I've been everywhere, man...

We’ve been traveling like crazy since the start of September and the inbetween travel time is busy with work and school and trying to enjoy being married.

Hawaii was wonderful! It was sunny, warm and made me realize that we need to take a vacation every year. Perhaps not one of the magnitude or distance of Hawaii, but take a trip, just the two of us to somewhere we haven’t been before. It was wonderful to explore Hawaii and be on our own schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I love going home or traveling for weddings but it was really nice not to be working around other people’s schedules and being busy every minute of every day; unless we wanted to. We ate pineapple, swam and kayaked in the ocean, hiked Diamond Head, went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and had a few relaxing afternoons by the pool with good books. 

Waikiki Beach

Sunset walk in our Hawaiian best!

Thanks to my awesome friend Brea, Matthew and I got to go to a Packer game at Lambeau Field! Now I’ve been a Packer fan since I was 8 or 9 years old and have always wanted to visit the holy land that is Green Bay, Wisconsin. I’m so thankful that Brea (and her family’s  willingness to share their tickets) could make it happen. It was wonderful to be going to an away game (since we don’t live in Green Bay or even Wisconsin) but being a fan of the home team. Not to mention that the Packers won! Unlike EVERY time we’ve seen the Gophers on the road. An extra bonus was that my brother came over from Madison for the weekend so we got to see Rowan (who is growing up waaaay too fast), Jake and Kayla.  We also got to meet Kayla’s parents, who graciously let us stay with them. Hopefully we didn’t scare them off too much.

Lambeau Field! So excited!

Matthew had a conference  in Ananheim, CA (home of Disneyland in case you didn’t know) and I decided to tag along. It was a wonderful week. The Disneyland Hotel was great! It was convenient to everything, including a bus line for me to take an adventure. Matthew had to dress up, schmooze with the Test community big wigs while I got to lounge by the pool, sleep late, watch bad TV and spend time with my lovely friend Brea. Things worked out pretty well! On Tuesday, I had a relaxing morning watching tv and reading. In the afternoon, I took the bus to Muzeo to see the exhibits there. Their website was misleading (I thought there would be three  exhibits, there was only one open) but I enjoyed seeing the artwork of Dali, Picasso and Goya. After Muzeo, I took the bus into Downtown Fullerton, CA. I walked around until I found a cute little café, got a flat bread sandwich/pizza, and sat outside to relax and read. It was a wonderful adventure and reminded me how much I like doing my own thing sometimes. It was liberating and exciting.  Matthew and I just hung out Tuesday night since he was working on a project for school and working on his presentation for Wednesday. On Wednesday, I took a swim in the pool and laid out for a little bit, got dressed and packed my bag for my trip to Palm Springs, CA! Brea and Kee picked me up and we headed into LA to see the sites. Kee grew up in Hollywood Hills and Sherman Oaks so he was an excellent tour guide. We ate a delicious dinner in a Korean neighborhood and then headed back to Palm Springs. On Thursday, Brea and I got up and went to the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway. The top was a breathtaking view of Palm Springs and the neighboring cities. It was a little chilly up there, which made both of us think about fall in Wisconsin. We came down from the top of the mountain, picked up Kee, grabbed lunch at Santana’s (think Mom&Pop type Mexican restaurant but it’s open 24 hours and has a drive-thru) and drove into Anaheim. Thursday night we went to In-N-Out Burger for dinner which was DELICIOUS. We walked around Downtown Disney and enjoyed looking at all the cute Disney stuff. After our walk, we foolishly thought it would be fun (or warm enough?) to take a swim in the outdoor pool. We swam about 20 minutes before we turned into icicles and went back into the hotel put on jammies and went to sleep. 

Brea and I after our DELICIOUS Korean food!

It was a fantastic week. I loved being somewhere new and different but it’s going to be a welcome change to be back in Pittsburgh for more than one weekend at a time. We’re done being jetsetters for the time being. No more airplane travel for the rest of 2012; just driving home for Christmas in December! Woohoo! I’m excited to see my parents, drive around EC and see my lovely friends!