Fun in the Sun

Today was a fantastic day! Once again, I got up early. *sigh* It was definitely worth it, though! Jessica drove up to my house so we could see if the Eddie surfing competition "would go" or not. Well, it turned out that they called it off, but we decided to pack up and go anyway. The traffic was...well, insane but to be expected. Even though it was called off tons of people showed up. Tons! Parking at Waimea Bay is sparse anyway. Throw in a surfing competition and you've got madness. Where there is usually a park area, there were cars, trucks, tents and news crews. Crazy. I am so glad we went though. Each time the surf gets to about 15-20 foot waves, I say that I want to go just to see. Every time I find some reason not to go. Not today!! It was so, so worth it! 

We started out at what I call the "turtle beach." Jessica was so excited about the waves (who am I kidding, I was excited too!) that she had to pull over so we could get out and take pictures.

After lots of traffic and paying $10 for parking (which is good, believe it or not), we finally made it to Waimea. The waves were fantastic! The reason they called off the competition is because the waves weren't coming in like they wanted them to. We'd get a set of HUGE waves and then there would be nothing for at least 5 minutes. Not good enough for these guys. There were still a bunch of surfers out there - competition or not. 

Ha. Like anyone in their right minds would be out there anyway.

Other than surfers. =P

See that arrow? It's pointing to a helicopter.

All the surfers waiting for the perfect wave.

Ginormous waves. 

And stupid pink hat chick with her friend. Grrr.

I heart this photo.

Aren't they huge?!

Note again the helicopter. It's not actually that close to the water.

That's how TALL the waves were.

Yeah.

The sun finally came out!

I had no idea this guy was in my photo until I uploaded it

I still think it's good, though. Lol!

Shaka Jessica!

Just me. =)

We stopped again on our way for lunch and I caught this photo.

Gorgeous, right? I foresee a new computer background. =)

After watching the huge waves and talented surfers, we headed to Haleiwa for lunch. We ate at the Mexican & Seafood restaurant which I can't remember the actual name of right now. I know it's an odd combination, but it worked out well for us because I don't like seafood! Yeah, it's odd living basically at the beach and not eating seafood....I just can't do it. I've tried. Really. I do eat fish on rare occasions...like once a year. =P Anyway, she got a seafood dish that I can't possibly spell and I got Mexican (carne asada quesadilla, if you must know)!

After our very yummy lunch, we stopped at a few shops and then headed to get shave ice. =) Shave ice is like the best thing ever! If you ever come to Hawaii (and you should!), you have to get shave ice from Matsumoto's in Haleiwa. It is uh-maze-ing. Seriously. And you should get it with ice cream. When you get to the ice cream in the bottom that's been partially flavored by the shave ice it is a yummy goodness. =) Not good for you at all but it's wonderful. If you're on vacation then I think you're allowed to break your diet. 

Then we hopped back in the car and Jessica brought me back to my house where I proceeded to die plant myself on the couch for like 2 hours. I knew I needed a shower since I'd been in the sun all day...and at the beach. There's something about sand, sunscreen and sun that just makes me want a shower. But, I didn't get off my butt for a while. =P When I did, I was surprised by what I saw in the mirror.

Noooooo! Not a sunburn!!!

So sad. I knew, I knew I should have taken sunscreen with me. But I didn't. I did borrow Jessica's, but SPF 15 doesn't cut it on this sister. In my defense, it was slightly cloudy and raining when we left my house and they've been calling for rain so I assumed that I'd be ok. Well, we all know what happens when you assume... *sigh* I had a feeling I was getting burned. I sort of felt it at the beach. Then we were walking around Haleiwa and I could feel it. All you "whiteys" know what I'm talking about. You can feel when you're getting burned. But at this point there wasn't much I could do about it. I had no idea it would be that bad though. 

Me and my after sun lotion with aloe vera are going to be best buds again for a few days. *sigh* At least I keep it in the house, though! Living in Hawaii, that stuff is basically a staple. Joe and I are both super white and prone to sunburns. It's a must. =)

I'm looking forward to tomorrow, even though it's going to be another early morning. We (Jessica and I) are hoping to hit up Pearl Harbor tomorrow. Even though I've been here for nearly a year (*GASP*), I still haven't been. Major FAIL for this history chick. Joe and I meant to go before he deployed, then when he was on R&R... Melissa and I meant to go. And I'm pretty sure my BIL wanted to go while he was here last May. Let's face it, I'm not going to go by myself. So, I'm hoping I get to go tomorrow. Though I'm sure I'll be in tears during the tour. Things take on a deeper meaning as an Army wife. =)

Just so y'all can get an idea of what Waimea was like on a normal day and then today, I'll share two more photos. =)

Normal Day

(December 12, 2010)

Today

(January 20, 2011)

What do you think? Big difference? ;-)

Terrific Thursday!

