(Photo cred: Hadley Bea)

Friday evening, Stephen and I were in need of some fun plans, when my cousin Hadley called me and asked if we wanted to take her and some friends to Bridal Veil Falls. It sounded like a good time to me since I haven't been in a really long time and we've been having some seriously great weather lately! Stephen and I enjoyed feeling a bit like parents driving a car full of kids ranging in age from 10-16 and then "hiking" up to the waterfall with them. (I put "hiking" in quotes because if you know me, you know I am MOST DEFINITELY NOT a hiker -- the "jaunt" up to the waterfall took less than 10 minutes ;))

After we spent some time at the waterfall, we went back to my Aunt and Uncles' house for hotdogs and breadsticks!

Thanks for the invite, Had! And thanks for taking the pics :) 

Hi, my name is Hannah, and I'm a Hokulia Addict.

During the summer of 2012, I tested probably 4 or 5 different shave ice places. I didn't intentionally set out to find the best shave ice place around...it just kind of happened. And Hokulia outshot the competition by a mile.

After our ward intramural ultimate frisbee game last Thursday, Stephen and I suggested we should all go to Hokulia. I was SHOCKED to find out that 7 out of the 10 people we were with HADN'T ever been! I felt it was my duty to introduce everyone to the life changing stuff and was adamant that they come along.

Many of you may know that a few weeks ago Stephen went out of town. He was selected as one of 42 people (out of 700 applicants!) to attend a Developing Leadership Summit put on by Capital One Bank. I was EXTREMELY impressed with him for being getting into this all-expenses paid program in Washington DC, but I was a little apprehensive about being apart for FIVE DAYS (seeing as up until this point in our marriage the longest we'd ever been apart was like 18 hours haha). Being the supportive wife that I am, ;) I obviously encouraged him to go and then stressed about what I might be able to do to fill my time while he was away. Luckily I found a few things that helped me survive  in a major way while he was gone.

1. Angie's Kettlecorn. THANK YOU COSTCO. Angie is the perfect best friend when you're in need. For $7.05 Angie will sit with you for hours on end and keep you company, and you won't hear a PEEP of complaint! Angie and I were good friends before Stephen went out of town, but while he was gone we were inseparable BFFS. Do yourself a favor and go make Angie your BFF too. 

2. Netflix. More specifically: Drop Dead Diva. Yes, the premise of the show - "skinny model dies and is reincarnated as a plus-sized lawyer" -  sounds absolutely absurd, but man that show is addicting! Angie and I spent many an hour hanging out with Jane and Stacy and indulging the inner-diva. I dare not reveal just how many hours I spent watching netflix while Stephen was away, but just know it was a lot. ;)

3. Work. One of my coworkers was on vacation so I tried to take on as many shifts as possible! 

4. A Project. I got the idea to make Stephen a video for this birthday and it was the PERFECT project to keep me happily busy. Jess and I had a ton of fun going to the Dollar Tree to buy supplies and then being able to film ourselves inhaling helium. And then when it came time to edit it - it's honestly scary how fast time flies while I'm in the zone video editing! It was a wonderful distraction. Plus it was fun that I was working on something special for Stephen.

5. Blog-a-lot-to-pretend-like-you're-having-tons-of-fun-even-though-he's-away-and-maybe-you'll-be able-to-convince-yourself-that-it's-true. haha. I don't know if I did this consciously or subconsciously, but I blogged 3 out of the 5 days Stephen was gone. Blog posts are a time-consuming thing that I enjoy doing and I think of them as a perfectly productive waste of time. :) And, in all honestly, I really did have fun! 

6. AMAZING FRAMILY. As you might recall, I'm a scaredy cat. And as much as I love my little old basement apartment...when I'm home alone and it's dark, it is creaky and CREEPY (especially when the TV turns on for no apparent reason). I was so so so grateful for friends/family who were willing to let me come spend the night at their house or come spend the night at mine. I was perfectly content with the fact that I didn't ever have to be by myself for very long. Plus I had tons of fun catching up with some friends I hadn't hung out with in a while, skyping with my siblings, and going to a game night with some friends in the ward, even though I was the only one without a +1. ;)

 I really tried to make the most of our time apart, and I'd like to think I did a pretty good job, but the fact remains: life's just best when Stephen is home :)