2 years ago today…

from left to right: Stop at Lumahai Beach before getting ready; T doing my nails; T doing my hair; photos behind our Kauai cottage; My daddy and I; the ceremony; First kiss; rings; cake!

I have to admit it feels longer than just 2 years and I’m pretty sure C would tell you the same.  We’ve had lots of downs and ups.  I won’t sugar coat it.  We aren’t that annoyingly happy couple that has fun together all the time and we don’t pretend to.  But we’ve had lots of great times and awesome memories.  We are constantly moving forward and planning.  I think we will continue to build the life each of us pictured with some bumps along the way.

We got married on the sandy beach of Hanalei on the north shore of Kauai.  This year National Geographic rated it the United State’s number 1 best beach!  Our ceremony was picture perfect.  We had a small reception at the Bali Hai with the 17 people that came to share our special day.  Aren’t we lucky we had 17 people travel 4,000 miles to be with us?

Here’s to 2 years and counting.

Aloha!

© ria for & that's the way life goes, 2009. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: hanalei bay, kauai, wedding anniversary

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I’ve always liked Christmas.  I used to love it, actually.  But as I got older and especially after my mom passed away I just didn’t have the same Christmas spirit.    Last Christmas, just a little over 6 months of being married on Kauai, C and I decided to vacation in Hawaii for Christmas.  To be exact, camp on the island of Kauai.  I was ecstatic because this meant no baking cookies, no frantically searching for presents, no decorating the tree, putting up lights and you know all the rest of that stuff.  So here is the story of Christmas Day at Salt Pond Beach Park located near Hanapepe, Kauai.  It was a day that touched my heart and brought back some of the Christmas Spirit I had lost.  I also felt the meaning of Aloha.

We flew out Christmas Eve and landed at 8pm HST.  By the time we got our rental car and navigated to our camping spot, Salt Pond, it was dark and we were exhausted.  We set up our tiny 2 person tent and quite frankly passed out.

We awoke early the next morning to the roosters crowing (something that takes a bit of getting used to since the island is over run with the little buggers).  Santa hadn’t find us, there were no wrapped presents in the tent, maybe because there was NO ROOM! We had no food except for the protein bars and trail mix we had brought with us.  Oh and a couple packets of ramen noodles, a camping store and pots.  We couldn’t bring propane on the plane so we would need to find a store ASAP.

The view from our home tent for the next week:

It was breathtakingly Hawaii.  (If you have never been to Hawaii I can’t even describe to you what it’s like to be there.  For me it’s like going home.  There is a peace that it  brings to me.)  There were other tents scattered here and there.  Most were locals or wanderers (people who had just picked up and left their previous lives and ended up in paradise).

People had started emerging from their tents and were walking leisurly around the park.   As we walked over to the bathroom an older man dressed raggedly and walking with a slight limp approached us to inform us that his friend would be cooking breakfast shortly.  Now coming from the city that sounds just a little bit strange.  C and I are both sort of paranoid people so we thanked the man and dismissed what he had said.

A short time later C started talking to a Hawaiian man who was probably in his late 30′s with a genuine smile and hearty voice.  His name was Louie and he was unloading his Honda CR-V of propane stoves, woks, propane, and food.  Lots of food.  Eggs, bacon and rice.  There is rice with every meal.  C and I helped him unload making multiple trips from the car to the pavillion.  C asked Louie if there was a store that was open so we could get some fuel for our stove and maybe something to eat.  Louie laughed and told him only for a couple more hours because it was, of course, Christmas.  He offered to drive C to the closest store.  C had come down with a horrific cold that morning and desperately needed some cold meds.

When they got back Louie and a couple locals got right down to business.  They made coffee and handed it out in paper cups to everyone.  While we sipped on hot coffee with cream and sugar they got down to cooking.  One couple from California were also camping and they made french toast.

As soon as there was enough food to feed all of us (about 12-15) Louie asked us to join hands.  We stood around the picnic table loaded down with hot food and food still cooking in the wok as he spoke.  He said he just wanted to share Aloha.  To bring family to people who were away from theirs (I’m getting teary writing this).  At that moment it didn’t matter who we were or where we were from.  Today, we were were a family no matter what our backgrounds were.

