Aloha Kalikimaka

Happy holidays everyone!

We had an awesome few months celebrating the holidays!

On Wednesday (Thanksgiving Eve) we went with one of Mark's friends to an awesome Japanese restaurant in town. To even begin to describe the food is impossible. One of the best things living in Honolulu is the FOOD!!! Like this particular restaurant, as well as most restaurants in Honolulu- it's not only about the food- but the experience of the meal. I think part of it is many of the new places we have tried (ie. Ramen/sushi places) are just so different than anything we could find in Wisconsin, so it seems so exciting! In typical Hawaii fashion we ordered a bunch of different plates of food and shared them around the table. This is one of my favorite things about eating here with friends or a big group because you get to try so much! We had delicious taco rice, pork belly, Japanese style pizza, and my favorite dessert! For a final finish to our meal we ordered a baguette bread filled with vanilla bean ice cream. The bread was crispy on the outside and soft inside next to the ice cream. Soo delicious!!! ;)

On Thanksgiving day I made a delicious dinner for us. We had pineapple glazed ham, cheese potatoes, green bean cassarole, crescent rolls, mashed potatoes and more. We had enough leftovers for a week, hehe. It's so different for us to spend holidays just the two of us away from family, but we know it's not for ever so we are enjoying it together. 

Christmas in Hawaii still feels so strange to us and we never really get into the holiday spirit without forcing ourselves. The weather makes it feel like a constant long summer with Christmas decorations randomly showing up around the island. Just like last year, Mark and I went to walk around the Honolulu Festival of Lights. It's a huge display of Christmas lights that span numerous city blocks. There's even a malasada truck serving delicious warm donut-like treats to visitors! The highlight of the display however is, Shaka Santa. A huge Hawaiian Santa and his Mrs are the first to greet visitors to the beautiful lite buildings, wreath displays, and Palm trees decorated in beautiful lights. There was also a large display of different wreaths. Mine and marks favorite was a beautiful mermaid wreath and an entire one made out of champagne corks! This night definely made us ready for Christmas! 

Another fun holiday adventure included a trip into Waikiki to see the sculptures made out of sand at the Sheraton Waikiki while drinking some peppermint hot cocoa in our chilly evening 72 degree weather, hehe. On Christmas Eve, Mark ended up getting out of work early so we were able to spend almost the entire day together at the beach and celebrating our Christmas together! We checked something off my life's bucket list; build a sand snowman on the beach on Christmas. While we missed our families so much and it was hard being away- it was still pretty cool to spend Christmas with our toes in the sand! Later we went to Christmas Eve midnight mass at our Church. The whole church was light up with the windows open providing a cool breeze. It was so special for us. 

We've been doing lots and trying hard to do new things on our days off together, recently one of my favorite spots we've explored is Ka'ena point on Oahu. Ka'ena point is the the most westerly part of the island. It's an insanely incredible part of the island that is so remote and away from everything else. It's a very long beautiful stretch of beach that boosts white sand, black rocks and huge surf. We both walked along the sand for nearly two hours in awe of the beauty. Oahu constantly blows my mind because so much of what I see on a normal day/work week is the traditional hustle/bustle city living. But then driving such a short distance it's pure paradise on earth. It was an awesome way to spend a Saturday afternoon together. 

Here's some random pictures from our adventures the past few weeks...

^ Star Wars craziness! Was worth it though!

Our next post we will show you all around Kauai! We just got back from a trip there just three days ago with Mark's dad and stepmom. We had so much fun exploring- even for a little island there is soo much to do/explore! Aloha and Happy New Year!!! 

<3 Jen & Mark