Aloha Hawai'i {w/ travel}

Did you know that aloha means love? I'm sure I've learned that sometime in my life, on one of my various trips to Hawai'i to visit family, but somehow the meaning escaped me in recent years. So it felt like new information when I heard it yesterday.

It's fun to think that aloha is used as a greeting and farewell in Hawai'i - don't you think that's a great way to say hello and goodbye? To welcome and bid adieu to friends, family, even strangers, with love?

I am overflowing with the aloha spirit right now. The past eight days have been some of the most refreshing and renewing of my life. I've been able to clear my head and recenter myself after a few stressful weeks of house hunting.

A lot of times I find it hard to really relax on a vacation. I feel like I have to do and see as much as possible - there's this part of me that feels like if I'm spending money on plane tickets and hotel that I need to make sure I do things I couldn't do at home.

Well, I didn't have a problem relaxing on this trip. Largely because this trip was a gift from my husband's company as a thank you for working there 5 years. A HUGE gift. We are honestly so blessed by them for everything they do for us (and all their employees), and a week in Kaua'i is like the cherry on top of a ginormous ice cream sundae.

We spent our days lounging pool and beach-side, exploring the cute shops and towns, trying new foods, hiking, snorkeling, tubing down mountain waterways and sailing to the beautiful Na'pali coast. We ended our time in the islands with a few days in Honolulu to visit family.

I could not have asked for a better vacation.

via  with milk and sugar blog http://www.withmilkandsugarblog.com/2013/11/hawaiianvacation.html

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