New York New York!

Six days after Our Hawaiian Escapade and red-eye flight home, we caught another red-eye to New York City! Life isn't always this exciting/hectic/crazy/glamorous so I relished every moment I could this month of August. It has completely flown by because for half of it, Paul and I were on both extreme ends of the country.

I knew this trip would require a little more energy and work because we were here for a Live Love Spa event. So we flew in a few days before the event to have a little "play time". We saw Newsies on Broadway, it was ahh-mazing! I don't know who was more excited for this - Paul and me?!

On this trip we walked sooo much! I wish I would have had one of those little step meters to really see how far we walked total, because I bet it was at least 20 miles! We only took a cab twice and the subway twice, other than that, it was all by foot! But I preferred it that way, we got to see so much of the city. Plus, I needed any form of exercise I could get with all the scrumptious meals followed by rich desserts we were consuming.

One of our subway rides was to Chinatown, Little Italy, and Soho. It was so enjoyable just walking the city with my love! He is so funny though, he would always get sucked into those little shops in Chinatown where I would find him bartering with some guy barely speaking English about how cheap he could get some cologne. Needless to say, we made it out of there with only a pack of blueberries (which were only ONE dollar - I couldn't pass those up). I'm proud of us for not buying any nick-nack junk I would be throwing away in six months.

In Little Italy we grabbed some lunch at the famous Lombardi's - the first pizza place in New York. Since 1905 they have been serving "pies" and have definitely perfected it. Although I do recall Paul saying that my pizza is better, but I think he is just a little biased :)

We waited an hour for this little gem of a restaurant for Sunday lunch. That "Famous Broadway Sundae" made it worth the wait. Even if we were stomach-churning sick the rest of the day...

Paul was such a good sport to follow me up and down 5th Avenue for a little shopping. He even let me make a few purchases :) I could have spent forever in FAO Shwarts, the famous toy store. We found some presents for the kids to help them forgive us for abandoning them this month (which I think it worked)! Stewart got a little Bullseye and Woody doll, complete with hat that he adores. And Lily got a "clinic bag" (I don't know where she learned that term from) full of Doc McStuffin's doctor toys. Plus we got in a little Christmas shopping.

Aren't these delightful little cupcakes beautiful. They tasted even better than they look if you can believe that! I even brought some home to my sweet mother for watching the kids while we were gone, but she forgot them and someone had to eat them...

I had my first limo ride..ever! We were at this amazing Mediterranean restaurant with some Live Love friends, which were drinking quite a bit, and so they called for this limo to take us back to the Hotel. The ride lived up to all of my thoughts of what a limo ride would be like. It probably had to do with the seven other people who were all a little tipsy from dinner. We were all singing and dancing and making it a limo ride to remember.

And of course, a shout out to the whole reason I got to go on this unforgettable trip with my sweet husband. Plus we spent half of our time in New York at the beautiful Guerlain Spa in the Waldorf Astoria where the Live Love Spa event was held. The last 20 minutes of the second day was by far the highlight. Paul miraculously sold the Blend Bar to this spa!! I was beyond exciting, for one that we didn't have to pack up the Blend Bar to ship home, for another that we wouldn't have to shove it in a cab to take to another spa (there were a few interested in buying it), and lastly that my husband is so amazing at his job!

Our Hawaiian Escapade

Paul and I had such an amazing time in Maui last week. This had to be my favorite vacation I have ever been on. It came at a much needed time. It was so nice for Paul and I to get to spend a whole week together just the two of us. We went to do some Salts training but planned for many days of playing too.

Even the plane ride over was enjoyable, to get to do whatever I wanted and just have a little me-time, was so relaxing. I even read two entire books on our trip, which is unheard of for me. Normally it takes me six months to read one book. We left on my 27th birthday (crazy - the day just kinda rushed by that I forget that I turned one year older!) and I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend it than unwinding in a hammock on the beach next to my love...

We found a church, right next to the resort, which was totally full, almost all the way to the back of the gym. I always love going to church in other states because I feel like the members are so strong. And it happened to be testimony meeting so it was a strength to me to hear about their trials and how they learn from the gospel.

