Thanksgiving Weekend
Thanksgiving here in Hawaii was actually a very great time. Although I was a little homesick, I also realize that I had one of the most memorable Thanksgivings yet. It was hard being away from all my family, I wished I could have been with them, but at the same time, I got to experience a whole new Thanksgiving over here, and, like people have told me, I will never forget my Thanksgiving in Hawaii.
My roommate's sister's in-laws are the mission presidents in Honolulu. They so kindly invited us over to have Thanksgiving at their home. I was so grateful that we got to go to an actual house and eat "real" Thanksgiving food. It was the first home-cooked meal we have had since we got here, and it tasted absolutely amazing!! We had the full on turkey dinner. I was beyond grateful for President and Sister Warner's generosity. It meant so much to be to be in a home with them and my friends on Thanksgiving day. They also invited us to stay the night. Since their house is the mission home, they had a few extra rooms with two twin beds for when the missionaries stay over. It was really fun to spend the night there. Their home also had a swimming pool, and it was great to hang out in the pool that night.
The next morning we got up and Sister Warner drove us to Ala Moana, the huge shopping mall in Honolulu. I have never been Black Friday shopping before, and even though we didn't go in the early hours of the morning, there were still a ton of people out and about. So we just shopped around for a while and then headed back to campus. We were going to go to a beach in Kailua, because Sister Warner told us the beaches there are amazing, and that's actually the town we stayed in when my family came over in the spring, but it ended up being a rainy and cloudy day, so we didn't go.
Today, Sunday, has also been very, very rainy. It's been thundering and raining all day. It is the perfect day for me to put on my Christmas sweater and Christmas socks that my mom sent me :)
Well, less than two weeks till I am on the plane coming home!! I am SO excited to see all of my family and friends! I've gained a whole new love and appreciation for everyone at home. I'm also very excited for the Christmas season. It is BY FAR my favorite time of the year. This may sound cheesy and cliche, but there is a magic in the air this time of year. I am an absolute Christmas fanatic, and I'm proud to say so:)
'Tis the season!
12/01/2013
*These pictures are of us in Waikiki. President Warner dropped us off in Waikiki for a couple hours on Thanksgiving day to just walk around the beaches and "city-life" of Waikiki.
My roommate's sister's in-laws are the mission presidents in Honolulu. They so kindly invited us over to have Thanksgiving at their home. I was so grateful that we got to go to an actual house and eat "real" Thanksgiving food. It was the first home-cooked meal we have had since we got here, and it tasted absolutely amazing!! We had the full on turkey dinner. I was beyond grateful for President and Sister Warner's generosity. It meant so much to be to be in a home with them and my friends on Thanksgiving day. They also invited us to stay the night. Since their house is the mission home, they had a few extra rooms with two twin beds for when the missionaries stay over. It was really fun to spend the night there. Their home also had a swimming pool, and it was great to hang out in the pool that night.
The next morning we got up and Sister Warner drove us to Ala Moana, the huge shopping mall in Honolulu. I have never been Black Friday shopping before, and even though we didn't go in the early hours of the morning, there were still a ton of people out and about. So we just shopped around for a while and then headed back to campus. We were going to go to a beach in Kailua, because Sister Warner told us the beaches there are amazing, and that's actually the town we stayed in when my family came over in the spring, but it ended up being a rainy and cloudy day, so we didn't go.
Today, Sunday, has also been very, very rainy. It's been thundering and raining all day. It is the perfect day for me to put on my Christmas sweater and Christmas socks that my mom sent me :)
Well, less than two weeks till I am on the plane coming home!! I am SO excited to see all of my family and friends! I've gained a whole new love and appreciation for everyone at home. I'm also very excited for the Christmas season. It is BY FAR my favorite time of the year. This may sound cheesy and cliche, but there is a magic in the air this time of year. I am an absolute Christmas fanatic, and I'm proud to say so:)
'Tis the season!
12/01/2013
*These pictures are of us in Waikiki. President Warner dropped us off in Waikiki for a couple hours on Thanksgiving day to just walk around the beaches and "city-life" of Waikiki.
Stairway to Heaven and Koko Head Hikes
I know that I have written about some pretty crazy and adventurous weekends here, but this weekend definitely tops it all off! Where do I even being? So, Friday night, around 1:30 AM, we rented a car and drove to a hike called "Stairway to Heaven."
