North Shore, Hale'iwa and Dole Plantation
This weekend we went up along North Shore. North Shore is the big surf place of the island. The surf competitions in the winter are up there. It's a really neat place. We went to Hale'iwa which is a cute little, kind of older town. They had the cutest tourist shops. Hale'iwa is also where the famous Matsumoto's shave ice is. After we shopped around Hale'iwa, we went to the Hale'iwa park beach. We got there right as the sun was setting and it was gorgeous! It is such a beautiful beach. There were two sea turtles swimming in the water right next to us! I was so tempted to jump in in my clothes and swim with them:) Sea turtles are my favorite! After the beach, we drove to the Dole Plantation to go to the haunted maze. We went to the pineapple maze and they let us in a group at a time. We had to try and find our way out while people dressed in costumes would try and scare you. I am not one for scary things. I don't like scary movies at all...so I was psyching myself out! The only thing that kept me going into the maze was the fact that little kids were doing it. I was still probably scared than most of those kids. But, I did it. I was holding onto Mikee like crazy through the whole thing, but we made it out alive ;) I don't understand why people pay money to do stuff like that. It definitely wasn't my thing. Oh, I forgot to mention about the car. Since most people don't have cars here, the people that do will often rent their cars out. So we rented a car yesterday so that we didn't have to take the bus around. The car seated 5 people, but we had 7...so we had to improvise :) The trunk of the car was pretty spacious, and it was one of those cars that the trunk was directly connected to the back seat, so the people in the trunk could communicate with everyone else in the car. We ended up sticking to people back there, which was actually pretty nice :) You know you are in Hawaii when you drive around with two people in the trunk ;) That's why I'm loving it over here so much. Everything is just laid back and chill. The people here are so nice and friendly. And schooling is the same. Sometimes I forget that I'm here to go to school because there's just so much other stuff to see and do! Right or wrong, school is kind of second priority. But I am learning so much touring around and having new experiences. I'm living the Hawaiian life and loving it:) hang loose!
10/27/2013
10/27/2013
Honolulu/Airport
I try to update my blog every Sunday, but I wasn't here last week to do it, so I feel like I have a lot to catch up on:)
Last Sunday we went to pick up Amy from the airport. She flew out to Kauai for a few days to spend time with her family who was over there on a family vacation. We left around noon, after church, and didn't get back until 10 that night. It was a great day. It's always great to get in a car and off campus:) Since it was Sunday, we couldn't do a whole lot around town. We sat at the beach for a while and then went and saw all these old historic castles. After we picked up Amy, we were driving back to Laie, but we didn't quite make it all the way because we ran out of gas;) haha. Being the "not-so-rich" college students we are, we only filled the tank up with $12 total. That got us to Honolulu, around Honolulu, and almost all the way home! But not quite:) Thankfully, two Polynesian guys drove us to the nearest gas station in Kahuku where we filled up a little gas can and then put that in the car. We made it back to campus! It was an adventure. :)
10/20/2013
Last Sunday we went to pick up Amy from the airport. She flew out to Kauai for a few days to spend time with her family who was over there on a family vacation. We left around noon, after church, and didn't get back until 10 that night. It was a great day. It's always great to get in a car and off campus:) Since it was Sunday, we couldn't do a whole lot around town. We sat at the beach for a while and then went and saw all these old historic castles. After we picked up Amy, we were driving back to Laie, but we didn't quite make it all the way because we ran out of gas;) haha. Being the "not-so-rich" college students we are, we only filled the tank up with $12 total. That got us to Honolulu, around Honolulu, and almost all the way home! But not quite:) Thankfully, two Polynesian guys drove us to the nearest gas station in Kahuku where we filled up a little gas can and then put that in the car. We made it back to campus! It was an adventure. :)
10/20/2013
Just a Bunch of Stuff :)
Tuesday, we realized that we all three wore red :) We called ourselves the 'Red Gang.' We got ice cream from the Seasider Cafe. Yum!
I went to the night show at the Polynesian Cultural Center this week with my friend, Annie. She works at PCC so she got us cheap tickets.. It was so awesome! I love the night show...I never get tired of it. I could see it every week :)
Friday night was a blast! We went to Foodland around 10 at night and bought ice cream. We went over to Temple Beach, which is right next to the Temple and Foodland and ate ice cream while we hung out at the beach until 2:30 AM! We just laid around and looked at the stars and talked. We even got in the water for a little bit. It was a great night :)
Saturday was a busy but fun day! I woke up early and went to Kaneohe with my friend Marisa to do a little shopping. I've had a bunch of stuff I needed to get, so it was good to get that off the list :) It's so fun to get off of campus and see the rest of the island! We stopped at Starbucks and I got a Pumpkin Spice hot chocolate and muffin. I also got Cinnamon Pumpkin lotion. And I also bought pumpkin pie Pop-tarts. And then my roommate's aunt brought us pumpkin pie this morning.
.......Who says you can't have Fall time over in Hawaii?? :)
.......Who says you can't have Fall time over in Hawaii?? :)
Saturday night was the Alex Boye concert! It was the best. Alex Boye is an LDS singer/performer. His music is unique, but it's very good! He was really funny and kept the audience involved throughout the concert. Definitely the best concert I've been to!
