Goodbye car!! :(

I had to say goodbye to mi coche because I come home!! So sad! I'm trying to sell it so I don't have to ship it back, but I'll definitely miss it! So fun and beautiful!!

LOST!!

My roommate, Sara, and I went to see the set for the TV series Lost!! It was so cool!! We wanted to go past the orange fence, but the guard was keeping an eye on us. I never really got into Lost until I got here, so I was super excited to see this and be where they were.

The Flood!!

It has been raining so much lately, that the streets in Laie were flooded. Many locals and students lost many things and some even lost their homes. :( They opened up the gym on campus and the stake center as shelters for those whose homes were flooded. Although many things were lost, the Hawaiian people found ways to enjoy the flood. Many played in the water that was about thigh deep with their skim boards. Ha ha!! I live on the point which is up higher, so our house was fine. It hasn't rained this much since 1996 in Hawaii!!

Hawaiian Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so different this year in the following ways:

1. No amazing family-except on the phone!!!
2. No cornucopia candy from the Popes!
3. Hawaiian rice instead of mashed potatoes-Luckily no spam!! BAH!
4. Purple sweet potatoes...also known as taro
5. Only one choice of pie-Chocolate Haupia Cream from Ted's Bakery
6. Cranberries...from the can! Ha ha!
7. Went surfing right before
8. Kissed a boy right after...not my grandpa, dad, or brother ;D
9. Ate with only 6 other people instead of thirty or more
10. No announcements at the table
11. Super warm outside
12. Only ate 1 plate
13. Didn't hear the turkey song once!
14. No watching sports on tv, only movies
15. Didn't start eating until about 7:30 pm when it was already dark!

Things that were the same:

1. Turkey, ham, gravy, stuffing, rolls, and salad
2. Telling everyone at the table the many things I'm thankful for
3. People laughing at me for saying/doing "Kim" things
4. Feeling loved and appreciated and grateful for all I have been given
5. Bringing home lots and lots of leftovers
6. Helping out in the kitchen after
7. Feeling full
8. Smiles
9. No school!!-Ha ha ha!
10. Being around people I have grown to love

Um, yes. That's it!

At bikini beach. It's the closest one to our house which is on the strip of land you see at the beginning (the point). The ocean is so calming!

McDonald's

I never thought I would do it, but I've been going to McDonald's a lot recently! Gross, I know, but there's no other burger place nearby and I need my iron! If I die in the next year, we'll all know why!!

Acai Bowls!

So I've made a discovery!! Acai!! The acai berry is a Brazilian fruit that is so yummy! It supposedly detoxifies and boosts energy. We go to get acai bowls at a place called Kava Roots by Pupukea Beach at least once a week! They blend the frozen acai berries like a smoothie and then put granola, honey, and bananas on top! It's delectable!! :D

For more info on acai visit: http://www.acai.vg/

Playing in the Ocean at Waikiki. They had a waterproof camera!!

At the Maunawilis waterfalls. The water was really cold so I didn't get in, but did dangle by legs in the water. Little fish came and nibbled on my toes!

I climbed up this tree all by myself! I felt like Jane from Tarzan!

On the way back down from hiking, it was so muddy and slippery, that I totally fell and got all gross! Serves me right for hiking in flip flops!

At Haleiwa Eats...yes Thai food woah! It was good

Food Fest at BYUH!

Me and Calli after surfing at Sunset

I got this amazing bruise from my surfboard! It's sweet!

Rotisserie Style

Calli, Sara, and I went to get Acai bowls the other day (which are amazing and addictive) and we met some local Hawaiian guys. They got our number and called us up to hang out last night. We chilled in our hot tub and then decided to go to the beach. We all walked down to the beach closest to our house in our wet swim suits. It was night time, so no one was there. At the beach, the three guys decided it would be fun to push a big log that had washed up onto the sand back into the water. When they got it in, they made me wrap my legs and arms around it, and then spun me in and out of the water like a rotisserie chicken! It was hilarious!! The other girls didn't want to do it, so we all sat on top of it like a horse and the six of us walked ourselves around in the ocean. I bet that looked pretty funny too! Good times!