It would just take me way too long to explain the hike in my own words, so this is a description of it, from David Chatsuthiphan. My dad sent me this. He says, "Most people refer to it as “Stairway to Heaven” but the official name, the one you’ll find on the trail head sign, is Haiku Stairs (or Haʻikū Stairs). It’s a steel staircase made up of 4000 steps that ascends a ridge up from the Valley of Haiku near Kaneohe. The steps were built so the military could access a radio station antennae 2000ft up on the mountain during World War II. There’s a lot of hype around this hike because one: well, it’s awesome and two: it’s illegal to hike it. It’s not treacherous or anything, but there are some issues with the neighborhood surrounding the trail. We did a lot of research before hiking and the general consensus is that if you get to the trail before the security guard shows up (around 7am) you’ll be fine. Haiku Stairs isn’t the most difficult hike on the island, but the amazing views and the sheer drop offs on either side of the ridge make it one of the most memorable. While on the steps the word that I kept repeating in my head as a stared at the views was “unreal.” I thought he described and explained the hike perfectly. The hike was so surreal. It was intense. At some points, the step ladders went straight up. It was phenomenal. We reached the top around 4 AM. Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired, maybe because the view up there was unbelievable. The pictures I posted here don't do it justice. So, we waited towards the top for about 2 hours, and it got freezing! The wind was very chilly. All of us ended up huddling together and laying on the cold cement floor, trying to get sleep before we got up to see the sunrise. Once we saw the beautiful sunrise, we headed back down the stairs. For me, I would much rather hike up than down. I know going up was strenuous, but going down just psyches me out. Even though going down took half the time that going up did, I still had a much harder time hiking down. We finally made it down to the bottom around 7 AM. Thankfully, the security guard there didn't stop or question us. He was just sitting under his canopy listening to music :) But did our adventure stop after that 6 hours hiking trip? Of course not....
It would just take me way too long to explain the hike in my own words, so this is a description of it, from David Chatsuthiphan. My dad sent me this. He says, "Most people refer to it as “Stairway to Heaven” but the official name, the one you’ll find on the trail head sign, is Haiku Stairs (or Haʻikū Stairs). It’s a steel staircase made up of 4000 steps that ascends a ridge up from the Valley of Haiku near Kaneohe. The steps were built so the military could access a radio station antennae 2000ft up on the mountain during World War II. There’s a lot of hype around this hike because one: well, it’s awesome and two: it’s illegal to hike it. It’s not treacherous or anything, but there are some issues with the neighborhood surrounding the trail. We did a lot of research before hiking and the general consensus is that if you get to the trail before the security guard shows up (around 7am) you’ll be fine. Haiku Stairs isn’t the most difficult hike on the island, but the amazing views and the sheer drop offs on either side of the ridge make it one of the most memorable. While on the steps the word that I kept repeating in my head as a stared at the views was “unreal.” I thought he described and explained the hike perfectly. The hike was so surreal. It was intense. At some points, the step ladders went straight up. It was phenomenal. We reached the top around 4 AM. Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired, maybe because the view up there was unbelievable. The pictures I posted here don't do it justice. So, we waited towards the top for about 2 hours, and it got freezing! The wind was very chilly. All of us ended up huddling together and laying on the cold cement floor, trying to get sleep before we got up to see the sunrise. Once we saw the beautiful sunrise, we headed back down the stairs. For me, I would much rather hike up than down. I know going up was strenuous, but going down just psyches me out. Even though going down took half the time that going up did, I still had a much harder time hiking down. We finally made it down to the bottom around 7 AM. Thankfully, the security guard there didn't stop or question us. He was just sitting under his canopy listening to music :) But did our adventure stop after that 6 hours hiking trip? Of course not....
We also decided to hike Koko Head Crater. This is also a pretty intense hike, though only .07 miles. The hike is mainly train tracks that have somewhat been turned into stairs. You hike those the whole way up, and it’s pretty steep. My legs were just shaking the entire time, they were so worn out :) But we did it and made it to the top and back down!
