2011 In Review

2011 was a wild ride. William and Kate tied the knot (who cares), earthquakes and tsunamis struck Japan, Michael Scott said goodbye to The Office, Osama Bin Laden was killed, 9/11 was commemorated, Steve Jobs passed, Wall Street was occupied, and the troops came home.

As 2011 comes to a close, here is what happened in our lives.

• We rang in the new year hot tubbing and partying on Waikiki beach with good food and friends.
• Tanya started her student teaching, which would be some of the craziest - and most rewarding - five months of her life.
• We fell in love with the Hunger Games series, and are excited to see the movie on Tanya's Birthday weekend 2012!
• We celebrated Valentine's Day seaside with a plenty of Mahi Mahi and Diet Coke.
• Our love for Thai food increased exponentially as we discovered Phuket Thai in Mililani.
• We became the proud owners of a MacBook Pro.
• We took full advantage of the new running and bike trail from Laie to Kahuku.
• The earthquake in Japan left Oahu in a state of emergency. We prepared for the possibility of a tsunami and spent the night in a cemetery behind the Laie temple. Fortunately, the islands were left relatively unscathed. 
• Our friendship with Jozie and Tommy flourished.
• We went to Maui for Tanya's Spring Break. We spent a few days alone on our second honeymoon, followed by a few days with Jozie and Tommy. We went whale watching, swam with turtles, hiked, drove the Road to Hana, shopped, and enjoyed the delicacies of a new island.
• I was scuba certified and overcame my fear of deep water. 
• I said goodbye to my job as the Marketing and PR Director of Sleep Center Hawaii. I had grown to love my job and co-workers, but was excited to move to the next step.
• Tanya said goodbye to the students of King Intermediate School, excited (and nervous) to find a full-time (and paid!) teaching job in Utah.
• We sold Suzi the Suzuki. We know that she is happy living out the rest of her life in paradise.
• We had a lot of friends and family visit us in Hawaii, including Sharla and Dan (Darla), my sister Danielle and her family, Tanya's Grandma, mom, brother and uncle, my cousin Haley and her friend, and my parents. We loved hiking, beach hopping, touring, and eating with each and every one of them.
• We had an amazing trip to Thailand. We were able to see temples, ride in a tuk-tuk, hike, swim, ride an elephant, shop like kings, eat like kings, scuba dive, get massages, go to Thai cooking school, ride an overnight train, and more. 
• We were able to see a little bit of Manila, Philippines and get another stamp on our passports.
• We said goodbye to Oahu. It was one of the hardest things we had ever done, but knew that it was the right move for us. Now our goal is to visit often and eventually have a vacation home in Kailua.
• We arrived in Utah homeless, jobless, penniless, and carless. It was time to start all over again.
• We bought a Seven Peaks "Pass of all Passes" and took full advantage throughout the Summer.
• We bought Oscar the Optima.
• Tanya was offered a job as a Health and P.E. Teacher at APA within a week of moving home.
• We went to our first Real Salt Lake game.
• We went camping and hiking with our good friends Curtis and Ashley.
• We lived it up in Lake Powell with the Rasmussens. 
• We re-discovered our love for campfires and ate smores almost weekly throughout the Summer.
• We got really, really, really good at Mario Kart with all of the free time on our hands.
• We learned how to re-finish furniture.
• I got my dream job doing marketing for Zija International.
• We bought our 2nd car - Ellie the Element.
• We saw Death Cab for Cutie live from the comfort of box seats.
• I was accepted into the University of Utah MBA program - I start in a week and a half.
• We spent a long weekend in St. George just being together.
• We trained for and ran the Provo half marathon.
• Tanya's mom celebrated 5 years of remission from breast cancer.
• We dealt with the drama and backbiting of Black Friday.
• We house hunted for several months before deciding to build at Thanksgiving Point. We visited our lot the other day and they were digging the hole! It should be done around May!
• Tanya was run off the road by an idiot and Ellie the Element was totaled. 
• We replaced Ellie with Mia the Kia Sorento.
• We spent the holidays relaxing and partying with friends and family.

2011 was a great year - but 2012 will be even better!