The pictures in my slide show are ones that I have taken in Tahiti, Ireland, Hawaii, and on 2 different trips to Australia. I love landscape photos and have been blessed to be able to capture photos of some of the most beautiful places in the world. Enjoy!

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Constant thinker and dreamer...just a girl livin for Jesus who wants to make a difference in the world.

Oahu & Maui - Honeymoon


Ohhh the honeymoon.  Not only is the wedding a part of every girl's dream, but so is the honeymoon.  It's the age old question.  "Where are you going on your honeymoon?"  Everyone will ask at least 3 times.

When we first got engaged, we weren't really sure where we wanted to go.  We were tossing around all sorts of ideas, staying in the states, going on a cruise, etc. Well a couple of weeks after we got engaged, I ended up winning a trip to the Le Meridien Bora Bora through my job.  We still had to pay for the airfare and food, but the accommodations were taken care of.  If anyone knows anything about Tahiti, only one word comes to mind.  Well maybe more than one, but the biggest one is EXPENSIVE!!!  Tahiti is probably one of the most expensive places to vacation on this planet.  I'm not kidding.  So looking at airfare to go there was going to cost us still around $800 per person plus our internal airfare from Papeete to Bora Bora and back.  We were looking at about $1200 per person plus the cost of food.  Well if you've been around me within the last 2 years, you will know that I absolutely HATE to spend money.  Even when it's not my own. My dad said that he would pay for our honeymoon, but there was no way I was going to let him spend that much.  We still would have to have money for food and activities.  And when you are looking at about $150-$200 per day per person just to eat, the cost gets higher.

So after stressing about that for awhile, one of our suppliers at work had a contest going on.  For every four 4 night packages that you booked, you would get a 4 night stay somewhere for free.  Well that was a no brainer for me.  

Hello!!  Honeymoon!!  :)  Well I ended up booking 8 packages, which landed me 8 free nights.  After talking to my rep for the company, she asked if I wanted Hawaii or Mexico.  Well I already have been to Mexico this year and I had really been wanting to go to Hawaii.  So that's what I picked after talking to Gregg.

I get the certificate in my email and I look at the hotel names and I'm floored.  Four free nights at the Moana Surfrider in Oahu and 4 nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui.  Are you kidding me??

Well I tried making all 8 nights work out, but because of time issues with Gregg's job, we could only stay for a total of 7 nights because the 8th night would be spent flying back to South Carolina.  We ended up spending 3 nights in Oahu and 4 nights in Maui.  The same company that I won the trip through, I also had a $1000 travel credit with them.  So Gregg and I were able to fly from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Honolulu, spend 3 nights there, then fly to Maui, spend 4 nights there and then fly back to Myrtle Beach all for $826.  Talk about amazing!  We had to pay for food and activities still, but that was hardly nothing in comparison to what it could have cost us in other places had I not won the trip.  Have I mentioned that I love my job?

These are in no particular order...

View from the Alii Kula Lavendar Farm in Maui
Standing at the top of Haleakala Crater
 
Our Jeep rental in Maui
 
our room at the Grand Wailea in Maui
 The entrance to the Westin Moana Surfrider in Oahu - we were here for 3 nights
 The view from the Waikiki beachside of the Moana Surfrider looking at Diamond Head Crater
 On our way to do an Atlantis Submarine cruise.  It was great because we got to see Waikiki from the water
 the view from our room at the Grand Wailea in Maui
 Another view of the lavendar farm in Maui. It was so beautiful!
 Gregg and I up at one of the lookouts on the way up to Haleakala Crater
 Gregg and I at the lavendar farm in Maui - what an amazing view of Maui behind us
 G. W. Albright was my grandfather's uncle who was entombed in the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor at 19 years old. 
 My amazing husband!
What a perfect honeymoon!  I honestly couldn't have asked for a better one.  The hotels were gorgeous, as well as the islands.  Maui was definitely my favorite, but Oahu was great as well.  I'll add some more pictures in another post of some of the adventures we went on, but for now, here are some pics of us while we were there.  :)