Day 4 - Happy 1st Anniversary!

July 4th, 2009...it's our first anniversary! Wow, where did the time go from the past year?!? We woke up to another beautiful sunrise on Waikiki. Brandon had informed me the night before that we needed to leave the hotel no later than 8AM because we had to be somewhere by 9. He said it was a surprise, but I would like it. After grabbing some quick breakfast at Mickey D's, which was probably the best breakfast that we'd had since in Hawaii.

We started driving back toward the airport, and I started wondering, but not really thinking much about it. Alot of things in Honolulu are around or toward the airport. We finally turned on a street close to the airport, and Brandon told me that we were going sky diving. I was not going to. He could, but that is one thing that I said I wouldn't ever do. Plus with my back causing me issues, I could pretty much tell he was kidding. We almost immediately turned into another parking lot, and I looked up to see "Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours" on a little sign on a building. WOW! So cool, we were taking a helicopter tour of Oahu! I had always wanted to do this, but I knew it was pretty expensive, so I thought we had decided not to do it. Brandon always knows how to surprise me with the sweetest things! Our tour was AMAZING! I was a little nervous about the helicopter with my intense fear of heights, but it seemed not to bother me at all. Just to look out over all of the beautiful valleys, craters, ocean and see all that God created so perfectly was wonderful. And to get to share it with Brandon...Priceless!

After our ride, we went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, which is the world's largest outdoor mall. I remember visiting when I was little, but it had changed alot. Everyone was out and about, being that it was the Fourth of July, and there were going to be fireworks and events all day long in the area. We shopped a little but soon decided that we were hungry and grabbed a really good burger at a cool place at Ala Moana called Islands. Great burgers! After a great lunch and looking around a little more, we went back to our hotel and napped for a while to rest up for the evening. I spent alot of time out on our Lanai, just enjoying the beach, the smell, the sounds, thinking time, and more. It was wonderful to just relax and not have to worry about phones ringing, unhappy coworkers or customers...just time to think and enjoy the surroundings.

We decided to go out on the beach, where many people already were to get a glimpse of the sunset and enjoy fireworks. The sun sets around 7:15ish in Hawaii for whatever reason, so dinner could wait. We secured a nice spot and watched the beautiful sunset! and then...I felt a sprinkle...so did Brandon...and then another. Pretty soon, it started to rain, and people started to skatter. Too bad for the rain, which in actuality probably didn't last over 20 minutes or so.

Anyway, we decided not to try it again, so we went to the shops at our hotel and looked around for some more fun things and then decided to just order a pizza and take it back to the room, since it was raining. We were going to walk over to Kalakaua and eat a nice dinner, but the rain changed our plans, and we were both pretty tired from the day.

When we got back to our room, there was a "Happy Anniversary" cake waiting. It looked to be ok, but whenever we got around to trying it, it was really not that great. Needless to say, I won't ever order a cake from a hotel again. I'll go to the extra effort of calling a local bakery. I guess I learned my lesson with that one!

We had the most amazing anniversary. I still can't believe it's been an entire year. One year ago, I married my best friend, my partner, and the love of my life. We have both learned alot about life, love, and eachother in the past year, and we have grown through God's guidance. Through it all, He has provided and taught us so much. I look forward to learning to love Brandon more and more everyday and can't wait to see what God has in store for our lives! Only 364 more days until Anniversary #2:)! Brandon thanks for making our anniversary and every day of my life wonderful. I love you!