Friday, March 19, 2010

Honeymoon in Maui

Our honeymoon on Maui started officially the Thursday after we got married.  We couldn't wait to get on to our own little adventure.  We started out on a drive up around the north west area of the island.  We found a pretty cool rock beach and hung out and Shawn found himself a coconut.  He wanted to bring it home, but I figured they probably wouldn't let us. 
Also on our drive we came across some majorly red dirt.  I mean, it was soooo bright red/orange that I kept looking around for Bevo the Texas Longhorns mascot!  Here's a photo of me next to a really cool red area. 
Here are some photos of our arrival at the Paia Inn where we stayed for our honeymoon.  It was such a cute little boutique hotel that Shawn found.  Here's the cute entrance...
The lobby...
Our bedroom...
The sitting/TV room in our suite...
And here's where we ate the complimentary breakfast each morning.  Man, I wish I was back there...
After settling into our hotel room, we headed straight for the beach.  The Inn had it's own super skinny but private walkway down to the beach.
Here we are on the beach checking it out.
I thought this tree at the beach was so cool amongst all of the palm trees.
The next day we went ziplining, and it was SO much fun!  Look how cute we are in all of our gear.
There goes Shawn!
And a shot of me ziplining.
We also got to drive up to the top of Mt. Haleakala.  You can drive all the way to the top, and the peak is over 10,000 feet.  It was so cool because we were standing above the clouds!  Gorgeous.
We ate dinner at this super nice fabulous restaurant, Mama's Fish House in Paia.  It was the best and most expensive meal I have ever eaten.  The restaurant was amazing, and right on the beach.  We got to watch the sunset as we ate.  So cool, and such a nice restaurant that I felt stupid breaking out my camera.  But I wasn't too shameful to snap a photo of The Black Pearl - our dessert.  The whole thing was edible!  It was amazing.
We also took a drive along the road to Hana.  It's an amazingly windy, extremely long trip, but the sights are truly unbelieveable and it was like we were in a whole other world.  Here is a photo of Shawn on a little walk we took while on the road.
A funny little sign we saw...
We stopped at a little stand along the road and bought some banana bread.  It was still warm from the oven and soooooo tasty.  Here I am showing it off.
Some pretty waterfalls we saw along the way.  I think this was called the Three Bears.
We got to see a black sand beach, and it was one of my favorite places.  The black sand was really cool, and I just really liked the stark color of it.  Here's Shawn examining the sand.
We were trying to take a timer photo, but failed miserably.  I actually think the photo is kinda cute/funny though. 
A shot of the black sand beach from above.  Beautiful!
We braved this sign to hike down to the red sand beach in Hana.  It was quite a hike - I'm definitely glad I had my tennis shoes - and a nice local guy helped us find it.  I don't think we would have found it without his help, it was pretty hidden. 
We made it!!!  Upon arrival, there was the token nude middle aged couple, some locals smoking pot, some other locals diving with oxygen tanks, and a couple of other tourists.  It was a beautiful little secluded area. 
The water was an amazing shade of blue...
That pretty much wraps up our honeymoon!  We were able to do so many cool things and see some amazing sights that I'm so glad I have in my memory.  I keep asking Shawn when we can go back.  He says that he'll take me for our tenth anniversary, and I'm going to hold him to it. 

Wedding Day



Here are some photos from our wedding day in Maui!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Pre-Wedding Time in Maui

Before we got married in Hawaii, we had a couple of days to enjoy the island with our friends and family, so here are a few photos from those days.

First up, here is a shot of the three of us on the airplane. The flight felt like it took 12 hours instead of 6 - we were SO bored! But at least the photo turned out cute. Here's the view from out of our hotel room. Gorgeous. I definitely wish I was back there right now. We didn't waste any time and walked along the beach right after we checked into our hotel room. I just love this photo of cute little Ellie.We also got to enjoy a whale watching cruise while we were there. We saw like 30 whales. Some were jumping out of the water, some were just rolling over, and some just poked their heads out of the water. Here's a photo I got of a whale rolling over showing off their fins. It was amazing to see how huge the whales really were. I got to take surfing lessons with my friends Melissa and Andrea. The day was horrible weather and the instructors kept warning us that "because of the conditions" it would be really hard to learn that day. Not what every beginner wants to hear, but we were brave and decided that we'd only be there once so we did it. It was extremely windy and very difficult to paddle because the waves and wind were blowing against us. But it was totally a blast and all three of us were able to get up and ride several waves. I really want to try it again someday!We had a chance to take a ride in my parents convertible and took like true tourists.Here we are getting our marriage license. The night before our wedding we had a dinner for everyone to come together and meet before the big day. I was a nervous wreck throughout the whole meal and couldn't relax and enjoy it. Now I regret being so anxious, but at least I was freaking out that day instead of the wedding day.

Here's a photo of my mom, my aunt Helen (looking at a different camera), and my grandma Beth.
Here's a shot of Shawn and I at dinner. Our last non-married photo together!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Pro Pics

I've been attempting to upload photos from my bridal showers, wedding day, and honeymoon. I've been trying for over an hour, and for some reason they just won't upload! Ugh! I'll try again tomorrow.

For now, here is the link to our professional wedding photos.
After you click the link, you should get to the "Carmen and Shawn" page where it asks for a password.
The password is 'Murphy'

Enjoy! We can't wait to get prints of some, we think they turned out great.

Wedding Showers!

I was lucky enough to have two showers before I left for Maui to be married. Shawn's sister, Colleen, threw me one here in Spokane. I didn't get too many photos of this shower, but here are a few. Here's one of the cute PINK cake - it was tasty!Here is a shot of me opening a few presents.


And here's a shot of a couple of friends at the shower.

The next weekend my aunts Mary and Helen threw me a shower in my hometown of Seattle. It was tons of fun, and lots of fun people showed up! The food was amazing and my aunts did a fabulous job. Here is a photo of me in front of the food table - notice those yummy chocolate looking things on the table? My aunts made WHOOPIE PIES!!! LOL, I was cracking up, and they were SO good.
Here's a photo of some great friends who came to the shower - it was so good to see them!

Here is a shot of me modeling a cute apron for a shower game. A shot of me opening presents. This particular gift was from my sister - it was a cute little pajama outfit and a swiffer. There were promptly jokes about cleaning the floors in the tiny pink shorts. I had SO much fun at the shower, and it was so nice to see all of my friends and family from Seattle that I don't get to see often enough.