Hawaii!

In June I was able to go visit my fabulous friend Caitlin McDermott and spend 5+ days with her in Maui! Caitlin and I went to grad school together at Vanderbilt. After graduation I stayed in Nashville to teach , she moved to Maui to teach. I'd say she got the better end of the stick.

It was a fabulous trip! We went snorkeling, hiking (briefly, until it started raining), and spent many hours laying out baking in the hot Maui sun. The best part was me freaking out seeing a sea turtle while snorkeling. In Hawaii the reefs are right there. As in, go to the beach, walk in the water and BAM! coral reef. Totally cool. Anyways I saw a turtle and was freaking out yelling, turtle! turtle! Only with the snorkel in my mouth I'm sure it sounded more like murkel! murkel!

I'm so glad I got to visit Caitlin. She had a challenging class last year as well, and it was good for both of us to have some down time after a crazy school year. I can't wait until next year when I get to visit her in Seattle (for her wedding!!)

We woke up at 4am (I actually can't remember what time, it was so early!) to see the sunrise over Haleakala, the dormant volcano on Maui. By far one of the coolest things I have ever done! After the sun came up we immediately went back home and back to bed for another 4 hours :)

My friend Caitlin, the Chinese dragon/lion

a pic of me in Iao Valley

Thanks for a great trip Caitlin! Can't wait to come visit again!!