After the hike, we decided to go Christmas shopping at the Swap Meet. I think I’ve talked about the swap meet before, but basically it’s just a bunch of cheap vendors selling Hawaiian souvenirs. While we were at the swap meet, my friend (who is in the relief society presidency) texted me and asked if I would give a talk the next day (Sunday) in Sacrament meeting. I wasn’t sure how I was going to have the time or energy to do it, but I told her I would. We finally got back to campus around 4 pm. After taking a shower, I hopped in bed and zonked until 10 pm. I then got up, did some math homework that was due a midnight, and then attempted to write my talk, but I fell back asleep. I woke up again at 1:30 am and tried writing some of my talk again. Thankfully, ideas were coming to me that early in the morning, but time works really weird when you don’t get any sleep. I finally finished writing my talk in Sunday school (Sacrament meeting is the last of the block). I think it went fairly well, too. At least for a last minute talk, haha:)
So all in all, it was quite a great weekend :)
11/24/2013
So all in all, it was quite a great weekend :)
11/24/2013
Yet Another Weekend Adventure
The title of this post explains perfectly our weekend...another adventure! Friday night, Amy, Alexa, Mikee and I went into Honolulu to the mall, called Ala Moana. We rode the bus into Honolulu, then shopped around a bit and ate at Macaroni Grill. The food at Macaroni Grill was unbelievably good!! We were all drooling at the taste of it, I guess cafeteria food for three months will do that to ya ;) After dinner, we went to catch the bus home. We were waiting for the bus for about a half hour, and it wasn't coming. We were asking around, and apparently the buses stop running at 10:30.....it was 11 o'clock by then. So we sat in the ghetto parking area for about three hours. This next part is a little random, but I wanted to share it. I hear my dad talk a lot about "wow" moments, they discuss them at the company Lake Powell trips. I definitely had a "wow" moment that night. Looking at all those different people; some drunk, homeless, dazed, somber, and even some talking for hours to themselves, that night I looked at them and tried to see beyond their outward appearance. I looked at them and wondered what their "background" story was: what their childhood was like, what kind of environment they grew up in, and what their family was like. I wondered if some of them even had a family or a place to call "home." I recognized how quickly I had judged each one of them, even though I knew nothing about them. For all I knew, the homeless lady might have been abused, or the drunk man may have just lost a loved one. On the other hand, maybe the lady is just homeless because she doesn't want a job, or the drunk man is simply an addict. No matter the circumstances, it is not my place to judge people, and I feel so grateful that that isn't my job. I truly believe that there is so much potential and capability in each one of us. One of my favorite quotes that I keep on my board says, "Look for the good." That is my job, to look for the good :) So yeah, that was my "wow" moment...also kind of turned into my soapbox ;)
Anyways, back to being stranded in Honolulu. Amy ended up calling a friend who had a car and he came and picked us up. We were so grateful that he came! It would have been a very long and interesting night without his help.
Anyways, back to being stranded in Honolulu. Amy ended up calling a friend who had a car and he came and picked us up. We were so grateful that he came! It would have been a very long and interesting night without his help.
Saturday we woke up and decided to go snorkeling at Shark's Cove. Being tired of taking the buses, we decided to travel Hawaiian style: hitchhiking! Oh the stories I have from hitchhiking :) We managed to cram 9 girls into a 4 seated car, into a pickup truck (no matter that some of us rode in the bed of the trunk, covered in rose bush thorns), and into another 4 seated car (this time we stuck a couple girls in the trunk so we could fit easier, haha). We got quite the looks from people when they saw us shoving people in the trunk. We finally ended up making it to Shark's Cove. Shark's Cove is a beautiful reef filled with all kinds of marine life. I kind of struggle with snorkeling because I get so up-tight and tense, so I don't feel like I'm the best person to talk about snorkeling, but from what I saw, it was absolutely amazing. Schools of colored fish swim right up next to you. Things really are "better down where it's wetter" ;) Little Mermaid phrase there. Anyways, being the fantastic snorkerler that I am, I lost my mouth piece somewhere when a big wave knocked me under. The swell was pretty big that day, and unless you were holding on tight to the coral (which apparentley you're not supposed to do, but I'm not really sure how else to avoid getting knocked over) you would get crushed by the waves. I can just imagine watching myself struggle through that whole snorkeling experience. I'm sure it could have been made into a movie, it was that ridiculous and dramatic. The huge waves would wash right over me and knock me into the coral. I have some pretty awesome "battle wounds" on my thighs and arms from where I was hitting the coral. After struggling to snorkel for a while, I was so exhausted and decided to just make my way back to shore. This is where everything got quite dramatic :) I seriously could not walk with those flippers on my feet to save my life, but since I couldn't really snorkel, I had no choice but to trudge back to the shore. I was so dramatic, without even trying to be. Haha. I felt like I was walking like Big Foot, struggling to pull one leg in front of the other, trying to avoid the slippery rocks and coral underneath. Slipping, tripping, stumbling, falling.....that was all happening. I was sniffling like crazy because of all the water I had taken in, and my arms were all over the place trying to hold my balance when I slipped. It took me about 15 minutes to get about 20 yards. When I got back to shore, I honestly felt like I had just finished a race. Phew...it was quite a relief :) Hopefully one day I will be able to snorkel. My sister, Katie, is like a fish in the water. When we went snorkeling over here in the spring, she was swimming around like it was nothing! Nothing like your little sister showing you how it's done ;)