Sunday was our first Fast Sunday here. It was great to hear all the testimonies of the people in my ward. Everyone starts their testimonies or talks with "Brothers and sisters, Aloha," and then the congregations says "Aloha." It's different, but I like it. And apparently we have the best bishop on campus... that's what I've been told :) He's a very nice and humble Polynesian man. All the members of my bishopric are Polynesian.
After church on Sunday, my roommates and I walked to the beach to FINALLY get a roommate picture. We've been talking about getting a roommate picture since the first day we've been here. We finally did it :)
(Sorry that the picture isn't super clear!)
After church on Sunday, my roommates and I walked to the beach to FINALLY get a roommate picture. We've been talking about getting a roommate picture since the first day we've been here. We finally did it :)
(Sorry that the picture isn't super clear!)
10/13/2013
General Conference & Pounders Beach
Saturday was a great day! We got up at 6 AM to watch General Conference, since we watched it on Utah time. We went to sleep around 2 AM, so we all had a really hard time staying awake during the first session. Then we all went and watched it on a laptop outside of our dorm for the second session. I love General Conference!! It was so great to be able to watch it here in Hawaii. It reminded me of home.
Saturday afternoon we went to Pounders Beach....the name does it justice! The waves were big, and some of them would just knock you out. My friend and I were trying to get back to shore (we were out past where the waves caved), and we got pounded! A big wave came from behind us and knocked us both down in the water twirling and smacking us in all sorts of directions. I actually got a little nervous for a minute because I wasn't coming up. I was relieved when we could finally stand up. Yet, not two seconds later, another powerful wave came and knocked us down. We had the same struggle getting back up. It was crazy! It's really fun though if you can hit the waves right and ride them instead of getting knocked around by them. It was definitely an adventure :)
I didn't take these pictures, but this is Pounders Beach.
Saturday afternoon we went to Pounders Beach....the name does it justice! The waves were big, and some of them would just knock you out. My friend and I were trying to get back to shore (we were out past where the waves caved), and we got pounded! A big wave came from behind us and knocked us both down in the water twirling and smacking us in all sorts of directions. I actually got a little nervous for a minute because I wasn't coming up. I was relieved when we could finally stand up. Yet, not two seconds later, another powerful wave came and knocked us down. We had the same struggle getting back up. It was crazy! It's really fun though if you can hit the waves right and ride them instead of getting knocked around by them. It was definitely an adventure :)
I didn't take these pictures, but this is Pounders Beach.
My roommate's aunt also brought us up a really good breakfast this morning, since the cafeteria didn't open till after Conference. It was delicious! She made pineapple glazed ham, quiche, croissants with raspberry butter, and fresh pineapple and strawberries. She is so sweet! It was the best meal I've had over here!
These are just some fun pictures :)
Our friend, Alexa, biffed it on her long board, so the whole room was there practically performing surgery on her:)
The other picture is of me and my "brown girls" ;) Mikee (left) is from California, but both of her parents are Filipino. Alexa is also from California, but her family is from Mexico.
10/6/2013
Our friend, Alexa, biffed it on her long board, so the whole room was there practically performing surgery on her:)
The other picture is of me and my "brown girls" ;) Mikee (left) is from California, but both of her parents are Filipino. Alexa is also from California, but her family is from Mexico.
10/6/2013
Temple with Annie
My friend Annie (from California) and I went to the Laie Temple Thursday morning to do baptisms. It was so neat! The baptistry here is beautiful. It's a lot different from Provo, mainly because it's a lot smaller than Provo :) The Laie Temple is definitely one of the most beautiful temples I've seen.
10/4/2013
10/4/2013
BYU Provo?
I debated on whether or not posting this experience on my blog, but I think I will :) So I have been debating on applying to BYU Provo for the Winter semester. I, of course, procrastinated applying until Monday night...the application was due Tuesday. And everything just escalated from there. I was having technical difficulties submitting my application, which prevented my Bishop from submitting his portion of my application. I had to hurry and submit the whole thing before he was able to submit his part. So I went to open the application and it had saved all my info. and essays since I had applied before. But then I noticed that my essays only had two sentences to each of them. I have no idea why those essays didn't save. I don't even know if they were there when I submitted it last winter. Then the mouse on my computer quit working. I had to run back between the church and my dorm in pouring rain to hurry and get to the Bishop. I called my parents at 1 AM and had them send me the essays (since they were saved on my home computer). All in all, it was kind of a rough night. And on top of that, I didn't even know if I really wanted to go to BYU Provo in the winter. I was kind of just applying to see if I could make it in, since I didn't get accepted earlier. And then, all of the sudden, I thought that maybe I wouldn't apply. I felt totally at peace with this decision and I still do. This whole experience opened my eyes to how the Lord's hand is always in our lives, in the smallest and simple ways. I can't say for sure that I'm not "supposed" to apply to BYU for the winter. But looking back on that night, all of the stress and difficulties may have been actually been help from Heavenly Father. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
10/1/2013
10/1/2013