Category Archives: Family

One Of My Most Hated Things (or At Least I Didn’t Faint)

Yesterday, I had to get some blood work done. When I went in for my annual doctor visit in August, my doctor realized that it had been a few years since I had a comprehensive blood workup done. So she placed an order for everything to be checked out.

I’ve mentioned my issue with needles before, and getting blood work done is one of the things that worries me the most. At least shots are quick. Blood draws take time. And for this blood draw, they had to take 9 vials of blood! That’s a lot (at least to me).

I knew I needed to get this done, but it didn’t make it any easier in the morning. My original plan was to go first thing in the morning to get it done, but I chickened out. I remembered that you should drink a bunch of water before having blood drawn so I told myself I needed to stay home and do that.

I finally left my house around noon and when I got to the hospital, there was a long line. You have to take a number and wait your turn, and when I arrived they were on 31 and I had 64. So I spent about an hour trying to read my book.

When it was finally my turn, I explained to the guy drawing my blood that I’m a faint risk. They reclined the chair so I wouldn’t fall off (it’s happened before). As soon as I put my arm out I started crying pretty hard. I wasn’t scared of the needle as much as I was scared of fainting. But somehow, I made it through the entire thing without passing out!

I was having trouble staying conscious. My vision was getting fuzzy and dark and I know that’s how it gets before I faint. But I was able to stay awake. I have to say that the lab guys there were extremely nice to me as well. The guy who was taking my blood kept counting down the vials (that was so helpful!) and there was another guy talking to me the whole time and fanning my face (I don’t know if that helped but it was a distraction).

After I was done, they actually told me that I did well for a person who has issues with needles. A lot of the time with people like me, they have to hold down their arm because they want to move it. At least I kept still.

I’ve gotten the results back already from 6 of the vials and everything is good! I know that with my weight there are concerns about diabetes but my blood sugar was on the low side of normal. I’m still waiting on my cholesterol but that has historically been low (and if it isn’t this time, I just will have to work on adjusting my diet).

While I’m proud of myself for not fainting, I’m still a little embarrassed that I have such a tough time with needles. While I was getting blood work done in LA, my badass mom had to get blood work done in Northern CA (they had to make sure she was ok for her next chemo treatment and she is). I talked with my mom after we both were done and I know that she didn’t even flinch at the needle. She’s always been tough like that. I wish some of that would have been passed down to me.

But for now, I’m just glad that I didn’t have to tell you all about how I fainted at the blood lab (or how I fell off the chair like I did the last time).

The New Normal (or Worrying From Far Away)

Yesterday was my mom’s first day of chemo. She did awesome, I had a weird day.

I was at work for the day (only a few more days left before unemployment). And my whole shift I was wondering what was happening with my mom. I know that my dad was with her so she wasn’t alone. And I helped her get her laptop set up for Netflix so she could watch tv shows while getting the treatment (she picked out “Orange Is The New Black” and “How I Met Your Mother” as the shows she’ll watch during chemo). But I had the weirdest thoughts in my head.

I was curious if she made any friends in the chemo room. I wanted her to have a good time while there (or as good of a time as you could while getting chemo). I wanted the nurses to be super nice to her (turns out, my mom gave them all triple-layer brownies so they love her even more than they already did).

A friend joked to me that I’m almost worrying about her like a parent worries about their kid on the first day of school.

My mom texted me as soon as she was done yesterday and I also talked to her on the phone, so I know that she’s ok. And I really have no question that she will be ok.

But it’s weird not being there for her and my dad. I’m planning on flying up there sometime next month to hangout and do some more cleaning on my old bedroom (which was turned into a gym about 10 years ago). But somehow I feel like I should be there 24/7.

I know that that isn’t a reality, nor do my parents want me there all the time. But I feel kind of helpless in LA. When I talked to my mom yesterday after her chemo, she was talking about how she was making dinner for the next night so she didn’t have to worry about it then. She shouldn’t have to be making dinners (but she does love to cook so it isn’t a total chore for her). I should be. And yes, I’ve looked into the cost of me making food and shipping it to her and it is beyond ridiculous. Maybe if I win the lottery or something I could do it, but it won’t be happening otherwise.

So for now, I’m just at my house waiting and worrying. I know that eventually, all of this will feel normal to me. I’m just hoping that that eventually comes soon.

Getting In The Ocean (or My Final Day In Maui)

My fear of oceans started in 2000.

