2 Months in Review

The last month or two have been so good to Zack and I. I had a chance to go home and visit my family in Utah, Zack finished out his soccer season strong, we've just found so many things to be grateful for. I never know exactly what to say in these things.. so I'll just post all the pictures.



One of the most amazing things about living here is how close we are to the temple. It has been such an amazing blessing in our lives. As we've spent time at the temple my testimony of eternal families and the love God has for His children has been strengthened beyond words. I know that the temple is the House of the Lord and it is the only place our families can be sealed together for all eternity. As I've spent so much time away from my family and so many people I love, this testimony has been such a comfort to me. I know that once we die, we can be together forever. If you're not familiar with our temples and you want to know more, I encourage you to visit http://mormon.org

Zack and I absolutly LOVE to watch sports together. While we were living in Orem we went to many BYU football and basketball games, as well as Real Salt Lake and the Utah Jazz. Hawaii doesn't offer many sporting events of that nature, but we had the chance to attend the BYU vs University of Hawaii game this weekend. It was a little piece of home for us. The Cougars demolished the Rainbow Warriors with a 41-20 victory. It was such a blast and felt good to be cheering on the Cougars again. Not to mention there was a sunset that matched the victory.

Zack had a week long soccer trip to California last month and I had no intention of staying here alone. Luckily, my parents brought me home to visit with them for a week. It was such a blessing. I definitely needed a good dose of the mountains. However, I was NOT prepared for the snow. It was absolutely perfect to spend time with my family and gave me so much strength and hope when I came back to Hawaii. I only have a few weeks now until I get to go back and we can see so many people we love for the Holidays.

As soon as we got back from our trips, Zack's parents arrived and visited for a week! It was so great to have them here! Not to mention it gave us a good excuse to visit all of the cool touristy spots again. They were such a blessing to have here and they spoiled the crap out of us. My love for them continues to grow and I often ponder how lucky am I to have married into their family. Somehow we didn't take any pictures with them, but I do have pictures of some of the cool places we went.

While Zack's parents were here, he finished up his season! They finished 9-7-2 (9 wins, 7 losses, 2 draws), their winningest season since the program started. It was such a blast to watch Zack play and get to know the other players' wives. Soccer is something he is so passionate about and its such an amazing outlet for him. We are feeling really optimistic about next season!

All in all, its been an amazing few months. We can't believe that it is Christmas time already. This Christmas our hearts are turned to our Savior. He has been so good to us this year, and our gift to him is another year of seeking Him, being prayerful and full of gratitude, and serving our fellow men. I pray that God blesses you all this holiday season with love and joy.

Peace and Love my friends.

Homesick Entry #1

Since we’ve been here, Zack and I have been looking for the good in every situation we’re faced with. We stay positive and try not to get discouraged or frustrated. But, in all honesty this move has been really hard for me. I haven’t been able to find a job yet and it has been really hard being away from my family. I didn’t realize how tough it was going to be. My nephew turned five this week and obviously I missed it. I didn’t get to make him a cake, or help with his party, or anything. The kids are growing up so fast and it makes me so sad to know that I’m missing it.

 I mean the island is beautiful, and there are a lot of fun things to do and see, but I just wish I could be sharing it with my family too. I see fishermen and think Wow Dad would love to do that!  We swim with the sea turtles and I think Mollie and Parker would go crazy for this. Even just laying out in the sun makes me wish my mom and sister were with me.

I know that I am so blessed to be here, and even more blessed to have such an amazing husband with me. I don’t want to discount those things… I am just missing my family like crazy! There have only been a few times I’ve been away from them this long! Luckily, I am going home for about a week at the end of this month! I’m counting down the days! As soon as I get home Zack’s parents get here! Double dose of family! We cannot wait!! Our families have been such an amazing support to us. They have helped us out in so many ways; we can’t thank them enough!

For all those who are considering a move far away from your family, beware. And if you’re considering a move to Hawaii, let me know. I’ll talk you out of it!

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks. I post pictures on Pinterest.com on my Island Life board more often than I post here. If you have a pinterest account follow me! If you don’t, GET ONE!

 Peace and Love my Friends! You are greatly missed.

This is something you ONLY see in Hawaii. This held up traffic for at least an hour.

Another week, another sunburn!

Aloha!

I know that sounds annoying and cliche to people not in or from Hawaii, but that is the formal greeting here. Every time you meet someone they say it. People say it when they go to the pulpit at church... and the congregation shouts it back! However, if you say it in an informal setting, like passing an old lady walking down the street, she WILL laugh at you! So, take that for whatever its worth next time you visit Hawaii.

I watched the movie Blue Crush yesterday. I am starting to reconsider my interest in surfing. If you haven't seen it, its worth watching the last 30 minutes just to see the size of the waves. Terrifying. I did learn, however, that the best surfing is in the winter. The waves are much bigger for some complex scientific reason. Zack and I are looking forward to attending some surfing competitions this winter, just one of the many perks to living on the North Shore.

After being here almost a month, you'd think our skin would start adjusting to the sun. It has not. We went to the beach for like 3 or 4 hours one day and we got fried. Luckily, the humidity in the air is helping us avoid peeling so we're maintaining some sort of tan. Maybe someday we'll just tan instead of burn. Maybe someday.

I didn't take many pictures this week, but I'll upload the two I did.

Mahalo for reading! Love and miss you guys!

