My first little hawaiian pet

If you know me, you know that I looooove animals and I love having pets. It is very suprising that I hadn't had any pets in Hawaii, after living here over five years. Soooooo, I bought a baby duck, a quackless yellow duckling, to be correct. And I named her Velzy, after my favorite surf spot.(Despite what you may think, having a quackless duck does not mean it doesn't make noise, it actually makes a very high pitched cheep, like a baby chick.)

Velzy was very popular in my house, at first. She was so cute and fluffy and would fall asleep almost immediately when you would hold her in your hand. One of her cutest tricks was when I would run around and she would sprint after me at rocket speed, seriously, she was FAST! After a few days, my roomates may have got a little annoyed at Velzy's cheeping and messiness problem, but I still loved her!

Velzy had a little problem with escaping from her cage. First she ran away to the front of the house and I luckily found her before she ran across Kam highway. Next she ran away down the canal, trying to get the beach of course! Unfortunately, about 3 weeks after I bought Velzy, she ran away for good... I like to think she was found by a very nice family or became and ocean duck though! I can hope anyways (: But anyways, here is a tribute to my first little Hawaiian pet, the cutest little duck ever, VELZY!!!

My Sister is Back!!!!!!!

Melissa is finally back in Hawaii!!!!!!! Her and Sam moved here and are going to be living in Mililani!! I am so excited I can't even believe it! Melissa and I used to be roomates out here, when I first moved here. We were roomates for a year and a half and some of my favorite memories ever are from that time.

Here are some funny memories from that time:

-Melissa got us both jobs cutting meat at the caf. Cutting raw meat actually happens to be one of my most least favorite thing to do ever, especially meat that is pure fat, which is how they like it in the caf. I still almost gag when I think of that job.. but it was really fun working together.. we would always sneak into the huge refrigerator and eat desserts when no one was looking. They finally started putting up signs not to eat the dessert but I think we still did, oops

-Throwing poppers by people from the roof to scare them and then being chased and caught by the campus police, luckily we were able to escape from them somehow

-Melissa probably won't appreciate this but she used to eat a bean burrito for dinner every night, no matter what. Just tortilla, beans, cheese, and salsa. I told our friends, Brad and Billy, that Melissa LOVED beans and was obsessed with them. The next day they accused her of taking a can of beans from their house, and were serious!

-When I broke up with my first boyfriend I told him it was because I needed to spend more time with my sister. This did not make her or him happy that I said this! but it was true!

-Melissa taught me to surf and helped me pick out my first longboard, which I bought that same day I first went surfing

Well, I have a million other amazing and funny memories from that time, but now I am just SOOOOOO excited that Melissa and Sam are out here again!

Student teaching in Hawaii

Oh, so I know I haven't posted in FOREVER, but my life has been pretty crazy/busy lately. Not so much now though, so I am going to do my best to catch up on here. Also I have been sick and stuck in bed for almost a week, so my boredom has forced me to blogging.

The craziness in my life began with student teaching. I can now happily say I lived through my student teaching which was the hardest part of my college experience. Before I started student teaching, many people told me it was going to be horrible, and I would cry, and it would be the hardest time ever. Well, they were right! It was 5 months of stress, hard work, and sometimes crying (but not too much). It was also extremely rewarding at times though and the best feeling in the world when I finished!

I student taught Freshmen at J.B. Castle High School, in Kaneohe, HI. Every morning, I would wake up at 6 am, get dressed and ready, and then drive the hour to Kaneohe with my two carpool friends, Kaelee and Andrea. We all student taught at the same school and I don't think I could have gotten through this experience without them! Being able to talk about our experiences, which we had some pretty crazy ones, really made us close.

Once at school, I would head to my classroom, room 37, and meet with my Cooperating Teacher, Shiloh Richardson. I feel extremely blessed for being placed with Shiloh as my CT. She is an incredible teacher and really cares about her students. She was a great help to me and was always willing to do anything she could to help me. She was also very kind and positive and would always cheer me up when I was having a hard day, either with a pep talk or a handful of chocolates.





The students in my classes were in a group called an Academy. They were put in this group because of behavior problems or low test scores from middle school. Because of this, my classes all contained a majority of students with extreme behavior issues. My CT, thought a very good teacher and very sweet, had trouble disciplining the students. Because of this, when I began teaching, I had to get them used to a strict discipline system. Not easy for a classroom full of wild teenagers! Over the months I struggled with this, but was able to develop a system to keep them disciplined.

