Happy Marriage & Mama Visits!

My employer, Hula Grill, just had their 18th year anniversary. To celebrate, they closed down the restaurant from 3-5pm and invited all the employees, regulars, home office personnel, and everyone who has helped make Hula Grill successful. Our chef Bobby Masters made his infamous Sangria, the kitchen provided free pupus (appetizers), free wine and beer, live entertainment, and ohana time (ohana=family).

Lovin' on the sangria. My favorite part were the chunks of alcohol infused strawberries, lychees,  and tangerines!

Boys table haha

Live music
P.S. Hula Grill is the only restaurant on Maui that offers live music from open to close

Hula Dancers

Jam packed restaurant

     Hula Grill also adopted a part of the main Highway 30 to take care of. Every few months they organize a highway clean up day and provide lunch and a BBQ at nearby beach park Launiupoko. Unfortunately, this latest one seemed to fall on a very inopportune day because instead of the usual 10-15 helpers for the clean up (out of the 130+ employees), only 6 of us came :-/ This was my first time helping with the clean up. Usually I have to work on the days of the clean up but this time I was off! It's very surprising how disgusting the side of the highway is. While your driving along at 45mph+, it looks fairly clean and litter-free. But when you get up close and personal with it, it's pretty bad! Other than the obvious starbucks cups, McDonald's bags, and cigarette butts, I was surprised the things we found! Countless dirty panties and boxers. Makes you wonder... did they just ditch their undergarments and walk around naked the rest of the time? Why would you leave your dirty unmentionables on the side of the road?!?

      Along our designated section of the highway, there are many little fishing spots or hideouts where people pull over and camp out for a day or two. And for some reason they never seem to clean up after themselves... Diapers, spoons, bags, food containers, toilet paper (ughh), matches, foil, beer cans or bottles, etc. With so few helpers on this highway clean up day, we had to focus more of the big things rather than all the small papers and biodegradable materials that littered the highway side. Many cars and vans passing by beeped for us and threw a shaka out the window (that's not litter, that's the hang-loose hand sign haha) in gratitude for our efforts to keep their 'aina (land) clean and beautiful. It was nice to see so many people thankful. I like to think those people didn't have anything to do with all of the garbage we were cleaning up... But I understand sometimes with all your windows down, empty containers or paper may go flying out the window and its pretty hard to stop and go find where it flew off to. That's why it is necessary to periodically do our part in keeping this paradise a true paradise and trash-free.

I've heard stories of the interesting things past employees have found along the highway or during beach clean ups. It's become a bit of an competition to find the coolest thing on the side of the road. Best thing I've heard in the past was some one finding a machete... haha locals.. Many people find money too. We didn't discover anything that cool this time. But a few TV's were kinda weird to find in the bushes. Woulda never known they were there just driving along. Who dumps their 3 TV sets in a bush along the road...

Jon and I have worked out our schedules pretty nicely lately. Now I get three full days off in a row (from waitressing) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Jon usually has those three days completely off but sometimes works Thursday night. It's given us freedom to go for a hike, go run errands in town (Kahului which is and hour away), go out to eat, go on walks, make dinner together, see a movie. On the mainland, I did not have any days completely off. I worked 7 days a week at some job somewhere. Maui hasn't just made me happier in life but in my marriage. We've gotten to know each other even more here. Life as a married couple is different when your emotional side of life is drained and unhappy (mainland) compared to be overwhelmed with happiness and thankful for the blessed life being here in Maui. Plus there is so much more to do in Maui and experience together than there was in Sacramento. Here are some photos from our times off together.

We love to walk down to the Farmer's market in Honokawai where they serve acai bowls. I get an acia bowl, he gets a sand which or some hummus and crackers and we snack at the beach park across the street.

We have fun together...

Photo montage of the views along our walk to the market

Another favorite hobby is going to his work, Pineapple Grill, to get lunch and read in our Italy travel books and plan our trip to Italy

After getting lunch at Pineapple we'll walk down to Kapalua Beach and nap off our buzz

He'll sometimes run down a few miles to a beach and I'll meet him there with the car and hang out on the beach together 

Sun Halo, can you see it?

