Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Aloha! Quite a mouth full-Humuhumunukunukuapua'a- it is the state fish of Hawaii. It was also the name of a restaurant at our resort. It took practice, but after a few days we learned how to say it and spell it! We enjoyed just saying for the fun of it throughout the trip. 

For our honeymoon, we wanted to visit two of the eight Hawaiian Islands. The next task was to select which ones. I have always dreamed of visiting a volcano, so it was an easy decision to visit the Hawai'i The Big Island. For our second island, we did extensive research and took online quizzes based on our interests. By extensive research, I mean finding where the best spa in all of Hawaii is located. That's right we stayed at that the resort with the best spa in the state and boy was it AMAZING, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We selected Maui as our second destination. 

We flew from Washington, DC to Kona, International Airport. We were scheduled to fly out at 11:30 am. We planned to get there with plenty of time to spare. While I was packing our carry on's and Nick was brushing his teeth, we got a phone call around 9:00 am from the airline saying our flight was canceled. The only way we could get to Hawaii that day was if we were able to make it on a flight boarding at 10:00 am. We rushed out the door! Nick left his backpack with all of our printed confirmations and his contacts, but nothing we couldn't live without. The best perk- we got upgraded on 4 of our 5 flights for free! :) 

Finally landed in Hawaii

On the Big Island we stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa Village. The Big Island is quite barren and not what you picture when you think of Hawaii. The HWV was a gorgeous piece of paradise set among the black lava fields. Nick had stayed at the HWV when he was younger and wanted to go back. This resort is the perfect location for families and young children. The resort is like a mini Disney World. There are different towers and pools with different themes. A monorail and a boat run along the towers for easy travel. Nick and I only used the monorail when we arrived with all of our luggage. We took the canal at sunset on our way to dinner. All other times we enjoyed walking around the resort and admiring the art work. 

When we arrived after 14 hours of travel, we quickly picked up the rental car and drove to the resort and went to bed at 8 pm Hawaii time. The next morning, Nick and I were awake bright and early. We stopped by the coffee shop in our tower and hit the road to Volcano National Park. We drove around the North side of the island on the way to the park. We enjoyed the drive and took spontaneous detours! Like this scenic drive:

And the macadamia nut farm: 

We finally arrived at the park. We picked up maps and planned out our hikes. Nick and I planned to hike the Pu‘u Huluhulu trail, a three mile hike out to the crater and back. We drove around Crater Rim Drive. There we passed numerous lava flows and craters. We stopped at every place possible. Shortly into the hike we reached the wide lava fields and our first lava tree. A lava tree is where lava flowed around a tree and
hardened. While the tree burned up, the lava maintains the shape of the tree. 

The weather in the park changed rapidly from cold and rainy to sunny and warm. I was so happy to have changes of clothes, as you will notice in the pictures. We wandered around and finally reached the climb towards the end of the trail. There we could see the Mauna Ulu Shield and lava lake. A little higher up the trail we reached the Pu‘u Huluhulu Crater and had a good view of the Kilauea Caldera (the active crater) in the distance. The return hike was easy and fast! 

Mauna Ulu lava shield

Pu‘u Huluhulu Crater

Kilauea Caldera in the distance

Looking down into another crater along Crater Rim Drive

Lots of the ohia lehua plant (red flowers). This plant is monumental in Hawaii becoming the gorgeous lush lands it is today. While other plants can't survive in the volcanic conditions, the ohia lehua plant has long dangling roots that collect moisture from the air instead of the soil. After the ohia lehua plants grow, die, and decompose, they leave the soil suitable for other plants to now survive.

After hiking, we drove back up to the Kilauea Iki Trail. We walked across the street and visited the Thurston Lava Tube. Lava once flowed under ground to the sea. A large tunnel remains now that the lava is no longer flowing. 

About to go into the Thurston Lava Tube. Notice the roots hanging down, those are the roots from the ohia lehua plant, which is how they are able to survive in the volcanic remains

Inside the Thurston Lava Tube

In the lush rain forest surrounding the volcano

After crossing through the lava tube, we set out on the Kilauea Iki hike. A four mile hike where hikers hike around the rim of the crater before descending into the crater and crossing across the floor of the crater. Finally, making the steep climb (what the brochures claim the equivalent of climbing a 40 story building). Every minute was worth it!!! 

Our favorite plant, kahili ginger. Unfortunately this beautiful and unique plant is an invasive plant that they have to try to rid the trails of.

Nick with the crazy plants

Made it to the bottom and about to cross the crater

Dreading the fact that we have to climb back up that ridge 

Standing in the middle of a volcano crater

Looking back across the crater

We made it across the crater, now to climb back out :( 

 We then headed to the Jagger Museum and the closest viewing spots of the Kilauea Caldera. Unfortunately when we visited the only active lava flows were off of the park property and parts of the park were closed due to high sulfur levels in the air. I can't wait to visit my second volcano this summer when we head to Mount Vesuvius!