Anyways, this has been a really long post, but it was a fantastic weekend! There's always something going on over here. :)
11/19/2013
Anyways, this has been a really long post, but it was a fantastic weekend! There's always something going on over here. :)
11/19/2013
A Big Rainstorm Adventure
It's been another great week over here in Hawaii! I've been keeping busy with classes and homework this week. Time is just flying by!
This weekend, we had a crazy, fun adventure! Well first, Friday night we went and saw the movie Thor 2. SO GOOD! I thought that it was even better than the first movie, which is hard to beat because Thor is my favorite Marvel superhero movie.
Saturday was the adventurous, crazy day! So after we woke up and had brunch, we decided to go do a hike called 'Koko Crater.' My dad did it while we were over here in the spring and said it was pretty intense. I guess it's train tracks going pretty much straight up a mountain, so very steep. Anyways, we got on the bus to take us down to the south end of the island. After riding in the bus for about two hours, we found out that we would have to take two more transfer buses to actually get us to the hike. We were having a hard time finding the transfer buses, so we decided to do a different hike. This one is called 'Diamond Head.' Once we got there, I realized that I had done this hike in the spring when I came with my family. It's also a pretty intense hike just because there are a bunch of stairs. It's so beautiful though. When you get to the top, you look out to the ocean and Waikiki. It's an amazing view! It rained (poured and sprinkled) the whole time we were there! We all got drenched. After we got done with the hike, we waited for about an hour for another bus to come by. We took that bus to another bus stop, then took another bus to another bus stop. Haha, it was quite the adventure. We finally got to where we needed to be to take the final bus up to North Shore. As we got closer, the rain was coming down harder and harder. The bus driver made an announcement that he could only go as far as Pounders Beach, and then he would have to turn around, due to fallen power lines in the middle of the road. Well, Pounders Beach is about 2 miles from campus, and we weren't looking forward to walking back for two miles in the pouring rain. But no cars could come through to take us, so our only option was to walk. We got off the bus and walked up to the police cars blocking the road. They told us that we couldn't even walk past the fallen power lines because it was too dangerous. When we asked how long it would be before we could get through, they said 5 hours or more! It was about 10 pm, so that meant we wouldn't get through to campus until 3 am, at the earliest! We were so close, yet so far from campus. So we turned around and starting walking back down the street, looking for any sort of shelter to get out of the rain. We asked some people if we could just stand outside their house, just to get out of the rain. It was an apartment duplex, so there were a couple of families living there, and they did a lot more than let us stand outside their homes. They gave us towels to dry off, dry clothes, hot oatmeal, crackers, and hot chocolate. They dried our wet clothes and invited us inside their house. They were the kindest, most gracious people! The lady whose house we stayed in was Tongan. She was so welcoming, kind, and loving. She offered us pretty much anything we wanted. She told us a saying, something about how if you're ever in need of help, go to the Tongans :) We were so grateful for them. It was so good to get out of the rain and eat and get warm. As we were watching the news at her house, there were a lot of flash flood warnings and floods. We heard that a couple of kids got stranded overnight on a hike very near to where we were, because of all the rain. Come to find out, they were students here that are in my friend's ward. It was just a crazy, crazy rainstorm. The Tongan man that was helping us out is friend's with one of the police that was out stopping people from getting through. He talked to the police and got so he could drive us a certain amount, and then we could walk past the power-lines. So thankfully, we were able to walk past the power-lines. We had to stay completely on the side of the road, but we made it through back to campus!! When we got back to campus, the parking lots were flooded! We were up to our knees in water. Boy, were we happy to get back! It was definitely an adventure! Oh and this morning, none of our bishopric showed up for Sacrament meeting because they all live in Hauula, and the road is still blocked off, so they couldn't get through to church! Our bishop did actually end up coming late because he had to go all the way around the other side of the island to get here:) Oh the rainstorms over here! :)
This weekend, we had a crazy, fun adventure! Well first, Friday night we went and saw the movie Thor 2. SO GOOD! I thought that it was even better than the first movie, which is hard to beat because Thor is my favorite Marvel superhero movie.