Narley Dude!

I went surfing by myself yesterday. Usually there are other people out there too, but this time, there was no one else. Because I was so alone, I didn't go out very far and didn't catch any sweet waves. While I was paddling around though, I had a scare of my life. I saw something in the water! Of course I thought of the worst possible thing it could be...a shark. However, it kept disappearing in the water only to reappear in some random spot. Then, it popped up about six feet from me. It was a turtle!! Ha ha! I was so relieved! It was pretty narley 'cause the turtle was riding the same waves I was! I immediately thought of the turtles from Finding Nemo. This turtle was just like Crush! Riding the waves man!

There are bugs in paradise?!

So although Hawaii is extremely beautiful and happy, it does have a few creatures that make me nervous. Cockroaches and centipedes...and cane spiders (which I gratefully haven't encountered yet, but that encounter will probably be the funniest to tell) ...yuck!!

Anyway, so I've had several encounters with these other two creatures. The first encounter I had with a cockroach is probably the worst. It actually crawled into my hair dryer and got caught!! I didn't realize it was in there until parts of it started blowing out at me while I was drying my hair one day! Ha ha, gross!! This one experience haunts me every time I turn on my hair dryer, 'cause it's still in there, just really toasty...I wonder if it's still alive; I've heard they never die. :D There was also another cockroach crawling on our wall and then in the bathroom in my roommate's makeup bag. I screamed and ran away! Then, one day, my roommate, Calli, was pulling out a pan from the cupboard and she found a huge cockroach halfway melted/fused onto the pan!! How it melted, we have no idea!! It was nasty!!! I really should've taken a picture of it, but we threw out the pan and bought a new one. So far, that's it for cockroaches.

We also saw a centipede outside our house and tried to kill it with a broom and then a bucket. We thought we had killed it, but it was still twitching. So we trapped it under the bucket. It was pretty big and really gross looking!

I suppose it's important that Hawaii have creatures like these because we're not supposed to experience total paradise here on earth. Heaven wouldn't be as good if we didn't have to experience these nasty things!! Before I came out here, I read on the internet about all these things and read several horror stories. I was pretty scared when I first came out here because of that and was scared to open doors, drawers, or closets. It really isn't that bad. You just deal with them as they come. Ew, I just hate crawly things!!

Life

So my internet hasn't been working consistently here. I think something is wrong with my wireless card, but it's working now, so I'm gonna try and post some stuff now. Life's been good. So much has happened and I've been so blessed! I try to go to the beach everyday because it's an excellent place to think or read or play. I've recently started surfing too! It's so much fun, but I'm not good at all...yet! ;) It sure is a workout though! My little ballet arms aren't used to it! It costs ten dollars an hour to rent a surf board so I bought a cheap one from this guy in Kaneohe. I love it! However, it's given me a couple of battle wounds, I got sweet bruises on my hip bones and my arms.

I also go on campus every day to either work on my Humanities class or dance or play the piano. There is usually an empty dance studio and an empty room to play the piano. Sometimes people walk in and it's kinda awkward, but more for them than for me! :D

I also have been looking everywhere for a job! Laie is pretty isolated from businesses, so everything that is there, is already stock full of employees...well except the PCC which is only hiring Polynesian Dancers at the moment so my tan has got to get a lot better before I could pull that one off!! I've driven to Kaneohe and North Shore to find something, but nothing I've applied for has worked out! I totally don't understand because I have open availability and am willing to do the work, but obviously they don't need people THAT bad. Who knows!? In the mean time, I've gotten a couple bucks driving people places, but not enough to totally pay for gas.

