Hilo Hawaii

June 4th Erin and I packed up and headed to Hawaii to start our next 13 week assignment. My mom was so cute and brought leis with us to the airport to drop me off and took me and Erin's picture before we left!

Our first flight was to Seattle and then we had a 2 hour layover which was just enough time for us to eat before boarding. Then the flight from Seattle to Hawaii was about 5 hours. We flew into Kona which is just on the opposite side of the island of Hilo. We got Erin's rental car and then drove to our Hotel. It was late when we got in, so we just went to bed. Here is a picture of the little paper they had on the airplane to Hawaii and the hotel, Kona Seaside Hotel.

This morning we got up and packed our bags and got on the road to head to Hilo, which was about an hour and a half. We first stopped at the airport to pick up my rental car. Here is a picture! I like the car so far! We are going to trade in Erin's Ford Focus tomorrow for a better one, due to the transmission not working properly.



We then got the house and it is absolutely everything we could have hoped for. The pictures just can't do it justice. It is right by a stream and that is the room I picked, by the stream, so that I can listen to the water all night. The windows are all open with screens on them and they stay open all the time. That is how the cool air gets in. I don't even see a thermostat for heat or air in the home. How all the windows are positioned are done so to have a crosswind through the house to keep it cool. It is definitely different then what I am used to but it is also pretty neat to experience! Right now as I sit at my desk in my room, it is raining and the sound and breeze from the rain is very soothing. Here are a couple of pictures.
Needless to say we are both extremely happy with the house and the area so far! I will blog when stuff comes up!

  

  

  

Costa Rica May 2014

 For Alisa's wedding we went to Costa Rica! My mom and dad were able to come to which I was super excited about! It was such a beautiful resort and a beautiful wedding! We first got there and just explored the beach and the resort before it got dark, which happened around 6:00. Here are a few photos of right when we got there on the beach and a picture of the outside of the room. Alisa also gave everyone welcome bags which were so thoughtful and very cute!

 

 

 

 

 

As we explored the resort the next morning, my mom, dad and I ran into some amazing wildlife running around. This was one of the bigger iguanas we saw and then there were coati's which looked like monkeys and raccoons mixed together to me. They were so cute and would just walk right by you or in front of you which I thought was amazing! We walked up on a pack of them playing in the grass!

 

 

 

One night after a concert, some of us decided to go dancing at this small club with a DJ. Needless to say we were the only ones on the dance floor for most of the night. Here is a pic of my mom and I and then love the pic of everyone pretending to dance!

 

 

 

 

Monday May 12th was the wedding day! We all met in the lobby where trucks came and got us and took us down to the beach! It was great! The set up for the wedding was beautiful, the weather ended up being beautiful and it went smoothly! Here are just a few of the pictures I got from the wedding!



 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day was our excursion day! It was a full day excursion and we left at 7:00 in the morning. Needless to say we were all tired but once we started the excursion we all woke right up! First we did zip lining. We were all pretty hesitant at the first one, but then we were all professional zip liners by the end of the 7 zip lines! :) Then the next part was horseback riding. I hadn't been horseback riding since Hawaii which was when I was a junior in high school so I was nervous yet excited at the same time! We didn't just go on flat land either, we went up mountains, down steep mountains and in the streams and actually got to gallop and once my horse ran and it was amazing!

 

 

We came back to the main house and ate lunch after horseback riding. After that we changed into our bathing suits and went for a mud bath and aloe bath with a rinse off in the hot springs. It was great! I can't wait to see all the pictures the wedding photographer got of us covered in mud! We then played in the main pool with the slide for awhile before heading back into town to go shopping at the local supermarket and then back to the resort. Before stopping at the resort, the driver took us to another beach we hadn't seen so we could see this beautiful sunset!

 

 

 The trip to Costa Rica was a blast and I am glad I got to be a part of Alisa's big day! We have been friends since birth and I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

 

Dad's Birthday Party!

 

So I haven't blogged in awhile so I am going to back track and catch up!

