Hawaii Incentive Trip

The yearly incentive trip is something that, requires tremendous work and effort! Please be aware that fewer than 1% of Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators earn the incentive trip and there is no guarantee of similar results. I earned it in 2008, though it’s on my list to earn again in 2027.  If you want to understand why below is the post I wrote after returning.  It’s just the highlights and doesn’t come close the the experience.

March 2009 – Pre-trip – Maui

I thought I would share a few pictures with you from our Hawaii Trip.  We had a really great time and Stampin’ Up! spoiled us rotten.  I’m so blessed to be part of such and awesome company and to have been able to earn this trip.  Thank you to everyone who helped me get here.  It’s kind of long, but I hope you enjoy a glimpse of our trip.  There are so many other pictures I’d like to share.  Hopefully you will see them in some scrapbook pages.

We flew off to Maui on the 20th of March.  This was a little extended trip that we added since they were paying for the air-fair.

While we were there we went on a boat to Molokai Crater to do some snorkeling and Snuba Diving.  Snuba is a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving.  You are attached to a 20 foot hose and your air supply in on a raft up above.  It’s really cool because you can get clear down under the water.  It’s one of my favorite ways to discover the ocean without being a certified scuba diver, but now I want to learn how to Scuba Dive.

While on the boat we were also able see some of the humpback whales which are so beautiful.

Then we traveled up the coast for a scenic ride.  Here is just one of the beautiful views. We drove all around the island taking in the many scenic views it offered.

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Arriving for the trip

On Sunday we were off to the Big Island for the Stampin’ Up! section of our trip.  They greeted us with real flower lei’s at the airport and took us on a bus to the resort that was about 30 minutes away on the other side of the island.  It was nice because the airline lost Marc’s luggage but they took care of everything making sure it was all delivered to our room upon arrival.  I was really glad when I realized how big the resort was it was a 15 minute walk just to get from the front desk to our room and they even had trams and boats you could take to get around..

They sent us up a staircase and over a bridge to our special check in.  There was a beautiful lagoon and a waterfall when you got to the top of the bridge.  The resort was amazing with so much to do as see. We loved taking the pathways and bridges that walked around the Lagoon. I absolutely had to get a picture in front of the beautiful waterfall.  We took these pictures after we got back from a nice walk to the nearby market place.  The weather was so beautiful that we couldn’t help but walk everywhere.  I always had my camera handy because there were so many beautiful things to see. The center picture is of the the upper part of the Lagoon.  The tower in the back is one of three different towers for the Hotel and the one we were staying in. We enjoyed walking around the Lagoon where we saw lots of fish and turtles.  This little guy was just sitting there on the beach waiting for us to take our pictures with him. They even had a place to swim with the dolphins. Simply amazing!.

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Welcome Party

The first night we enjoyed a beautiful welcome reception at the pool. The night was filled with laughter, great food and wonderful friends. I was sad that several of our group members were unable to attend due to cancelled flights.  We were so glad to be there early. I had a chance to chat with Shelli for a little bit.  It was so fun to get to visit with her.

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Incentive Trip – Day 1

We started the next day with a  beautiful breakfast followed by general session and swaps.  I will post some later in the samples section.  We also got to see a few sneak peaks from the upcoming catalog.  I’ve been sworn to secrecy but I know you will love what they have in store for us including the beautiful new in-colors, fun stamp sets and more big shot dies.  I so wish I could show you.  It’s killing me not to.  We weren’t even allowed to take pictures.  Just to make it a little easier on us.  But you will love it.

The first picture is the view the Lagoon that we had from out breakfast spot.  The center is a picture of the area where we had breakfast.  It was the open part to the side.  You can only see part of it, but I was beautiful.  I forgot to take a picture that morning.  We really enjoyed sitting with new couples and getting to know them.

We took a bus to Kona later for some shopping and finished the day with dinner at the boat house with Ashley & Brian.  We had so much fun.  The resort is huge and has three ways to get around.  You can walk on the many paths (our favorite) take a boat ride (last picture) or ride on the monorail.  I wasn’t kidding when I said it was big.

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Incentive Trip – Day 2

The next day we rented a car and headed out to see some of the Island.  We spent the day with my up-line Brandi Barnard and her Husband John.  We had so much fun..

First stop was Akaka Falls.  These falls were huge and so pretty.  I would have to say that this is one of my favorite pictures of us.

Next, we enjoyed walking through a beautiful botanical garden that lead all the way down to the beach.  This is Brandi and I with some of the flowers.  I have so many pictures I just couldn’t show them all.

We ended the day by going to the lava flow.  I wish we could have gotten closer, but it was still cool to see.  Watching the steam rise just as the sun was setting was definitely a highlight.  We stayed and watched it in the dark.  You could see the flashes of the red lava flowing down the mountain and splashing up.

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Incentive Trip Day 3

The next day was a lot more relaxed.  I headed down to do my make and takes and left Marc sleeping.  I was surprised to get this fun basket filled with everything we need.  The even gave us the inks. Every day we went into the hospitality room and spun the wheel.  They had different prizes for each day. I got DSP, Brads, Ribbon, Snail and more.  It was really fun.  Plus you put your name in to win an Ipod. I didn’t win, but three people in our group did including two of my up-lines, Mindy Bywater and Brandi Barnard plus my friend Deborah Larson.

