Happy Birthday Kamrin!

Just a little shout out to my best friend Kamrin! He doesn't like his birthday to be a big deal but he knows I can't help it. Since I am so far away from him on this birthday I am making it as big of deal as I possibly can! So happy happy birthday Kam! I can hardly even stand the wait until I get to see you! You're the best and I miss you every day! Love you!!

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day

I was so excited for Thanksgiving because my family was coming to see me! My mom's parents and her sister's family all came for the visit, the only person we were missing was Kacey. My grandparents and cousins came a couple days earlier than my family and I was able to go meet up with them at the PCC. It was so much fun because even though it is right next door to me, we never go venture over there and see all the fun things it has. After eating dinner at the delicious luau, I had to leave them to go study for a test I had to take the next day.
On wednesday I dropped off Lohren and Sadie at the airport, they were taking off to Maui for the holiday, and then headed straight to the hotel I would be staying at. My family hadn't landed yet, so I checked in the room for us and spent the afternoon with the cousins on the beach, and got a nice relaxing nap in (thanks Grandma)! My dad called when they landed and it felt like forever before they finally made it to the hotel, I was so happy to be with them again.
That night we went and saw New Moon for the second time ha we can't get enough of those vampires and werewolves!

On Thanksgiving my dad and I woke up at 6:30 got in the car and drove up to campus to pick up Landon, we were going skydiving!! I was nervous, my dad was very nervous, and Landon was just pumped. We kept laughing at my dad because he was asking every question known to man, he was very concerned about Landon and I making it down safely, (Landon more than me). We met the guys we would be going with and were soon all hooked up.

As soon as the plane took off the butterflies grew in my stomach, but once I was securely attached to my partner I felt going out of the plane backwards, yelling with excitement. I was next. My partner asked if I was ready, I told him yes, then switched to no, and then just told him to go and the next thing I know I was doing front flips out of a plane! My dad went last and the first thing he asked when his parachute went up was where Landon and I were, and then after he knew we were safe, I think he began to enjoy it! 

It was about a 7,000 foot free-fall before they pulled the parachutes. I have to say, bungie jumping was so much scarier than this, I never had the sensation of falling when I was skydiving. It was definitely a big adrenaline rush, I loved every minute, and the scenery was incredible! We had a big group coming down from campus for dinner so Landon just came back to the hotel with us after skydiving and we spent the day entertaining the little cousins at the beach! 

We had Egan, Garrett, Walker, Kelsey, Jess, and Landon for Thanksgiving dinner with us and I was so excited for my family to meet my friends. The dinner was amazing, especially for us who have been stuck with cafeteria food for so long, and we did the traditional say what you are thankful for to end the dinner. Afterwards, my friends and I went down to the pool to do a little hottubing before they took off to their hotel in Waikiki. It was a great Thanksgiving day!!

The rest of the weekend was full of relaxing by the beach and catching some serious tanning rays. It felt so nice to finally have the sun for a full 5 days with no rain or clouds.

The last day my friends came back to hang out after they checked out of their hotel. We played in the pool, went on the water slide, and had an intense game of fly's up. We all went to Outback Steakhouse before my family had to catch their plane. After the tearful goodbyes my family was off to the airport. Thanks for a great weekend mom and dad!

It has been one of the nicer weeks, weather wise, we have had here on campus in a while and us girls took full advantage of it. We went to the beach just about everyday and were also able to go to the surf competition going on down at the famous Sunset Beach. The waves have gotten so big over here that they actually had to cancel it one day because the waves were too big. It has been insane to watch.

Kahuku high school in Laie made it to the State championship football game! It was a HUGE deal with banners and signs lining the road all along the north shore towards Honolulu. Lohren heard about it and pulled the gang together to go, we were so excited to be able to see a high school football game! The game was at Aloha Stadium which was almost full of people. It was wild to see how many people had turned out for a high school game, but it made it so much more fun! Unfortunately, Kahuku lost 34-21, but other than that we had a fabulous time!

Yesterday was one of the funnest beach days we have had. We woke up early, got sack lunches at the caf, and were on the road at 10:30 to go to a new beach called Kailua, it was gorgeous! Kelsey, Jess, and I had inner-tubes and Lohren had a big raft, we went and sunbathed on them in the ocean and then the boys took over and we ended up just playing with them the whole time. One of the best purchases we have made here!

