Aloha from Oahu!

Aloha! We have arrived in Hawaii! Our last week in California was hectic, and a bit stressful in preparation for this move, but thankfully, amongst all of the craziness, we were able to find time to spend with a lot of our family and friends right before we left.

Last weekend, I attended my good friend Emily's wedding in Simi Valley. It could not have been a more beautiful day for a wedding. The weather was 75, sunny, and with an ever-so gentle breeze. The nervous excitement and overwhelming happiness the bride and groom had for eachother that day was adorable and so enchanting to see.

 In an attempt to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible during this transitional time, I may keep the writing to a minimum and let the pictures do the talking...

Emily, the bride, and us three bridesmaids getting beautified for the wedding!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the ceremony itself, since my hands were occupied by a bouquet, but this was the setting. A beautiful, white-rose-lined aisle and gazebo, with a setting overlooking Wood Ramch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

Aren't the centerpieces at the reception just magnificent?

Jade was one of Emily's bridesmaids as well, and was my partner in party planning over these last few months. One of these days I'll have to upload pics of the beautiful (if I do say so myself) bridal shower we threw.

Jordan and I at the reception.

One of our favorite parts of the wedding, was the photo booth they had set up. They had all sorts of crazy costumes and accessories for you to use. And after your 4 quick shots were captured, the machine printed out two sets, one as a keepsake for the guest, and the second to be placed in the guest book! As you can see, we had so much fun!

Wedding cake smash, she got him pretty good!

The live band was great, and they really engaged the crowd! And yep, this is the groom, testing out his " Guitar Hero" skills in real life. It was awesome! Another of our favorite parts of the night. 

Last Sunday was Easter, and we drove down from the wedding in Simi Valley that morning to head to my parents' house. We first decided to make a couple of pit stops on the way down. First a quick visit to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum, and then to attend Saddleback church services at their grand opening of their new LA location. They were located right in the heart of Hollywood, and knowing all the good Saddleback does in their existing communities, as well as across the world, we could SEE, just amongst our immediate surroundings in a square block, all the good they would have the potential to bring to the community and the people there that would be touched and would benefit from the type of love and service Saddleback is known for. It was a very moving service; however, the most awesome part was witnessed after the service itself came to an end. After preaching the service, Rick Warren offered to baptize all of those who decided to give their heart to The Lord that day, right there in a makeshift baptismal pool, in the parking lot of Hollywood High School. I was blown away and moved by the vast number of people who stood in line to be baptized after the service. It had to be 75-100 people! Nearly an hour later, when we passed by the location again, there was still a giant crowd supporting, participating in and waiting their turn to be baptized. It was truly a magical and beautiful moment to witness.

Piece of the Berlin Wall, and a gorgeous backdrop of the Simi Valley at the Ronald Reagan Library.

The first services were held at Hollywood High School that Easter Sunday; however, they have now moved to their permanent home at the Hollywood Palladium, fancy huh?!?

Look who attended, Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, the producers of the new blockbuster, Son of God.

Attending Saddleback in person will be one of the things we will miss greatly about living back in California, which is why after Sunday's service Jordan went up to Kay Warren and teasingly suggested she tell her husband that Saddleback Honolulu should be the next Saddleback location to launch. Can't you just see it now, the worship band with ukeleles? Rick in a Hawaiian shirt? Well, we think it would be absolutely awesome!

During our time in Carlsbad, we looked forward to our weekly Sunday drive up to the Saddleback San Clemente location and loved rocking out with the awesome worship band there. We absolutely were in love with the lead singers amazing voice, and loved to joke that Jordan had a "man crush" on his vocals. Our good friends, Abby and Charles, even started to join us on Sundays in San Clemente, and I will definitely miss that time shared together and the deeper bond it helped to develop amongst the 4 of us friends.

Easter Sunday was absolutely perfect in my book. It was so great to have the majority of the family together, enjoying the gift of one another, and celebrating the blessed day. As we have grown older, life and new family dynamics have made getting so many of us together in one spot harder and harder, so last Sunday was such a special treat. I especially enjoyed the next generation of little ones playing and giggling with eachother. What could be more precious than the innocence and pure joy of a child's laughter. Wish I would have taken more pics! If anyone did, please share them with me!

The rest of the week was quite a blur, but we managed to see Jordan's mom, his dad, most of our friends, and spend one last day in Carlsbad and trip to The Compass (a fav little restaurant) with my parents and Troy, before the big move.

Said goodbye to the Reeds (again). We have been together since Virginia, Florida, and Florida again the second time. We have shared holidays, heartache, and so much happiness! And no, we didn't plan on matching our spouses, weird. Jordan and I drove separately and found that we were both wearing obnoxious neon yellow hahaha. Who does that?

I am going to miss this girl beyond words. We have seen each other through so much as we have adjusted to our new lives as military spouses from the very beginning, see: The Sisterhood of the Marine Corps

Abby and Me, at Pizza Port in Carlsbad. I'll miss this girl, she has become my workout partner, church friend, and partner-in-crime over these last 6 months.

Our good friends, the Trujillos. We first met them way back before we left California, when we all lived in Irvine together. It has been exciting to see the guys' military careers grow over the years, with new adventures and challenges, and of course their family grow, with the addition of little Noah, who is now nearly 15 months old, and running all over the place, hence the blurry face in the pic. That boy is going to be an athlete!

One last day together in Carlsbad Village.

I don't know how we managed to do it all, amongst all the visiting and festivities, but somehow we did. I also don't know how we managed to fit 7 suitcases, 3 carry ons, a dog kennel, 3 people and a dog in one car to the airport, but we did that also. I am so thankful to have lived near my family during this time, not only of course because of the time spent together over these last 6 months, but I honestly don't know how we would have gotten through this last move without them. From borrowing a car so we could ship and sell ours ahead of time, to spending the night (on the floor!) to help us load up the car and take us to the airport bright and early yesterday morning,  to all the other simple acts of generosity like storing and re-delivering furniture, puppy sitting their grand-dog on numerous occasions, etc etc etc, we could not have done it without them. We were definitely spoiled by having the support of family so near to us!

Saying bye to my dad at the airport.

Checking Gunns in at the airport, poor little guy!

So excited for our next adventure to begin!

We loved that even the flight attendants on the plane had little flowers behind their ears! Starting to get excited for Island life!

We arrived!!!!! Jordan had a sponsor from his squadron that picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel. They also gave us a quick tour of the base. The absolute best part of their Hawaiian hospitality, was that they also greeted us with leis! I have been looking forward to getting a Hawaiian lei all week, and was so bummed when we found out the airlines no longer offered them. So I couldn't have been more excited by their thoughtful gesture!

Jordan was starvinnnngggggg when we finally got to our hotel, so we made a quick stop at the grocery store for some Hawaiian food staples: poke tuna, Hawaiian ocean salad and macadamia nuts.

Super exhausted, but so excited for my Hawaiian lei. I sent this pic to my parents and they thought I was crying, so when I also didn't respond to my texts for an extended period of time, they began to worry that Gunnar didn't make it... 

Well here is your proof-of-life picture, we all made it safe, happy and tired as can be. 

After taking this picture, stuffing our bellies with poke, all 3 of us fell asleep at 7pm with the sun still shining, which is why at 4 am I was wide awake and ready to blog!

Looking forward to exploring the island today, so stay tuned!

Aloha!