Farewell to our Danish Friend

This is a really sad day for me, as someone who I've become very close to is leaving. Michael "Danish" Jensen has to return home to Denmark.

When we met him, I didn't expect to become so close. I thought well, he's replacing Michael Anderson (the original "Danish") on the soccer team and as a drinking buddy. But he quickly became more. He and Mike and I became close pretty fast and have had so many good times together. When Mike left to go back to Ireland Michael is who helped the most with pulling me through. He would force me to get out and do things and took me to the soccer games so I could still be involved. I don't think I would have come through that as well as I did without him and Kathrine. His awesome amazing, beautiful girlfriend Kathrine. She is one of the kindest most genuine girls I think I have ever met, and I feel we just clicked. The two of them have just been such great friends and I know will always be there for me and Mike as we are for them.

I knew this day would come, but what I didn't expect is how sad I would be. It is really hard to find such awesome friends, and it really stinks that they live so far away! I know we will see each other, and I can not WAIT to go to Denmark. It is only an hour plane ride from Ireland so that makes it even easier on us to get to them when we visit our family, and hopefully they'll come over to Ireland. I know they will also come back here to Texas some day, since they made so many friends here. I am also thankful that we are living in the internet age. I mean, how terrible to make friends and have to write letters that take forever for delivery! We can and will stay in touch through emails, IM, blogs, and Facebook.

As sad as today is for those of us who are losing our good friend, I am happy for Michael and Kathrine that he is returning home. I know Kathrine and his family must have missed him, and as his friend, I know what a jewel he is and I can't even imagine how much his friends missed him! I think Kathrine is an amazingly strong woman for dealing with the distance with such strength and grace (I know how hard long long distance is). I think it really shows how strong their relationship and their love is. If he ever takes my advice (and the advice I've heard many others give him) he'll marry that awesome Kathrine as soon as possible to make certain she never gets away! HAHA (No pressure Michael...hehe)

So, Kathrine and Michael, remember your friends here in Texas, and remember that we love you and we miss you...I think I will miss you the most and I can't wait until we can see each other again! Thanks for being such awesome friends and for all the good times we had and for helping me through my bad times. The two of you show the world the true definition of friendship and love. And you are always so cheerful and happy!! I will try to be more like you in that respect. You have made a major impact on my life, and the lives of many others. I hope you know that.

I love you both!
Amber

oh, Fionn will really really miss his Uncle Danish, always there to give him pets and love


Halloween Party 2007




Going Away Party and Beer Pong Tournament

Michael is self proclaimed Beer Pong Champion of the World

Tuesday August 12th, Pearl Harbor - Last Day

Sadly this was our last day. We got up and walked Honolulu again to check out the International Marketplace where we needed to pick up a couple more things, and have lunch. Then we went to Pearl Harbor. We strolled around a bit then went to the USS Arizona Memorial and Museum. We looked and read and then when it was our turn went to the Memorial. They show you a video 1st about how Japan started everything and how America got into WWII. I had learned it all before, but this video reminded me and showed actual footage from the time which was really neat. Then we took a very short boat ride over to the memorial. It is actually a sort of bridge that is over where the Arizona sank and still sits as a final resting ground for the over 1,100 people that were on the great battleship. It was surreal. We almost didn’t go at all, but decided at the last minute it was worth paying for the cab ride. We didn’t pay to see the other battleships or anything; after all we can see Battleship Texas any time we want. The Arizona was something not to be missed though. I strongly encourage anyone going to Honolulu to set aside a couple hours for Pearl Harbor. AS they had on the signs: It is where the world goes to remember, and America goes to grieve. It is amazing.
Now we’ve been sitting in the airport FOREVER!! HA our plane boards in about 20 minutes or so. Then we have a LONG over night flight and we land in Houston at 10 am.

It was a GREAT trip! The company trip part went off well and the honeymoon part was so awesome and unforgettable!!

For now…Allloooooooooooooooohhhaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!

Monday August 11th, Polynesian Culture Center

We got up and went to the Polynesian Culture Center. This was by far one of the highlights of our trip. They have the 6 Polynesian Islands represented w/ shows, hands on activities and artifacts. The guide “Cousin Gandhi” was so funny and had a lot of information. We got to see a good bit of the island on the hour long bus ride. We saw China Man’s hat and the island that looks like a turtle. Gandhi was from Samoa, one of the islands represented at the PCC. The other 5 are: Tonga, Fiji, Aotearoa (New Zealand) Tahiti and Hawaii. We saw the different dances and did some hands on things like spear throwing, playing the bamboo, hula lessons, and grass weaving. We saw coconut tree climbers in Samoa and Gandhi showed us how they open the coconut and get the milk out.