The Kilauea Caldera: the active crater. It apparently glows red at night, but we weren't able to stay after dark

Me and the Kilauea Caldera in the distance

We drove back to the resort around the south side of the island. We drove the circumference of the entire island by the end of the day. Nick slept on most of the drive home. The Big Island feels like you are traveling across large distances with the extreme changes in the landscape. We started out driving through barren black, lava fields. Around the northeast side, we reached lush cliffs and rain forests. On the way home, we hills of  fields resembling the English countryside (which I didn't get any pictures of because Nick was sleeping). 

When we arrived back at the resort, we showered and changed clothes and headed to a sunset dinner on the canal at a lovely Italian restaurant. 

We had originally planned on spending the next day snorkeling, but changed our plans to spend our day exploring the resort. We woke up insanely early again (before 5 am). We walked around the resort at sunrise. It felt like we had the resort to ourselves. We went and visited the dolphins. Without the distractions of the people wandering around, the dolphins were very engaging and swam over to visit and say hi. 

Hawaii at sunrise

The dolphins at the resort were very playful

One of the many pool areas

On the grand steps at the entrance to the resort

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, went back to the room for a nap, and woke up in time to hit the pools when they opened at 8 am. 

We spent the day reading and enjoying tropical drinks by the pool. The pool by our tower was open and had very few children running around. Around lunch time, Nick and I headed over to the more kid friendly pool to ride the slide Nick loved as a kid. Needless to say, it was not quite the same 20 years later! 

We ate lunch at the cafe overlooking the dolphins and sharks at the resort. We continued lounging around before getting ready in time to catch our first Hawaiian sunset! We ate dinner at the fancy restaurant that night on the water. We should have thought to eat there at sunset, but it was still beautiful and delicious! 

The Hawaiian Sunset

The resort faces the west in the direction of the other islands. The whole time we were there, I was convinced I kept seeing Maui. It looked like a dark cloud that never moved. Nick kept telling me I was imagining things and it was just a cloud in the sky. When we finally flew across the ocean, it became clear the dark cloud was the tops of the mountains of Maui. 

Stay tuned for details on the majority of our honeymoon-our visit to Maui! 

2014- The Year of Blogging

I have started this time and time again, but always drop the ball on continuing to make time to blog. This year it is one of my new year resolutions to blog weekly! I updated the title of the blog since it's creation two years ago. The title is a play on our last name, but life is about finding balance. In life I strive to find the balance between being a couple and being an individual, living a healthy life and enjoying food, saving/investing money and spending money to make memories. 

I'm going to start by recapping last year. 2013 was a major year for Nick and I. It is hard for me to imagine a more monumental year than this past year has been. In June, Nick and I were married. In July, we went on our dream honeymoon to Hawaii (posts to come about our adventures on the islands). In August, we bought our first house. Being a homeowner comes with a bunch of responsibilities and added chores, but we are learning as we go. In November, I hosted and cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner. To end the year, I paid off my student loans. It feels so great to start the new year debt free (minus the large mortgage debt).

I''m going to start the blog by going back in time to share our wedding. The day was an absolutely perfect day! I am sure many couples feel this way because it's so magical. We were very lucky that the day went off without a hitch! My husband and I agreed about one thing as soon as we were engaged- our honeymoon! We agreed we would rather spend money on our dream vacation, than on flowers, invitations, etc.

My mother-in-law made the boutonniere and corsages, while I made the bouquets  

Meanwhile my mom and sister-in-law made the center pieces and specialty arrangements

My final bouquet- white peonies with random yellow flowers added at the last minute

The base of my bouquet was wrapped in lace from my mom's wedding dress for my something old

                                   
It was a stressful few months leading up to the wedding. As a do-it yourself bride, I had a to-do list a mile long! I am very thankful for all of those who helped leading up to the big day. On top of the invitations, flowers, programs, decorations, place cards, etc. it is an Italian family tradition to have cookie tables, so I spent the days before my wedding baking 50+ dozen cookies. A bunch of people asked me at the wedding or following the wedding for recipes, I'll be sharing those shortly. The best part of the week was the impromptu mother-daughter spa day the Thursday before the wedding. I went in the makings of a bridezilla big ball of stress and emerged a calm, happy bride.

The girls at the rehearsal

                                       

My favorite! My surprise grooms cake for Nick. He loves Scrabble!

We rented a suite at the hotel which we were able to use for getting ready, spending time with family, looking at pictures, and our wedding night suite. My favorite part of our wedding was getting to spend so much time with our families the day of the wedding and the day following the wedding.

Matching robes for getting ready

My beautiful bridesmaids!

The handsome groomsmen

My brother, mother, and I 

My husbands family

Nick's baby bonnet with a hand written poem from his great-aunt about his bride using it as her handkerchief on her wedding day, as her something borrowed. 

 Here are some of our favorite pictures from our wedding day!

We had a memory table at the wedding to honor those who couldn't be there. The center included a memorial for my father who passed away a little under a year before the wedding. The rest of the family was honored through wedding day pictures of our grandparents and parents. 

