Maloha.*

Last week was probably one of the best weeks ever. Of my life. Of all time.

Why? Well, because three crazy cool things happened.
1. I went to Hawaii with my girlfriends.
2. I got publicly recognized (even though I wasn't there to give my acceptance speech) at work for my hard work on a big project last quarter that was my brain child and turned out wicked awesome.
3. My sweet love became my fiancé.

I don't really need to say more about #2. And #3 needs it's own post. So, let me tell you (or rather, show you) a little bit about my Hawaii trip.

Day one - Shark's cove.

Turtle Bay.

Sunset Beach. 

Turtle Bay with Danielle.

Polynesian Cultural Center. Amahzing. 

The famous Ted's Bakery Chocolate Coconut Mousse Pie. Holy wow.

Waimea Bay Waterfall. We swam to it. 

A morning at the Laie Temple, hiking to Waimea Falls, eating crepes at the Farmer's Market.

Arriving at Turtle Bay. I call this my Kid Rock picture.

Fat pick. We bought, and ate, an entire pie. No regrets.

Some delicious food joint that I don't remember the Hawaiian name of (Hanapuku?) where I ate the most delicious cheeseburger of my life. 

Crazy waves at Shark's cove.

Drowning at the waterfall.

Amazing sunset on our last night. 

The North Shore was good to us. 

*Maloha is a reference to Jayni, who one day on the trip came into the house and announced that she wanted a picture by a sign that said something cool on it like, "Maloha." ...it said "Aloha" and "Mahalo."

An Open House, Surgery, and a Valentine

A week after my brother's wedding in San Antonio, I found myself back in CA for his open house. It was small, so we hosted it at our home and worked hard on all the decor and food. I think it turned out pretty nicely!

Top: 92 y/o Grandpa and my nieces
Middle: Sister and niece, Me with the bride & groom, Sister & Mom
Bottom: Outdoor decor: smore's bar, cake table, drinks

A week after the open house, I found myself at the Provo Hospital, getting my schnoz worked on...again. When I say "worked on," what I mean is I had a deviated septum fixed and nasal polyps removed so that I can breathe properly again. I had this surgery (minus the septum part) once before, about two years ago. So, hopefully this time is the last time. Luckily, coming out of anesthesia came with some funny stories... like taking my latex glove full of ice and putting it on my head exclaiming, "Look, I'm a rooster!"

Top: Surgery
Middle: The Super Bowl, Top Gun in 3D
Bottom: Valentines Day in Vegas

Now, let it be known, that I had the best Valentine this year. You may think yours was the best, and that's great, but I know in my heart that mine was. For Christmas, Devo got me tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show of my choice. We were already planning a trip to California for President's Day weekend, so we figured we'd tack an extra day on to that and go to Vegas for the show on the way down. Well, naturally I chose the Beatles Love show, because I heart the Beatles in a major way. And it just so happened that the day we ended up being there was Valentines Day.

Before the show, Devo took me to a really nice and delicious restaurant for a filet mignon dinner inside the Mirage hotel. He also got me a beautiful amethyst necklace and hand made me the cutest, most hilarious, pop-up card. The show was amazing, naturally, and the night was perfect. And we were just so thankful to get out of the freezing cold here in Utah!

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing at my parent's house in California. We had Taco Shop, played games, watched movies, visited my Grandpa, went shopping, and enjoyed 70 degree sunshine and happiness. It was a great long weekend.

Coming up next: in less than 5 weeks, two of my girlfriends and I are taking a chick-trip to Hawaii for a week. Yesssssssssssss. I. Can't. Wait.

Hawaii Top 5 Lists

If you haven't seen it yet, check out a sweet video of my trip HERE.

Top 5 Things I Learned in Hawaii: 

1. If you order virgin drinks, servers will automatically assume you are under age and start bringing you kiddy cups.

2. You have to be 15 to sit in exit row seats on an airplane...Iand I apparently don't look old enough for that. (No, seriously, when the flight attendant asked me how old I was, I was shocked. And then when I said "24" with a slight tone of disdain, the guy next to me started busting up laughing.)