We were there till about 5:00 and then we headed into Kailua town for dinner. We found a CPK, which we were all happy about and then started heading back towards campus. We met Walker and Rico at the movie theater and went and saw The Blind Side, we all thought it was so good. Since we were still in our wet suits and cold, we headed down to Turtle Bay to hot tub before going home. It was one of my favorite days so far!

The True Hawaiian Life

We had the great idea of going to Walmart, buying white clothes, and then tie dying them! We did it randomly one night just in the road. Let's just say, we aren't the best tie dyers in the world, but we definitely had fun! We had extra dye so ended up decorating and staining the road (for about 3 days) and also staining ourselves in the process! It made for a night full of laughs that lasted the entire next week since the dye wouldn't come off our feet, hands, legs, and arms our finished projects didn't turn out quite as good as we

had hoped. Lohren and my sweatshirts ended up being mainly

white with random spots of dye!

We brought out the tent again for round 2 of camping! We were roughing it...literally. We picked possibly the worst night to camp since there was a major storm coming in but it was

worth it. Since it was Friday the 13th, we decided camping in a tent with a scary movie was the best way to honor the holiday! The storm came that is for sure. We had winds and down poor rain the whole time, but us and the tent survived in one but not dry piece. Lohren and I also got a little smarter and bought blow

up pads to sleep on, one of the best purchases I have made since being here. We woke up in the morning, took down the tent, and headed to Hukilau Cafe for breakfast. It was delicious!

I received a great package in the mail from my mother with a New Moon shirt and a heart necklace with Edward's name. Yes, I was ready for the new

Twilight movie! We got tickets for the midnight showing and were there 3 hours early thinking we would have to wait in a line like usual. Well, I guess you could say we forgot we lived in Hawaii the land of being laid-back we were the only ones in the

theater for about the next hour and a half. We made it worth our time taking pictures and getting told to be quiet by the other 10 people there! It was well worth the wait though! It very much exceeded my expectations! Jacob is complete eye candy but I have to admit, I always go back to Edward!

As fall ends and winter comes the waves on the north shore keep getting bigger and bigger which only means one thing...surf competitions! The Reef Pro was the first one going on at Halewea! It is unbelievable what these guys can do! The waves were around 10 feet and are suppose to reach 15 feet for the finals! It is definitely a fearless sport, when they go down, they go down hard. It was so much fun to be right there in the middle of it all...and the free stuff they handed out wasn't too bad either. When finals come around it'll be hard to study when the sunset and pipeline competitions are going on!

My favorite thing I have done since being here happened just this past friday night/saturday morning. There is a hike here called Stairway to Heaven, but

has been closed off since 2004 because it is so

dangerous. Well this doesn't stop just about everyone from sneaking in and doing the hike anyways, which is exactly what Garrett, Landon, Egan, and I did. We left around 1:00 am and

went to Walmart to buy head lamps which I though would make my Dad very happy. We got there at about 4:oo am, and got to the starting point at about 4:30. I was completely terrified, I was literally going up the face of a mountain on tiny little metal stairs built into the mountain with just a small railing to hang on too. Luckily I had 3 boys to surround me. I climbed 3,922 in just an hour and a half. Possibly one of the things I am most proud of that I have accomplished. It was one of the best adventures I have been on.

There were some points where I couldn't look to either side of me because I was on a ridge that completely dropped off on both sides, and other times where I would look up and someone would be directly above me it was so steep, but so worth it! We were able to watch a beautiful sunrise over looking city and ocean. After the sun had risen we climbed up to the very top and were literally in a cloud. We got home at about 10:30 that morning completely exhausted, but made it to the beach and turtle bay for hot tubbing! Let me tell you, I have never been more sore in my life. Every step I take I feel a sharp pain up my legs, but as Lohren put it, I asked for it, and loved every second!

