One Year Down, FOREVER to go..

Have I ever told you how obsessed I am with my husband? Well if you haven't heard it once or twice, I'm obsessed with my Tongan husband!

He surprises me every single day with how much he loves me regardless of how hard I am to love. It is not traditional in his culture to be any kind of affectionate to your significant other no matter what your status may be. Holding hands and kissing in public is like stripping naked in the states. It is disrespectful for a sister to see her brother kiss his girlfriend or wife. It's kind of crazy. But of course the amount of affection us Americans show on a daily basis is crazy to them...It just depends on how you look at it. Anyway.

I'm a surprise person. I love surprising and I love being surprised. Nu'u knew this in the first couple months that we were writing/dating. He knew that it was really important to me to have someone who would be willing to and be good at surprises and love them back just the same. Let me tell you what I NEVER knew until actually marrying this boy. He LOVES it. He brings me flowers home for no reason. He writes me cute notes just because, and on birthdays/anniversaries, he goes ALL OUT.

Cheers to being married for a year and having the best day/date/night of my life! Nu'u decided earlier in the month that we would celebrate my birthday and our anniversary together. Considering we were leaving for Hawaii the day after my birthday I was totally fine with that. He also told me he had two gifts but they kinda go together and he wants to give them to me at the same time, another thing I was totally fine with (I was surprised that he even had a gift let alone 2). We left to Hawaii June 27, the day after my birthday and Nu'u was a little bit (a lot a bit) upset because his package that was supposed to be there did not arrive on time. We were going to Oahu for 3 days before meeting up with the rest of the fan in Honolulu to travel the rest of the way to Maui (always our favorite). In Oahu we got the chance to stay at a BEAUTIFUL resort called Turtle Bay. When we got there we went over to spend some time with our Aunt and cousins that were on the island. We ended up going to see the new Transformers that night with the 2 boys. I'm terrible at movies because I fall asleep but my husband LOVES them so I try to be a trooper. I fell asleep. HAHA but I stayed up for enough to feel like I didn't miss anything and it was really good. Saturday we got the chance to go to temple, number 7 out of 141 on our journey to attend every temple in the world, and do sealings. It was BEAUTIFUL and so special to do just a year after we were sealed ourselves.

That afternoon we planned on going back to the Polynesian Culture Center. Last year while there we were lucky enough to see everything we could and my husbands favorite part was probably the chance to see all the people there from Tonga that he knew! We went back to the hotel to change and fell asleep..we were exhausted from traveling and staying up late for the movie. 

When we woke up is when I got the ultimate confusion. I woke Nu'u up and let him know what time it was. It wasn't before long that he informed me that whatever was planned for the night was too late to do now. Then he told me that it didn't happen on sundays either. So I'm under the impression that whatever he had planned for over a month (my best friend kept telling me) wasn't going to happen. But he didn't seem THAT upset. If you know anything about my husband it's that he stresses easy and when he doesn't get to do something he planned for a while or really wanted to do he gets REAL grumpy. Needless to say I was completely lost. We ended up just kinda going with it. He started to ask me what I wanted to do for dinner and I had no idea. I'm not familiar with Oahu like I am Maui and just have a ton of places I know to go all the time. So we just went with it.....we went in to Haleiwa to have a famous shave ice place that everyone talks about...it was actually pretty good :]

When we got done there Nu'u still didn't have a plan for dinner. After looking up a couple more places while driving around and trying to figure something out he decided just to go back to the hotel and eat at the restaurant there. Best decision ever. It was SO delicious. It was a place called Pa'akai, expensive but SO darn good. We definitely spoiled ourselves. There was a guy there playing and singing live and he sang and played beautifully. So I requested him to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow for our anniversary and he did. It was awesome.

HERE is the good part.

