Monday, June 10, 2013

Aloha!

Good morning friends! 

I have an overdue post that I really want to write and share about. We went to Hawaii back in April, and I have yet to share any photos from our awesome trip! Chris's company, SunLife Financial, awards the reps who meet goal every year by sending them and their spouse on an awesome company reward trip. This year, the trip was in Maui, Hawaii!! Chris made goal, and even sold enough to earn us an extra day in Hawaii, which they call bonus day. Woo Hoo! One proud wife right here. So off we went to Hawaii!


When we arrived, the sun was setting and we were greeted with real flowered leis!

We went out three days before the company part of the trip started, so we could have a little time on our own. We stayed at the Grand Waliea in Maui, and I must say that it was BEAUTIFUL!! This was our view every morning:


I could get used to waking up to this every morning. Yes, please!

Our first night there, we went to dinner at Bistro Molokini. We were pretty exhausted from the flight and time difference (It was 5:00 in Maui, but 10:00 in Nashville), but we still enjoyed a yummy, relaxing dinner and walked around the property after dinner.


The next day we started our morning at the spa for a couples massage and then spent the afternoon on the beach for some much needed, relaxation time! The beaches there are just gorgeous! 

On our way to the spa!

Lunch by the pool!

Beach day fun :)

That night we went up the road to a local restaurant called the Monkey Pod and had a good time eating some yummy fish tacos and lobster pizza! 

My most favorite part of the trip was the Road to Hana adventure! The Road to Hana is a must do if you visit Maui. You spend the day riding up the mountain to a little town called Hana. Along the way, you stop at other little towns to do some local shopping and enjoy some local foods. There are also several hiking and waterfall stops. The views on this trip are astonishing. They were some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Here are some pictures from our wonderful day traveling to Hana!

Breakfast stop!

Walking around doing a little local shopping.

Chris with our Christmas ornament. We collect an ornament from every place we visit! 

Enjoying the ride :)




Gorgeous views!!

We hiked to a waterfall!

Black sand beach..pretty cool to see!



A friend of ours who used to live in Maui told us that we must stop at Coconut Glens for his homemade coconut ice cream, and I am so glad we did! It was DELICIOUS!!

We had an absolute BLAST doing the Road to Hana. We also stopped to explore a cave, had a picnic lunch overlooking the beach, and bought some yummy homemade banana nut bread. It was an all day adventure, and we had so much fun along the way!!

That night, we went to Humuhumunukunukuapuaa back at the Grand Waliea. This restaurant is named after the state fish, and it is on a saltwater lagoon filled with tropical fish. It was hands down the best meal I have ever had. 




Beautiful food presentations!

The next day was "bonus day" for Chris's company, so we had to say goodbye to the Grand Waliea and check in to the Hyatt Regency. That night, the company hosted a dinner reception and dance party at the hotel overlooking the beach. We had a great time catching up with all of Chris's co-workers and enjoyed the food and music.



Unfortunately, I had to fly back home the next day and Chris stayed for the remainder of the company trip. My school had state testing the next week, so I had to leave early to make it back to work. Chris got to enjoy a few more days of beautiful Hawaii (which of course he took no pictures of). It was such a great trip, and I feel so blessed to have had to opportunity to go!! I hope you enjoyed reading and reminiscing our trip with me! 

Happy Monday!!

-Anna 

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

SWEET new blog!

Hello blogger friends!!


After a long break from blogging, I am back at it. The last time I posted was last July! Crazy. I got so consumed with my new teaching job I started last August that I just stopped blogging..even though I had more to blog about than ever at that point! I also was never pleased with my prior blog "theme and title," which led me to do some shopping on Etsy. Hillary, from Simply Yours Design, installed my new and improved blog template. I decided to go with a sweet theme because that is going to be my new classroom theme next year, and well, because I think I have a pretty SWEET (I know, cheesy) life and want to get back to sharing and writing about all the sweet things going on in my life. 

So..what do you think, do you like the new blog template?! I am still wanting to add a few things to it.. but I am not so blog savvy. Hopefully I can get some more help from Simply Your Design's Etsy shop. Now that I am out for summer (Whoo Hoo!!), I am hoping to start blogging on a regular basis. I want to share my thoughts, recipes, classroom ideas, and all the fun things going in my life! 

Today was the last day of school (half day, thank goodness), and I am so happy to be out for summer for a number of reasons. The first being that we are moving into our new house this summer!! I am beyond excited to finally be moving into our first home together. We bought the house back in April and will be moving in June 21. Just a few short weeks away! Take a look at the new White home...


Isn't it adorable?!!?


It is in the Sylvan Park neighborhood in Nashville (close to the West End Area), where a few of our favorite restaurants are located in Nashville. My sister, Jennifer (who is an amazing interior decorator and owner of new store Simply Southern), came up to Nashville last week to help me pick out new furniture, paint colors, and fabrics for our new cozy home. I cannot wait to get in there start decorating! I will post pictures along the way of course. 

So that's my main summer project..organizing and packing up our current townhouse and getting ready to move in to our quaint cottage! Speaking of.. I am about to start cleaning out the guest bedroom closet! 

I am so excited to be back in the blogging world! Happy reading!

 
Simply Yours Blog Designs