Spontaneous Camp-Out

A few days ago Lohren and Kelsey had this great idea that we needed to go camping ASAP, little did I know that they literally meant ASAP. Friday rolls around and all the sudden Lohren is looking up tents online at Walmart to go buy so we could go camping that night. Surprisingly enough, thats exactly what we ended up doing. I had been sick all week so I sent Jess, Lohren, and Kelsey to get the tent while I saved up my energy for a night full of excitement! There were 9 of us that went, Lohren, Jess, Kelsey, Walker, Rico, Andrew, Landon, Egan, and me. It was about 11 by the time we got everything pulled together but the boys proved to be true boy scouts and got the tent up inrecord time and right when it started to rain. We all climbed inside and began a night of games, scary stories, talking, and laughter. At about 3 we began winding down but then had sudden bursts of energy where we would all be up laughing again. It was a blast and a half! At about 4 we began to fall asleep, only to be woken back up at about 6 am, just in time for the sunrise. Unfortunately, there were so many clouds that you weren't able to tell that the sun was even rising! We climbed back in the tent for about an hour before we decided to pack up and head back home! We were all so tired when we got back that we ran to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast and then back to the dorms to sleep. Lohren, Kelsey, and I woke up at 1 pm to a stormy rainy day outside. We decided to go lock ourselves into our T.V lounge for the day, curl up in our blankets and have a movie marathon of Never Been Kissed and Moulin Rouge, it was a fun filled night followed by a much needed day of relaxation!

Short and Sweet Visit

My mom came and paid me a wonderful visit at the beginning of last week! It was so great to see her! I was so excited driving to the airport I could barely stand it. After picking her up, we headed to Costco to get some actual real food! It was so nice to be able to go and pick out a real dinner to eat and get a few extra bonuses too. Since it was Halloween when she came, I took her to the hotel and then went for the night with my friends. I went back to the hotel to sleep that night and it was probably one of the best nights sleep I have had since being here. On Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting, than went and hung out by the pool together all day. I can't begin to tell you how great it was to be able to talk to her with her sitting right next to me, it felt so unreal! That night she made an amazing Sunday dinner for about 8 of us. We had salmon, salad, rice, and fruit, we were ravenous and just kept eating everything, it tasted so good to have an actual meal. On Monday, we played tennis with Garrett and Sadie and unfortunately I have to admit that her and Sadie beat us. She made another home cooked meal that night for Lohren Kelsey and me that was just as good as Sunday's. Then we went to the Michael Jackson movie This Is It. We LOVED it!!! I was able to sleep in the hotel that night again, in an air-conditioned room. Tuesday, we drove into town and went to the Ala Moana mall and then she took Lohren and me to the Cheesecake Factory for one last meal before she left. After dinner, we had to take her to the airport and say our goodbye's for three weeks until she comes for thanksgiving! Thanks for a much needed couple of days mom!

Halloween in Waikiki

It was a spooky Halloween here in Hawaii. We started off the weekend by going to the haunted lagoon at the PCC on Friday. This was only the second year they've done it and it was packed full of people. We waited in a 3 hour line to get in, but we made it worth while. After we finally got through the line, they put us on a canoe and sent us down the lagoon. There were people jumping out from the water, and the shore, they were everywhere! It was a good way to start the Halloween festivities! On Saturday, I got a very very special treat. My mom came and visited me! I was able to go pick her up at the airport, I was so excited to see her! We went to Costco, the grocery store, and then took her to Ted's Bakery for dinner. After she got settled in the hotel, I left to go spend Halloween night with my friends (which I did feel very bad about). The past week had been so busy with midterms I didn't have time to put a costume together, so I just threw a bunch of random items into a bag and hoped I would figure something out. We drove into Waikiki, parked, and found a bathroom to change in. Luckily my mom had brought me my Jazz jersey, so I turned into a Jazz dancer. I had tennis shoes, little black shorts, my jersey, and my hair right on top of my head. Once we were changed we went out to see complete madness on the streets. I can't even explain how insane it was. There were people everywhere, you walked down the street shoulder to shoulder and could barely move. I have never seen more people dressed up in my life, tourists even had beach chairs out on the sidewalk just looking at everyone walking by. We got there at about 9:30 and didn't leave till 1:30 because we were so entertained watching all of the people! It was quite the Halloween experience!

We Love Football!!!

