breathe

Good-Bye Winter... Hello Spring!!!

2009-04-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here I am at the Valley of the Temples!!! Behind me you can see a Buddha Temple. This Temple brings peace, love, and happiness... sounds pretty good to me.

Marnie and I enjoy our little field trip on our circle island tour with a bunch of new freshmen. I wanted to meet some fresh blood out here and figured this would be a good way. Say hello to Mr. School Bus.Here I am with my good friends Paul and Gibby at a beautiful look out. It was a little windy as you can see... my hair in my face, but still the view was as pretty as ever.

Check out these baked goods. Don't they look delish??? We found them at the swap meet. Kandis you will be glad to know I found myself an amazing pair of Tai fisherman pants... and I love them!!!

Here I am with my little Mandy Moo at Shark's Cove. What can I say, its just another fun day out on our little island Oahu.

This is me up in a tree I climbed up at Turtle Bay and my friend Beana had fun snapping some shots on her camera. I don't know who had more fun me posing or her taking the pictures... plus I got to watch some surfers catch some pretty good waves while I was up there.

Here is another picture Beana took. This one was taken inside Turtle Bay Resort. I had some fun changing the colors to make it pop a bit.

A group of us girls all went out to dinner in Haleiwa, up one the North Shore. We ended up going to Haleiwa Eats which is know for having the best Tai food on the island. And I have to say is it was pretty good.

Now this next picture represents one of my craziest memories here... are you ready for this???

Brace yourself...

Ok, here goes... there is this famous rock at Waimea Beach that is 25 feet tall and everyone jumps off into the ocean. Well, so we decided to go at mid-night and jump off in the dark...

NAKED!!! Yep that's right you heard me right... NAKED!!! It was the best skinny dipping experience ever. Talk about crazy!!!

Here is a picture of Tori, my love, and me making mini S'mores out of mini marshmallows and M&M's and teddy grahams. It was so fun roasting the mallows over a little lighter. It was great.

Mandy, Tori, and I all spoon together in this tiny tent and camp out over on Huki Lau Beach. Man, do I love camping. I miss my Christina Lake though!!! I can't wait to go summer 2010!!!

There were about 30 of us that turned out for the bonfire and about 20 that stayed the night. People come where the fire is- what can I say?

Well, Winter semester is over and now spring has come which means now I am back in school and I only have one year left. I am a senior in college and want to get this show on the road. The count down in on!!! Wish me luck!!!

Too much Fun!!!

2009-04-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a party for our dear friend Brittney down in Waikiki since she's getting married. We all got dressed up for the special occasion. Tori helped me get all dolled up and this is what we came up with...
Us girls had too much fun down on the streets of the Waikiki strip. There is nothing like having a girls night out on the town.

This next picture is of me and Tori walking down the street together. My roomies have really become my sisters and best friends. I feel so blessed to have them in my life. I couldn't have picked better roommates if I tried. Thanks for being the bomb ladies!!!

Here we are at dinner at The California Pizza Kitchen. It was so good... then again we were all super hungry since we didn't get there until 10 PM. We got to eat out on the balcony- which made it all better.

Take a look at this... this is the remote we had in our hotel room. I thought of you Dad and how we got you one of those for Christmas thinking that might help you see the buttons. I think it broke... but maybe we should think about getting another one for you.

Wake up sleepy head!!! We crammed 6 of us in a little hotel room... so I was booted off the bed and had to sleep on the floor, but I came prepared with my own sheets. What can I say, I'm a thinker.

Once we were up it was off to the famous Waikiki beach for us. It felt like we were tourists on vacation just like everyone else down there, it was great.

We strike a pose!!! You can see all of our different personalities come out here. Left to right we have: Stef, Anna, Mandy, Brittney, and me of course.

Tori does a good job and captures us on camera walking down the strip. The sun is out, we are smiling, and life good!!! It doesn't get much better than this.

Our weekend vaca was awesome. We had a blast letting lose and being fancy free!!!

Below is a picture of Joy, Tori, Mandy, and I playing up on our roof. Yep that's right we can get up on top of our house. It is a great place to take the boys... for star gazing of course!!!

Here I am being a rock star on the roof. PS- the view from up there is incredible!!!

Here we are at Huki Lau Cafe for breakfast. That's right once again you see me on a bike. I love riding around with my girls.

BLAKE COMES TO VISIT!!!