Though student teaching was harder than I could have imagined, it was also very fun and rewarding and I learned to really love my students. Here are some of my LOVES from student teaching:
-being able to joke around with the students (whenever I was sarcastic they always believed me, which was really funny)
-helping students in class and after school and being able to see how happy they were when they did well
-having students tell me I was their favorite teacher and that they didn't want me to leave
-emails from my students after I left, saying they missed me
-having an awesome CT to work and collaborate with
-being able to talk to my sister, Melissa, for help (she student taught in Waialua)
-going on field trips with the students (on which my students tried to set me up with a military guy.. ha ha)
-hearing the hilarious things the students would say
-getting cards and gifts on my last few days
-helping students feel confident about themselves
-my last day of being observed and having it go well (I danced around in the bathroom that day, I was so happy)
-feeling the accomplishment of finishing student teaching and being able to graduate

I had a lot of awesome students and I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know them and hopefully help them and make a difference in their lives. Teaching these students taught me how blessed I was in the way that I grew up. I have an amazing family that supports me in all that I do. We have always had a nice home to live in and plenty of food to eat. Many of my students did not have this same experience. So many of my students lived with grandparents or an aunt, or crammed in a home with way too many people. Some didn't have homes to live in. A lot of my students were very poor and didn't have money for food. Many had parents that beat them if they got in trouble. Many students had parents that were into alcohol and drugs. Many had parents that didn't care if they went to school or what they did. Because of these sad environments they were brought up in, these students were rough on the outside. As I got to know them, though, I learned that though they acted tough, they still wanted the same thing as anyone, to be appreciated. I tried, and hopefully succeeded, to help each of my students to feel loved and appreciated. This is what I feel was the most important thing I did during student teaching.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

I have the best mom ever. Everyone says this, but I really do! My mom is so sweet and selfless and a great example to me. I want to be just like her. Here are some of my favorite things about my mom:

1. During high school she would wake up at 5am every morning to make breakfast for me. (Not just cereal, but an awesome breakfast)
2. She came to all of my track and cross country meets.
3. She just came and visited me in Hawaii for a week and it was so much fun to hang out with her every day and to be spoiled by her (:
4. She answers the phone any time I call, even if its at 2am (which I sometimes call at accidentally... i forget the time difference)
5. She always wants what is best for me and my sisters and will do anything to help and support up.
6. She always makes the most awesome plans for when me and my sisters come home for Christmas or a holiday.
7. She is the perfect example of someone who loves and serves others.
8. She is really funny and loves to laugh and make jokes.
9. She is so pretty inside and out and looks way younger than her age, I hope I look like that good when I'm a grandma (:
10. SHE IS THE BEST MOM EVER!!!!

I love you mom!!! Thanks for being so awesome!!!!

Love Ashley

I love the weekend!!!!

This semester my class schedule is pretty crazy. I am taking 18 credits, have 8 classes, and don't get done most days until 3:30, 4:30, or 5. I am also doing observation at Castle High School two days a week for 4 hours each day. It is fun to be able to help in the classroom and teach a little. But anyways, with all of my classes each week is pretty crazy and busy! I definitely don't get to surf every day like I used to. Luckily I have the WEEKEND!!! Every weekend I try to do as many fun thing as possible and forget about all the stress of school!
Last weekend I went surfing Friday and twice Saturday and it was awesome!!! Then at night me and my friends Hailey, Paris, Courtney, Dave, Ashley, and Alden went to town for the Lost Premiere. It was so much fun. They had a red carpet set up and the stars got dropped off in limos and walked down the red carpet. There were a TON of crazy fans. The area around the red carpet was blocked off so people couldn't get to close. One girl jumped up onto the fence yelling, "Hold me up, hold me up!" so that she could take a picture. I just backed away and tried to pretend I hadn't heard her.
They had booths selling food on the beach and I got the most amazing crepe! It was a huge and it was filled with nutella, fresh strawberries and bananas, and whipped creme. I love crepes, especially with nutella and fruit, I wish I could eat them every day!
After we got food we found a seat on the packed beach where the huge screen was set up. Once it got dark, they introduced the stars on a stage and then played the first hour of the season finale. It was really good.

This past weekend was way fun also. On Friday I went surfing at Puena Point with one of my friends. It took like half an hour to paddle out because the waves were breaking everywhere. Once we got way out there, we realized the waves were pretty big! It was fun though, so we surfed until dark. When we got home we went to a movie showing at the school.

After the movie my friend Ka'eo came over and we went to a dance at the school. It was fun, usually I hate dances, but all of my roomates were there too and we all just danced crazy and had fun.

Saturday was the perfect beach day. It was so nice and sunny and there was no wind. Ka'eo came back over and we got some longboards, shortboards, and skim boards and headed to Castles with Courtney, Dave, and Paris. Ka'eo is an awesome skim boarder, so he taught us all how to skim board. I wish I could do tricks like him, but skim boarding is way hard!!! It was fun to learn and watch how its done though! Then we went surfing for a while.

