All I have to say is O M G! I haven't blogged in like a YEAR, literally. But no worries, im back and ya'll have A LOT to catch up on. It's been a crazy year filled with new friends, relationships, trips, tattoos etc. It's almost time for the annual Bear Lake trip and Snoop Dogg concert too (it really has been a year, wow). I guess I'll do a recap of the past year, but where do I start? ha. This is gonna be in total random order:
1) I finally went on a cruise, to the Southern Caribbean! Ohh yeah baby. Me and Nina were off on May 16th and we were gone for almost 2 weeks. It was one of the most amazing trips I have ever taken. I had a BLAST. We kicked off our vacay in Puerto Rico, where we stayed for a day/night before the cruise left. Old San Juan is so much fun! We left the next morning and headed to Aruba where we went shopping, took an open bar boat tour and drank a bunch of crazy mixed drinks. Then, we were off to Curacao..the most beautiful beaches ever btw. Nina and I had a couple of really cool drinks at the bar there too. Hers was called the Rasta Mon or something and it was layered red, yellow & green! There was an awesome moving bridge there and I also bought a gorgeous painting from one of the street vendors. We later cruised to Dominica, which reminded me a lot of home. Something about the lush green trees, plants and bamboo screamed Hawai'i :) The adventure we planned here was definitely my favorite. We went on an open air 4x4 ex-military vehicle up into the rainforrest and had the craziest tour. We swam to secret waterfalls and drank rum punch that was 160 proof. lol. After that, we made our way to St. Thomas where me and Neen drove our own boat to St. John...super fun!! We had the best lunch of our whole vacation here in St. Thomas and did some major shopping...mostly for purses ;) After a 7 day cruise, we returned to Puerto Rico and had an extremely fun filled night with some new friends at Senor Frogs. There were so many stories about this trip that would take me a year to write, but overall-it was an awesome trip! I met some really fun people, and I absolutely love the Caribbean.
2) On the subject of traveling, I also made it back home to Kaua'i for Christmas/New Years! I don't even have words to describe how life changing this trip was for me. I went with my mom, and we stayed for a little over 2 weeks. I re-connected with a bunch of my girls I grew up with and became extremely close with Tamalyn-a girl I went to school with. We were always friends growing up, but never too close. I talked to her a couple times before I left SLC and we planned to hang out. Little did I know, I wouldn't go ONE day without seeing her the ENTIRE time I was back home. It was soooo much fun. We are seriously long lost sisters, and looking back-I dont know what I would do without her in my life now! She has become one of my BEST and dearest friends ever. We partied every single night (literally), saw old friends, stayed up until 3 or 4 am...went to the beach the next day and repeated. lol. I was also 'reunited' with Nicky and Kelcie, two girls that I've known pretty much my whole life. The 4 of us girls nicknamed ourselves the "HEENS"...short for Hawaiians-yeah, long
drunken story. haha. Anyway, during those 2 weeks, I realized and learned so much about life, friends & myself. I am so thankful I took this trip and visited the beautiful island that will always hold my heart!
3) I'm still working at the Grand, and lovin' it. I've been there for two and a half years now! The old crew (Me, Matt, Steph and Ryan) are still there. We have also added some new additions...Sara, Izzy, Todd and Stephen. We make a great team and get along really well! Izzy is hilarious, and keeps me entertained and awake in during the 6 am shifts. Todd is our new Asst. manager and he is amazing, so lucky to have him on our staff-he's the nicest guy! Sara moved to Utah to be with her honey, Jake who's a pilot and she's fun too-a great addition to our front desk! Stephen used to work graveyard shifts but has recently started working days, since he just got married-Congrats!! Lynette transferred to housing/reservations...and sadly, today was her last day. That lucky girl is moving back home to Maui, and I am SO jealous :) I am more than excited for her though, and I know that shes stoked too!
4) Oh! I have added to my tattoo collection :) Since my last blog, I've gotten 3 or 4 more..and I absolutely loovee them. I got one with my heens when I was back home-it's on the side of my foot and it says "Made in Hawaii". When Tam came and visited me in SLC, we went and got a matching zebra star. (Oh yeah, btw Zebra is totally my new addiction..anything zebra makes me happy!) And my latest tatt is HUGE...haha. I finally got my crown on my ribs/side. Beneath it, I also got the word 'Namaste'...which means so much to me. It looks amazinggg! I'm still going to Jake, because he is the best so if you ever want to get one-let me know! I also got my industrial pierced on my ear..something I've wanted for years. Instead of the regular balls on the end of the barbell, I got diamonds...oh it's super cute!
5) Taylor and Nina are still my girls and I try to keep in touch with them as much as possible. Tay is of course happily married and still in Oregon. She turned 21 in May and I was sad I couldnt celebrate with her. Nina and I hang out as much as we have time for in our busy schedules, and try to go to lunch on my days off from work. She has a new boyfriend, Cody which she's really happy with. Nina and I are going to Miami for her 21st bday to celebrate--I think it will be a BLAST! My bday is creeping up too, and I cant hardly wait! I was gonna go to Vegas, but my birthday is on a Monday, so I decided I would just go sometime in September after my bday. I'll probably just have a party here in SLC. Tam also turned 21 in May, and she had a party on Kauai that Im sad I missed! Hopefully, she will be with me on my birthday though!
6) As for me, myself and I...I still have my beautiful apartment downtown which I love, drive my sexy Scion ;), and love my one and only puppy-Sugar :D haha. I'm working on going back to school, but I just can't figure out what I want to do! So, I'll keep you updated on that as I go. I also (finally) got an iPhone last Christmas, and it's permanently attached to my hands, of course. I dont know what I did without it, it's my life saver!
Anyway, that's all the important things that have occured in the last little while. I'll try to remember to blog ;)
::kiMBERLEE::
meet. About 2 and a half years ago, I went to the pet shop in Sandy (Incredible Pets) to pick out a dog. There were some adorable ones, but none of them seemed right. I had the pet store 'special order' one that fit exactly what I was looking for. I explained that I wanted a female toy pomeranian that was a light creme color. They said they would have the first match driven to Utah for me as soon as one was available. Just a couple weeks later, I had her and she was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She was tiny and fit in one of my hands perfectly. I brought her home to my moms at the time (against her word) and introduced her to our family lab, Bailee. They were instantly friends. My mom was not so happy with me, but learned to live and love her. We named her Sugar and I think it's a perfect fit. She is crazy, hyper and super friendly. The picture to the left is of Sugar when she was little, and the one on the right is of her yesterday. She lives with my family at their house in Sandy because I can't keep her at my apartment since they dont allow pets. She is my moms best friend and follows her everywhere when Im not around. As sad as it is that I cant have her live with me, I know she gets so much more attention at my moms. I would hate to take her away from Bailee, th
ey would be too sad! Yesterday, she was jumping from the couch to the ottoman and missed-falling on her back leg. My mom said that she yelped and laid down right away. Of course, my mom held her for hours making sure she was okay and it wasnt broken. She was fine and able to walk, but she's scared to jump up on the couch now! Poor baby. I went to my moms to see her and she was so tired, I just held her most of the time. Im sure she'll get over it, shes just a little shaken up :)
