Friendly Face!

A friend of mine from Greenville, SC came to Chicago for his birthday celebration (it was a random trip that he planned before he knew that I was going to be in Chicago). It was nice to get to see and hear a Southern accent again, especially here in Chicago. On Sunday, he and I met up and we went to a parade together. We had a blast!

Shedd Aquarium

I decided to take in the sights of Chicago today, and go see the Shedd Aquarium. They had a dolphin show, a Lizard exhibit (including a Komodo Dragon), Beluga whales, and many other animals. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing all of these animals.

Toby's Big Adventure!

As Toby has never really been around many other dogs before, he thinks he is a person. Therefore, he is a little skiddish and nervous around other dogs. Chicago is a city full of dogs and dog parks, so I thought this would be the perfect time to get him doggy socialized. Today, we went for a little walk to a little area where I have noticed people taking their dogs (not the dog park immediately across the street, but still very close). Toby got to meet a few new dogs, and while he is still nervous and trying to snap at other dogs, he did seem to be getting a small bit more at ease. All of the dog owners were very nice and told me that he would get better, it would just take time. I think that he had fun, so I will have to take him out more regularly so that he can learn to play with other dogs.

Wednesday Night Fireworks

Starting at 9:30, the Wednesday night fireworks began at Navy Pier. Again, they are very pretty, and I get a great view! By the way, that is the Field Museum in the bottom right hand side of the video. I'm still enjoying Chicago, and I can't wait until this weekend to see some of Chicago's sites and possibly the Taste of Chicago street festival. Rest assured, I'll provide details on whatever exciting I end up doing.

View from work

Here is my view from work used taking a picture with my cell phone. This is a nice view of Lake Michigan and a huge yacht. From a different window, I can see part of Navy Pier, so that is kind of neat. I am still enjoying my new assignment, and I am getting a bit quicker/efficient with the computer system! On my way home from work, I decided to change things up, so I rode the train home. This involves a bit more walking, but it was less stop and go compared to the bus. Time wise, they ended out to be about the same, so I guess it will just depend on my mood as to which way I take.

First Day

Okay, I tried sending this earlier, but the site was undergoing maintenance, here we go again...

First off, pats on the back to me for surviving my first work day in Chicago! Thankfully, everyone so far has been very nice to me and has helped me not get lost while riding the bus. I managed to get take the correct buses and the right stops! My first day working at the Rehab Institute of Chicago was good too. I have a lot of amazing coworkers who should help make this experience much better. I even get to learn how to use a tablet computer to take with me with each patient to write my notes on the spot. It will be a new challenge that I am excited to undertake!

Good Morning, Chicago

As my body is still on EST, and I was in a strange bed and apartment, I didn't sleep too late this morning. I was however able to catch an amazing view of sunrise this morning from my balcony! I still love the apartment and the bed is amazingly comfortable, as everyone knows, it just takes the body a little bit to adjust. I plan to go out today to purchase a bus pass and attempt to ride the bus for the first time to work to see how it is and if I can find the place.

Chicago!

Well, after a long 12 hour drive, I am finally in Chicago! I left about 7:15 am EST and arrived here at ~6:20 CST. My apartment is amazing and I cannot believe I am here. I have some amazing views from my balcony and I could hear the concert at Soldier Field from my balcony and enjoy the weekly firework (please watch the video) display. Toby did very well on the long drive, but he was ready to get his feet on solid ground again and be able to enjoy running around the apartment. He adjusting to the apartment, but he isn't used to the new noises yet.

Good Eye Check-Up

Since I am actually in NC for a week, I've been doing some medical appointments to catch up on everything before I leave. I had my teeth cleaned before the Hawaii trip, and everything is fine. Today, I went to get my eyes examined, as I had Lasik eye surgery in November and I was due a check-up. The doctor said that my eyes are doing great, and my vision is now 20/15! It has been so great having Lasik and not having to carry my contacts and solution everywhere I go. Next thing to check off the list, getting my car inspected and doing laundry/packing for Chicago! At least this time I won't be flying, so I can pack as much as I want :)

Hawaii Slideshow

Here is a slideshow of a sampling of the pictures from Hawaii (I took over 1,000 pictures all together). Make sure you have the sound turned on, as I have a song by Iz (a singer from Hawaii) playing with the show. Enjoy this peek into paradise!

Mail from St. Thomas

At the beginning of May, I mailed a package back home from St. Thomas. As the box was very heavy, I did not want to pay priority mail prices, so I just used regular mail (which uses a boat and can take 4-6 weeks). I was hoping to receive the package before leaving for my Hawaii vacation, however, no such luck. My mother put all mail on hold while we were on our vacation (as we assumed the package would be shipped while we were gone and didn't want the mail sitting on the porch for over a week). Much to my delight, when the mailman delivered the mail this afternoon, the package for St. Thomas was here! As I cannot say for certain, it seems it took the package about 5-6 weeks to get here. I'm just happy it is finally here, as I had several souvenirs and things of mine in there.