It was one of the most fun weekends we've had here last weekend! On Friday we headed into Honolulu to shop and see a movie. The girls headed in a little earlier than the boys to make sure we had plenty of time to shop without hearing them complain about it. Afterwards we met up with them to get into the Halloween spirit by seeing the new movie Paranormal Activity. If you know me at all you know that one of my biggest fears is scary movies, so how I ended up here I honestly don't know. It is the scariest movie that I have ever seen. Poor Garrett had to sit next to me and deal with me jumping, hitting, and grabbing him constantly. To my surprise and everyone else's, I made it out alive, just a little shaken up. It definitely brought the Halloween spirit we were going for!On Saturday we decided to do something different than our usual Waimea Bay day. We found out that the University of Hawaii was playing Boise State, so me, Lohren, Kelsey, Garrett, and Egan headed to the Aloha Stadium to try to get tickets for the game. Luckily, we were able to get

tickets, not the best seats but we didn't care, we just wanted to see a football game! It turned out to be a horrible game, we got killed 54-9, but we stayed until the bitter end and had a blast!

We got home around 10:30, dropped the boys off at their dorm and than us girls decided to go out and have a little more fun. We ended up driving around, jamming out to music, with Lohren's

camera video taping us! It was been one of my favorite memories here so far!

Surfin' USA

Last week I finally attempted at my dream of surfing! It was quite the experience. I went with Landon Smart who is also a beginner so right off the bat we knew it would be interesting. We headed down to Turtle Bay, jumped in the water and started paddling. After losing my balance and falling off the bored while not even moving, I started to get the hang of it. Paddling is a workout! I was getting thrashed and thrown all over the place, but luckily I was laughing through the entire process. After paddling for a good half hour, Landon told me to turn around and try to catch some waves. The next thing I know he is yelling at me to paddle as fast as I can and then stand up. Let me tell you, it is much easier said than done! At one point, I wasn't even trying to catch the wave and all of the sudden I was swept up and being carried in by the wave. I was cruising! I was on my stomach, holding on to the board for dear life, screaming and laughing my head off. I turn to find Landon laughing hysterically at me, telling me to stand up, which there was absolutely no way I was going to do that! We started paddling in after that and had to go up on this reef to get to the beach, I got a little cut up on my leg, making me feel like a true hard core surfer! I'll get there by the end of the year! Practice makes perfect!

Later that day, we went back out to the beach with Garrett, Egan and their surf boards. I was glad I had chosen to go earlier that day than with them. Also beginners, they went out having no clue what they were getting themselves into. As the girls took a nice nap in the sun, they boys were out trying to stay alive on their surf boards! There had been a really bad current pulling them out and all the locals were just staring at them! I definitely had more progress than they did!

Visitors in Laie

This past week was so much fun for Lohren and I because we had some friends from back home come visit for fall break! Stephanie, Nick, Muli, and Tanner were our guests for a whole week and we packed it with as much fun tourism things as possible!! We showed them our
favorite beach Waimea a couple times the waves got pretty big! We went into Honolulu and shopped till we dropped at the Ala Moana mall (but the girls could've kept going for hours!). It was great to have them for Lohren and I because we were finally able to get food outside of the cafeteria! From Pizza Bob's to the famous Ted's Bakery, it was an enjoyable week! We were so lucky and grateful that some of our friends came all the way over here to visit us!

Unfortunately, our classes were not put on hold with our friends coming to town. School is beginning to get harder with tests, quizzes, and projects being assigned for every class.

We are staying on top of our studies while still finding PLENTY of time for the beach and other island adventures! I went with some new

people and Sadie to Waimea Bay new people and Sadie to Waimea Bay, where we watched the gorgeous sunset and then went to Ted's for a cookie treat!

A big group of students went to the new movie Where The Wild Things Are in our little theater next door to campus. I am surprised I stayed awake after waking up at 5:30 am to take my friends to the airport, but I made it through! It was a great movie, a tear jerker near the end but we loved it.

There was an event called Food Fest at campus on Saturday night.

It felt like the entire island had come out to participate. There was food from all the different

BYUH cultural clubs and a benefit concert to raise money for the countries affected in the natural disasters. It was so much fun to experience a real Hawaiian event like that right on campus!

For now, life in paradise is still life in paradise! It just keeps getting better!