We have all sorts of fun together. Here is a list of a few things we did together:

Go on a bike ride
Go snorkeling
Get musubi and acai bowls
Play in some massive waves
Jump off of Waimai rock
See some Hawaiian ruins
Get kicked out of the PCC
Eat at Huki Lau Cafe
Go to the Temple Visitor Center

I am so happy I got to see Blake and show him around my little world out here in Hawaii. Who's next to visit??? I would love to be a tour guide for anyone and everyone. That's code for... COME VISIT!!!

This is my back yard on the point. This is what I see everyday from my window. I know your jealous. (He He)

Here Tori and I are in a cave that takes you out to the ocean. Can you see the water behind us and to the left? You can snorkel from this cave right out to the ocean. Pretty cool, huh?

Below: This is a tree I found on Temple Beach that I climbed up and decided to use for one of my 22 things I want to do before I turn 22. Can you guess what one that is???

If you guessed carving a special boy's name in a tree, you're right!!! Now you are probably wondering who's the lucky boy... well that is going to remain a secret. Sorry.

I also I got to cross another thing off of my list... I went kite flying!!! Mandy and I loved flying Dora the Explorer high in the sky. I felt like such a child- so care free, giggling and smiling, while running along the beach with a kite in my hand.

I loved flying my kite!!! And I am so glad I got to share that with my Mandy Moo. I have so much fun with this girl- she is all about soaking up the moment and living life to the fullest. Mandy thanks for teaching me so much about living and loving each moment.

Until next time... GO FLY A KITE!!! Let the kid come out in you!!!

Best Saturday EVER!!!

2009-03-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday was the best day ever!!! We woke up and started the day off by going to breakfast at Huli Lau. And then it was time to hit up the bus and go to Waimea beach. There we jumped off the big 25 foot rock and had so much fun simply swimming around.

Then it was time for my to cross something off my list of 22 things to do before I turn 22. SO... Mandy and Derek decided to bury me in the sand.

They turned me into the best lookin' Merman anyone has ever seen. Look at those muscles!!!

The sand got heavy and it was time to break free. Once I emerged out of my little sand cocoon I had sand all over me. The sand made me sparkle in the sun!!! Take a look.

After soaking up lots of rays Derek, Anna, and I hit the road with our thumbs waving through the air... that's right we were hitch hiking. We got picked up by 5 different people and each time the people got a little bit crazier. We had a blast eating shaved ice, going shopping, dancing in the road, and going to a little shrimp shack. Good times!!!

Below is a picture of me and my new talent. My good friend Ryan Stoker taught me how to brake an apple in half with just my bare hands. I know, I know I am quite the muscle woman.

A little piece of SUNSHINE

2009-03-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

I LOVE MY HAWAII!!!

I really am living on a little piece of Heaven on earth!!!

This is the view from my back porch. Can you believe I wake up to this everyday? How lucky am I? One of my favorite things to do is eat my breakfast on my porch. Unfortionitally, since I have started working I am up before the sun, but Saturdays are the perfect morning for a good breakfast on the porch. Oh, and us girls love climbing up on the roof... you can see everything from up there. It's beautiful day and night. It is a great place to go at night to go star gazing. I have seen many shooting stars from up there.

This is a picture of bikini beach right behind my house. I love going down there as often as I can. In fact, just the other night I enjoyed some nice skinny dipping with my girls. There is nothing better than being totally free in the ocean.

This next picture might come as a bit of a surpise to some, but here I am with my roomie Tori riding home on a bike. Yes it's true... I have finally learned how to ride a bike. In fact, I love riding!!! I am going to be buying my first bike in 2 weeks and I can't wait to have a bike of my own. Family this means you can't tease me anymore for not knowing how to ride a bike!!!

Ok, so this Hammock has a story behind it. One day I was walking home from work and decided to walk along the beach and have a little picnic. My day was already going perfect when I looked over and saw this hand-made hammock. It was like a dream out of a movie. I mean how often do you just run into a perfect little hammock on the beach? Turns out my friend Jake actually made it one day when he came across a washed up fishing net. This hammock has turned into one of my new favorite places.

Ulrika (My Swedish friend) and I came across this big, fat monster truck. That thing would take us out and not even know it. The sad thing is the people in the truck probably wouldn't even notice either. HA! I love big trucks, but lets be real that thing is a little too big for it's own good.