I was in the Galapagos for a family trip and we went snorkeling. In the Galapagos, the animals there do not know that they should be fearful of humans. So they will come up to you all a lot. Well, when I went snorkeling, I was in the water and a sea-lion came up to me. I’m sure most people would think that is cool, but when it was in my face, it blew bubbles and me and completely freaked me out. I didn’t go back into the ocean for that trip or for any other trip for the next 13 years.

I tried to get over my fear, but it just didn’t happen. I wanted to try surfing lessons (confront my fear head-on), but every time I scheduled a lesson, the day before there would be a shark sighting very close to where I was supposed to be.

I took it as a sign.

Well, in Maui, I declared that I would make it into the ocean. And on the last day of the trip, I finally had a chance.

We drove over to the hotel my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Steve were staying at. My Aunt Cindy had told me that there was a reef right off the beach at their hotel and it was very easy snorkeling and perfect for a beginner.

It was a very nice beach day, although a little windy and the water was a little choppy.

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Fortunately, the rental house came with snorkel gear, so I didn’t have to worry about renting any. My mom decided to stay at the beach with our stuff (and be the official photographer), so it was me, my dad, and my Aunt Cindy heading out into the water.

My mom got one before shot of us all.

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And then we went into the ocean. I had to get some instructions from my dad about how to get all the snorkel gear on the easiest way, so I sat down in the shallow part to get my fins, mask, and snorkel on to my liking.

I put my face into the water and immediately had a panic attack. I started to hyperventilate a bit and was tearing up. But I was able to get my breath under control and tried again.

For the first part of the snorkeling adventure, I would get panicky if my ears went underwater (because then I could hear my breathing and it freaked me out). But I got much calmer as we went.

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And it was totally worth it! There were a ton of beautiful colorful fish right there! I didn’t like when the fish got close to me, so I tried to stay where it was a bit deeper. I have no idea what the names of any of the fish were, but pretty much all of them were super bright colors. We also saw a school of something like 100 fish right below us (which made my aunt wonder what they were swimming away from).

I thought (and I think everyone else thought) that I would be the first one ready to go back to the beach, but after a while, my dad announced that he was getting a bit tired. So the three of us went back to the shore. Turns out, we were out there for about an hour! Not too bad for my first time in an ocean in 13 years!

After snorkeling we rinsed off at the outdoor showers and met up with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Nancy (who went scuba diving that morning) for lunch. And after lunch, it was time to head back to our place to start packing up!

Of course, we enjoyed out last Maui sunset.

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And finally decided that we should light the tiki torches that were in the backyard.

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I had a really wonderful trip. I got to see so much of the island when we were there. And I felt like I finally got a real vacation! As sad as it was to say goodbye to Maui and the amazing place we stayed in, I was ready to come home.

I hope that you all have enjoyed reading my Maui adventures! I promise to get back to my usual types of blog posts!

Sailing Time (or An Easy Day After The Big Day)

The day after the wedding, my mom had arranged for a sailing trip for our whole group (almost everyone who went to the wedding was able to join us).

I actually never got pictures of the boat, but you can check it out on their website.

I was a bit nervous about going sailing. I haven’t been on a sailboat since 2005 and since I have a tendency to get carsick, I was afraid of getting seasick. But I wasn’t going to let that fear get in my way of having fun.

It was a perfect day to be out on the water!

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The boat was pretty spacious considering it was a sailboat. I spent most of my time sitting on the deck, but there were plenty of seats as well.

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We didn’t really have a destination on this adventure, we just sailed around for 3 hours. There was food served on board, but I didn’t want to risk the seasickness feeling. I’m sure I made the right choice because I never got seasick! I can’t say the same for my brother though.

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After Ross took a nap, he felt better.

I spent most of the sail just taking fun pictures of the group gathered on the boat.

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We even sailed by the rental house!

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You can’t quite see it in this picture, but we were able to find our neighbor’s house pretty easily due to some very colorful flowers they had in their yard.

Toward the end of the sail, the sun started to set.

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It was nice being able to watch the sunset on the water, however it was a bit of a dud sunset. The sky never really lit up like we’ve seen it do before.

Of course, I tried to get some pictures in front of the sunset, but it was getting a bit too dark by then.

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After 3 hours, we headed back to the marina. After the sail, I had to say goodbye to my cousin Adam, Ross’s friends, and Krystle’s family as we weren’t going to see them again on the trip. I’m actually not too sure when I’ll see any of them again, so it was a bit of a sad goodbye.

