gracias, domo arigato, thank you, obrigado, merci, danke schön

i am in the process of writing thank you cards to everyone and i am overwhelmed by the thought of the generosity of all of you...our loved ones. i am sure i don't even know everything that you did to help make our wedding amazing. i am so grateful. wow! we are so spoiled. I don't know how i can ever thank everyone. ah, well...one card at a time...

APRIL 27th ALREADY???

the last few weeks seemed like a 20 second dream. it all went by so fast but is such a great memory...i need to write about all of it so i don't forget.
brynn, my cousin took some pictures on my wedding day and i am so glad because we not only had a great time doing it but the pictures were awesome...
the sealing was incredible. we had a packed room full of all the people that love us and that is what made it so special. i was so happy just to look around and see all of their faces especially my sisters whose sealings i missed. i was so excited i got out of my dressing room before juano! doesn't a bride usually take hours to make her hair and make-up perfect? not me i wanted to get on with the show. this is going to sound lame but the fact that my hair turned out so well was a huge blessing. i didn't practice doing it at all. i just woke up at 5:30 in the morning and started to curl and it worked out just fine- it stayed the whole day. i was proud of myself. even though i vow to never spend 3 hours on my hair again...
aren't my baby girls adorable. they had so much fun chasing me around and tugging on my dress. i can't wait to see all the other pictures. brynn, nate, lance, lindsay, juano and i all went up to the dixie rock for more pictures that i think turned out awesome. the sky was so blue and their wasn't a cloud in the sky. it had been raining all week so we were so grateful to be sweating on our wedding day. everything was perfect at the temple that saturday morning april 18th.

home in 21- married in 29

i've neglected to write in my blog for far too long. planning a wedding and doing my student teaching, and taking 15 credits, and working is no excuse!!
so- here we are. 3 weeks and i will be back in utah and counting down on my fingers to the day of my wedding.
the plans are coming along. you should get your invitation soon. there will be plenty of good eats at the reception.
juano and i are excited to be moving into TVA- that's temple view apartments. right by the temple and minutes from campus- it will become our first one-bedroom-apartment-home.
i graduate in june and juano will have at least 3 more semesters here at BYUH after that. we both love it here so it will be a great place to start out.
without being totally cheesy can i just say that i am super happy and i am marrying the most amazing guy in the world. i never thought things would get this good for me!

Its about time...

I write in this jewel. It has been nearly 3 months since I last wrote. Sorry ya'll!!
well lets hear it for the updates....YAAAAAAY!
Christmas was here about 2 months ago...did ya'll hear about it? Yeah, it came and went like- WHOA! I spent about a month at home and Juano came to 'meet the parents'...and stitch. Here we are talking a walk with the dog and dad...of course he is behind the camera. It was good times with the fam and I think everyone pretty much adores Uncle Wall-e, TioJuano, Tiajuana, etc.
While I was home I also had a Bridal Shower with family and friends. Thanks Brynley, Laura and Mom for organizing it and making it so fun. I was glad I got to see everyone. I missed a few of you tho :( sorry.
So now I am looking forward to April 18th. Mom has been working like a dog to get things ready for the reception and what not. I say who needs a wedding when you can just get married? ....
jokes.
I guess we gotta all party like its 1969 or something.
I feel bad that I haven't been posting especially in this exciting time of my life. I will look through my recent pictures and try to post more. Hope you still love me!