Below is a picture of some of us girls at Ulrika's going away party. Left to right we have:

Sophia, Steph, Mandy, Ulrika, Joy, and then Anna is in the yellow and that's me popping out. Oh, how I love my girls!!! I am going to miss Ulrika!!! We have become way good friends. I am just going to have to visit her next summer when I am traveling around Europe.

So when it rains in Hawaii... IT POURS!!! Here I am riding a bike throught the pouring down rain. Talk about being soaking wet and hydroplaning through some massive puddles. But heck it sure did make a good memory.

This is a picture after the big rain storm. Ulrika and I went to the PCC night show and I just sat there shivering wet and cold. But hey like I said before it sure did make for a good memory.

RAIN OR SHINE...

HAWAII WILL ALWAYS ROCK!!!

Peek-A-Boo...take a peek into my crazy, busy life!!!

2009-03-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

I have turned into a crazy busy working bee. Below is a picture of me hard at work. Dad taught me well how to get down and dirty and to use my tools. You can take that how ever you would like. HA! No, just kidding. A few weeks ago I ended up getting two jobs and I started working 60 hours a week. One job was at Angel's Ice Cream and the other was my old job from last week at the Seasider Cafe on campus. They asked me to come back full time as a supivisor. How cool is that? I love being back. I feel at home back there washin' my dishes and gettin' it done. I know how to run most everything... from the ice cream and sandwiches to the grill and stir fry. It feels good to be a working woman. I did however end my job at Angel's so I would have a little more time to play. You know me and playin'!!! WORK HARD, PLAY HARD!!! That's my motto.

One nice afternoon, Joy and I decided to hit up the North Shore just for the fun of time. We had a ball hitting up the beach and then we did a little shopping. Mostly we just had fun being silly togther. I love my little bundle of "JOY".

This is a picture of my good friend Anthony. Anthony just got baptized and I am so happy for him!!! He has completely changed his life and turned it over to God. Go Anthony- YOU ROCK!!!

Our basketball team rocked it this year!!! I had loads of fun cheering them on. Wednesday was our biggest game in our Seasider history. We had over 4,000 people show up to watch. I have been helping with consessions. From yelling out sale pitches and screaming for our team I totally woke up sick with a bad sore throat. No fun at all!!!

Here is a picture of my peeps. We sure do love loading up on pizza and ice cream. There is nothing pizza and ice cream can't fix... well maybe not everything. They don't seem to help with my love handles, but heck I figure everyone wants a little love to hold on to... and I got a lot of love. (He He)

Just a few more days in paradise

2009-02-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

Valentines morning Mandy (on the left) surprised Joy and me with a wonderful breakfast made with love. She cooked us up some amazing heart shaped banana and Reese's pieces pancakes. We had a wonderful little picnic on our balcony. It was the perfect way to start off our V-day!!!
Thanks Mandy Moo!!!

That afternoon Mandy and I had the best Valentines ever!!! We ended up going to a nursing home to dance to with the old folks. It was so fun to see them get down on the dance floor. Some of those little old ladies still had a lot in them. I hope I still all that life in me when I am there age.

So I actually started to tackle the bike!!! In fact I am actually starting to get the hang of it. However, I am still getting my far share of scrimps and scrapes. The other day Joy and I were on a little ride and I ended up not turning fast enough and running into a bush. You wouldn't think a bush would do anything, but oh no this bush was quite firm and had some big fatty thorns. I ended up cutting up my leg pretty good. But don't you worry just a few days later I
bruised up my other leg to even it out. I was actually riding a bike with my roomie Steph. I was sitting with my legs out and she was peddling standing up. Unfortunately, another biker got a little too close and ended up running straight into my leg. That was pretty painful. Oh, the joys that come from riding a bike. You can't really see my scratches, but they're there.

Mandy, Joy, and I all decided to run and jump into the ocean one morning just for the heck of it. That's one of the perks of living so close to the beach.

Joy and I saved this little pooch from getting hit by a car. We wanted to adopt him and keep him, but he tried to find his owners instead. Turns out we put him in the wrong yard, but I when we went back to check on him they had found his family. If I were ever to get a little dog I would get a little Yorkie like this guy. Isn't he so cute?

Joy and I make the biggest, baddest burgers of all times!!! And don't forget about the home-made fries and fry sauce. The flies were everywhere... hence Joy's hand swooshing them away in the picture.

Look at the burger!!! I have to say it was the best burger I have ever had. Joy and I sure did get down and dirty eating those things, but man were they dang good!!!