April 21st is my Dad's Birthday! I got home from California on his birthday and so did my brother! I was so excited that Blake came home when I got back. Then my sister and her family came to my parents house that weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday. My mom did a fishing theme this time and my brother and I got to help with all the decorations this time which was a blast! I think it turned out great and to be able to see all my family again was exactly what I needed! Here are some pictures of the decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going Away Lunch at Work

Today my work had a going away party at lunch for me. My boss is going to be out of town next week which is my actual last week of work so we had the party this week!
First off I want to say that I have had such an amazing time here in Mt. Shasta working with the people I have worked with. I was blessed with such a great experience for my first travel assignment. I really feel like they are my family and my home away from home. My boss and all my coworkers have all taught me so much and will always have a special place in my heart. Being such a small town, everyone knows everyone, and most everyone is sweet, caring and always willing to help someone out.
For the party, my boss bought everyone lunch and everyone contributed with dessert and drinks to make it a great lunch! The weather is nice, so we decided to sit outside and make it a picnic type atmosphere. It was nice to have everyone together to talk and laugh with!
From day one I have felt at home and will definitely miss this place. They have asked me to stay and work for them, and if it were a different time or situation in my life it would be really hard to say no, but I am still wanting to travel and see the world while I still can. Them wanting me to stay here will explain the gifts I got. Here are some pictures of the wonderful people I work next to everyday and the lovely gifts I got. In the picture of the gift there is a necklace in there of mount shasta which I will wear with pride and a lot of memories!

Los Gatos/Santa Cruz

Last weekend I went to go see Erin in Los Gatos. I was super excited to finally see Erin and see where she is living and working. When I got there we got ready and headed to Santa Cruz boardwalk. I was ready to see the beach! We went shopping and walked up and down the boardwalk and had a great time.

Then we went to dinner at The Crow's Nest and got a window seat to look out at the beach, which was nice! Then we went outside and took some pics!

We then went back to the house, ate some cotton candy and watched a movie before bed.
It was a great day!

Sunday we got up and got donuts! I was craving donuts so that was definitely a treat! I miss pigs in a blanket but I will get some in a couple of weeks when I get back home. We then went shopping in downtown Los Gatos and it was a very productive shopping day!
Then we went home and took abby on a walk around Erin's neighborhood, which is a very pretty gated community with beautiful homes.

I had a great weekend visiting Erin and can't wait for our next assignment!

Snowboarding on Mt. Bachelor

Ever since I got to Mount Shasta, I have wanted to learn to snowboard.... so I went to Bend, Oregon this weekend to learn to snowboard on Mt. Bachelor. Everyone said that it was a great mountain to ski on. It hasn't snowed here in Mount Shasta so the snow park here never opened, but it would have been nice to be able to go up to the mountain every weekend and practice snowboarding but it just didn't happen. So my boss let me work 4 9 hour days so I could get off at noon on Friday to drive to Bend. Me and abby packed up and hit the road for yet another road trip! I didn't run into any bad weather or bad roads so that was great! I rented a one bedroom cottage to stay in and it was just perfect! Here is a pic of the cottage.

Then Saturday morning I got up and got ready for my adventure. I dressed really warm and got to wear my new gear I just recently bought. I got to the ski lodge and I had no clue what I was doing and it seemed like everyone there had been there a million times! Oh well I got signed up for my lesson, got my gear and headed out to the lesson. Here I am about to start the lesson and a pic of the little hill we practiced/fell on. :-)

So the biggest goal of the lesson was to learn how to stop. We learned how to stop on heel edge and then on toe edge. I have never spent so much time on the ground lol. I started to get the hang of going down backwards and stopping on my toes. Because one it didn't use my quads as much and two if you fall you fall forward up the hill versus down the hill. We practiced and practiced for 2 hours and then were on our own. There was a guy that was there alone and he was going to try and go up the lift and practice after lunch so we hung out and attempted the lift and green hill after lunch. Getting on and off the lift is a task in itself with a snowboard but we did pretty good I would say. Here is a picture of me going up the lift and the hill I came down.

The first time down I actually got the hang of going down forward, stopping on my heels. The steeper the hill I would go backwards and then when it leveled out some I would turn and go down forward. I still sat down a lot when I felt like I was going too fast. My quads were really feeling it when I would ride for a little bit without falling. So i made it down and headed back up for round 2. My legs at this point were getting really tired so I could tell I couldn't keep my balance as well so I was falling a lot more. So I was going pretty good down backwards and relaxed and I think I relaxed too much and the back of my board caught in the snow and up in the air I went backwards, feet and board in the air and I landed hard on my back and got a little whiplash. At that point I had had enough lol but I had to complete the hill. So I turned around, went down forward, slowly, and took the board off! I had a great time but it was definitley a work out getting up off the floor that much is hard work!! Today I am sore all over but atleast I don't have any broken bones! I survived my first experience with snowboarding and it was absolutely beautiful up there.