A sign which I ran into on a walk in Honolulu which confirmed that I am headed in the right direction! How weird is that?

Dinner at Roy's in Hawaii Kai

The UCLA Crew + 2 (From left to right): UH Graduate Students (3), Michael Southam-Gerow (my graduate school mentor), Bruce Chorpita (my new post-doc mentor), Cameo Bortranger (my fellow post-doc...graduated from high school in Indy at Pike but the same year as Nate!), and me, Maggie. :)

Maggie's Second Trip To Oahu

I have just returned from my second trip to Hawai'i and it was even more amazing than the first. I competed the second of the clinical trainings, this one on childhood anxiety. For this trip, I had significantly more time to explore the island (about 48 hours of free time). I went snorkeling at little Makapu'u (Cockroach Bay?) and saw some tropical fish and sea turtles while my new friend Cameo (one of the other post-docs) surfed. I spent the day at Kailua beach, drove up and down the Windward side of the island, and got a preview of our sweet new apartment. My hotel room was even better than last time--I had a 360 view of the entire Waikiki and Diamond Head area from the 11th floor. Two sides of the room were totally glass, which allowed for incredible views. This was seriously the nicest room I have ever stayed in...EVER. I was pretty much overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude and utter amazement for the entire trip. The pictures above include(top to bottom): 1.Rabbit Head (?) Island from the beach where I snorkeled, 2. View of the windward side (our new home) from Makapu'u, 3. THE VIEW FROM THE ROAD WHERE WE WILL LIVE, 4. View of Honolulu from my hotel room, 5.The lower southeast edge of the island--get a look at that blue water!

More updates to come!

Maggie

The Redrams Turn One!

Last weekend we celebrated our first anniversary with a picnic at our wedding site--it was beautiful, just like the day that we were married. Tommy gave me a neclace that he crafted HIMSELF at the Original Ornament Store in Carrboro (one of my favorite places)! On Monday, we joined the Hershberger family for another celebration of our anniversary, including the much anticipated unveiling of our frozen wedding cake top. It was delicious, even a year later.

Maggie's First Trip to Hawaii

Aloha!

Last Wednesday, I made my first journey out to the South Pacific to attend a clinical training at the University of Hawai`i. Overall, it was an incredibly positive experience. The team that I will be working with was very welcoming, and our training went off without a hitch. I stayed in the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel in Waikiki, and had both an ocean and Diamond Head view. Pretty spectacular! Even though I was only there for about 72 hours, I had time to explore a bit around Waikiki and had a delicious Thai dinner with our lab at "Mekong II". (Note: One of Tommy and my favorite Richmond restaurants was Mekong on Broad St.) I took several nice walks on the beach and even managed to squeeze in a run at about 5am on Friday morning. The jet lag wasn't too bad on the way out, but really snowed me on the way back. The reality of this move is finally setting in, and is a bit overwhelming. However, I remain extremely positive and excited about this opportunity to live and work in such a unique and beautiful place. I go back this Friday (yes, it is insane) and will stay through next Wednesday. More pictures to come!

The pictures above include (in order) 1.view walking from my hotel into Waikiki area, 2. Waikiki from the Royal Hawaiian area, 3. the tallest palm trees I have ever seen 4. view of the beach from my hotel.

Love,

Maggie

Dreaming of Hawaii...

Last weekend Tommy and I went to Miami for the wedding of our dear friends Lauren and Nick. It was a beautiful wedding, and the weekend was not without the drama necessary to create stories for years to come (including flat tires, allergic reactions, drunk relatives, etc). Tommy and I had a few hours at the ocean after Tropical Storm Barry passed. As we floated in the crystal blue water we exhaled and all our stress seemed to float away. Then we looked at one another and at the same moment realized that WE ARE GOING TO LIVE FIVE MINUTES FROM A BEACH LIKE THIS! Moving to Hawaii has not ceased to provide us with many little moments such as this, where we become giddy like five year-olds and laugh about how excited we are for the next year of our life....