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!