But I did still have one more day of vacation ahead of me. And tomorrow, I will have photos that prove that I got over my fear of the ocean (at least for that day)!

The Big Event! (or The Reason I’m In Maui)

On Tuesday the 10th, it was finally the wedding day! (BTW, this is a very photo heavy post, but I think you will all love the photos.)

Since the wedding didn’t start until 4:30, my brother and the rest of my family spent the morning relaxing at our rental house.

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My parents and I got ready at the house, but my brother got ready at the hotel he had reserved for that night. We all went to the hotel together and just before we left for the wedding, we got this picture of all of us.

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Yes, I wore that dress to Marie and Chris’s wedding last year, but Krystle wanted me to wear it. Her mom, my mom, and I all wore lace dresses so I think she wanted us to match a bit.

We then drove 5 minutes down the road for the wedding. It looked just as beautiful as it did for the rehearsal the day before.

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While we waited in the air-conditioned bar, guests started to show up. Ross had a couple of friends from elementary school and college there.

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And the guys got him this gift for his wedding.

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Finally, it was time for the wedding to start. I walked with my parents down the aisle and took our seats in the first row. Then Ross was there waiting for his bride.

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Because the sun was in our eyes, it was tough for me to get photos of the wedding (I’m sure the professional photos will look awesome though). I did get one that turned out nicely.

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It was a pretty quick ceremony (they did write their own vows though). And before you knew it, the officiant was announcing the new Dr. and Mrs. Levin!

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We all headed back up the aisle to celebrate the wedding.

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I got a picture with my new sister.

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And of course a picture of the bling.

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Then the family headed over to the side for the official pictures. I tried to snap a couple of my own between shots. This one is of me, my brother, and our cousin Adam.

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Then Ross and Krystle went off to take their photos alone and the rest of us went to enjoy cocktail hour with an amazing sunset.

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Just as cocktail hour was coming to a close, Ross and Krystle joined us again.

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And we headed inside for dinner.

I was seated at the head table with the rest of the immediate family. It was nice that we all got some time to chat because I know how tough it can be at some weddings.

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Dinner was 4 courses (when you counted cake). And it was seriously delicious!

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There wasn’t really a cake cutting (just a photo-op), so I didn’t get any pictures of that.

After the food, it was time for dancing.

There was the traditional first dance.

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And then even though I think technically we weren’t supposed to have music out on the deck where the dance floor was, the wedding coordinator plugged her iPhone into a speaker so we could have some good dance music!

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I spent a lot of the dancing time just catching up with family. We don’t get to see each other all too often, so I take advantage of any time I get.

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I also got this picture with two of Ross’s oldest friends (they’ve all known each other since kindergarten). My dad may or may not have said a pretty dirty word to try to get us to smile (which explains the surprise face on one of Ross’s friends).

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Overall, I’d say it was a pretty great wedding. It was very small, but that made it easy to talk to people. And I think Ross and Krystle were beyond happy with how everything turned out.

I still have a few more Hawaii posts ahead with the rest of my activities, so those will be coming next week!

Rehearsal Time (or A Relaxing Day Of Vacation)

Monday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. In the morning, my brother had to go and get his marriage license (got to make sure it’s official!), so my parents and I spent that time reading by the pool for a few hours.

Once my brother got back, it was time to change into our nice clothes and head over to Kapalua to Merriman’s for the rehearsal. My parents and I had driven by Merriman’s before but it wasn’t open so we hadn’t gotten a chance to see the venue.

It was pretty gorgeous at the ceremony space.

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All my parents and I had to do for the rehearsal was sit in the chairs and watch the rehearsal take place.

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This was the first wedding rehearsal I’ve attended, but I’m pretty sure this was just a standard rehearsal. The guy marrying them just went over the order of the ceremony. Easy peasy.

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After the rehearsal, we got a sneak peek at the reception room. It was getting set up for another wedding, so the tables weren’t what would be there tomorrow, but it gave us an idea of the room.

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After that, the rehearsal was technically over. But we sat at the bar and waited because another wedding was happening at the ceremony site right after that, and we wanted to see how it looked. While we waited, we had some drinks.

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I, of course, had a Dirty Shirley (and water because it was so hot out!).

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After spying on the other wedding for a bit, we headed over to the rehearsal dinner at Lahaina Grill. We had a semi-private room (it was a private alcove in a small part of the restaurant). We got our waiter to take a picture of the entire group.