Later that afternoon we went to the beach to do a little snorkeling.  It was really beautiful and we were able to see some fun fish plus 4 turtles.  I really loved the turtles.  They are so cute.

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That night we went out to dinner with most of our group.  We had a lot of fun just laughing and talking. Hopefully I have everyone’s names right.  I know the girls are right I’m just not sure on a few of the husbands.

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After dinner we went back to the share night.  This was so much fun.  I wish I would have known more about it before I came to Hawaii.  It’s a night when demonstrators bring some of the fun things they have made and we can just take pictures.  I have tons of cute ideas.  This was a fun picture.  A lady made these really cute paper shoes and then Thurl Bailey came over.  She said here’s what your wife’s shoe looks like in your hand.  He even posed cute for me.  If you didn’t know he was a Jazz Basketball player and serves on the board of directors for Stampin’ Up!  His wife is really small.   Especially compared to him.

Of course we came home to another gift.  It was a Sargon (I think that’s how you spell it) anyway it’s one of the wraps that you can put around your swimming suit, use as a table cloth or many other fun things.  There were red and pink.  As you can see I got a pink one.

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Incentive Trip Day 4

The next morning we got up early.  Our friend Randy invited us to go snorkeling with him at a place called two step.  It was really cool.  The whole beach was basically lava rock and there was a place where it dropped down like two step and then you could just get into this beautiful coral reef.

Marc would have loved to stay longer if we did need to have the rental car back.  This was his favorite part of the trip. We also needed to get back and get cleaned up for the final night party.

Final Night Party

Stampin’ Up! really outdid themselves for this party. The decorations and atmosphere was amazing and just what I expected from a Hawaiian Luau and maybe a bit more. They had these cute little girls who presented us with koa nut lei’s.  They had really great music and three stages plus they had actors throughout the audience.  We just had to get our picture with the guy on stilts.

Of course Ashley and I just had to get a picture with one of the good looking Hawaiian dudes.

They also had little huts where you could check out some of the culture.  They had wood carving and showed how to crack open a coconut.  My favorite was stringing our own flower lays.  We made ones for our wrist.  I loved these white flowers.  They smelled so good.

My favorite part would have to be when they came down and pulled up some of the audience to do the Luau.  They pulled up my husband Marc and my brother Bret as well as Ashely’s husband Brian.  It was so much fun.  If I can figure out how to make it work I will add the video.  We were laughing so hard.  It was a blast.

After the Luau with the President of the company Dale Filmore.  He is really nice and so down to earth.  Some of you may have heard me tell the story of him helping me on and off the plane with Xander when he was a baby at Leadership last year in Palm Springs.  It was nice to know that he still remembers me.

We had one last gift waiting for us when we got back.  I really loved getting gifts in my room each night.  It’s a good thing that we had a maid come in a clean each day.  I loved that they left these cool cards that said a Hawaiian phrase with the English translation.

The package had a beautiful necklace in it that said Aloha on it.  Here is a picture of me wearing it.

After we dropped things of in our room we head to meet the group for a fun game night.  I guess is kind of a tradition on the cruises when they have some down time.  We had a hard time finding time to get together, but it was a lot of fun.

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Incentive Trip – Final day – Off to Honolulu

The next morning that had it all organized when they were to pick up our bags and when we were to catch the shuttle.  We had some time in-between so we walked around the resort some more.  Marc did some video taping and I took a few more pictures.  One of the things I loved about the resort was that they had a dolphin training center right there.  I loved to sit and watch the dolphins.

We headed of to Honolulu today.  We were sharing a car with Bret and Mindy but they got in 2 hours after us so we hitched a ride to the hotel with Deborah and Kevan.  It worked out great because both Marc and Kevan wanted to try out surfing.  This is the beautiful view they had from their hotel room..

Marc and Kevan loved surfing.  They both got up on their first try.  I’m so glad they got a chance to do it.  Marc said this was his other favorite thing.  They were exhausted after an hour though.

When we were done we met up with Bret and Mindy at the hotel.  We watched the beautiful sun set from the balcony and headed off to Cheesecake factory for dinner.  I really missed the fun presents when we got back to our room.

Bonus Day – Honolulu

The next day we head up to the North Shore.  I wish we would have had more time for it.  We stopped at the Dole Pineapple place and stopped to have some shaved ice.

Then we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and enjoyed the day there.  This guy was our favorite.  He was really funny and was amazing we the fire.  We also had the chance to go over and see the Mormon Temple.  It was really beautiful and we even ran into a Utah celebrity.

We got back late so we slept in then head out to a flea market for some shopping.  I was so busy shopping that I forgot to take pictures.  

We ended the day with some dinner at Chili’s and then piled into the car to the airport.  After a very long flight (all night) we finally got home. Thanks so much for letting me share this fabulous vacation with you. I hope you enjoyed a quick glimpse into how Stampin’ Up! spoils the Incentive Trip achievers and see why I’m trying hard to earn another one.

Happy Stampin’

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