HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

March 4th is my sister, Melissa's birthday!! She is such an awesome person and I am SO glad she is my sister (: A few years ago, we were lucky enough to be roomates for a year and a half in hawaii. It was one of the most fun times of my life! Over this time we have a lot of fun and crazy memories. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. One Saturday we biked all the way from Laie to Haleiwa and back on beach cruisers. We stopped at all of our favorite beaches and places and took lots of pictures. Unfortunately, one of our tires popped and our friend, Nate, had to pick us up on the way back. We were both actually glad though because we were SO tired! 

2. Before I even got to Hawaii Melissa told me that she had gotten both of us a job already.... cutting meat in the cafeteria. For those of you who don't know, I hate cutting raw meat. I will do it, but it really grosses me out. Even though I was grossed out the whole time, it was so fun for us to be able to work together. A ton of our funniest memories come from working in the caf. (sneaking desserts, Melissa telling Leva I loved to cut onions so that I had to cut them every time, Melis eating all the eggs and dropping the machine (: ha ha!)

3. We had a few classes together, basketball and volleyball. We were both horrible at volleyball, especially me, and would hit the ball totally out of control over and over again. 

4. Once one of us starts laughing, we can't stop. One time we both started laughing out of control for no reason during a prayer at an enrichment activity. We were laughing so hard our eyes were watering. After the prayer, everyone was asking if we were okay and what was wrong. Embarrassing!

These are just a few of my favorite memories with Melissa. I am so glad that she is my sister, she is so fun and awesome and pretty! Happy Birthday Melissa!!! I love you and I miss you tons!!

kahana bay

Saturday was one of the most fun days ever! Me, Sam, and Katie had heard it might be breaking at Kahana Bay. I think that Kahana Bay is one of the prettiest place on Oahu. It is surrounded by huge mountains and waves only break there a few times a year. We drove down there and the waves were PERFECT! We had brought huge longboards, so we grabbed them and paddled out. It was so much fun! We paddled way out to the edge of the bay and then rode waves all the way into the shore, like 1/4 of a mile long!!! Besides us, there were about 20 locals that were all really nice. The waves were breaking across the whole bay, so we all just kept catching wave after wave. After about two hours, we couldn't paddle any more and we were completely numb (it was freezing cold and windy), so we paddled in. It was one of my favorite surfing days ever!


 

valentines day!

I hope everyone had an awesome Valentines Day!  I love holidays and it is nice to have a holiday to be able to show your friends and family that you love and care about them. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family. I love them all so much and I am glad that we are all so close to each other. I am also so thankful to have so many awesome friends. 

My Valentines Day was really fun. Me and Jake hung out all day. We watched the sunrise on the Point at 5:30am!! Very early! Actually, we met at 5:30 because that is when Jake guessed the sun rose at, I had no idea. It actually didn't come up until like 6:30 or 7! Then I made banana pancakes for breakfast. Mmm! The rest of the day we went to Haleiwa with Jake's family to look at shops. Then he surfed at the beach park by Pipeline and I watched and took some pictures. I wish I had brought my board because it was pretty small... good for me. I got some cool pictures though. The sky was really pretty because it was raining over par

t of the ocean and clear over part. When it started to get late, we headed back. At night we just relaxed. We got taco bell and watched a movie. It was a really fun day! 

Hawaii

Hi! Sorry, I haven't posted in FOREVER! So I thought I'd post a few pics I took the last Friday. It was the most awesome day, just like every day here! Me and jake went surfing at Turtle Bay and the waves were really fun. There was a kids competition going on there the next day, so there were like 20 little boys and girls out there who were AMAZING! After surfing a few hours, we got one of my favorite things, Acai. I could live off of this! For any of you who don't know, an Acai bowl is a smoothie made with Acai, a berry from the Amazon, and then topped with granola and honey. We ate acai by sharks cove and it was so pretty! Then Jake surfed at Sunset while I took pictures. My friends Sam and Amy were driving by and saw me, so they came to hang out on the beach with me. On the way back home, we snuck into the Turtle Bay hot tubs and didn't even get kicked out. It was an awesome Friday! I feel so, so blessed to live in such a beautiful place. I love everything about Hawaii and I want to live here forever! Every day is so awesome! I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be where I  am right now. 

a visit from my parents!