We have our morning coffee together (well I have coffee and he has a protein shake) on our lanai and chit chat while enjoying God's beautiful creation

Every few weeks we'll go out to a nice dinner or just go to a nice restaurant and  get pupus and some wine.

This time was in Lahaina at David Paul's where Jon's cousin Scott works

Or we'll just walk down to the beach one minute from our condo and play in the water

Boy oh boy do I love this man. I'm so blessed to have found my soul mate so young. I know it is socially unacceptable (but really it's just misunderstood) to get married young. But if you found the love that I found with this guy, you woulda gotten married at my young age of 20 also. huh, it's been 2 1/2 years and we aren't divorced yet! Now that's socially weird now a days... :D

With my blessed happiness in my new life here in Maui, I still miss my family sooo much. We were very close so it's been an adjustment for them and us. And with our big trip to Italy this year, a trip over to the mainland doesn't seem probable. BUT!! My mommy came to visit last week :) :) :)

The first day she flew into Maui, my aunt (her sister) picked her up from the airport because I was working. I got off early and came over to my aunts to pick up my mom and bring her to my condo to stay with us for a few days. I called to let her know I was on my way over and when I arrived (15 minutes later) she was waiting outside for me! Haha who knows how long she awaited my arrival. I gave her a big hug and she teared up in happiness :)

We had a big day planned the next day. We drove out to Paia, 
my personal favorite little town in Maui. It's a hippie town on the way to Hana. Literally, hippies everywhere. Everyone in yoga wear, long dread locked hair, hair armpits, smelly B.O., organic food and shops everywhere, and a free feeling of enjoying every moment of life is in the air... I love it. The best part about Paia though is the food! We went to Cafe Mambo for lunch. Then my mom had her first gelato experience, except we all mostly ordered sorbetto. Gelato differs from ice cream in the density. There is less air so more flavor :) Sorbetto is the italian version of sorbet, the non dairy option. I love gelato and sorbetto, and extremely excited to get real gelato in Italy in a few months. 

 Then we heaed over to Wailea, about an hour from Paia. This week they were holding the Maui Film Festival. For $20 you get free parking, bring your beach chairs and blankets, pack up as much food and booze you desire, and lay out in front of a huge big screen set up in the middle of a golf course. They premiere a movie not yet out in theaters yet with a celebrity there to present the film. The evening that we went they were showing Josh Radnor's triple threat film Liberal Arts. He directed, wrote, and starred in this film. He is 'Ted Mosby' from the TV show: How I Met Your Mother . It was so fun! It reminded me of the drive in movies that I used to frequent when I was younger... but much better.

We had GREAT seats

We walked up the nearby hill to watch the sunset before the movie started

They did a short hula for us after the Hawaiian blessing by an elder.

Josh Radnor

 The next morning we went down to the Farmer's Market so I could share my newest obsession with my mom: an acai bowl. A fruit smoothie with granola on top and bottom with fresh Maui cut strawberries and bananas on top. We ate it across from the beach park and then went into a few of the shops nearby.

Cute

 Then I took her to the hidden turtle beach I showed Jon's parents when they were here.  When I usually go it's closer to sunset. But this time it was afternoon time so the 3-5 turtles were not sleeping on the beach for you so gawk at in awe, but they were swimming around the small bay area in front of the beach. Except there were more like a dozen turtles out there! It was adorable to see them flopping around upside down, popping their head out of the water, their fins pushing them along. It was unfortunate that she didn't get to see them up close and personal while they rest on the beach but it was still a cool experience to see them swimming around only a few feet away from us.

My brother Shane called to catch up with my mom while we were at the beach :D. While she chatted I found this TINY sand crab (dead) and tried to set up a cool pic of him looking out at the ocean.

At the turtle beach. From these rocks, I see a lady with luscious long hair on top of her lover kissing him... can you see it?