The fruit in Hawaii is out-of-control delicious, so luckily we found this fruit market off the side of the highway and stocked up on passion-fruit and mangos for breakfast and snacks throughout our trip. On the other end of this stand we found this adorable farm-house styled restaurant called Leoda's Kitchen and Pie place. It is one of those places that I am going to crave for YEARS! It was so amazingly good. We had breakfast one morning that hit the spot but as we were leaving, there was a crazy-good looking banana cream pie that was just calling to us. We had to get it. And when in Hawaii, you can totally justify having an after-breakfast dessert right?! Paul is planning a trip back to Maui in December and I told him he had to bring me back an apple hand-held from Leoda's (which is a little apple pie that we tested on our flight home..mmmm).

We ate some awesome food and saw some amazing sunsets. Sometimes life gets so crazy that I don't have time to enjoy those simple things. But I made sure to soak up every bit of it.

And I got to do a shout-out to the whole reason we were able to take this amazing trip. Training at the brand new (like not even open yet) Andaz Wailea. I was in charge of video footage of the training. It was fun to see Paul give his training, it had been awhile since I had been to one with him. I am so proud of him and the work that he has put in to make Salts the company that it is today!

Last December when Paul and I went to Hawaii we heard how amazing the "Road to Hana" was but we never had time to do it then. So this go-around, I researched all about it before we left so that we could make time for this adventure. It took about 3 hours to drive to Hana, even though it was only about 50 miles that we travelled. The road is so windy and narrow the entire way that our average was about 10 mph. The day we did this was totally unforgettable. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

We drove past Hana to the Seven Sacred Pools. We started on a hike that went through the most amazing bamboo forest. It ended at an unbelievable waterfall that was so incredible. I could have spent days on this hike in the deep forest of bamboo and amazing trees and things that we saw. It was so reviving to really take in the beautiful Earth that God has created. And to do it all with Paul made it that much more special. 

After the hike we took a swim in one of the Seven Sacred Pools. There are seven natural pools with waterfalls running into each one. It was so refreshing to swim in the natural fresh water coming from the beautiful mountains above. Despite the nauseating moments in the car to and from Hana because of the crazy roads, this was my favorite day of our vacation. I don't think I will experience anything quite like it again.

On our last day we rented some boogie boards and went up to Kapalua and found an amazing beach that we had almost all to ourselves. A couple nights before, we made the mistake of watching some of "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel. Of course most of the sharks, or incidences, or footage they showed was from where?!  Hawaii! Totally freaked us both out to get in the ocean, but the water was clear enough that we didn't let it stop us from having a blast. Then we met with a spa director at Kapalua Spa for a few minutes and she was gracious enough to let us use the spa facilities to relax for the rest of our day until we had to catch our red-eye flight home. It was an unforgettable trip...

Red Rock Traditions

Just about every New Year's of my life, I can remember climbing on all over the Red Rocks of Southern Utah. Growing up we always visited my Grandma and Grandpa Anderson in Beaver Dam over the New Year's. During that vacation we would always make a trip out to Valley of Fire and spend all day climbing all over the beautiful red rocks. Although I didn't always love the drive out there, (because I never love a drive anywhere) it was so exhilarating to get out and enjoy nature's playground.

This year I was spending the New Year's in Florida with Paul, but flew in to St. George to get the kids the first week of January. To carry on the tradition, we found some climbing for the kids. And they were in heaven, they loved the freedom and scurried up those rocks as fast as their little bodies would take them.

I love this picture! It is the perfect representation of Lily & Stew's relationship. She is the best big sister he could ever ask for. She is always trying to help him and make sure he is okay and happy. She is the sweetest thing, a dream for any mom!

Thank you to my sweet parents for all they do for me and my children! And for teaching me as a young  child to love the beauties of the world all around me. I am just much more grateful when I get to enjoy them outside of a car :)

Hawaii...

a much needed vacation! Although we worked about half of the time doing Live Love Spa events and meeting with spa directors, it was so much fun to spend time with Paul. December was out of control busy and it was great to relax, work, and play with my sweet husband.