I love driving out here on the island! Every turn is followed by a breathtakingly beautiful scene! The only bad thing about driving around is that the Hawaiian radio stations are terrible! They play only about fifteen of the most popular songs over and over and over! My roommate Calli and I have a running joke about it, so every time Chris Brown or Neyo or Pussycat Dolls or Rhiana comes on the radio, we laugh. I decided we should make it a game. The first person to name the song gets a point. If you only knew one song, you could easily get twenty points in just one day of driving!! It's so annoying!

There have been several crazy things happen too. We were scared to death one night by some drunk Hawaiian banging on our door wearing all black and a hockey mask! We called the police and they came, but we were all pretty shaken by it! He came three weeks in a row. Luckily, I only heard one time. I also got a minor concussion. That was also a really scary time for me. I just was so dehydrated one day that I passed out and hit my head really hard. I couldn't remember where I was or how I'd gotten there or what I had done the day before. I called my mom and sister and they talked me through it. I stayed in bed a few days after that, but I was ok. It was the scariest feeling not to remember anything that happened! I hope I never have to go through that again.

I had to get my car registered over here and that was a pain!! I had to drive all the way to Ala Moana (which is an hour away) to the Satellite City Hall because the one in Kaneohe was in the process of moving. So when I got there, they told me I had to get a safety inspection even though I just barely renewed my Utah registration before I left. So I went to Sears and they told me I had to change my insurance to Hawaii insurance before they would start the safety check. So I called my State Farm Agent and they helped switch me over, but I had to find the Hawaii office so I could sign the papers. So I miraculously found it in the busy city and set it all up. So then I went back to Sears and got my safety inspection. They replaced my windshield wipers and told me the only other thing I needed was to get a license plate on the front of my car and the registration papers. So I had to go back to the City Hall to get the registration and then find a Chrysler dealership somewhere to buy the bracket to put on the front of my car. There was one in Kaneohe. I got it then went to put the plates on, but the screws they gave me were too big so I had to go to ACE Hardware to get smaller ones!! Then I had to drive back to Ala Moana to get the safety's signed off finally! It was a mess and took several days to figure it all out, but it's done!!

I went to one of the BYU-H Samoan dances and it was a blast. It got so hot though!! I met a lot of fun people and even had a dance-off with a big black guy. It was just a little group, but some girl came up to me afterward to tell me good job. It was awesome!

Another funny thing, I went to taco bell to get some food and was just being my friendly self and the guy who helped me asked me for my phone number. I told him he wouldn't remember it, so he wrote his down and gave it to me instead. He had to slip it to me though 'cause he didn't want his manager to see. I thought it was hilarious, but he was not cute at all! He was a big Hawaiian guy with earrings. I wish I would've pushed for free food instead! ;)

Let's see, anything else? I think that's good for now. So much more has happened, but maybe I'll write those things another time. I love you all and miss you all!!

There are so many flowers like this all around!! They're gorgeous!

So we thought it'd be fun to climb a palm tree!! Ha ha! It was so fun! This is at Sunset Beach. It's so beautiful!

Moving to Hawaii

Yes, I moved to Hawaii! So crazy and something I never thought I would or could do. I just needed a change and to figure some stuff out and heal a little more. It's been great so far and everyone has been so kind to me. They are so inviting. I shipped my car out a few weeks earlier so it would be here when I got here. However, it was scheduled to arrive the day after I got to Honolulu so I ended up staying in a hotel the first night. It was so weird to stay in hotel all by myself, but it was kinda fun too. I felt like Kevin from Home Alone 2. I went to pick up my car and was so nervous to drive for my first time in Hawaii-a place I had never been or driven or been driven in. I got some directions from some shuttle guys and followed a general map and found it pretty easily. My roommates are really nice and I'm excited to do stuff with them. I'm really tired because here is four hours earlier than I'm used to. I'm trying to stay up, but it's kinda hard! The place I'm staying has an amazing view!! I feel so lucky to have gotten a spot in it! I'm so excited to swim in the ocean! I also need to find a job and start learning my school stuff. Hopefully, everything will turn out great, it has gone so smoothly so far. :D