Saturday was the adventurous, crazy day! So after we woke up and had brunch, we decided to go do a hike called 'Koko Crater.' My dad did it while we were over here in the spring and said it was pretty intense. I guess it's train tracks going pretty much straight up a mountain, so very steep. Anyways, we got on the bus to take us down to the south end of the island. After riding in the bus for about two hours, we found out that we would have to take two more transfer buses to actually get us to the hike. We were having a hard time finding the transfer buses, so we decided to do a different hike. This one is called 'Diamond Head.' Once we got there, I realized that I had done this hike in the spring when I came with my family. It's also a pretty intense hike just because there are a bunch of stairs. It's so beautiful though. When you get to the top, you look out to the ocean and Waikiki. It's an amazing view! It rained (poured and sprinkled) the whole time we were there! We all got drenched. After we got done with the hike, we waited for about an hour for another bus to come by. We took that bus to another bus stop, then took another bus to another bus stop. Haha, it was quite the adventure. We finally got to where we needed to be to take the final bus up to North Shore. As we got closer, the rain was coming down harder and harder. The bus driver made an announcement that he could only go as far as Pounders Beach, and then he would have to turn around, due to fallen power lines in the middle of the road. Well, Pounders Beach is about 2 miles from campus, and we weren't looking forward to walking back for two miles in the pouring rain. But no cars could come through to take us, so our only option was to walk. We got off the bus and walked up to the police cars blocking the road. They told us that we couldn't even walk past the fallen power lines because it was too dangerous. When we asked how long it would be before we could get through, they said 5 hours or more! It was about 10 pm, so that meant we wouldn't get through to campus until 3 am, at the earliest! We were so close, yet so far from campus. So we turned around and starting walking back down the street, looking for any sort of shelter to get out of the rain. We asked some people if we could just stand outside their house, just to get out of the rain. It was an apartment duplex, so there were a couple of families living there, and they did a lot more than let us stand outside their homes. They gave us towels to dry off, dry clothes, hot oatmeal, crackers, and hot chocolate. They dried our wet clothes and invited us inside their house. They were the kindest, most gracious people! The lady whose house we stayed in was Tongan. She was so welcoming, kind, and loving. She offered us pretty much anything we wanted. She told us a saying, something about how if you're ever in need of help, go to the Tongans :) We were so grateful for them. It was so good to get out of the rain and eat and get warm. As we were watching the news at her house, there were a lot of flash flood warnings and floods. We heard that a couple of kids got stranded overnight on a hike very near to where we were, because of all the rain. Come to find out, they were students here that are in my friend's ward. It was just a crazy, crazy rainstorm. The Tongan man that was helping us out is friend's with one of the police that was out stopping people from getting through. He talked to the police and got so he could drive us a certain amount, and then we could walk past the power-lines. So thankfully, we were able to walk past the power-lines. We had to stay completely on the side of the road, but we made it through back to campus!! When we got back to campus, the parking lots were flooded! We were up to our knees in water. Boy, were we happy to get back! It was definitely an adventure! Oh and this morning, none of our bishopric showed up for Sacrament meeting because they all live in Hauula, and the road is still blocked off, so they couldn't get through to church! Our bishop did actually end up coming late because he had to go all the way around the other side of the island to get here:) Oh the rainstorms over here! :)
I also wanted to say that there are many prayers, and my prayers, going out to the people of the Philippians right now. A massive typhoon, Haiyan, struck there. It is said to be one of the worst storms ever recorded. Having so many students here from the Philippians, I have many thoughts and prayers for them now. A boy from the Philippians in my ward spoke in Sacrament meeting today and told how much he has been emailing his family just to make sure that they are okay. He said that his home was destroyed, but his family members are safe. I pray that God will watch over and protect them all.
