Week 2

Well, it's official...two weeks that we've been married. The first week back from the honeymoon is by far the hardest. And it's not that the marriage is hard, but the fact that it's so hard to adjust to life after having a week of relaxation and no responsibilities to tasks, work, and running around running errands. Don't get us wrong we missed our dog, friends, family, our comfortable bed, but you absolutely know why they invented honeymoons. It's to totally unwind from all of that. We totally feel like because of all of that you really do earn it!

Our first days back it was just wrapping it all up. We opened gifts and wrote down who sent them. We still have to actually find the time and sit down and write our thank you notes. I'm glad a lot of our friends and family could make it, and that our families seemed to really like each-other and get along.

So far our second week's milestones include unpacking the gifts and finding a "home" for all of this wonderful and cool stuff! We've also realized that cleaning and arranging things how we now want them now isn't an over-night project and it could probably take us another week or two until we have things "back-to-normal" and put away.

Marriage Advice for this week: Go through the things that you previously had but asked for newer or better stuff on your registry and donate your old stuff to the goodwill or Savers near you. Although you may have the best intentions to sell it, which makes sense for popular big ticket items; it's far better to just make room immediately (unless you have a home i guess with lots of storage space since apartments space is always a premium). Then at least someone will be able to use your old stuff and enjoy it. I think we're only holding onto a few items that have some real value that we're planning on selling through craigslist and possibly ebay.

Always use protection!!

Honeymoon tip #5: Always use protection, by that I mean sunscreen. I am still hurting from our hiking experience where I got burned on my shoulders and back pretty badly. I was wearing a t-shirt and didn't have Colleen apply any sunscreen and after being in the sun for most of the day it just kills you and then you don't really want to be in the sun the rest of your trip. 

Also if you're going to go to Kauai, make sure you make a reservation at Gaylord's! The food there is by far the best food Colleen and I have ever had in our whole lives. We branched away from ordering just seafood and got the rack of lamb, and it was the best lamb EVER! I got the seafood rhapsody, and the funny thing is that you usually look forward to the lobster and that wasn't even the best thing on the plate. The scallops and shrimp were cooked and seasoned to perfection and the Ahi was the best with a fruit medley on top. Also we experienced a new type of pasta, called Orzo...try it that's all I have to say about that. 

Honeymoon tip #6: Wine and cheese. We've been having wine and cheese for the last 4 nights and it is a cheap way to have a romantic evening and watch the sunset. We've done Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and paired it with either Colby Jack Cheese or Brie on crackers. We've then just had it on our balcony or gone to this wonderful overlook on the edge of a cliff and watched the sunset. Hope you can enjoy this someday soon, and it doesn't even have to be on a honeymoon! 

Kayaking and a day to breathe

Yesterday Colleen and I went Kayaking and enjoyed some more of the local cuisine around the island. So far the important thing we've agreed on is to just "hang loose" and not get tied up with timelines and running around making sure we do this or that. Our last Hawaii trip we went to Waikiki and got so bogged down with trying to do everything we ended up coming back from our vacation worn out tired and a little cranky. So this go round it's all about soaking it in! So in the mornings we wake up when we feel like it, have breakfast, relax on the balcony and enjoy the views and then we get going. We went and got lunch at the Dolphin Restaurant in Hanalei. We've been trying to eat as much of the fresh sea-food as you can, considering Arizona is pretty much land-locked, it's not a bad idea. After our fish and chips, we went kayaking on the local river. It was a lot of fun and we're planning on doing it again today, only this time we're going to go towards the ocean instead of up the river. After kayaking we just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day, it was a little rainy the rest of the day so it worked out perfectly. Oh and FYI the north-shore of Kauai is apparently one of the rainiest places on earth (good to know right?). The end of the night was set to playing cards drinking Pinot Noir and having brie on crackers, not a bad way to cap the end to a beautiful day.

Honeymoon tip #3 Just relax and set out to do just one thing per day and don't stress about doing anything other than that one thing...trust us you'll have a way better experience.

Honeymoon tip #4 DO NOT buy into any of the high-pressure sales for timeshares in Hawaii unless it's a trial version.

They really tell you a lot of the benefits and never tell you about the down-sides. Most run about $18K starting and you'll never get out what you put in for. Colleen and I last year went to one of these high-pressure sales presentations for the time-shares for Wyndham so we could get $100 to spend somewhere on Oahu. It was a good idea, since it's free money, but just remember not to purchase the timeshare or only purchase the trial version. We did end up buying the trial version which is around $2.5K and you get roughly 4 vacations (hotel stays) out of the deal. The plus side to it is they have fully furnished rooms with a full kitchen, so in the long run we're able to save money since we can eat in way more then if we were in a regular hotel.  The other positive is that we were able to spread out the cost of our hotel room over a year as opposed to having to pay everything up-front (not easy after paying for a wedding). If you want to check out the place we're staying we're at the Bali Hai Wyndham in Princeville, Kauai.

Challenge Each Other

Honeymoon tip #2 Make sure to challenge your spouse.

Ian and I went hiking today to go see a waterfall. It has always been my dream to see a waterfall. The fact that all the locals looked at us like we would die in the process didn't stop 

E-berg and I. We went on the 8 mile excursion without backpacks (because we forgot to bring them from the main land), without real hiking shoes (" "), with what we thought would be enough water ( I still feel dehydrated and its the next day). Anyway the whole way to and from the waterfall we had to encourage each other that with the two of us we can do anything even when limited on resources. 

Oh.....just so you know.......the waterfall was amazing! I will post some pictures once we get back to the mainland. It was extremely worth the traitorous hike and muscle pain we now experience.

MASSAGES

Colleen & I went to Hanalei for lunch today and ate at Bubba's Burgers. After eating some amazing burgers, fries & shakes we then went to the Princeville Spa Country Club to get massages. It was my first massage and woooooww, let me tell you sooooooooooo relaaaaaaxiinng....zzzz.....oh yeah so definitely going to do that again sometime this trip!!!! We only did 50 minutes and we should've done 80! 

Honeymoon tip#1: GET MASSAGES. 

Take that stress in my upper back from work!

DAY 3 OF MARRIAGE

We now know what it takes to make a marriage work....we have survived 3 days! And not to say it lightly but they have pretty much been the most amazing 3 days of our lives! We got to see where Oprah stays when she comes to AZ, and believe it or not she's actually in our Family; Oprah (Polly) Davis, we rented a convertible and drove along Kauai's coast line (amazing!), we just got the best sleep of our lives (10 hours) and we know what sleep is now, we saw multiple lizards in our kitchen at our hotel and didn't even get scared, we ate the most succulent fish at a local restaurant in Princeville that was literally caught like an hour before we ate it, and we've definitely enjoyed being man and wife ;) a lot! 

So, here is our advice as a married couple: get to know someone famous, do something you've never done, SLEEP, don't get scared by little creatures, eat good food, and have fun being one!