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."

Ready for a Recap?

It's been a while, I know. So here's a quick blog dump of my life since last I posted.

Let's go way back to the first week of August when I went to Lake Powell for the first time and learned how to wake board (something that's been on my list for years). How I have never been to Powell before is beyond me, because it is AMAZING there.

Me + Boats = Happiness

Then in the beginning of September, my Dad came to visit me and my brother and we spent Labor Day weekend together (for some reason I can't find any pictures of that...)

And then... Football season started. Which you all know is my FAVORITE time of year. 

AtTask Tailgate Party for BYU's first black out (which was totally sick)

Black Out. 

Black Out Cosmo

Duh I have season tickets with these awesome peeps. (And my lil bro.)

Pom-stache.

Me + Football = Happiness

(Unless we lose, which we have 3 times.)

And then there was Birthday Week. Turning 25 has never been so awesome! My ladies Kathryn and Erica flew in from DC and AZ to spend my birthday with me and they, along with Jayni (aka Roommate Extraordinair), made my Birthday Week so much fun. We saw South Pacific, the movie Pitch Perfect (twice, actually), had birthday sushi, did photo-shoots, and even had birthday gelato (heaven).

Birthday Sushi. It was the guy on the far left & the guy on the far right's birthdays too! 

Birthday Italian & gelato with my girls. 

Erica. 

Kathryn.

And we can't forget that my brother made me a Grandma's Chocolate Cake for my birthday and my Grandpa/Mom & Ron got me a spa-day (coming this Saturday!) and Jayni got me tickets to see A Christmas Carol with her.

My life is so wonderful.

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.

One Real Vacation Please

This weekend everyone kept asking me if I had to work today. The answer to that is an unfortunate YES. For many people, today is the 3rd day in a 3-day weekend celebrating the state holiday, Pioneer Day.

For me, it's just another day. You see, my job gives makes Pioneer Day a "Floating Holiday", which means that we can choose not to work and still get paid without using up our paid time off, OR... we can decide to use our paid holiday at a different time during the year. I, obviously, chose the latter since I wasn't going to have any exciting plans today anyway.

I feel very good about my choice, especially since it's cloudy today anyway. However, I can't help having the thought in the back of my mind that says, "I really wish I WAS taking today off... and that I was somewhere tropical... on my first REAL vacation. That would be niiiiicccceeeee."

I've never actually been on a real vacation before. The kind where you can stay in a hotel or something and you're not there for anything but fun. Just to relax, enjoy yourself, experience somewhere new, somewhere foreign, somewhere exotic, somewhere like...

Burmuda

Bahamas

 *Come on pretty mama...*

Hawaii

Figi

Or the Florida Keys, perhaps? Key Largo?

...without having to worry about other things. Sure, you'd probably worry about work a little, but you wouldn't touch that e-mail, no sir.

So naturally I'm feeling like I'm at a point in my life where a real vacation seems like it should happen. And hopefully soon.

But alas, zee back account eet eez not enough for such tingz.

*sigh*

By the way, I am always open to donations. I accept cash, checks, visa, mastercard, discover, american express, and paypal.