Hawaii Day 1 & 2

I've always dreamed of going to Hawaii and I've been begging Matt since we were married. Matt was able to go for the first time in 2006 with a club he was a part of at BYU. His first time was while we were married and I stayed home. So needless to say I have been bugging him ever since. We finally decided that since I was graduating and we didn't really do anything big for our 5 year anniversary, we would go to Hawaii! We went for 8 days and spent 5 days on Oahu and 3 on Maui. We left Phoenix around 2pm and took a nonstop flight. It was a fun flight because everyone was really happy we were going to paradise! However, it was a 7 hour flight and I am not a lover of flying. The airline keeps you busy with movies and TV so it did go by pretty fast. We arrived at 5pm (Hawaii time) and took a shuttle to our hotel. Someone from the Phoenix Hyatt had called ahead and upgraded our room and asked that they stock our fridge with soda and leave fresh fruit out for us! It was really nice and we were so happy that we had an ocean view. For dinner we went to the hotel's very pricey restaurant and I had the best chowder! The waiter brought the bowl out and all it had in it were clams, shrimp, scallops and corn...I was a little confused as to how it was chowder. But then he brought out a tiny pitcher of cream and poured it over the seafood! SO GOOD. The rest of the food was equally delicious. It was probably our most expensive meal of the trip and we even got 50% off with Matt's discount! It was subway and BK for the next few days!

The next day we took the 1.5 hr bus ride over to Pearl Harbor. Matt was sure it would be really crowded since it was memorial weekend but it wasn't at all. They had recently opened new museums and had a new system to ride the boat over to see the Arizona so it wasn't crowded. It was really humbling to hear about the day that changed the war and hear the stories of those who lost their lives and all that were involved in the attack. I realized that Pearl Harbor was the 9/11 of the older generation and it helped me understand that event a little bit more. After Pearl Harbor we paid a taxi to take us back because we didn't want to sit on the bus for another 1.5 hours! Once we got back we decided it was time to hit the beach. The water is so beautiful in Hawaii. After swimming we were too tired to do anything else and we went to bed really early (3 hr time difference mind you)!

View from our room

I made Matt take this picture because he had the same picture taken when he was there 5 years ago! Well except it was taken on the opposite side. His facial expression sure has changed! I told him to smile or something and he said this is what he would really look like if he was firing the gun!!

Matt in 2006!

At the Arizona monument

You can still see the oil from the Arizona on the water.

Another view from the room!

Ami Moffitt, MSW

YAY I finally did it! I graduated with my masters degree! I've always wanted to go on and get a masters but I never thought I would really do it! It's mostly thanks to my wonderful husband who worked hard so that I didn't have to work and also to my awesome internship that paid me :) Seriously without those two things, there is no way I could have gone back.
Just last week I realized that it had been an entire year since I started my program. I can't believe how fast it went. I remember thinking on my first day of class June 1, 2010 how long the year was going to be. I learned so much and made so many great friends. I'm so excited to be able to get a job I love doing and to not have any limitations (besides experience)! Now I'm just applying to take the licensure exam and looking for a job.

My Mom, Dad, and Crystal came out for my graduation and because stake conference was the following day my Mom and Dad had to take the red-eye back to Philly. I'm so lucky to have such supportive parents!

Two of my good friends in the program. Sarah (L) also got her BSW from BYU but we never knew each other! We do our internship together at LDSFS. Jen (M) just got a job in another state. We'll miss her!

Celebratory dinner the night before at Indian Garden

"Quibo Good Boy"

My Mom, Dad, and Crystal came to visit a few weeks ago and while they were here my Mom, Crystal and I spent a couple of days in Sedona. We started off the first day with a 5 hour trip to the outlet malls! We all found some great stuff. Next we drove up to Sedona and spent the night in the Best Western which had gorgeous views of the red rocks. For dinner that night we decided to stop at this diner we saw from the road. It turned out to be an alien diner and was a little psychedelic! In the morning we tried to go on a hike but you had to have a permit so we hiked 10 feet in and took pictures! On our way back to Phoenix we stopped off at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. I loved it! One attraction is a safari and they take you into this gated area where they have giraffes, zebras, gazelles, water buffalo, etc. The giraffes have to be kept separated because they fight over an invisible female haha. One was named Quibo and the tour guide kept yelling out "Quibo good boy" in this crazy voice. Crystal can do the voice perfectly and it's hilarious! We each got a carrot to feed to the giraffe or camel. She said we could put the carrot in our mouth and he would take it right out with his crazy long tongue. Did I proceed to do this? HECK YES! It was ridiculously fun. Afterwards we went to the tiger splash show. There was no splashing going on since it was freezing cold. I definitely want to go back and take Matt with me! Right before we got home we hit up Rita's. My mom was visiting from Philly and she had to go to Rita's while in AZ! Go figure!

Crystal's carrot broke in half so she got a true kiss from Quibo! haha

My Cats Are So Dang Cute

I don't have children but I have my cats :)