Not That Bad...

After Anna had been on island for about one week she seemed to be into the groove of our new married life. One day, as we were getting into the car and I was opening the door for her, she volunteered her feelings on the nature of being married to me quite austerely:

"Not that bad..."

So that was the sum of our married life so far, "Not that bad." It could be worse, but still, not the most sterling review for a husband. At least she didn't use these other exciting endorsements:

• It could be worse...
  
• Better than bad...
  
• At least you don't beat me...
  
• I'd rather be married to you than bitten by a poisonous viper...
  
• Sure beats the life of Job...
  
• I'm so in love in like indifferent with you...
  
• You could have lost the coin toss, you know...
  
• Now all I need is a wife...
  
• I'm almost glad that I didn't put myself on that Mail Order Bride catalog...
  
• Who are you again...?

Maybe short of a David Letterman's Top Ten, but hey, not bad either, eh? So, looking at the glass as half full of Anna's favorite corn water (yes, yes; it's a long story), then I will have to say that she's mildly pleased. I'll take it.

Living Scriptures...

Anna arrived safely on island. I took her home, got her showered, showed her around. It was nice. I have a feeling I'm going to like it better with her around. And there was something else we got to do our first night in our apartment together. How should I put this in an adult fashion?

Genesis 2:25

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

Don't you just love living the gospel?

Goodbye Hawaii...

The wedding is over. The Honeymoon, too. My wife and I have graduated. We no longer are employed in Hawaii. We have seen all of the islands and all that they have to offer. It's all said and done. So, we bid Hawaii, Adieu.

One last Hula before we hit the skies

One last Hula for me as well...

Goodbye Aloha Clock Tower; with so much less excitement then the clock tower in Back to the Future it's no wonder why you are rarely visited

Goodbye Dole Pineapple Plantation; with cheap thrills that were cheap and expensive thrills that were also cheap

Goodbye loud bell at the Buddhist temple; You were a lot less fun to ring as it looked

Goodbye Blowhole; that never quite squirted water out like a whale as would be imagined or hoped for

Goodbye Chinaman's Hat; which was neither Chinese nor a hat

Goodbye Pali lookout; with your ever dependable wind gusts and awe inspiring view to amuse one for...minutes

Goodbye Honolulu; with your increasingly confusing streets you'll confuse tourists and locals alike for years to come

Goodbye Arizona Memorial; may my memories of you be as depressing as actually visiting you was

Goodbye Temple; may your celestial white reflective light continue to shine hope on the hypocrisy and shame that much of Laie has become

Goodbye Campus; which...well, we had mixed experiences, so let's just leave it at "goodbye"

Hawaii will always hold tender memories for Anna and I. But we look on to the future.

Hello Guam, what'ya got for me next?

Maui - Hawaiian Suppa Man...and Wife...and Mother-in-Law...

I'm in the airport after three very filled days in Maui. I still have some of my dad in me, so I went and saw everything on the island. But unlike my dad, I ate, slept and enjoyed myself. Heck, I even stopped long enough to go to the bathroom once in a while.

It would take a long time to tell all of the trip. I will say that Maui is fun if you can find a place to sleep and you have tons of money. Having my mother-in-law with me on my honeymoon really did cramp the style of the honeymoon, but if you were to look at this as just a vacation, it was pretty good. Rather than try to recount it all, I'll just show pictures and video. That's easier...

Enjoying the night life under Lahaina's Famous banyan tree.

As usual, it was rainy and foggy and you didn't see much at Iao Valley

All the gappers. We left our Lahaina hotel at 5:05am. We actually made it to the top of Haleakela before the sun rise at 6:40am. If you know Maui, you know that is likely a record.

The sun about to peak out from behind the clouds atop Haleakela

Shorts and Slippahs

Sunrise

Most guys give a flower for their girl to put above her ear. I gave her the sun.

Yeah, there's a little captain in her

Elevation marker at Haleakela

Every time I got near an edge at Haleakela Anna was worried she'd lose her brand new husband.

Ain't she cute?

Anna Hula's

Maui Hawaiian Superman and his wife (Mother-in-law taking the picture)

The rare Silversword plant only grows here

Road to Hana

Anna at a black sand beach on the road to Hana

You would think I touched this up to look this way. It just sort of came out like this on it's own. Love it.

I have no idea why this one came out monochrome. I took it in color. Still, I'm glad it came out how it did.

Grandest Canyon of them All...

The big day came and went. Anna and I had our first night together as husband and wife and it will be the last time for a while that we get to sleep together.

So, because we had to fly out of Las Vegas to get back to Hawaii, we decided to try to see some more sights while we were at it. And what is there to see besides desert? First, Anna and her mom have never ever seen snow. Funny how we take things like that for granted. So, we needed to go to Flagstaff to play in the snow.

Yup, it’s just frozen water...

We cheated. Someone else made the snowman.

Afterwards, I realized that my work cell phone was missing. I must have lost it somewhere in that field of snow. I have never heard from my phone since. Well, phone, you were cheap and broken anyway. What man would have you now? Yet, I don’t think you earned your fate. I will offer a moment of silence for you now.

(Silence)

Ok, that’s enough of that. Back to our trip. What else is there to do in a big ‘ole desert besides play in snow? Well, how about a hole? But this is the grand daddy of holes, the Grand Canyon.

Don’t get too impressed. We only walked about 5 minutes into the canyon to say that we did it.

I always felt that just pictures don’t quite capture the moment like being there. So the next best step is video. For your viewing pleasure, feel free to download some short video clips.


Download: Anna’s first step into snow.


Download: Anna’s mom gets scared of the cliff.

We made it to the airport with plenty of free time. So much in fact, that I had time to blog. So, next step we are on our honeymoon with my mother-in-law. And there will likely be more pictures than you can shake a stick at! Maui, here we come!