Hawaii - Part 1

For the last month I've been terrible at reading my friend's blogs and writing in my own. Not toooo much is going on these days except being incredibly busy. We went to Hawaii the first week of March and since I haven't even posted photos anywhere else, I'm going to tell you about that adventure.

I may also touch on the depths of sadness that wash over us on a daily basis since. I love Hawaii and Justin and I are already making plans to move there in 2013. : )

DAY 1
Justin and I drove to Bellingham to catch our 5 pmish flight. We got such a good deal because Alaska just began direct service from Bellingham to Honolulu. My good friend Taune was nice enough to let us park at her apartment and drive us to the tiny B-ham airport.

We got into Honolulu at 10 pmish and got to our vacation rental in Kailua after 11. The room we had was...not great. Not at all. That's what you get for being cheap I guess.

DAY 2
We went to Mokes Bread & Breakfast for breakfast. At this time, Justin first fell in love with an island dish called Loco Moco (a combination of rice, egg, hamburger and gravy). After breakfast, we drove to University of Hawaii's Aloha Stadium in Honololu for the Wednesday swap meet. I've never been to a swap meet so large! I bought the most delicious pineapple covered with a red seasoning called Li Hing and Justin bought a coconut. News to me: I hate Coconut water/ milk. I also hate fresh coconut.

 After the swap meet, we stopped at Costco to stock up on cheap alcohol. And oh man is the alcohol cheap!! Gallons for nearly nothing compared to Washington. Hawaiian Costco also has an entire aisle dedicated to macadamia nut products. It's pretty magical.

Since the sun was out we decided a trip to the beach was a requirement. We stopped at Ala Moana beach, which certainly isn't the most magnificent beach around, but it was great to be in the sun and near the water.

After the beach we headed back to Kailua and got a lot of much-needed items at the drug store and then ate dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We weren't aware of all the great dining options yet - if we had been I wouldn't have chosen a random Thai place. We ended the night with a drink at a sport's bar.

 DAY 3
On Thursday we decided a trip to the North Shore was a must do. We headed along the east coast and up north. Along the way we stopped at beaches and took in the sights. At one beach we tried hopelessly to get photos of sea turtles, but they allusive little bitches.

We stopped at the Polynesian Cultural Center, but it doesn't have a lot to offer if you aren't paying to do something there - except these cool tiki statues.

We briefly drove through BYU's Hawaiian campus. I am obviously not Mormon, but the Mormon's have my respect for thinking to put a campus in paradise. Funny enough their other campuses are in Utah and Idaho, which I would define as the opposite of paradise.

Eventually we ended up at the city of Halei'wa, which is a quaint little beach town with lots of cute shops and restaurants. A friend recommended a Mexican restaurant called Cholo's, so we stopped there for lunch. I am very impressed by their name, but found their food really underwhelming. You win some, you lose some.

After stopping in Hale'iwa we moved on to the Dole Plantation. I am a big fan of pineapple and learning new things, but the Dole Plantation is not a place I would recommend if you have anything else to do. It consisted of a large area to buy things and attractions that are pretty lame after all the pineapples have been harvested. We did hop on the Pineapple Express train ride, which is still pretty lame when there are no pineapples to look at.

After a ride on the express we made our way back to Kailua. Kailua has a farmer's market on Thursday nights, so we headed to the market to check it out and eat dinner. Justin got kalua pork, I got crab corn chowder and we both got lumpia (that took fooooreeeever to make). I also snacked on a delicious Pineapple Vanilla OnoPop for dessert.

That's it for Round 1 of Hawaii. Stay tuned for the next installment!

A Tale of Two Fatties: Past & Future

My goal to lose weight is inspired by currently being pretty husky. Blogging about it at least once is inspired by this chick and this chick. Please join me on a historical journey through the history of Justin & I being fat...and not that fat. Then look at our goals and cheer us on.

Justin and I both started out as dramatically gorgeous babies and children (sorry no photos available, so just believe me). After age 6 or 7 we plumped up significantly.  I've never been a "skinny" person. Actually, up until my senior year of high school I was overweight practically my whole life. I started exercising like crazy and eating less as a senior and maybe got down to 130...for like a day. By the time I left for college I had already gained some weight back. Causing my mother to ask if I'd already gained the Freshman 15. Thanks, Mom!

Justin played football in high school, so he was pretty fit the entire time. In fact, I'm convinced if Justin and I had gone to high school together we would not have even spoken to one another. Cuz he was a cool kid and I was not. Haha

We dressed like this every day

Heeeey, what's your name?

When I got to college I remained on the chunkier side until I slimmed down slightly after...sophomore year? I have no idea how much I weighed at any given time. I will guess I hovered between 145 and 155? Between sophomore and senior year of college I think I felt pretty good about myself. Probably wanted to lose some weight, but nothing drastic.

Justin was on the svelte side for some time after he got out of college. He stopped smoking at some point and the plumping began. Apparently, smoking is good for something.

	Nice helmet



Justin and I looked roughly the same as above when we met. He was pretty overweight and I was okay. I wanted to lose weight, but probably weighed slightly under or over 160. My first job out of college put me on the road and away from Seattle 6 days a week. I think the sadness of this caused Justin to not eat for 8 months. He lost roughly 50 pounds during that time.

Awkward pose	Good work, sir

Look at us lookin' good together

I had hoped to lose weight for our wedding in September '09, but that didn't really happen. I didn't look too bad, so it's okay. After we got married we settled back into our routine. We went on our honeymoon in December, which was filled with lots and lots of food. I think that started the slippery slope. By the time I knew it I weighed nearly 190 pounds by May '10.

I feel like my weight gain effects every aspect of my life. Naturally, I feel much less attractive, which makes me less outgoing. I don't want to meet new people. I have no energy for exercise or physical activity and I hate getting dressed in the morning. I'm also mad at myself for gaining so much weight in such a short period of time. If I'd just been paying attention and got on a scale! I know I have to lose weight to feel good about myself again. The only positive about the way my body gains weight is that my boobs grow exponentially with the rest of me. : )

Now, it is January 2011 and this is what Justin and I look like:


198 lbs	280 lbs

Our Goals

My goal is to lose at least 25 pounds by the end of April and an additional 15 or 20 pounds by the end of June. My goal weight would be 150 or 145 pounds, but anything significantly less than now is an improvement. Justin wants to lose 50 pounds eventually, taking him down to 23o pounds.

I don't really have a strategy planned. Honestly, I eat pretty terribly and way too much at times. I plan on exercising at least 4 times a week in some way and just eating sensibly. Also, drinking a lot more water.

I hope you will encourage me along the way. I don't plan on blogging about any weight loss very often, but motivation from my friends and family would be great! I also would love to do more active things. So, instead of getting dinner or going to a movie, maybe we can go for a walk around Greenlake?

Thanks for reading!