Hawaii 2013

Whelp, it's about that time for another blog post.  We have been in one of those crazy parts of life where it seems like the only constant thing, is that everything is changing :)  But I am grateful for these times in life, because the chaos usually means that new opportunities and experiences are being born.  What are we here for if not to change and grow into more well-rounded individuals?

Enough philosophy by Natalie.  We were lucky enough to get to go to Hawaii this year with Daniel's family.  We stayed on Oahu, by Waikiki beach for a good, long ten days.  The weather was beautifully humid and warm, and only drizzled for minutes at a time.  I've always been rain's number one fan, so I cherished those few moments of island rain.  While out there we celebrated Daniel's 25th birthday, our belated 2 year anniversary, and just life in general.

Since it is tricky getting a whole family together once everyone grows up, we figured a family photo shoot was in order.  I was to be the photographer...  wahoo! Ok, on to the photos!  As always, I would love some constructive criticism to help me improve!

So after pictures at the Laie LDS Temple we went to Daniel's parent's friend's house, which was on the beach.  They had a ton of palm trees in their yard with coconuts in them!  Daniel is always up for an adventure (which is one of my favorite things about him) so he decided to climb the tree to get some coconuts for me.  I have wanted to try fresh coconut for most of my life now, and what better a place to have a fresh coconut than from Hawaii!  I have to best husband ever!

The next day after pictures, of course we (we meaning mostly Daniel) HAD to crack open the coconut!  It was one of the funniest experiences of my life.  No joke you guys, I was crying from laughing so hard.  Daniel, who was feeling the thrill of a 'Bear Grylls lifestyle' had a tribal chant going on while smashing the coconut against the railing of our hotel balcony.  Bear Grylls totally has access to those in the middle of the rainforest right?!  Most of my pictures turned out blurry because I was laughing so hard haha, oh well.  But here are a few pictures of the adventures of the coconut cracking!

The remnants of the outside of the coconut... pretty impressive stuff!

Trying to get the excess husk(?) off of the outside.  

Notice the juice flying off of his left hand!  It surely was a Dirty Job.

I was very impressed and excited!  Not only did our coconut have a ton of meat, but there was also a whole cereal-bowl-amount of coconut water in it as well!  Good pick Hun, good pick!  Sad to say, these (the picture day and the coconut cracking day) were the only two days I took my camera out.  I am so protective of my camera it is kind of sad.  I just like to take good care of my things... thats not a bad thing is it?!  But seriously, sand+sea+sunscreen=unhappy camera.

In other news, we have moved in to our new townhome in Traverse Mountain (don't worry, we are just renting... come on guys, student loans are ridiculous)  and we love it!  It is so nice to have space and not have to worry about upstairs and downstairs neighbors and all of that.  Plus, we have a two car garage which is my new favorite thing ever.  Not to mention the new outlet mall is a five minute walk... I could definitely get into trouble with that!

So, that's that!  Daniel started his dual MBA and PharmD program at Rosemann University of Health Sciences and he is rocking it!  Three tests, one paper, and two group projects down in under four weeks!  Accelerated program is right :)  But he loves it, and has made some good friends already.  And me?  Just working at the Dermatology Clinic to pay some of the bills.  You may call me Sugar Momma for the next three years! haha

Until next time bloggers...