After Castles we came home and had lunch. Then we headed to Baggers to meet some friends. The guys all surfed there. The waves were HUGE! Me and the other girls all hung out on the beach playing in the waves and getting some sun. We stayed until almost dark and then headed home. At home on of my roomates, Ashley, had gotten engaged!!!!! so we had a little party for her and Alden. We got some pizza and made cupcakes. Then we pretty much all passed out because we were so tired .

Today is Sunday and it has been such a nice day. Church was really good, i love my ward!
I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful place surrounded by such amazing people and good examples. I really feel blessed for my friends this semester. They are all such good examples to me and so fun to be around. I have the best roomates ever and it is so fun just talking with them and all going to the beach. I love BYUH and I know that it is the chance of a lifetime to go to school here. I am just so thankful to my Heavenly Father for all of these things and for all of the blessings He has given me.

Surf Competitions and Injuries

At the end of winter semester I had a little surfing accident. I've been surfing in Hawaii for 4 1/2 years and never gotten any serious injuries before. But then, I got hurt at Castles! I've never gotten hurt on the north shore and I got hurt at Castles (the safest place to surf in hawaii)! Anyways, I was with my friends Dan and Jess. We had been out for about 1/2 an hour. I caught a wave and got up, then after I jumped off my board, it hit wave behind me, flew up, and hit me on the head. It hit me pretty hard, so I reached up and felt the top of my head. Then I looked at my hand and it was covered in blood. Luckily Jess was right by me, so I told her to get Dan and paddle in because I hurt my head. Then I caught a wave in to shore and walked to the dry sand. By the time I walked from the water to the dry sand, I was completely covered in blood. I am SO grossed out by blood so I was kind of freaking out.

My friends came in and helped me wash off at the beach showers. They wrapped a towel around my head and we sped to Kahuku hospital. (It is just a minute away from Castles). We got the hospital and headed in. I only had my swim suit on with Dan's flannel shirt on top and no shoes. The people at the emergency room rushed me in and had me lie down on a bed. Dan tried to call and get a hold of my family, but I didn't have my phone and couldn't remember any phone numbers. (He accidentally called Jess's mom on her phone and told her that her daughter had had an surfing accident. When Jess's mom asked which daughter, he said Ashley and she told him she didn't have a daughter named ashley (: )

The nurses tried to get my head to stop bleeding while they waited for the doctor. They used a TON of towels and tried to get it to stop for about 2 hours, but it just wouldn't stop. Then the doctor came in. He said that my head wouldn't stop bleeding, so they would just start giving me stitches. He gave me some shots in my head and i HATE shots more than anything ever! I can't even hear people talk about getting a shot or it makes me queasy! Then he started to clean my head a little bit. After he realized that it was me, and I found out it was my friend's cousin and he had given me a ride to the airport before! He said he couldn't recognize me at first because my hair was all red! He said the board had burst a blood vessel (gross) Anyways, then he gave me 8 stitches. After that, the nurses helped me wash my hair and then wrapped a TURBAN on my head! A turban that i had to wear for the next 24 hours! After we left the hospital (3 1/2 hours later) we went to Kahuku Grill for hamburgers and then went home. Bad news was I had to keep the stitches in for 3 weeks and couldn't get them out until the day I was leaving to AZ for Christmas. No surfing for a month ): !!!!


Luckily there were a ton of SURF COMPETITIONS to watch and also I had to study for finals. I went to all of the Vans Triple Crown surf competitions. The best was the Pipeline Masters, of course!! Also, I went to the EDDIE AIKAU surf competition!!!! (It was actually the day after my surf accident, so I had to put a hat over my big turban head! Anyways, the competition was AMAZING!!!!! Everyone from our school ditched class to see it. The Eddie as a surf competition at Waimea that only happens when the waves get 20 feet or larger( which is really 40 feet waves from the front). I went to the comp early with some friends, we had to park about a mile away because the roads were packed. Then we ran to Waimea and found a spot on the sand to watch. After awhile I met up with my friend Dan and we walked down to the rocks, right next to where the waves were breaking. It was SO awesome to watch from there because we were right next to the surfers!!!! I could have stayed and watched forever! I love living in Hawaii!!

Big Island Trip

At the end of winter semester 2009 I went to the Big Island with some friends. It was just a three day trip, but we did a lot. We went to the temple to do baptisms with our ward, went on some beautiful hikes, swam at a black sand beach, had some awesome food- Make Your Own Roll sushi and delicious thai (i can't remember the name of the restaurant), saw waterfalls, went to the volcano, and drove around the entire island. It was an awesome trip! I have always wanted to go to the Big Island and I was so glad to be able to go. It is so beautiful there and has such a variety of landscapes. When we were driving, it looked like we were in a different country every few minutes. Here are some pics from the trip.