Andrew Maui Trip

We just got back from our incredible trip to Maui! It was my first time on the island and I loved every minute of it. It was the first time the Andrew family has gone on a vacation altogether for a while since both Stephen and Will served 2-year missions and everyone is finally back. We left last Saturday the 26th (the day after Christmas) out of LAX. We had a direct flight to Maui and arrived in the late afternoon. We had dinner and went to bed that night.

Sunday we took a nice walk on the boardwalk near the beach and started planning for the week. We all stayed at the Royal Lahaina and had their yummy buffet breakfast each morning. It was nice to get in a great breakfast every day! I especially loved the fresh papaya and pineapple. I am a huge tropical fruit lover so I was in heaven. That afternoon, Dave and I went to a 2-hour timeshare presentation to get a huge discount on our car rental for the week. We were obviously not ready to buy a timeshare for $100,000 (who has that kind of money?!). But it was still interesting to hear about how timeshares work.

Monday we had another walk in the morning, ate a great breakfast, and headed down to the beach. We rented snorkel gear for the week so the boys went snorkeling while I read and relaxed on the beach for a while. It was so nice. That night, Dave and I went to my first luau at our hotel (he gifted that to me for Christmas). I really enjoyed all of the performances! The food was only ok, but that's what you get when you feed the masses. Overall, great night.

On Tuesday, the boys and I woke up early to go on a hike in West Maui. It was called the Waihee Ridge Trail hike and it was probably the hardest hike I have ever been on. Not only was it challenging and steep, but it was muddy the entire time. It probably rained earlier that morning or something. We were literally slipping and sliding our way to the top of this mountain. The views were beautiful from the top, though. I couldn't believe how high we were! After the hike, we went to the Olivine Pools to take a dip and rinse off all the mud from our bodies. It was such a cool place! The waves were crashing up against the rocks, and the pools were gorgeous. We loved that spot. The funny thing is we had to hike down these rocks to get to it, after just completing an intense 5-mile hike in the mud. I was exhausted! After the pools, we stopped at the Nakalele Blowhole which was amazing! I have never seen a blowhole like that before. The water shot straight up in the air every few minutes and it was a cool sight to see. There was also a rock to the right of the blowhole with a heart shape cut out of it which was fun to see. Our last stop was Napili Bay for a snorkeling sesh, although I was a party-pooper and stayed on the beach to watch our stuff and check emails. Overall, it was a very eventful day.

Wednesday was another epic day. We did the Road to Hana! Several people told us not to do it, but we were really curious to see what it was like. And I'm so glad we did. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. Everything was so green, and every few minutes we would have a beautiful view of the ocean and the coast. It took about 2.5 hours to get to our first stop at Wainapanapa State Park, which is a black sand beach. That beach was seriously so cool! I have never seen anything like it before. The greenery surrounding the beach was beautiful as well. There were fresh water caves right by the beach that we went to as well. The boys were adventurous and jumped right in to get the full experience. After the caves, we drove to the Seven Sacred Pools, however we didn't actually see them. Long story short, we followed some people on this hike thinking it would be a short one to see the pools. Nope! We ended up on a 4-mile hike to the Waimoku Falls, which was actually really stunning. We were bummed we went the wrong way, but it turned out to be fine. Once we got done with the hike, it started raining and we wanted to head back to Lahaina before it got dark on the Road to Hana (apparently you don't want to drive it at night... there are probably no street lights). We were so exhausted and hungry (didn't eat lunch) so we stopped for dinner at Da Kitchen on our way back to the hotel. It was a long day, but so glad we got to see everything we did!

Thursday was New Year's Eve so we just relaxed and snorkeled most of the day. We went snorkeling at Lahaina Beach right outside our hotel. We saw some pretty fish and two turtles! The boys and I jumped off Black Rock which was fun. That night, we had a New Year's Eve dinner at Lahaina Grill which was amazing. It was fun to celebrate with a nice meal.

On Friday, it was New Year's Day so we just relaxed on the beach, read books and enjoyed our last day of vacation since we were leaving the next day. We ended the day playing some fun card games. Saturday we went to the beach in the morning, packed and got ready to leave for the airport by 1pm. I was sad to leave, but excited to get back to normal life again. With New York, Christmas, and now this Maui trip, we have been in la-la land for a while. I am excited to get back to a routine and being productive this year.

Here's to 2016!

Palm Springs

This past weekend was President's Day weekend so we we took a trip to Palm Springs with our good friends Sara and Dillon. It was a blast! We stayed at the Marriott Desert Spring Villas which was really nice. I loved how pretty the premises of the hotel were. And the pool was great too!