]Look forward to my next post where I share about our Hawaiian honeymoon!

xoxo,

Erin

Spring in Washington DC

Well even though there is song written Christmas Eve in Washington, nothing compares to Springtime in Washington. People travel from far and wide to see the Cherry Blossoms. Cherry Blossoms are fickle little things and bloom time is short and dependent on the weather. I can't imagine making plans to travel in advance and coming during a time when they were not in bloom. Thankfully it is a quick trip into the city for us.

This year the blooms were behind schedule due to the unusually cold weather in March. We planned to make a Sunday trip into the city at the first sign of 70 degree weather. Our plan was to visit the National Zoo and then stop by the Tidal Basin in the afternoon, allowing more time for blooms to open. The best thing about DC it was all FREE!

We LOVE metro-ing around the city. When you know how to do the metro right it is such a breeze. I'll tell you our insider tip...ALWAYS go to the very front or end of the train. On a busy day in the city, with thousands in for the Cherry Blossom Festival, we found seats on nearly empty train cars. This was not the case for the middle cars which were packed with standing room only. We also rode one stop past the zoo to have a flat walk instead of an uphill walk to the zoo.

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Arriving at the zoo, we immediately hit up the Asian Trail-aka Panda Exhibit :) We got to see other bears and then waited in line to see the pandas. We got to see a brief glimpse of the panda moving and eating. He then headed outside. By the time we got around to the outside, he headed back inside. We walked around to look at the birds (I was not interested, but Nick likes the birds so I tagged along) We got to see elephants playing. We then grabbed lunch satisfying my craving for a hot dog.

Afterwards we visited the monkeys and apes and got to see quite a show. They have a rope to climb across the zoo, so they can pick between two houses to stay in. We got to see them make the trek!

Next we visited my favorites! The cats! We got to see great action of the lions, tigers, and cheetahs. We also visited the Amazon exhibit where we walked through the rain forest environment. As we made our way back to the zoo entrance, we walked through the American trail. We got to see the otters playing with the kids at the exhibit which was very entertaining.

We made our way back to the metro (downhill thankfully) and headed downtown to the Tidal Basin.

 

 

 

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Easter Dinner

Weeks ago I suggested that I cook dinner one night when my mom visited and of course invited my amazing Uncle Jay who lives nearby over for dinner. Knowing 95 traffic and figuring I'd be to tired after driving on Saturday, I thought it'd be best to plan for dinner on Sunday. Little did I realize at the time, Sunday was Easter. I spent a few weeks trying to decide what recipe to serve for dinner. When it finally hit me, I was nervous, but relieved I at least had a menu now. Before heading out of town, I made my carrot cake and put it in the freezer.

Mixed and ready to add carrots and pecans

Ready for the oven

I got into town on Saturday, I walked into these beautiful flowers Nick bought for Easter. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. He is so thoughtful!

Flowers that Nick put together himself

The table is set for dinner

I love these place mats we bought for springtime!

Saturday I frosted and decorated the cake and made deviled eggs.

Sunday afternoon, I started cooking our ham. I cooked it for two hours at 325 degrees in my Pampered Chef deep covered baker. I took it out and glazed it with

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard

I returned it to the oven 375 degrees uncovered for another 20-30 minutes

We served it with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.

My Uncle Jay brought more flowers for Easter and supplied us with the wine for the night. So beautiful and thoughtful!

While Easter diner was delicious, our leftovers were much better. We got more of the glaze with our leftovers than our original meal just from how we served it. More for future reference!

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Spring Break

This past week was Spring Break. Unfortunately, it wasn't so much of a break and it definitely wasn't spring. While Nick had off for the entire week, I still had to work Monday and Tuesday. We started the break dog sitting for a friend and getting quite a bit of snow. Definitely not spring! Once I was got those two days of work behind me, Nick and I headed to Richmond for a wedding planning extravaganza. The first day we had  our food tasting and meeting with our venue. The food was delicious! The real task for the day was deciding between chicken dishes. It was a unanimous vote that one dish stood far above the others. Although it has a weird name, Chicken Saltimbocca was enough to sway Nick from getting prime rib to chicken. Now that has to be some good chicken! I know it will all be delicious.

Nick headed out of town while I kept on checking things off of our list: purchasing a veil, meeting with minister, hair and makeup trial, dress fitting, meeting with the coordinator, meeting with DJ, and meeting with our photographer. All of the above people are so wonderful and gracious in their work for our wedding. After my whirlwind in Richmond, my mom drove me back home and stayed to visit for Easter.

Nick and I love our new apartment and are thrilled with it's close location to a park along the river. From our apartment we can walk right down to part of a river. We can't wait for nicer weather to take off on walks more often, but we had a nice day when we arrived back and took the opportunity.

Resuming Blogging

Well I am taking up blogging again! It's back to summer time when the weather is nice and we are actually doing things exciting enough to share. Nick and I recently purchased a new camera for our upcoming honeymoon which has inspired me to take more pictures. Now I have a place to easily share all of these photos. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up again with the blog this time ;)