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.

fall semester

This weekend was really fun. Friday I had school, catered, went to the beach with friends, and hung out with alex. Saturday I went into town w/ alex and we went on a sailboat ride. It was SO fun! I love sailing!! I don't have the pics from it yet, but I will post them once I do. Then at night we went to foodfest, which is my favorite school activity ever! The clubs at our school each have a booth where they sell food. Since our school has people from so many different countries, the food is very different and SO good! We got roti w/ chicken and potato curry from the Fijian club. Then we had crepes w/ ice cream, strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream for dessert. It was amazing! While we were eating, there was a reggae band playing that was really good. I am so thankful to live in Hawaii and to go to such an awesome school. It is the best school ever! I love being able to meet, be friends with, and learn from people from all around the world. I am so blessed!

Here are a few pictures of my car and bike in Hawaii. I just got this car a few days ago and now I have to sell old rusty ):  Even though everyone makes fun of it, I love this car and it has been the perfect north shore car for 2 years! Unfortunately, it has also been unregistered and unable to pass the safety check for 2 years. Maybe this is because the windshield wipers don't work, so I have to pull over and wait or stick my head out the window to see whenever it rains (which is at least once a day). Or maybe because the hood is held down by a bungee-cord. These are just a few of the quirks of the car. Anyways, I have been pulled over by cops at least 10 times and never gotten a ticket, until a week ago, so I had to find something new. Old rusty has driven me to north shore a million times in the past two year and has been filled with tons of friends, sur

fboards, and sand and it will be sad to say goodbye to my first hawaii car!!

I also posted some pictures of my bike. The first one is before I painted it and the second one is after. 

at waimea w/ alex (last week)

new car
new and old car
Before:
After:

back on the island

I got back to Hawaii Monday afternoon! The first thing I did when I got back was go surfing!!! My friend Drew and I went out to goats. It is a long paddle out there and my arms were definitely not ready to paddle that far! I had to hold on to Drew's leash part of the time so he could pull me out there! Once we got out there it was so much fun! It felt so good to be back out in the water. 

The other days I have been here I have gone surfing everyday, relaxed at the beach a ton, met up with friends, and gone to the school to get my classes and books figured out. Yesterday my friend Lindsey and I rode bikes down to the north shore. It only took us about an hour to get down there. We have done this a few times, when there are no waves to surf. When we got down there we hung out at Sunset. Then we got acai bowls at Kava Roots. So good!! Then we rode down to Keiki's and hung out on the beach and played in the shore break. It was so much fun! I love being able to hang out at the beach all day long. It is good to be back here. The only thing I miss is my family. They are taking my sister, Brittany, to BYU-Idaho right now and I really wish that I could be with them...  

last days of work

Yesterday was my last day of work nannying for one of the families I work for. After I got home I was just thinking about how blessed I have been with work this summer. Every summer I come home with about $5 left in my bank account. Then each summer, I work as much as I possibly can and say a lot of prayers that I will be able to earn enough money. Somehow I always make the exact amount of money I need to pay for school, housing, food, etc. I am so thankful for this and know that it is an answer to my prayers.

This summer I have had the best jobs. I nannied for one family with a little girl and a 8 week old baby boy 2 days a week, nannied for my usual family with a cute little boy and girl 3 days a week, and taught a yoga class every saturday at Pure Fitness. I feel so blessed to have had so many awesome jobs this summer. Also, the families that I work for are seriously the nicest, most generous families ever. They are always giving me gifts, taking me out to lunch, and giving me money to help with college. I could not have had better people to work for. I have also loved teaching a yoga class again. I'm going to miss it when I'm in Hawaii...but it will be nice to have a break from work. I am looking forward to my 2 week break in Hawaii before classes start!!!

I have REALLY missed this.

And ESPECIALLY this! I cannot wait to go surfing in hawaii again!!!

cooking

This summer I have been cooking as much as I can. Everything is so expensive in Hawaii that I just end up eating the same cheap meals every since day (granola for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch and tortellini for dinner- every single day for 9 months!) Whenever I am in Arizona it is so weird to go into a grocery store and see how cheap everything is. Like $2 for a gallon of milk that would be $8 in Hawaii! I always go crazy and want to buy everything until my mom reminds me that these prices are normal for Arizona. But anyways, I've been cooking dinner at least once a week this summer and I've found some really good recipes. My favorite is for the BBQ chicken pizza from California Pizza Kitchen... so good! I have a week and a half more until I go back to my sandwiches and plain pasta...

BBQ chicken pizza

Parmesan Eggplant Ravioli

sunshine

Right now I am still in Arizona for the summer working as a nanny and yoga instructor. I go back to Hawaii in three weeks... crazy! The summer always starts out slow and then goes by incredibly fast. So since I haven't posted in forever here are some of the highlights of my summer:


*sleepovers with my little sisters
*So You Think You Can Dance parties at my sister Brooke's house
*playing with my little nephews
*being able to hang out with melissa in st. george
*going on bike rides with my mom
*swimming once or twice a day
*California trips! surfing and watching the U.S. open
*going sailing
*mexico
*movie nights
*shopping trips and goint out to eat
*making dinner for my family
*playing guitar
*family reunions
*road trips!

This summer has been really fun. I have missed Hawaii a ton, but I am SO thankful that I have been able to spend the summer at home. I have loved being able to spend so much time with my family. I feel so blessed to have so many fun sisters, they are my best friends! I am also so thankful for my awesome mom and dad! I love my family SO much, they are the BEST!!!

Here are some pictures from my summer (sorry they are all mixed up)....