We only stayed in Palm Springs for two days, so we didn't do much other than lay out at the pool to soak up some rays and walk around downtown Palm Springs (which I have never been to before). We ate at this amazing Mexican restaurant and I had the best green enchiladas of my life. We ended our weekend trip with a stop at the Cabazon outlets and I scored on some great items for my wardrobe.

Overall, it was a fun weekend and now I am craving more friends trips!

Viva Mexico

Dave and I just returned from vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We stayed at this amazing resort called Secrets Capri. You need to check it out! I would highly recommend it. The one complaint I had was the beach... the water was a little brown and there wasn't much sand. I think we had high expectations. But we loved it anyway! Since it had been a while that the two of us have gone on a vacation together, we really wanted to make the most of our trip. All we wanted to do was relax and eat yummy food! Our hotel was all-inclusive which was the best. I think I gained 5 pounds (need to get back to the whole 30 diet and hardcore exercising this week!). They offered a variety of different foods - Italian, Japanese, and of course Mexican! The pool was amazing. The weather was great except we did have a few thunderstorms. One excursion we did was an all-day tour in Tulum - swimming through caves, repelling, zip-lining in the jungle, and visiting the Mayan ruins. It was awesome!

On our way back from Mexico, we took a detour and stopped in Austin, TX for the BYU vs. Texas football game. It was fun to see the University of Texas campus and cheer on our fellow cougs. We ran into a lot of friends from school so it was fun to catch up with them. Did I mention it was HOT?! We were sweaty and sticky the entire day but had to suck it up. The food in Austin was amazing! We had BBQ and tex mex food. I have never had BBQ like I had in Texas! It was definitely an experience. I wish we could've explored the city more, but we only had so much time. We met our good friends Scott and Kylee who live in New York right now and explored the town together. We don't get to see them that often so we thought we would meet in the middle. It was the best!

I am so sad our vacation is already over. We have been looking forward to this trip for a few months and it has now come to an end. Worst part ever! Now it's back to life, back to reality...

Off to Mexico!

Dave and I are off to Mexico in a few days. We are beyond excited! Since Dave started his new job a little over a year ago, things have been extremely busy for him and he hasn't been able to take time off. But a few months ago we figured it would be a perfect time to take a week off during Labor Day weekend, so we booked the trip! Pictures coming your way very soon.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Image via Dream Weddings

Vacation Essentials

I have to admit - packing for a vacation is not my forte. I get so overwhelmed that I end up packing way more than I need. Because we are heading to Mexico in a few days, I have been doing some research on how to pack lightly. Here are a few items to limit myself to!

sam edelman sandals

j.crew hat

rifle paper co. iphone case

stella & dot bag

essie nail polish

Road Trippin' up the Coast

I have had the urge to travel up the coast for some time now, and we finally made it happen this last weekend in celebration of our 3 year anniversary. It was basically the best road trip of our lives! The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and made me appreciate California's beauty more than ever. We started in Malibu and drove north all the way up to Monterey for a duration of 3 days. We wish we had an extra day (or even a week!) but we were still able to check off most of the places that were on our list. The best part was that we pretty much winged the whole trip! We had a list of places we wanted to visit, but we had no idea where we were going to stay on Friday and Saturday. I think that made the trip fun though!

DAY 1:

We left South Pasadena in the late morning, drove through Malibu up to Montecito, and stopped for lunch at this yummy Mexican restaurant called Cava. We didn't spend too much time in the Santa Barbara area since we were just there last May. But we sure do love that area!

Our first stop was Solvang. It was a beautiful drive from Santa Barbara with lots of hills and land all around us. It felt like we were in a different state for a second! Solvang is the most adorable little Danish town. We spent a few hours there exploring, taking pictures, eating ice cream, and walking along the cute streets. They had the cutest bakeries and shops. It definitely took me back to my Danish roots! We loved it there.

We then made our way back to the coast and drove up to Morro Bay to stay there for the night. We watched the sunset on the beach and headed to our hotel. 

DAY 2:

We booked a tour at Hearst Castle for 10am on Saturday. It was so worth it! We are so glad we didn't miss the opportunity to explore this beautiful place. We spent about three hours there but we could've stayed the entire day. The views and architecture were amazing. I especially loved the gardens and the guest houses that looked like little cottages.

And of course we needed to stop at Point Lobos to see the massive elephant seals lying on the beach. They were hilarious as we observed them interacting with each other!

