Arrival in French Polynesia: First Stop Moorea!

Our overnight flight to Tahiti was better than we expected.  It was a huge plane and we were surprised to have such great service including food, (free) wine, movies, and Mike's favorite, video games!! We arrived on the main island, Tahiti, in the city of Papeete at around 4:30 am on Monday morning.  We immediately boarded a small plane and headed to Moorea.

Our flight to Moorea only took 7 minutes!  We had great view of the beautiful jagged rocky island as we were landing.  Moorea was so beautiful!

Our beachside bungalow

View from the front!

This is where I spent my free time!

On our 2nd day, we rented a "bugster" and traveled all around the island.

We went to the scenic Belvedere Lookout point, with a great view of both bays with the mountain jutting out between them!

We stopped at a agricultural center, Lychee Agricol, where we were able to get fresh pineapple juice and sorbet! Yummy!

We spent the rest of the day driving around the island, and pearl shopping.  We got my beautiful black pearl that afternoon!  

At our resort, there was a Dolphin Center, and our Beach Bungalow had a great view of the dolphins swimming and jumping.  

Honeymoon!

On the way to our last dinner in Moorea...showing off my new black pearl necklace!

The Mayflower, our favorite restaurant on Moorea!

NEXT STOP: Bora Bora

Honeymoon Part One: Santa Barbara, CA

On April 17th, Mike and I took off for a two week adventure...our very much awaited honeymoon.  We had a blast, and took over 300 pictures.  I will try to post just a few of the best pics to give you a glimpse of the fun we had.  

Our vacation started out with a flight from Detroit to LA.  We rented a convertible (mike's idea of course) and headed up Highway 1 to Santa Barbara.  On the way up we stopped in Ventura for lunch at a local brewery and our first of many local California beers.  After checking into the hotel, our first stop was the beach!

When we arrived we rented a "deuce coupe" to bike along the Santa Barbara coast...so much fun!  We almost drove off the trail a few times, but it was hilarious!  We also had a great time exploring the shopping (maybe me more than mike) in downtown SB. 

Dinner our first night in SB

A beautiful look out point on the way to wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley. 

Bridlewood, the 2nd of the 3 vineyards we visited on my birthday.  

CHEERS!

More beautiful Bridlewood Estate Winery.

We went to three beautiful vineyards, Roblar, Bridlewood and Buttonwood....with Bridlewood being our favorite. 

Celebrating my 28th Birthday at "Seagrass," an amazing Santa Barbara restaurant.

The next day we had a fabulous sushi lunch, and headed back down highway 1 to LA to leave for Tahiti.  Our flight didn't leave until 11:30 pm sunday night, so we took our time exploring as we traveled back to LA....all in all a wonderful way to start our belated honeymoon!

UP NEXT:  Arrival in French Polynesia,  Moorea

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter dinner tonight at my Aunt and Uncle, Marge and Allan's home.  We were joined by my cousin Eileen, her daughter Kimberly, and mother Karen.  We had a yummy meal, followed by birthday cake in my honor...which was a great surprise!    We came home to the smell of our easter Lily.  I had made hard boiled eggs earlier today while Mike was finishing his 30 hour shift, and convinced him to join me in a Nichols family tradition, coloring easter eggs.  

Here are the finished products!  

Learning to golf???

Mike has decided it is his mission to teach me to golf.  After years of persuading, he has finally convinced me to give it a shot.  As many of you know, my Dad is a great golfer, but I have only played 9 holes ONCE and went to the driving range a few times in my life.  Here is a picture of me at the driving range this spring...glad it is finally warm enough to get out there....

 I have a new golf glove, so I won't get blisters....and the word on the street is I might have some equipment of my own soon enough....my birthday is April 18th :) Anyone interested in golf lessons or going to play with Mike and me....let us know!

Out of touch...

As many of you know, we took off in a hurry to Salt Lake City last month for a family emergency. On the way there, I left my computer under a table in a restaurant in the Detroit Airport, and it was STOLEN. Without my computer, or a good way to download pics (Mike's old computer is on it's last leg....but it is better than nothing, so I am using that for now)....I have not been able to post updates with pics! :( Oh well, I need to get back into blogging so here are a few updates sans pics...

Thankfully, Mike's Dad's is doing wonderfully. He bounced back from a scary situation, and is doing great as far as we are concerned (he has his own personal doctor squad now, whether he likes it or not!). His cardiologist has given him the OK to go back to work and life continues as usual.....AMAZING! Thank goodness for the health care professionals, Ski Patrol, and Doctors of Utah....they did such a great job taking care of Jeff.

We are ready for VACATION....18 days and counting until we leave for Tahiti. We will be spending 3 days in Santa Barbara, CA, followed by 4 days in Moorea and 6 days in Bora Bora. We can hardly wait and promise to take lots of pictures.

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Milwaukee to spend time with some of my dearest girlfriends from Hope College, Sarah (Little) Teller and Emily (Little) Troyk. I also had the pleasure of meeting their beautiful boys, Alex and Logan. We had a great time catching up including Pizza and Movie night, shopping with the little ones, and a girls night dinner complete with scallops and grapefruit martinis, yum! It was a much needed reunion, and I hope to see them all again very soon!!

I am so looking forward to my best friend Macare's wedding shower, which is coming up soon: APRIL 4th :) I can hardly wait to start the celebrations to come over the next few months with her,. I am also looking forward to catching up with all of my TC girls :)

Fortunately, we had my computer insured, and the insurance check is in the mail....so hopefully I will be back up and running with PICS soon! I may branch out and get a MAC, I hope I like it.....

Snowshoeing in TC

A few weeks ago, Mike and I had a great weekend trip up north filled with skiing and snowshoeing. Unfortunately, it was so cold on the ski hill I didn't get my camera out to take any pictures. We brought two of our friends from residency, Pete and Kevin, up with us! On Saturday we skied at Boyne Mountain wit my mom, and then sunday, Mike, Pete and Kevin went skiing at Crystal Mtn, while my mom and I, as well as Katie went for a beautiful snowshoe at the State Hospital grounds....here are a few pics.....

Bora Bora and Moorea Here We come!!

It is official, Mike and I just booked flights to the amazing Tahitian Islands of Moorea and Bora Bora. (thanks to some great frequent flyer miles from my Dad!!) We are so excited about our upcoming trip April 17-29th. We are still in the process of getting our hotels and interisland flights set up, but should get that all done in the next day or two! We can't wait!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

Here it is...all decked out with ornaments and ready for gifts!!

Tree Trimming Party at the O'Malley's House

On Saturday Dec 13th, we went to the O'Malley's for a tree trimming party!!Thanks Meaghan and Ryan for hosting!! It was a night filled with warmed spiced cider, hanging ornaments, good food and great friends!


Mike and I in front of their beautiful tree.



Catching up with Ryan


Megan, Laura, Meaghan, Tina, Ryan and Emily

Christmas Tree Hunt

We decided today was the day to find our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Last year we started the tradition of cutting a tree down (as an engaged couple :) ) We headed out to the same tree farm to brave the cold and find that perfect tree!!

Here is Mike with the cart, ready to find the best tree out there....

He was nice enough to give me a ride!!

Wandering through the forest of trees.
We found it, the perfect one!!


Mike getting ready to cut it down....



We loaded it up on the car...


Here it is! It is huge (definitely bigger than last year). We were able to get the lights up, but are heading off to two Christmas parties tonight, so the ornaments will have to be hung at a later date! Stay tuned for the finished product!!