PS- Everyone I got a JOB!!! Stay tuned... to find out more.

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!!!

2009-02-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

So for the Holiday us girls decided to have our very own adventure... and boy was it an adventure!!! My good friend Ulrika (from Sweden) had to go and pick up her sister from the airport and asked me to go along with her... and that is where it all began. She ended up borrowing this guy Clark's car and as you can see (below) it pretty much is a dumpster on wheels. But hey that is how most of the cars are out here and we love them all so whateve. Any who, after she picked me and a couple of my other roomies up we figured we should probably check the oil since the light was on. When we pulled into the gas station and checked the dip stick... there was not even a drip of oil in this car... and I mean not nothing, notta, ZERO!!! The worst part is if we wouldn't have stopped and the car did happen to go up in flames, well... only 2 of the 4 doors even open and only 1 of those 2 doors can be opened from the inside. So pretty much we would have been stuck in a burning car. Yeah kinda scary. But luckily we did stop and put 4 quarts of oil in that sucker. I know- holy cow!!! Way to start our little adventure off.

Once we got down to Honolulu to the airport Ulrika jumped out to go and get her sister in the airport and left me to drive the car and figure my way around that crazy, busy place. Talk about confusing!!! I have never been whistled at so many times. Geese you would think they could be a little nicer, but oh no!!! Just driving around the airport in a few circle was one heck of a stressful experience. Talk about tense. Holy moly. But finally I got to settle in the back seat and boy did it feel good not to be behind the wheel anymore. Then we were off to Waikiki for the day. We were going to the Zoo and I was so stinkin' excited!!!

You can't tell but those are hippos we are sitting on. And below Joy and I make friends with the dolphins... which now that I think about it, we didn't even seen dolphins. Now I feel jipped. What is this?

We got to go Africa and see many animals. Here were some giraffes and their long, long necks. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Lions they were getting their shots. Stink.

Here is one of my good friends Boom Boom the gorilla. We had fun naming the animals. This gorilla was kinda in a bad mood and he would sneak up to the glass window and bang on it and scare people... hence the name Boom Boom.

Us girls found this really neat tree in the middle of the zoo. We had a blast climbing all over it like our monkey friends. Joy got mooned pretty well from me... as you can see... I am wearing a dress (he he).

Here we are trying to imitate our furry family. Can you see them in the trees behind us? They loved showing off to us by swinging all over their tree. If we clapped they kept going. They sure did give us quite the show.

Here I am with my favorite animal!!! I named this guy Eddie the Elephant. Mandy was able to get some very good shots with him. Thanks Mandy Moo. Isn't Eddie soooo handsome?

Ulrika and I pose with our peacock friend. I am finally getting over the time when one chased me into Katie Gumkie's garage when I was five... that was a traumatic experience for a little girl, but look at me now so brave.

I am not sure what was more fun for me... seeing the animals or acting like the animals? Here we are posting like... can you guess???

If you said Alligators you're right... if you said something else I would love to hear what on earth you came up with. Below Joy and I are reading about how Alligators still court with one another. We are wondering why on earth Alligators are doing this when us humans aren't??? Come on guys get your act together and ask us girls out!!!! What kind of a world are we living in anymore when animals are smarter than humans?

After our amazing day at the zoo we spent the rest of the day wondering the streets of Waikiki. We even hit up the international market place. I hadn't been down there since last year. It was so nice- It felt like I was on vacation like all of the other tourists. Everything reminded me of my bestest friend Bree Bree when she came to visit. We did everything down there so no matter where I was I was constantly reminded of the many wonderful memories we had together last year. Waikiki is unbelievable and unforgettable!!! We left the streets with the sun setting and... well... with a $140.00 ticket posted on our car. Clark hadn't told us his car wasn't registered. Oops. Welcome to the chill life of Hawaii.

Girls just wanna have FUN!!!

2009-02-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Last weekend a few of us girls wanted to have our very own girls night... so that was exactly what we did. We rented a good chick flick and got all of our favorite foods. But the best part was that we turned the whole living room into a giant fort. It was our little hide out. It reminded me of the forts Andrew used to make back in the day that took up the whole rec room.

Here we are with our 3D glasses on... No we weren't watching anything 3D, but the glasses where just the cherry on top.
So my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY is coming up. I am going to be turning 22 on the 22nd of May and I thought I need to do something big for this birthday of mine. I decided to take a look at my list of a hundred things to do in my life and do 22 new ones before I turn 22.