Surprisingly, me and some of the Live Love girls got Paul to wake up at 5:30 a.m. one morning to go on a snorkeling adventure. It was early, but so worth it! We rode that giant raft-boat over the another island, Lanai, and stopped at three different spots to snorkel. Paul had never been snorkeling so it was fun to experience that with him. The round trip took almost all day but the views and fish were amazing. We even saw a whale jumping as whale season had just barely begun. 

Stopping alongside the road to one of our meetings to enjoy the gorgeous view.

One of our meetings took us to the Grand Wailea. It was outrageously gorgeous there. We had a short visit the the spa director there, and after selling two blend bars (of which I am insisting I get commission on because I rubbed the feet of the two assistants there who were raving about us and our blend bar) she gave us a spa day as a gift to celebrate our seven year wedding anniversary! We started out splitting up and enjoying the bath treatments that are famous to that location. There are all different kinds of baths using beautifully colored salts, each representing an island of Hawaii. Then we met back up and had a couples massage. It was the perfect way to help us unwind from the whirlwind of the last couple months we have had.

We kind of decided to celebrate our anniversary over a few days. That is always my favorite way to celebrate anyway and since we were in Hawaii, why not?! The next day we were meeting with Four Seasons and in their Hotel we had heard of a great restaurant called Amasia. We splurged a little but it was sooo worth it. The food was probably the best I have ever had! We got a sampler item from the menu that came with about 8 - 10 different small portion dishes. Then it came with this huge coconut cream dessert. It was so a-maz-ing! It is one of those things I will be craving for YEARS to come.

I was excited to come home to my sweet kids knowing they had been parentless and passed around all week. As I was changing Stew that night, I got a little surprise! It completely freaked me out at first cause I just say this giant black mark up his leg. But soon realized Cort had left me a sweet marking, with permanent marker of course.

Oh, and HAPPY SEVEN YEARS to my SWEET HUSBAND! 
Salt of the Earth's take on our Hawaiian adventure found here. 

Off to St. George...again!

Paul traveled to Florida for the ISPA tradeshow this last week. It was almost a week long trip so the kids and I packed up and headed to St. George to save our sanity. As always, we love visiting Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, playing out in the hot sun, and just lounging around for a few days. 

Stewart got really confident on the wiggle car and went cruising down Grandma and Grandpa's backyard sidewalk. He had a whirlwind of emotion on his face with sheer nervousness and terror on his face at the top of the hill but as he managed to turn the wheels and end up on the patio instead of tipped upside-down in the grass, he was so proud of himself and showing a ginormous smile. I love watching my little guy grow and do new things.

Lily was so sweet to help her little brother when he did get stuck in the grass. She is an amazing sister and Stewart is so lucky to have her. She is always taking care of him and making sure he is safe and having fun. I hope their friendship continues to grow as they get older.

Grandpa has some lively, terrifying Halloween decor including a hooded, skeleton man that rumbles and glows if you walk by him. Stew was trying to be as brave as he could be. Whenever someone was holding him and would walk by, he would growl at the skeleton and show him he wasn't scared. But the minute you would put Stew down by it, he would turn and run as fast as he could and start bawling trying to find someone to save him. It was the cutest thing!

Grandma and Grandpa bought a pumpkin for Lily to carve. She was so excited. As much as I always try to be a good festive mother, I don't always get around to doing all that I should with the kids. I think that this was Lily's first time really carving pumpkins. She thought it was pretty awesome. And of course, being the slightly twisted girl that she is, she wanted a mean, angry pumpkin. (So weird that she is fascinated with the scarier things of life, in every movie or show, her favorite parts or characters are always the dark villians - funny girl, hope I shouldn't worry too much about her).

Stewart loved that he got to sit on the counter and watched Grandpa carve away as he devoured the pumpkin lid of our Jack-o-lantern. 

Once our pumpkin was all carved and scary, we added a flickering light and enjoyed him out on the porch. We all loved our visit to St. George but were glad to get home to Daddy. Plus, Paul had a great show, meaning he will have lots more business trips to come so it won't be long before we pack up and head to St. George yet again!