3. Touching sea turtles is a $5,000 fine.

4. If you think that because you'll be inside a tour bus most of the day you won't need sunscreen, you'll be wrong. (My skin started to bubble! BUBBLE!)

5. I'm more attracted to polynesian guys than I thought. (I'm talking to you, hot Samoan guys at the PCC... Call me.)

Top 5 New Experiences I had in Hawaii:

1. Fresh pineapple. (I have never liked pineapple. It's got a stringy texture that I just can't deal with. But in Hawaii, oh my, I swear I could have eaten a whole pineapple a day.)

2. Paddle boarding. And paddle boarding with more than one person. Both are fun. Both are recommended. Both people standing at the same time is not recommended.

3. Maui Tacos. A taco shop that makes food worth loving and life worth living. (I miss you, delicious chicken tacos.)

4. Snuba. No, I did not just spell SCUBA incorrectly. Snuba is a type of diving you can do that does not require certification. And, after you learn how to not keep floating to the surface and how to equalize your ears without getting water in your mask that causes you to have minor panic attacks, it's actually pretty freaking amazing. This is also highly recommended. (You get to swim with sea turtles!)

5. Pearl Harbor. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend it. I also recommend that you are well fed before you go there. (Otherwise the Navy will take all your newly purchased food and make you starve until the tour is over.)

Top 5 Things that Surprised Me: 

1. Pineapple that I liked.

2. The bluest, clearest water I have ever seen!

3. I found a place where I don't mind the rain.

4. You can swim way out into the ocean and not worry about the current carrying you away to your imminent death by drowning or shark attack.

5. Maui is really windy.

Top 5 Things On My Hawaii Bucket List: 

1. Ziplining

2. Hiking/exploring

3. Parasailing

4. Night show at the PCC

5. Spend a day in Waikiki

Top 5 Miscellaneous Things that are Cool:

1. Snorkeling in the middle of the ocean where it's really deep and you should be freaking out, but you don't because the water is so clear that you feel like you're in a giant swimming pool.

2. New bathing suit from Tommy Bahama that was practically designed with me in mind.

It's so nautical! <3 P.S. Sorry about the icky pic.

3. Maui sunsets. And blowing in conch shells when the sun hits the horizon.

4. Pineapple ice cream. And Dole Whips.

5. Being in ocean water that doesn't make you feel gross.

And one small dislike item:

1. Reading 300+ pages of your book and then accidentally leaving it on the plane and now you're stuck in limbo land wondering how it ends!

Aloha and Mahalo

I have lots to say about Hawaii. But mostly that I love it with one of the purest loves there ever was. And until I have more time to tell you all about it, please enjoy this mini version of my trip:

Hawaii 2012 (large) from Raechel Logan on Vimeo.

Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. I'm going home to California in 9 days. And I'm taking my pal Jayni with me. And guess what we're going to do whilst we're there?

 We're going to Disneyland! I haven't been since I was 14, so you could say that I'm out-of-my-mind excited, and you'd be absolutely correct. I just know it's going to be magical. And my best friend, Shannon, just might come with us too! Is it wrong that I've already printed out a map of the park and started planning my ever-so-efficient attack? I even downloaded a wait time app for while we're there and we are definitely getting fast passes. Definitely.

Also while I'm home, I'm hoping to get to do a little of this:

Beach time! Oh beach, how I've missed you so.
But wait, that's not all... while I'm home I'll get to celebrate my little sister's 17th birthday with her for the first time in... 7 years. Is she going to get spoiled? Yes, probably. Eeee!

2. My Mom is coming to visit me the last weekend of April for Women's Conference. It's been our tradition the last 6 years and we love it! 2 days of estrogen and greatness. 

3. In June I'm going back home to California for a short weekend to see my step brother get married! I'm so excited for him.

4. In JULY guess where I'm going? For the first time EVER in my life?

MAUI, Hawaii! Yes, this means I will officially have my first ever, REAL vacation in 3 months. I'm stoked out of my mind. It's going to be 7 days of heaven. And to celebrate, I bought myself this:

Yep. It's already shaping up to be a great summer!