22 Things to do before I turn 22

run a 10K
write a collection of poems
anonymously give flowers away
love my body
learn to french braid
learn to juggle
bowl over 125
do some pottery
do finger painting
get into a food fight
carve a special name in a tree
build a kite and fly it
learn sign language
learn to do cartwheels
do kayaking
Build a fort in the woods
learn self defense
toss pizza dough in the air
catch a fish and eat it
get my picture drawn
build a new friendship
go on a real bike ride
put together 1,000 piece puzzle
make my own recipe
surf by myself
get buried in the sand
sing a solo
kiss someone in the rain

I have been working on some of them. You all will be happy to hear my roomies that been helping me with my biking skills. The other night my roommate Mandy and I went on a little bike ride and it was great. I was so proud of myself. Riding along the highway is still really really scary and the next thing I want to learn is how to stand while riding, but I am making progress. I have also been working on a few other things and I promise to keep you posted as I get things done. I got to cross the first thing off last night. Mandy has a list of her own and we both are determined to help each other cross things off. Any who, last night for dinner we were trying to figure out what to make and we decided to make up our own thing. We were in the mood for breakfast for dinner and we ended up coming up with... drum roll please... Pancakes with slices of bananas and Reese's pieces in them. Talk about simple, but sweet!!! They were the best pancakes I have ever had. You all have to try them out seriously!!!

Until next time... peace out.

2009-01-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

ALOHA!!!

Well, well, well... Stace, Candace, and Lisa I guess it is only fair that I join my sisters in their passion for blogging. And as far as you Mom I am sure you will love to see what is going on in my life while I am away at school. So bring on the new year of 2009!!! I am hoping that this new year will bring much happiness and many new memories.

So now I am back in Hawaii and actually going to school this time at BYU-Hawaii. After taking a whole year off of school it feels very weird going back to class, but I know it's got to be good for me no matter how much I might hate it.

I love where I live. It is up on the point and the view is just incredible!!! My house is called the QUIET HOUSE... don't ask me why? There is a total of 36 girls that live there, but there are only 10 in my part of the house. I lucked out because I have the most amazing roomies ever. I seem to say that every time I move, but they really are great girls. My room is quite cute. I got it all dolled up so I feel like I have a nice place to go to.

My room is quite differerent from last year where there were four of us in a little room and I chose to sleep on an air matterise and use a beach towel for my blanket.

Ok so enough about that. Lets see... since I have been here I have been trying to meet new people and have got to go on a few really exciting adventures.

A bunch of us roomies have decided that we want to go on a lot of different hikes on the weekends so one of our first was up to Laie Falls. We have been having lots of rain out here so it was super muddy up in the mountains. But don't you worry we planned for the mud. On the way up lets just say a few of us (me included) decided to slip and slid our way through some massive mud puddles. Man oh man was that great fun. About an hour later something got into the boys and pretty soon our hike turned into a full on mud fight. It was a good thing we were hiking up to some water falls to clean off. By the time we got there we all smelt like we had just swam through elephant poop. And to top it all off it had completely hardened on to us. It was 100% sick!!! Take a look...

Let’s see our latest adventure was just this last Saturday when we drove down to the south part of the Island to hike up to a light house. (PS-Mom, I will always think of you whenever there is a lighthouse involved.) Any who, once we got to the top the view was magnificent. I have actually been there before, but I don’t think you could ever get tired of looking out over the turquoise water with white waves crashing in contrast. It truly was breath taking.Those are just some of the perks of living in Hawaii.

As far as my roommates go... they are absolutely amazing. I don't think I could have asked for better girls to live with. We have too much fun goofin' off and being silly. Not only are the fun girls, but they are some super good girls too. In fact, the other day we were all cooking in the kitchen and someone started singing hymns and before you knew it everyone had joined in. How cool is that?

One of my favoirte nights was when we decided to cook up some amazing home made pizza together. By the time the pizza was ready to eat it was 11:30 at night, but boy did it taste amazing. It just might have been the best pizza I have ever had!!!

Well, this has been a sneak peak into my life here in Laie. I hope you have liked seeing what I have been up to. And Stace, Candace, and Lisa now it is offical I have joined the sisterhood of blogging!!! Well, as the Hawaiians say it ALOHA... (for those of you who may not know that means hello and good-bye- I know I know they are tricky here) Peace out till next time.