 That night I taught Zumba as my mom napped. Then afterwards we had dinner together and watched one of our favorite movies Burlesque that we'd seen in the theaters back in Sacramento together. The next day my mom and I walked down to the beach park that our condo overlooks to chat while Jonny worked out and did his thing. Then we met back up with him and went down to one of our favorite walking trails in Kapalua. It's a sweet little trail along the Kapalua Beach (nicknamed the wedding beach on account that there is a wedding there every evening at sunset), up along the black lava rocks, and down the boardwalk of the next beach Ironwoods. It then continues further down past the Ritz Carlton and to Flemings Beach, but we took the road that circled us back around to our car.

It's nice and breezy. Overlooking Ironwoods and the boardwalk.

Apparently I tilt my head in a lot of pictures, so she was copying me. I probably do that to keep my hair out of my face!

Up along the road above the trail

<3 him

That evening we went out with my aunt and uncle to the newish restuarant 100 wines. It's a really cool concept. It's a menu based on sharing. There are mostly tapas, flatbread pizzas, cheese plates,  Eupoean styled hors d'ourves, etc. They offer many wines by the glass. 7 different wines from 7 different countries, and 9 different wines from 9 different grapes. Their bottles are all set out in the middle of the restaurant for you to physically browse before deciding on getting a bottle. The bottles are tiered in $25 and under, $35, and $45 and up. We shared a bottle and many scrumptiously deliciously rich plates. 

 Then we went down to Lahaina along Front Street for the Art Walk. We meandered through the art galleries who stay open late and provide live musicians and free wine. Jon and I showed my mom our favorite galleries and stopped in a few shops. 

My mom, aunt, and uncle came into my work on Sunday for lunch

        Unfortunately I had to get back to reality and make some money. So I went back to work for the next 4 days while my mom spent time with her sister. On Monday I got off a bit early so I picked her up and we met a few good friends at Hula Grill after their shift to share a bottle of wine and get to know each other. Afterwards my mom and I went to my favorite yoga studio, Island Spirit Yoga, so she could experience yoga for the first time. What betta place than Maui?! 
      Now because I already work out and get my cardio and toning from Zumba, I do yoga for the rest, relaxation, and soft stretches. I took my mom to a Gentle Yoga class. They provide blocks, bolsters (big pillows), blankets, straps, and eye pillows to help you relax in the best way possible in the given stretches. The talented insturctors come around and massage you gently and rub stimulating oils on your neck, ears, hands, chest, feet, etc. There's relaxing music softly playing in the background. Instead of flowing through pose after pose after pose according to your breath, gentle yoga is a; find a position, prop yourself up with blocks or bolsters so you don't have to put too much effort into it, and just lay in that position for 5 minutes, then move to the next. I utterly adore it for the relaxation and slowly challenging moves for my lack of flexibility since my dance days. So I thought my mom would enjoy it for her first yoga experience. And she did! She felt like she just had a massage, she was just so relaxed! Unfortunately there really aren't that many of these gentle or restorative yoga classes in Sacramento, and my mama is a busy lady, so her yoga experiences will probably just be limited to those in Maui.

      My next day off was Wednesday and my mom had to fly home on Thursday. So for her last day, we went down to Lahaina. She got all motherly on me and bought me some proper shoes for my slow deteriorating arches in Ka'anapali, then we went down to Front Street for lunch at Kimo's, a sister restaurant of Hula Grill. We shared a delicious sand which and then got their recently created Hula Pie with caramel and chocolatey-caramel candies inside the ice cream cake. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Afterwards we went to a movie. Rock of Ages. We usually enjoy the celebrity musicals with dancing and everything, but this movie wasn't was the previews caused us to expect. It's pretty raunchy... haha. So we were a little let down by the movie but enjoyed our time together! We ended the evening at my aunt and uncles for dinner. The next day we dropped her at the airport and said our goodbyes until next time... 

It was so nice to see my mom and catch up on life. She got to see why this place means so much to me and how it's changed my life and me. She sees how happy I am here and it makes it a little easier for her to be okay with me living so far away :) I miss her and all of our family. It's always a constant battle between missing family but being so content in my life here. That's why I need more family to visit me!! AHEMMMM family reading this... come visit me :) 

MAUI NO KA OI