I uploaded some of my Hawaii pictures on my computer, once I get the rest, I will make a slideshow and post it on my blog. Should be sometime this week.

Back Home

I am finally back home after a LONG day of traveling and basically no sleep since 6:30 am Hawaii time on Saturday morning until now. It was an amazing trip, but I am glad to be back home and get some sleep!

Last day in Hawaii

Before getting on the plane, we are taking a hummer limo tour of the island of Oahu. We are at the Dole Plantation now, I'm ready for a dole whip ice cream!

Kaua'i day two

We decided to come out to the beach for a little bit today. There are a ton of waves are big with a bunch of surfers. We fly back home tomorrow evening.

Kaua'i

Today we are on Kaua'i, and it is beautiful, but it has rained a bit. We took a helicopter ride this morning and saw amazing scenery. We go to a luau tonight.

Kona

I am now on the tender back to the ship anchored in the bay. I just finished diving here and saw some very pretty fish. Interesting comparison to St Thomas. I saw several interesting fish, including a frog fish (a fish that tries to blend in the with environment). I also got to swim through a big lava tube that basically made a giant arch. It was nice, but I was definitely spoiled with diving with Admiralty in St. Thomas!

Hilo

Today we are visiting Volcanoes National Park. It is surreal being so close to an active volcano. It was amazing seeing the volcano and all of the smoke! In the evening, we did a sail by the place where the lava is flowing into the ocean and forming more land....very cool!

Maui day two

We are at the Maui Ocean Center right now watching the sharks. It is spectacular watching these 23 sharks, rays, and fish swimming around. This is a slightly blurry sandbar shark swimming by, there was also an 8' tiger shark in the tank. The funny thing is, out of all of the animals and fish in the tank, the only things that haven't bitten the employees are the sharks and rays. The fish are mean and will bite you in a second!

Sunset in Maui

Here is a picture of the sun setting from 10000 feet up from the top of Haleakala. It was so beautiful, this picture doesn't do it justice.

Wind and thin air

We are now at the top of Haleakala Crater. It is beautiful, but incredibly windy. We are planning to watch the sunset from the top (10000 feet high). The craters and volcanic formations are spectacular!

Maui

We just arrived at Iao Valley State Park. It is beautiful, lush, and green!

So pretty

We are exploring the ship a bit. Here is a picture of the Capitol Atrium. The ship Pride of America is themed with ideas, values, pictures, and people from America throughout the ship. In fact, the dining room that we will eat in tonight is called the "Liberty" dining room.

Pride of America

We just boarded the ship, and as it is time for lunch, we are in the dining room. There is so much food, it is hard to decide! So much food and not enough belly!

Pearl Harbor

We went to Pearl Harbor today, absolutely amazing to actually witness this part of history. We are also going to see the Bowfin (a submarine) and the Missouri (the last battleship).

Diamond Head

Here is a picture from the top of Diamond Head. It is beautiful up here.

Good Morning from Hawaii

Here is the view of Waikiki Beach of sunset this morning from our balcony. We're getting ready to go hike Diamond Head this morning!

Aloha from Hawaii finally

They finally repaired the plane, and we landed in Honolulu about 7 hours later than expected. I'm just happy to finally be here!

Never fly Continental

Here we sit in the terminal after we had to deboard the plane. The airline has blatantly lied to us numerous times. Maybe I'll make it to Hawaii.

Houston airport

We just arrived in Houston, now we have a three hour layover before our flight to Hawaii. I cannot wait!

Hawaii luggage for 12

Here we are in the airport with our mounds of luggage getting ready to check our bags for the flight to Hawaii.

Back in NC again!

I flew home on Saturday, and after a whirlwind of a couple of days, I'm finally doing a blog post. It has been great having my car back and being able to drive faster than 40 mph. Gas was also only $3.84 a gallon instead of $4.40 a gallon back in St. Thomas. So far, I have been busy unpacking my things from St. Thomas, doing some laundry, and packing for Hawaii. I leave to go meet my family tomorrow, then we fly to Hawaii early Wednesday morning. I have most of my things packed, but there are a few last minute things that I have to do tonight and tomorrow morning before I leave. Blog posts will probably be very irregular for the next few weeks, but I will do the best that I can.

As for the flight home, it went great. Toby was a good boy, and didn't even make a whimper the entire trip. In addition, as we were flying over Florida, the space shuttle Discovery was taking off, so we could see it in the distance. Granted, all that we could see was a small spot rocketing up into space, but it was very cool.