I’ve always wanted to go to Tahiti and now after spending the day w/ our guide we’ve decided Samoa is definitely on the top of our vacation lists. They are known as “the Happy People” and are the comedians of the Polynesians. In the afternoon they have a canoe pageant. There is a river running through the whole place and the different villages have a pontoon like canoe and do their dances in the lagoon. It was really neat to watch.

For dinner we went to the Ali’i Luau. After over a week in Hawaii Mike finally got lei’ed…hahahah. There was a show of hulas and a buffet w/ a bunch of authentic Hawaiian food.

After that we went to the big show. IT was awesome! It was all the different villages doing their native dances. It ended with the fire dancing. That was the most awesome part of the show to us, but the show as a whole was really entertaining. We were running out of camera space, but Mike took some video. Like I said, the PCC was really a highlight of the entire trip. We both really enjoyed it. It was educational and entertaining at the same time.

Sunday August 10th, day of relaxation!

We slept in!! Then we went to the beach. We walked around a good bit and spent time watching surfers. The water is so beautiful and cool. We had a couple’s massage which was so nice, and then we went back to the beach again. We picked a better place the 2nd time and the waves were huge and Mike did quite a bit of body surfing.
After the beach we went for a romantic dinner at a rotating restaurant called Top of Waikiki. It was dark out, so the whole city was all lit up. It was really pretty. The best part of our meal was the dessert. We had chocolate fondue. Mike’s 1st fondue!! It was good

Saturday August 9th, Leave the Ship in Honolulu

Had to leave the ship and say goodbye :(
We began our honeymoon officially, with my parents…haha. We checked into Hotel Renew and then went to check out Honolulu. We strolled around Waikiki Beach and then went to the International Marketplace that wasn’t too far from us and there we bought our souvenirs and then had lunch at Cheescake Factory. When we were able to get in our room we put on our bathing suites and went to Waikiki Beach which was across the street from our hotel. It is so amazing! White sand, turquoise water, surfers everywhere! It was awesome. We hung out a while until it was time for Mom and Dad to go. They showered and caugtht a ride to the airport. Mike and I went to Subway and ABC Store and got some snacks and stuff for our room. We ate and watched some TV in the most comfortable bed ever and just had a nice quiet night.

Waikiki was so pretty, the water was so clear and cool, and there was so much going on w/ all the people and surfers and stuff...well and my Dad was the studliest man on the beach! HAHA

Friday August 8th, Kuai

We just went to the beach where we met up with the Greens, Breitensteins and Magees. The guys played in the water a bit then we went to Dukes for food. The ship left port at 2 that day and we sailed around the side of the island with the canyon and cliffs that we had seen the day before. It was really pretty from the boat too.
That night Mike and I had a really lovely dinner at the Italian food restaurant and then we went to the farewell cocktail party.



It went really well and everyone had a good time. After the final packing we proceeded to the Mardi Gras lounge and drank and danced.

There Dwayne was given the Biscuit Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Jason B. This was for his valiant and selfless efforts in actually being #1 but never ever being recognized as being #1 by anyone who matters. He had a lot of people to thank, none of which were on the boat.

Thursday August 7th, Kaui

Kaui is known as The Garden Island and it is easy to see why. It is incredibly lush.
We met Scotty our friendly hippie surfer dude taxi driver. Dad bargained w/ him to take us all over the west of the island.

We saw a huge water fall, and then he took us to the Waimea Canyon. Waimea Canyon is so gorgeous! It is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It was so colorful and just breathtakingly beautiful. We saw a few mountain goats, and there was a large waterfall too.

Chickens are EVERYWHERE in Kaui. They also have these really pretty cardinals w/ only a red head. They look like our red cardinals w/ clothes on.

At one of our stops we were 4,000 feet above sea level. We saw some blowhole cave thingys too. They are like an upside down waterfall. The caves formed by the lava rock spew the water out when the waves wash up. The sound is really cool.