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The food there was incredible! For a starter, my mom and I split a mozzarella tomato salad (this picture is my half of the salad and it’s still pretty big).

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And for my entrée, I got the pork shank. What I didn’t realize was how huge this thing would be!

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The whole middle of it was the bone, but it was still a huge meal. I ended up taking over half of it home.

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Although we all laughed at my doggy bag because we all thought it said “pork smack” instead of “pork shank” (we might have found that extra funny because of the wine at dinner).

After dinner, Krystle’s family headed back to their condo and my family headed back to the rental house so get a good night sleep before the big day tomorrow!

Driving Around East Maui (or Crossing Things Off My Maui Bucket List)

This day was all about East Maui. My Aunt Nancy decided to join me and my parents (my brother was spending the day with his friends), so the four of us headed out around 9:30am to start the big drive we had ahead.

One of the tourist magazines had an article on driving to Hana. We knew we weren’t going to go all the way to Hana and back (it’s like a 3 or 4 hour trip each way), but we decided to do a bunch of the stops that the article suggested. Also, I had a list of things that I wanted to do while in Maui (take a driving trip, see a waterfall, go snorkeling, drink from a coconut, have shaved ice), so this was going to help me do a bunch of those things.

Our driving adventure was on the Hana Highway and our first stop was to Twin Falls. This was a hike through the jungle and water to get to some waterfalls. The hike there was pretty much all uphill, and when you got close to the waterfalls, you had to go through some knee-deep water.

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But the end result was totally worth it!

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It was so nice and relaxing back there (after I got over my fear of slipping and falling into the water and ruining my phone and camera). We didn’t wear bathing suits so we didn’t go swimming, but just wading out in the water to get to the waterfalls was quite refreshing after the hike uphill.

After walking back through the water and downhill to the parking lot, we decided to enjoy some fresh coconut water.

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I’ve never drunk out of a coconut before, and I have to say that this was so much better than the coconut water you can buy in the grocery store! My mom, dad, and I shared one and it was the perfect after hike treat!

The next stop we made was at Garden of Eden, an arboretum and botanical garden. We drove up to the waterfall viewpoint area.

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And right next to that were some picnic tables with one of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen!

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We had packed some fruit, pita chips, and spinach dip in the car; so we had a snack with a view.

Next on the Hana Highway tour was Puaa Kaa to see another waterfall. You didn’t have to get into the water to see this one, but my dad decided to do it anyway.

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After that, we headed back towards where we started. We made a quick stop at Halfway to Hana for some shaved ice.

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I have to say, I was expecting something very different from what we got. I’ve seen photos of Hawaiian shaved ice where it looks really fluffy and almost like ribbons of snow. This was more like a normal snow cone (but still yummy). I got half strawberry and half banana and shared with my parents (we still couldn’t finish the whole thing).

Our last stop of the day was something that casting director Marci Liroff suggested to me on twitter. We drove up to the top of Haleakala Crater to watch the sunset. There were a couple of viewpoints on the drive up the crater that we stopped at.

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But we made it up to the top (over 10,000 feet above sea level!).

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As you can see, we are all wearing sweaters up there. It was so cold! It felt like the winter in Lake Tahoe (minus the snow). We found an amazing spot to watch the sunset, and it was fabulous.

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And as we headed back to the car, the sky on the other side was so colorful.

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Finally, it was time to head back down the crater and back to West Maui where we were staying. Once we got home, we had been out for about 11 hours, so we were all pretty tired!

But I did get a lot of stuff done on my Maui list! Only snorkeling to go (and we are hoping to maybe do that on our last day here).

Exploring West Maui (or My Dad Found A Coconut With Jesus On It)

Day 2 in Maui was all about going around West Maui (the side of the island that we are staying on).

My brother and his almost wife arrived that morning, so my parents and I went for a walk around the neighborhood while waiting for them to arrive. Just walking down the driveway there were gorgeous views!

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We saw some really nice flowers.

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And as the title of this post suggests, my dad found a coconut with Jesus on it (at least we think that’s what we see in it).

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When my brother and his fiancée got to the rental house, they stopped by to say hello, had a quick snack, and then they were off to spend the day at the beach and at a bar to watch the USC game.

And my parents and I went driving around West Maui to do some sightseeing. My parents have been to Maui before, but this is my first trip to this island (and my first trip back to Hawaii since I was 11).

Our first stop was at Honolua Bay. We just parked at the overlook and checked out the view from there.

