Marriage Retreat

Before I jump into all this, I have a couple things. First, does anyone know how to get those blog buttons done? I mean, I guess I can make one on my computer, but everyone has such pretty blog buttons I'd really like one! For this blog and my deployment blog, A Blog a Day While You're Away, which I'll be starting soon. Any help appreciated! Second, I have a lot of new followers, so if you haven't made yourself known, go ahead and let me know who you are! I love meeting new people. Third, I think I might be doing a blog giveaway once I hit 50 followers. Or maybe when I move to my deployment blog... hmmm....

Day 1: So we started the day at 4:45am. Yep. That's when the alarm went off. Brandon had off-site PT with the other officer's in his company (like 6 other guys), and since it was at Maunawili Falls (my favorite hike), he asked if I could go. Sure, I wasn't excited about waking up early, but I went and it was great! We brought Dexter with us and he had a blast. The hike only took half an hour each way because we're good hikers, though I am totally out of shape, so climbing the hills sucked, haha.

Here's a pic from the first time I went:


We rushed from Maunawili Falls, on the other side of the island, to the kennel to drop Dexter off. Then we hurried home to shower off the mud from the hike, change into nice clothes and finish packing. We were ahead of schedule but we ended up being a little late because of traffic. The marriage retreat part was kind of boring at first, haha. We were talking about communication and stuff like that. Anyway, we got out at like 1, so we have tons of time to hang out afterwards! We laid by the pool and read, swam, drank and went down the water slide a few times, hehe. We got a lunch and dinner buffet, which were pretty good. Since we got up so early, we passed out around 9 and slept well!

Handsome Husband!


Where We Were!


Day 2: We woke up to the sound of waves, went to breakfast, and then had a full morning of classes. Brandon was really into the financial one and spent pretty much the whole time working on a deployment budget for us. I can say that if all goes as planned, we will have a BUNCH of money saved up. I love this idea! Plenty of money for a down payment on a home. Anyway, the rest of the classes were about Issues & Hidden Issues, Communication, Forgiving & Having Fun. Brandon and I worked through a couple issues we've been having and I'm very grateful for it. :)

After the classes were done we headed down to the pool again! Funny how we live in Hawaii but we go to the pool, huh? Well, we go to the beach all the time, but never the pool! This time we spent reading for hours. It was very comfy. Around dinnertime we went back to the room to change and about 20 minutes before the sunset, found a spot by the ocean with a perfect view. It was amazing! It was a perfect end to the end. Oh, and as we walked to dinner, we saw a couple get engaged. Aw.

Let me mention that the food yesterday was AMAZING. The omelets at breakfast were fantastic, so were the croissants. Lunch was pretty good too! Dinner was so great I wish I could've eaten more. It was all Hawaiian food, so we have Poke, Lomi Lomi with Poi, Sushi, Kalua Pork, Prime Rib and the delicious Purple Sweet Potatoes.

Lounging by the pool:


Us:


Beautiful Sunset:


Day 3: Ok, today we were supposed to go to the beach, but decided we were tired... so we went home! We went to pick up Dex but found out he hadn't gotten his bath yet, so we went over to Borders while we waited for him. They had Bargain Books as BOGO so I had to get a couple! 4 bucks for two books? Yes, ma'am. Oh, and I got 2 books that I ordered from Amazon in the mail today too. It was great. Anyway, now we're chilling and catching up on shows before a Hail & Farewell tonight.

Overall, the marriage retreat was great. The classes were fairly fun, but most of all the free vacation was so fantastic. The resort was beautiful and I'm glad we got to spend some time together!