Hawaii Here We Come!!

I was sitting on the couch January 29, 2010 when Dave told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. He put something in each hand and then put something around my neck. He told me to open my eyes and he was standing there in flowered board shorts, t-shirt, and a lei around his neck. He said "You've just been lei'd, baby!!" I looked in my hands and there was a bottle of water in one hand and a bottle of aloe in the other. I had a matching lei around my neck. I looked at him like he'd lost his mind and asked what in the world was going on. He said they were doing something different this year at work - they had picked a "Man of the Year" and a "Woman of the Year" and he'd been selected this year's "Man of the Year". As his "award" they were giving him an all-expense paid trip for 2 to Hawaii. I was in shock. I've never been to Hawaii and didn't think I'd actually make it there any time soon. This is courtesy of Midwest Flooring, and we're going as part of a group. We'll be staying at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel in Kona, Hawaii. I am so excited.

We got a call this summer telling us that if we wanted to go earlier or stay longer we could at no additional airline expense. We'd have to pay for hotel, food, etc. Dave and I talked about it and decided we'd ask if we could stay longer and travel to the island of Oahu and see some things on that island. We were told we would have to pay for airfare to the other island and then they'd fly us home from Honolulu instead of Kona at no additional charge. Sounded like a no-brainer to us, and since it would only cost us an additional $125/person to fly from Kona to Honolulu, we went ahead with those plans. We found a room at a Marriott employee rate on Waikiki Beach for the 3 days in Honolulu and also rented a car.

October 6 I came home from work and Dave had these sitting on the bed. He'd received them earlier in the day. Inside of each one is a knit blanket. I guess we're supposed to use these as part of our carryon on the trip to Kona. This trip is becoming more real!! It seems like we've been looking forward to it for a long time (well, in reality we have!!)

We recived our tickets, boarding passes, and instructions last week. I am so excited!!