11/10/2013
11/10/2013
Paddle boarding
It's November! Wow, I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Let me catch up on this past week :)
Thursday was Halloween! It was weird that it was so warm on Halloween. I'm used to the cold and jacket weather. It was fun to see students dressed up around campus. There were also quite a few little kids walking around campus in their costumes- they were so adorable:) I miss little kids! Anyways, after classes that evening, we all dressed up and went to a Halloween dance on campus. Amy, Alexa and me all dressed up as nerds (we didn't have Halloween costumes, so we had to improvise;)). We all had a really fun night!
Thursday was Halloween! It was weird that it was so warm on Halloween. I'm used to the cold and jacket weather. It was fun to see students dressed up around campus. There were also quite a few little kids walking around campus in their costumes- they were so adorable:) I miss little kids! Anyways, after classes that evening, we all dressed up and went to a Halloween dance on campus. Amy, Alexa and me all dressed up as nerds (we didn't have Halloween costumes, so we had to improvise;)). We all had a really fun night!
On Saturday, we rented out a paddle board from the book store and went out paddle boarding! I LOVE paddle boarding! When we go to Lake Powell, I absolutely love spending time out on the paddle boards:) They're so much fun! Paddle boarding in the ocean is a lot different than at Lake Powell though:) It seems like we would paddle hard for a few minutes until we were a decent ways out from the shore, and then before we knew it, we were right back at shore:) haha. The beach we went to had a lot of coral in it, so we were also trying to steer clear from that. My friend and me fell off the board right into the coral and it cut up my knee pretty good. But it was still so much fun! It's so amazing to lay on the beach and just take in the fact that I live in Hawaii. I'm so blessed!!
After we got back from the beach, we went to Food Fest! Food Fest is where all the different "chapters," or cultures, set up around the flag circle and they make and serve food from their culture. There was food from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Samoa, Mexico, Indonesia, Canada, the Philippians, Japan, etc. Food from all over the world! It was all so good too:) I really like the food from the Philippians. They served pork rolls (pretty much like eggs rolls, but pork:), and a fried banana roll thing. Mmmmm! So good! There was also a little stand selling Italian soda and pumpkin cookies. I, of course, bought some pumpkin cookies:)
After Food Fest, we went to the movie "The Saratov Approach." Oh my goodness...that was the best movie I have seen in a while! It is definitely one of my new favorite movies. I thought that it was really well made, and the message of it was so powerful. It got me thinking more about maybe serving a mission. In case you don't know about the movie, it is the true story of two missionaries serving in Russia who were kidnapped and held for ransom. I won't spoil it for anyone, but the two missionaries eventually come to care and pray for their kidnappers. It's an incredible movie.
After Food Fest, we went to the movie "The Saratov Approach." Oh my goodness...that was the best movie I have seen in a while! It is definitely one of my new favorite movies. I thought that it was really well made, and the message of it was so powerful. It got me thinking more about maybe serving a mission. In case you don't know about the movie, it is the true story of two missionaries serving in Russia who were kidnapped and held for ransom. I won't spoil it for anyone, but the two missionaries eventually come to care and pray for their kidnappers. It's an incredible movie.
As you can probably tell, I'm having a great time over here :) I don't write about my school work too much, but I promise that I'm doing it:) My math class is pushing me to my limits. I actually found out the other day that I wasn't supposed to have been able to sign up for my statistics class. I don't have the prerequisites for it. Haha, that explains so much. But on the bright side, if I pass it this semester, I'll never have to take another math class!! That thought alone is pushing me to work harder in that class :)
Thanks for all the love and support! I miss my family, friends and home so very much!, but I'm trying to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm living in Hawaii....life is good :)
11/03/2013
Thanks for all the love and support! I miss my family, friends and home so very much!, but I'm trying to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm living in Hawaii....life is good :)
11/03/2013