I had such a great, busy day. I'm so tired I can hardly believe I'm still awake. I am a night owl, though, so I probably shouldn't be surprised. =P

This morning began with a lot of rushing and a little bit of frustration all balled into one. I got up a little early, hoping that I'd get to talk to my hubby before rushing off to the spouses' club luncheon. I had to be there early because I was going to be working a table for voting on our little constitution. Anyway. I waited, and waited... I had breakfast and waited some more. I complained to my bestie. I waited some more. Finally, I set him a message saying what I was going to be up to for the day. I found out tonight that there was a power outage. Go figure.

The rushing around was mainly due to the fact that we were supposed to dress in our "favorite" decade for the luncheon. Well, I wasn't about to buy an outfit/costume just for the luncheon. I figured I'd find something in my closet. Around this time last night, I was running around my house trying to put an outfit together. By this morning, I had basically figured it out but I wasn't too happy with it. I had decided on the '50s since I have a '50s-ish dress. I did some Googling, rummaging and lots of hair-curling and finally wound up with this:

This was taken after the luncheon, so my hair is less curly in the photo. I was seriously running out the door this morning so no time for a photo op. Sad face. Oh, and I wore these shoes:

I thought it worked for the '50s. I think there were 3 people dressed in '50s style: me, Chantal and another lady. Chantal and I decided that I was dressed for a wedding/party (in the '50s of course), she was dressed to go to the ice cream parlour and the other lady was a teenager (she was wearing a poodle skirt). The luncheon was super fun. We learned some dance moves, which was pretty fun. I'm just about the world's worst dancer. I can find the beat, I can count it for you but moving my feet and hips at the same time? Ha. My husband? Awesome dancer. He tried to teach me the Waltz once... I stepped on his feet a bazillion times. *sigh* Anyway, not the point. We had good food, danced and got prizes!! This is what I won:

Yay for Scentsy!! I put like 3 tickets in for that thing. Sooo glad I did! =D

It's a plug in. =) Very Hawaii, too. I'm thinking it'll go in the hallway.

I got this scent with it, but I'm not a fan. I'll be purchasing a different one soon. =)

After the luncheon, I suggested that Chantal and I hit up a surfing competition in Haleiwa! (Don't try to pronounce that in your head... Just don't. ;-)) By the time we got there - like after 2 - it was pretty much over for the day, but I did catch some pictures. It was pretty fun too! They're supposed to be back at it again on Sunday and I really want to go. I mean, why not?! I'm in Hawaii and when am I going to have this chance again? {This is the Army... We can't count on being here too long. =P}

The photos I took aren't that great. I left my camera at home, so they're phone pictures. Plus, the weather wasn't too awesome today... It's a little hard to distinguish the water from the sky. Hopefully, you'll be able to see the guys in the water. You can always click on the picture to make it bigger too. 

Cool, right?! I was so excited to go! I think next time we go, we'll need to get better seats. =) Although, because we were so late we got a pretty awesome parking spot. I guess it evened out. And by the time we were heading out, it was starting to rain. Perfect timing! After that, we ran by an ice cream shop in Halewia... Yum!! We both got Chocolate Macadamia Nut ice cream in waffle bowls... Chocolate just makes everything better. Especially knees that hurt because of less-than-perfect weather. (It's raining now - FINALLY - so that helps too.)

As I was talking to a friend of mine from home [who just met up with my bestie], I realized how much I love and appreciate the friends I've made here. She mentioned how great it was to have someone just completely understand what you're going through - what your life is like. Immediately I thought, "Yep. I totally know that feeling" and all I could think of are the girls I get together with once a week for dinner. Their hubbies are deployed too. I just love it. I honestly wouldn't have met them if I hadn't met up with Chantal a couple of months ago for this whole spouses' club thing. I'd probably be ok, but I'd be much less ok than I am now. I don't hang out with them all the time, I don't talk to them 24/7 but just knowing that they're here for me and they know exactly what I'm going through helps so much. 

All in all, it was a pretty stinkin' great day! And if you wanna see a decent photo of me and Chantal at the surfing competition today (as if you need more proof I was there =P) you can check out her blog. =)

The post for the Fall Foto Contest will be up tomorrow (well, later today for most of you) and I will attempt to keep the poll open longer. Honestly, I haven't figured out what time zone the poll thinks I'm in. I'm pretty sure it has a mind of its own. So, keep an eye out for this week's photos and be prepared to vote! =D