A, ala, watchful, alertness
L, lokahi, working with unity
O, oia’i'o, truthful honesty
H, ha’aha’a, humility
A, ahonui, patient perseverance

The holidays aren’t about the cookies, presents or lights.  They are’t about perfect food, alcohol or time off work.  It’s about family.   I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!  I was 4,000 miles away from home and my heart grew 6 times that day, at a little beach park on Kauai.  This year we are staying home to be with our families and to be honest at first I was hesitant.  But as the day grows closer so does my excitement.  My Christmas spirit has been renewed and I can’t wait to sing Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve with my family.

Aloha!

Happy Holidays!

And as my mom used to say during the Christmas season (my parents lived in Hawaii in the ’70s):

Mele Kalikimaka

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Post tags: hanapepe, kauai, mele kalikimaka, memories, salt pond

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I know my creativity for my scrapbooking projects is going to fade. But I got 8 layouts done today and last night! That’s pretty good! Woohoo! I’m almost done scrapping our honeymoon pictures. Note, this does not include my wedding pictures. I haven’t had any of those printed yet! But I got a scrapbook of them from both my aunt and my dad’s girlfriend, so I guess I don’t find the matter pressing. I would like to make one of my own though! Unfortunately, I was too stressed and whatnot that I didn’t keep a journal during our wedding/honeymoon time in Hawaii. Isn’t that awful? I regret it greatly!

So if you are bored here are some pics of what I’ve accomplished:

Check out the rest on my flickr page —->

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Post tags: hawaii, honeymoon, kauai, memories, scrapbooking, wedding

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I’ve been thinking a lot about our wedding lately. But weddings are funny things. I wonder if what I remember about my wedding is really what happened. Am I idealizing it? And if I am, is that wrong?

When I think about our wedding the first thing that I think of is warmth. From the sun, from our family and friends (17 people who really love us or just needed an excuse for a Hawaiian escape), and from the natural energy of the island. The smell of the brilliant flowers on my head and bouquet, the (plumeria) leis we bought our guests and the spider flowers that I was given for the girls to wear in their hair. (June and Linda were kind enough to ignore my bridezilla stress and picked up the leis on the way to help me get ready. They also came bearing snacks of fruit, crackers and cheese. At the ceremony where Amanda graciously handed the leis out. And the owner of the cottage we were renting went to her neighbors to get the spider flowers. BLESS THEM!) It should be mentioned as a side note that maybe everything was sparkley and great because I also had a couple mimosas and half a xanax .

I think I might be dreaming about my wedding again because February is a time of darkness and bad memories. The sun barely comes out and when it does it’s usually below zero. Stupid Winter! And stupid people for living in such cold, forbidding places. It used to be ok you could say “but I have a good job” but after the fall of the Big 3 and the loss of Pfizer and other large companies Michigan is just a sad place. In my city, which is close to Dearborn and other suburban cities that housed many of the workers that were bought out or laid off, there are boatloads of foreclosed homes. What’s really sick is that if my parents wouldn’t have moved back to Michigan I could be sunning myself on the shores of Hawaii. I swear I will never forgive them for the mistake they made almost 3o years ago! Moving from Honolulu to Detroit so my mom could be closer to her family. Pshhh!

Can you imagine who I could have been if I would have grown up in Hawaii. I could be a pro surfer right now. Or an authentic hula dancer (would my legs hurt as bad as they do now from dancing?), oceanographer, fluent in Tagalog, graduate of the University of Hawaii. In truth, I wanted to transfer to U of H in my sophomore year at Wayne State. I requested the course catalog and application. But by this time my Mom was sick and I couldn’t imagine being so far away from home (couldn’t we have at least lived in Cali?). See! If they would have never left I wouldn’t have had that dilemma! Never living it down!

I guess it’s ok though. My life has been pretty amazing even though I tend to complain about it. If I grew up in Hawaii I probably wouldn’t have had my wedding there (um yeah I would have, duh) and I wouldn’t have met C (he’s pretty great), and I probably wouldn’t have found a passion for TKD (though it might have been channeled into something even cooler like surfing…if it wasn’t for those damn sharks).

I still tease my dad about leaving Hawaii. I often wonder if he’d ever want to move back. When we got back in January he asked us when we were moving. Maybe secretly he wanted to move with us. Who can blame him? The sun is warm, the people are friendly, and to me it always feels like home.

© rialeilani for & that's the way life goes, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: family, friends, hawaii, kauai, memories, wedding

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