Scott picked us some Guava fruit to sample from the trees on the side of the road. Our last stop was a 20 something foot waterfall. We had quite a hike through some sugar cane, and came to the river. Mike actually jumped over the fall into the pool below. Dad and I were too chicken. During the hike Mike was worried about Veloceorapters jumping out…Jurassic Park anyone??






It was just a day full of gorgeous views. We went back to our room after the 6 hour tour, with intentions of just taking a nap. It was 4:30 pm, we never woke up! Well, I slept, Mike watched a couple of movies.

Wednesday August 6th, Kona

We docked again on Hawaii - “The Big Island”. This time in the town of Kona
Here we had to leave the boat via tender (little boats to take you ashore). Kona is where they do the Iron Man Competition and we saw a few people that appeared to be in training. We just strolled around. Saw the 1st Christian Church in Hawai’i and where the King lived. Then we met up w/ Jason and Jill Breitenstein where we went to Kona Brewery and had “tiny beers” as Mike calls them. We just hung out and had some beers and appetizers. Dwayne and Tom joined us, followed shortly by Phillip and Ambra Magee.
We had dinner in the Skyline again with the Breitensteins, the Magees, Dwayne and Tom, the Greens. Dwayne was given his first award for being the actual #1 Fort Worth dealer. Haha

After that we went to the White Party to check it out. Jason looks so lovely in a feather boa.

The pictures didn’t turn out too well from that b/c they had the fog machines going. We saw the “Ship and Dales” and they did like cocktail slinging where they attempted tricks w/ the bottles and shakers and stuff. Pretty cool.

Tuesday August 5th, Maui

Group Snorkeling at Molokini Crater and Turtle Arches (or as Jason Green calls it: Turtle Town). We took a catamaran out to the crater and A LOT of people were sea sick. Mike took a Snorkeling 101 as this was his 1st time snorkeling. Then we were ready to go. We really enjoyed it. The water was nice and the fish are really cool to observe in their natural habitats.



After a while at Molokini Crater we went to the Turtle Town. We saw several turtles. One Mike and I were following (not very closely so we didn’t scare him) and he came up for air a few times. Really neat. The boat had to leave a bit early b/c the trade winds came in early for some reason. It was a super windy and crazy ride back. Made people even more sea sick. Mike and I thought it was fun! HAHA
That night we had dinner w/ the Breitensteins, Jason Green, Tom, the Osbornes, Jay and the Magees in the Skyline restaurant. They were serving lobster. After a long day of being in the sun (bad sunburns!) and a huge meal we called it a night.

Monday August 4th, Maui

Mom and Dad rented a Chrysler Seabring convertible. We followed Jason Breitenstein in a circle, then he turned the GPS off and we made our way to Lahaina, an old whaling town that has a bunch of shops and restaurants. We ate at Cheesburger in Paradaise, then we saw the largest Banyan tree. It is so cool. It takes up a whole block. Banyan Trees have roots that go from the limbs to the ground. When they can take root they grow new trunks. Really cool trees.

After checking out the tree and a few shops we went to the beach. We didn’t pick the best place, it had lava rocks all over, but it was pretty and we were just dying for a swim. The water was so lovely! Then we drove around a good distance. We went over to Wailea and just drove a good bit. We ended up at Ioa National Park. It was up in the mountain in a rain forest area. There was a Japanese Garden and river and the Ioa Needle. The water in the river was really cold. The view was great.



We can’t remember what we did after that, guess that is why we should be better about keeping up w/ our blog! I think we just had dinner and went to bed probably.

Sunday August 3rd, Hilo

The ship docked in Hilo on the Island of Hawai’i, “The Big Island”. We went to the Volcanoes National Park with a quick stop at the Macadamia Nut Factory. They had free samples and a LARGE gift shop (shocker). We had a funny bus driver who added a lot of humor, and she had a lot of knowledge about the area. We were on the most active volcano in Hawai’i Kilawea. It is still putting lava into the sea. We saw some areas w/ steam coming out of the ground in various fields and then a huge shoot of steam coming out of the crater at the top where they have a museum. We walked in a lava tube. This is where the lava has formed a tunnel. We got to walk through it. That was really cool.

That night was the awards presentation. It went off really well. Then everyone had WAY too much to drink (especially Mike). When the open bar was over we went and heard some karaoke. Oh yeah, we missed seeing the lava poor into the ocean when the ship drove by. I saw a quick glimpse of the red and orange lava but not a good one. I’m hoping someone in our group has pictures.