We woke up sunday and planned on going to church. When we laid around for too long and didn't know exactly where the church was we just decided not to go..(blame Nu'u)

So all I really knew for the night is what time to get ready. I was still under that impression that whatever he did have planned wasn't gonna happen and that he was trying to figure something else out. We went down to the pool to eat lunch at their little poolside grill. We were gonna hang out at the pool after there until we realized there was really no room. So we just went back up to the room to relax before getting ready for the night. Nu'u told me that it was like an hour away so to be ready at 3. We ended up taking short naps and waking up to get ready. At three we headed down to go to wherever we were going. I knew that Nu'u wasn't giving me an actual gift tonight due to one half of it coming late and not having it but I woke him up with the gift I gave to him. I made a deck of cards with "52 things I love about you" on them.

I had no idea where we were going until we got about 5 miles away and I realized there wasn't anywhere else really to go except to Ko'Olina where we stayed a year ago. I said to Nu'u "babe where are we going?" He said "back to where it all started"! Of course then my mind is racing back to a year ago and trying to figure out if it's somewhere we ate already. I couldn't think of ANYTHING. We pull up to this little side parking lot that I'd never really seen before when we stayed over there. When we pulled up and Nu'u asked an attendant where to park she said "are you going to a wedding or a luau" and since I knew we weren't going to a wedding I was ECSTATIC! I LOVE luau's! No matter how many times I went to one when I was younger and how many times I've been to Hawaii they have never ever gotten old to me! I was SO excited! Then I found out, walking in, that he had purchased some kind of VIP pass. I had no idea what that meant. We checked in and waited.

This was all I knew. It was called Paradise Cove and we were VIP! I had never heard of it so I literally had no idea what to expect. I've been to TONS of Luau's but I had a feeling it was gonna be a whole new experience. 

We got stickers and leis and waited some more. Finally the doors were opened and we were let it. Our tickets were more like credit cards with $24 credit that we got to keep when it was spent. When we were let in (with a guide) we were given a refreshing drink and took a picture. 

She then led us in to the cove. There was a little market place (souvenir store), a bar, temporary tattoos, a mini stage, a place to play games and of course the dinner tables and stage for the show! She first took us over to show us where our seats were then let us do whatever we wanted. There were small events happening every couple minutes like tying skirts, husking a coconut, climbing a coconut tree, a fishing demo and pulling the pig out of the ground! Then of course it was time for dinner and the Luau! Talk about an AMAZING show following a super yummy dinner!

When the Luau was over and we were headed back to the hotel, Nu'u decided to announce to me that it wasn't over. There is more surprise to come. At this point I can't believe there's anything else he could have come up with. I of course being pregnant and tired, exclaim to him that I am tired and my feet are sore. He reassures me by telling me we won't be doing anymore walking or anything. When we get back to the hotel everything is normal. He sends the car to valet and continues to the room. By the time I reach the door I almost forget that I'm anticipating anymore surprises. I know that he was very upset about his package not coming on time and I thought that was most of his surprise. Boy could I not have been more wrong! I walk in to our room and find THIS! 

I was SHOCKED! I couldn't believe he had done this all for me AND I didn't find out about it. He would leave during the day sometimes when I would take a nap and just tell me "I gotta go check something" and I assumed it had to do with making reservations for the dinner he was planning or whatever. This was the best surprise I could have never imagined! 

Oh did you think it was over?! Of course not! Monday we woke up and packed. We headed out to the airport to meet with the fan and travel the rest of the way to Maui. Since mom and dad traveled a couple days after us they were able to get the package that came late and bring it with them. As soon as we got in to Maui and to the hotel Nu'u (or I) couldn't wait any longer for my present! We checked in and got to our villa and he presented this to me..

"This is the key to his heart, that I will always have"

The box that is custom carved he ordered over a month ago that is also carved on the bottom with our names and anniversary date. I couldn't tell you, if I wanted to, in words, how loved and priceless and BEAUTIFUL this boy makes me feel every day. I love him so much and couldn't imagine my life with anyone else by my side! I am one extremely blessed girl.