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There were a bunch of snorkelers in the water and even from up high we could see lots of fish!

Next, we went to this blowhole that my parents saw on their last trip here. We got a little confused on where we were supposed to park and walk down, but we eventually found our way (with a little help from this sign).

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The blowhole was pretty cool, but it was not easy to photograph because the mist coming up wasn’t too strong.

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We also did a little hike around near the blowhole, but I slipped in some mud and hit my hip pretty hard. I didn’t take pictures there because I was in a lot of pain (3 days later, I’m feeling better but still very sore).

After that, we drove on the “forbidden highway”. It’s called that because it’s a one lane road (meaning one lane for both directions to share) and most rental car companies say that if you drive there, you void your rental agreement.

The road was pretty easy. We didn’t see a ton of cars going the other way, but if we did, one car would always back up to a turnout to let the other car pass.

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For that driving trip, we actually went around the entire circle of West Maui. It was a nice day and I loved getting to see a lot of the island.

We did a BBQ at the rental house that night and enjoyed another wonderful sunset.

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And just after sunset, the moon was super bright and right about the water.

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It was a nice full day of adventure for me!

Coming up tomorrow: East Maui, waterfalls, and giant craters!

Day One In Maui (or The Only Way To Start A Vacation Is In The Hot Tub)

I got to Maui safely on Friday (only minor panic attacks on the plane which was nice). I had a direct flight from Los Angeles, so there was 5.5 hours to spend watching movies that I loaded on my laptop (I only with I had invested in some noise canceling headphones but I will do that one day).

Once I arrived, I called my parents, whose flight landed about an hour before mine and had gone to get the rental car. They came to pick me up at Kahului airport and we were off to the rental house.

I had seen some photos of the rental house before when my mom emailed me the website, but it was way more awesome than I expected!

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It’s so amazing here! I’m so lucky that my parents rented such a cool place for us.

As soon as we arrived, we got a tour from the house managers, but all I could think about was getting into the hot tub. So as soon as the tour was done, we turned on the tub to heat up and we all went to get changed into our swimsuits.

I spent a good majority of my afternoon in there. It felt so wonderful! I also spent a lot of time on those patio chairs reading my book (I’m currently reading “Scarlet”). My parents are both book nerds like me, so we were all super happy to just relax and read.

My Aunt Nancy stopped by our house for some snacks and then it was time to go back into the hot tub!

And of course, as soon as the sun was setting, we had to take some sunset photos.

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I’m finally putting a photo of me in a bathing suit on here! I know it’s not the best photo, but I’m sure in the next week I’ll have plenty more. But I wanted to do this one at least.

Plus, check out my badass mom!

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We were all pretty jet-lagged (and Hawaii is 3 hours behind California time) so we all went to bed pretty early. But considering that I left LA at 9am and took a 5.5 hour flight, I think we got a whole lot done on our first day of vacation!

More fun and adventures to come (plus my brother’s wedding)!

Off On An Adventure (or It’s Hawaii Time!)

Most likely, as you are reading this, I’m on a flight headed to Maui right now. I’ll be there for the next week for my brother’s wedding.

I had a bunch of goals connected to this event. I really wanted to lose a lot of weight, but that didn’t happen. I did lose weight, but nowhere near the amount I wanted to lose.

But you know what? I don’t really care. At this is the first time that I’m not devastated about missing a goal. I’ve done so much good stuff for my body lately that the number on the scale isn’t the be all end all for me anymore (I still weigh myself obsessively, but I don’t focus as much on the number).

I’m excited to spend this next week with a lot of my family. Besides the actual wedding, there will be plenty of other times that I’ll get to hang out with family that I don’t get to see that often.

I’m a little nervous about spending a lot of time in a bathing suit (I wonder if I will ever feel comfortable in one). I’m also nervous about the ocean. I hate swimming in the ocean. I have a fear of any creatures that live in there (even the fish). But I’m hoping to at least try to swim in the ocean, but I’m not going to force myself to do it if I start to get panicky.

But I’m super excited for getting out-of-town and recharging my batteries some more. I got a taste of that during my weekend in Tahoe, but I can’t remember the last time I was away from LA for more than a long weekend. I will be posting on here every day as usual, but besides that I will be trying to stay away from the internet and social media as much as I normally do. It’s so easy to be on vacation and spend the whole time with your face in your phone. I want to focus on the experience of my trip. I don’t get to do things that like that often and I want to fully take advantage of it!

My next post will be from Hawaii!