 A lot of the locals around here are very protective of the land and don't appreciate all the tourists. Every once in a while there are signs by people's houses with funny things on them. We laugh at this every time we drive by!

Our lizard friend! At the bottom of the stairs there is a planter with all of these flowers and the lizards LOVE THEM! There are easily 50 lizards that live in this planter. This guy is one of the biggest ones we've seen!

ALOHA!!

Two weeks ago Zack and I landed on the beautiful island of Oahu. It was dark when we landed, but as we stepped off the plane we could feel the ocean in the air. The humidity has taken some getting used to, but other than the dripping condensation on the outside of our drinks, we hardly even notice anymore. We pulled up to our new house and could hear the crashing waves.

We are literally on the beach. Its absolutely beautiful. I make sure to take some time each day to sit out there alone. The crashing waves and breeze kind of silence everything else and allow me a minute to breathe. The only downside to living next to the beach is that we're on the EAST side.. which is the side that the sun rises on. At 6:30 every morning the sun reflects off the ocean and into our windows. Also, the neighbors' chickens wake up when the sun comes up. So, as you can imagine its difficult to sleep past 7. Luckily, the night-life around here is... nonexsistant, which makes early to bed early to rise easy.

While we do live in paradise, it hasn't been easy. I think we both went into this move expecting everything to happen quickly and easily, but that hasn't been the case. Its definitely helped me to remember that God has His timetable, and its not always going to match up with mine. I've definitely had to be patient and learn to relax. I'm so lucky to have Zack because he has been so calm and confident through this process and it has definitely helped me. The situation definitely could've put stress on our relationship, but I am so happy to say that it has made us closer.

Last week we decided that we needed to start enjoying this beautiful place that we live! Until my car gets here, we have to take the bus everywhere. This is an adventure in and of itself. The most interesting/bizarre people ride the bus. We were also lucky to have my friend Cece here and she had a car for a week. Between the bus and the car we got to see most of the island. I'll post as many pictures as I have and try to keep posting them more regularly!

I love and miss everyone, but I feel so blessed to be here on this adventure and I'm grateful for your love and support!

These first two pictures are our backyard.

This was a beach we found by accident. It had the biggest waves (not pictured) that we've seen yet on the island.

It rains at least once a day here. We always have awesome storm clouds coming in.

The Laie Temple. So beautiful!

Just enjoying a Sunday on the temple lawn.

Matsumoto's Shave Ice. YUM!

Just an example of the crazy ladies at the bus stop.

Our first papaya. CAN'T love it.

Easily one of the coolest things yet. Swimming with sea turtles. They were everywhere!

Heirloom Ring

As Zack and I began to look at engagment rings, I had a hard time finding a ring that I really loved, one that I felt was just me. He mentioned that his dad had a ring that had belonged to his grandmother who had passed. I was very intrigued and thought we should check it out. When I first saw the ring it was missing a couple stones, including the main stone and it was dirty and looked very old. Obviously, if you know anything about me you know that I fell in love with it. It was everything I'd ever wanted. Zack replaced the missing diamonds, and chose a yellow sapphire for the main stone. I think he must know me better than I know myself. When he proposed the ring took my breath away. It was more beautiful than I had ever imagined.

I visited with Zack's dad, Les, yesterday for a few hours and asked a million questions about the ring and who it belonged to. Let's just say I feel so honored and blessed to have this ring on my finger everyday. The rings were first worn by Les' grandmother who was married in 1921, exactly 90 years ago! His grandfather was an older man when it got married and Les said the rumor had it, the ring was given to him in 1890 as encouragement for him to settle down. It was 30 years later he gave it to his sweetheart. If the rumor is true, that would make my rings 121 years old! That is completely unreal to me!

He shared many stories with me about his ancestors. It was great to hear all the history behind the Dupaix name. I have been so blessed to become part of the tradition and look forward to continuing it!

June! Finally, it feels like SUMMER!

Its been a while since I've posted...too long probably. June was a good month for Zack and me. The beautiful weather gave us a lot of time outside with good friends and family! We feel like we have to make the most of the time we have before  we leave the main land for the islands! I thought I'd share some of our adventures and my favorite photos from this month!

We made a trip up into the mountains to watch the sunset on the Summer Solstice.

The sunset was one of the most pure sunsets I've seen. There were very few clouds and the light was so natural. The way it lit up the lake was just beautiful

We could see the results of the extra moisture this year with the insanely green grass and how far Utah Lake has stretched into the city!

It was so peaceful. The mountains are definitely going to be one of the things I'll miss most about Utah! We've been so blessed to live in such a beautiful place!

For Zack's Birthday we spent the weekend at Panguitch Lake with some friends.

I didn't take many pictures over the weekend, but we did take a few when we stopped at Cedar Breaks on the drive home!

Cheesin' it up!

We've felt so blessed to have the opportunity to spend time with so many people that we love. Our move at the end of the month will be one of the most bittersweet in our lives (and that's saying something). We know that amazing adventures are ahead for us as we say goodbye to our friends and family and look forward to the opportunity to find more.





Mother's Day Trip to Zion

This Mother's Day we continued our tradition of hiking Angel's Landing at Zion National Park. After a looooong and treacherous morning, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon by the river with the kiddies. They are BY FAR my favorite subjects to photograph! I just cannot get enough of them!

They just both have such expressive faces.