Home sweet home

Hard to believe that about 24 hours ago, I was sitting on a beach drinking quite possibly the most ridiculous pineapple drink (I'm serious--it was IN A PINEAPPLE, and was smoking with dry ice below it) ever, listening to the waves crash....aaaahhhhhh.

Good news: Hawaii is freaking unbelievable and we had an AMAZING time.

Bad news: Matt and I have been passing back and forth some nasty intestinal thing since Wednesday. And of course, we don't have it at the same time. So one feels poopy, and one feels good. My last round was on the NINE HOUR PLANE RIDE THIS MORNING. Lemme tell ya how much fun THAT was. I got some REALLY strange looks.

BUT--

That did not stop us from having a blast! I am exhausted, but I slept from 3-9pm today. DUMB! Now I'm going to be up all night. Arg! I will try to sleep somehow to get back on EST....

Pics will come later...but for now we basically:

• Got to visit our awesome friend Molly, stationed on Oahu
• Ate breakfast at an awesome local spot on Oahu: Boots and Kimo's (mmmmm banana pancakes and macadamia syrup....)
• Drove to North Shore of Oahu--and saw some of the biggest waves I've ever seen
• Did some unbelievable day hikes
• snorkeled at Hanauma Bay in Oahu and saw some HUGE and AMAZING fishies
• spent lots of time on the beach--yay! I'm not pasty anymore! (For a week or so at least)
• snorkeled LOTS and saw 7 BIG OL' SEA TURTLES! Matt got to swim with a few!
• Got to see some humpback whales--so cool!
• Took surfing lessons!
• Snorkeled more
• Surfed again on my own!
• Did I mention I like surfing? (I didn't say I was GOOD.) I never could really grasp why some of my friends quit their jobs when we were right out of college to move West and become ski instructors--never really sounded that good to me--but I think if I was 22 again I'd head to somewhere to wait tables and surf all day in a heartbeat
• Saw the sunrise at the top of Haleakala Mountain (an old volcano) and mountain biked down-I've never really felt like such a poser. Roadies were climbing UP and I was on the TOTAL tourist-y ride DOWN like a total choade. Still--fun, and got some good shots though!
• laughed at the irony of hearing "Sleigh Ride" and "Let it Snow" on Christmas Day as we drove the Hana Highway in our Jeep Wrangler with the top down on a sunny, 85 degree day
• Got to see my buddy Vicki from Oregon--just so happened we were in Maui at the same time! We met as the reps from our state in 2002 at Georgetown University in DC (of course I have to make friends with the people who live the farthest from me, right?!) since we are both James Madison Scholars---it was SOOOOOOOO good to see her!
• Had an amazing nine days and a Christmas we'll always remember

Okay...now it's 11:05pm, I haven't been able to eat anything solid since, oh, right about when I got on the plane, and I'm TOTALLY NOT TIRED.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Pictures may come sooner than expected! :) For now, hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is gearing up for the New Year!

I'm gonna go try and eat something now....wish me luck!