Big Sur was our next stop. WOW. I can't even begin to describe the beauty we saw in Big Sur. The views were unreal! We stopped at Pfieffer State Park for a quick 2-mile hike in the redwoods which was really fun. We then stopped at Bixby Bridge with this incredible view. Loved every minute!

After we drove through Big Sur, we stopped in Carmel for the night. It is the cutest little town. Everything is so quaint and cottage-like. It reminded me of my hometown a little. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant called Yafa. It was delicious! We were so tired and dirty from the day that we couldn't wait to go to bed that night.

DAY 3:

We drove up from Carmel to Monterey, which is only about 20 minutes. It was perfect! The only thing we really wanted to do in Monterey was check out the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. We felt like kids again as we got excited to see the sea otters, jellyfish, sharks, and other sea creatures. It was a lot of fun. I highly recommend this aquarium, especially for the kids!

After we explored the aquarium, we ate lunch and figured it was time to go home before we hit Sunday night traffic in LA. We decided to take PCH on the way home because we couldn't get enough of the views. Overall, we made some of the best memories on this trip. It was one of our best weekends yet.

And that's a wrap!

Montecito

We spent our Memorial Day weekend in beautiful Montecito for a couples retreat. It was the best time! I have only been to Santa Barbara once before this trip, but I didn't get to explore it as much as we did. It is a beautiful beach town with amazing houses. And there is so much greenery!

The whole weekend was spent relaxing, going to the beach, playing tennis, jacuzzi-ing, exploring downtown Santa Barbara, eating at amazing restaurants, and staying up late chatting. We had so much fun with our friends and so grateful they let us stay at their vacation home.

Hope your Memorial Day weekend was amazing! Now back to real life...

Utah

This last week we went to Snowbird in Utah with my family. It was a great time! Both Dave and I hadn' been to Snowbird in 3 years, so we were definitely due for a trip! I love going to Utah in the winter because California doesn't have one. It was fun playing in the snow and cuddling up inside by the fire. All in all, it was a great trip!

San Francisco

A few days after Christmas, Dave and I went on a little weekend getaway to San Francisco and had the time of our lives. We were long overdue for a vacation. We went to the BYU vs. Washington bowl game and explored the city. It was a much needed weekend trip. We had a blast!

Lake Powell

Growing up, my family and I took a trip to Lake Powell almost every year. I seriously love it there - there's something so calming and relaxing about it. Not to mention BEAUTIFUL! My family and I went this past July and it was the perfect quick getaway trip I was looking for. Dave couldn't come sadly, so it was hard being there without him. But I still had fun. I had not gone on a vacation in MONTHS so it was nice to unwind and relax. I actually really enjoyed just laying on my raft in the middle of the lake all day. It was so fun spending time with my cousins, aunts, and uncles on the Kimball side.Next year we're hoping to go again for a week and Dave will for sure be there this time around!

The Big Apple

This post is extremely late, but I wanted to express how much I love New York City! Dave had a week-long training he needed to attend for his new job back in June, and I decided to tag along with him. We had the best time. I loved visiting with some close friends of mine and was lucky that they wanted to explore the city with me. I think it would be fun to live in the city and every time I visit I want to stay! Dave and I have always thought it would be fun to live in a different place for a few years, whether it's out of the state or out of the country (not including Utah since we went there for school). Who knows, maybe our dreams will come true some day!

Paradise

Dave and I took a pre-graduation trip to Kauai a few months ago in January. And it really was paradise. It was a very fun trip, with just the two of us. We really needed this break! When we arrived at our hotel at the Grand Hyatt, we almost felt too spoiled to be there. The hotel was amazing. The beach was amazing. The pool was amazing. Not to mention the water slide! (yes, we did in fact go down the slide at least a couple times a day) We started the week off relaxing at the beach and private lagoon. And there was hardly anyone there! It almost felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Upon arrival, we decided we wanted to plan our week. We only had 7 days! So we decided to splurge on 3 excursions, after much contemplating: dinner cruise along the Na Pali Coast, kayaking up the wailua river, and zip lining. Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it went over our budget. But it was all so worth it!

We do not regret going on those fun adventures. It made our trip! We are adventurous people and love to live life, so we thought 'why not do something you we have never done?' We have both kayaked, but never zip lined or see the Na Pali Coast. It was so worth it! If you ever go to Kauai, you must see the beautiful Na Pali Coast. It really was breathtaking. And while on the cruise, I have never seen so many WHALES! It was crazy! All in all, it was a great trip to celebrate our BYU journey. Here are some highlights from the trip: