where we will be begin our marriage [the honeymoon].

one of my childhood dreams has progressed into an early twenties dream; a vacation to hawaii. my parents have traveled to this magical place and many stories have been passed down about the enjoyment of their stays on the islands. my dream is finally coming true and i'm going to be able to experience this dream with my new husband. what an incredible way to have a dream come true.

we began making plans for our honeymoon in december of last year. i ventured towards the travel agent route; they're supposed to save you money, right? from the get-go, joseph and i decided that oahu&maui were our islands of choice for the honeymoon adventure. eagerly, we had our travel agent book the flight&hotels [that she chose to correlate with our personalities]. not much research was done on my behalf; our travel agent made joe and i feel completely confident that she made the best decision in hotels for us. after my mom and dad returned from their most recent trip to hawaii, they offered advice on how to approach our honeymoon on the more "inexpensive" route. my dad purchased a guide book of maui that showcases the hawaiian gems [specific places on the island that only the readers of the guide book will be aware of]. i broke down the travel agent itinerary and found that joseph and i were paying approximately five hundred buckaroos, per night, at the westin maui resort and spa; i was completely appalled. to spare everyone the details of the conversation i had with our travel agent, in conclusion, joseph and i kept the flight and hotel option in oahu [or we would have lost eight hundred dollars for cancelling the package, which we were not aware of] and cancelled the reservations with the westin.

we will now be enjoying our stay on ka'anapali beach in maui, north of the black rock, at the luxirious royal lahaiana resort - our package includes honeymoon accomodations, eight days/seven nights, daily breakfast buffet, sunset dinner&cocktail cruise for two, local luau for two and a welcome bottle of champagne - all for an affordable price, approxmiately twelve hundred dollars cheaper than the westin [where all we had included in our stay was a place to rest our head]. my chances of seeing a sea turtle have also tripled considering this remote area has been known to accomodate a quiet environment for the beautiful creatures.

i'm sure there will be plenty more posts about our honeymoon... which is exactly four months away. :)