Last week my mom and dad came to visit. My dad was here for a business trip, working in town, so they stayed down there for a few days. Then when he finished working they stayed over on the north shore for a few more days. It was so much fun to be able to hang out with them! Their first night here, my friend, Drew, drove me down to town at 10pm. I got to the hotel at around 11 and showed up at their hotel! The next two days I ditched my classes and stayed in town. My dad was still working, but me and my mom had so much fun! On the first day we looked at shops on the strip and hung out on the beach. At lunchtime we met my dad at the convention center he was working at. He had time for a lunch break, so he got us into the convention. He works as a communication engineer, dealing with computers for Best Western hotels. Every year they have a huge convention in a different part of the country. It was really fun walking around the center and seeing everything there. They had a lunch there and it was amazing! They had flown over a special chef from New York to fix the food and it was definetly worth it! They had really healty sandwiches and salad and also a lot of curry and Indian food. After lunch we hung out at the beach more and went to the hot tubs! Then we had dinner at Dukes, with hula pie for dessert. If you have never had this, you have to try it, its amazing- a HUGE piece of ice cream pie on oreo crust with hot fudge, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream! Sorry to go on and on about all this food, but it was really fun to eat out places, because I am used to having the same exact meals (usually pasta and sauce or quesedillas) for two weeks in a row! The next day me and my mom went on a sailboat ride and it was SO fun! I got soaked! The rest of the day we hung out at the beach. Then we had dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was so fun to spend time with my mom, she is the best! At night, my dad dropped me off in Laie, so that I could go to my 7am class in the morning. They switched to a condo at turtle bay in the morning, so the rest of the trip we hung out on the north shore, my favorite! The next few days we went to Waimea, Sunset, Turtle Beach and a few other beaches. We ate at all of our favorite places on the north shore, got shave ice, and relaxed at the condo. On Sunday, my mom and dad made a big dinner for some of my friends and roomates. On their last morning, we went to Hukilau Cafe for breakfast. Afterwards, it was time for them to drop me off, so they could go to the airport. It was really sad to see them go. I am so glad that they were able to come down here though. I feel so blessed that I have such an awesome mom and dad and so blessed that they are able to visit. I miss them and love them so much! Here are a few pics of me and my mom. I don't have any with my dad, because those are all on my mom's camera.

i got tagged...

Okay, Sorry it has been FOREVER since I posted... (: My friend Dan tagged me and I'm supposed to list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts, and then tag 5 other people. So here they are:

3 Joys:
1. My family- I am so thankful for the awesome family that I have. It is so much fun hanging out with all of my sisters and my mom and dad. We have so much fun together. My favorite memories are trips to Hawaii and California, just hanging out at the beach and playing in the water all day long. We all have the same sense of humor, so it is so fun when we are all together just laughing about random jokes.
2. Friends- I have so many awesome friends that I am so thankful for. Going to school in Hawaii, it is fun being able to have friends from all around the world. It is sad when people leave, but I feel blessed to know so many awesome people. I love my frineds that I can just sit around with and have deep talks with, but then laugh about dumb stuff too!
3. The Ocean/ Beach- It has been such an awesome opportunity for me to go to school in Hawaii these past three years. I have always loved the ocean, but living in Hawaii has made it such a big part of who I am. I love waking up in the morning and hearing the waves crashing. I love love love surfing!! I love running on the beach and jumping in the water afterwards. Pretty much I just love the ocean and never want to live anywhere far from it ever again!

3 Fears:
1. Sharks!- I am really scared of sharks. I have never actually seen a big one in the ocean, only a small reef shark, but I have been out surfing a few times when people have seen them and it freaks me out!!! It isn't enough to keep me out of the water, but my worst fear is being attacked by a shark.
2. Cockaroaches- Okay, these are a little bit less dangerous than sharks, but they still scare me a ton. The roaches out here are mutants, and they grow to be HUGE! A few days ago a monster one was flying around in my room and I just screamed and ran out until some guy came and killed it. My roomies always know when I see a roach because I can't help but scream.
3. Getting Old- Sorry to copy you Dan, but this is one of my fears too. I don't want to get old and not be able to do all of the things that I love to do now.

3 Current Obsessions/ Collections:
1. Sea glass- I love sea glass! It is just pieces of glass that get foggy and rounded from the ocean, but it is so pretty. I am always collecting it to decorate things with.
2. Lost- I am obsessed with the tv show Lost. I usually don't get into tv shows, but this is one show that is addicting!
3. the ocean- I know I already put this, but it is something I am obsessed with. I have to go out to the beach at least once a day and am out there every second that I can in the day!

3 Facts:
1. my favorite animal is a sea turtle
2. i broke my leg on the trampoline when i was four
3. i love COOKIES!!!

K, I tag: Brooke, Brittany, Ally, Mom, and Chelse. (:

I'm Back!

Well, it has been a while since i've posted anything. I am back in Hawaii now! It feels so good to be back here. I do miss my family tons though. They are so awesome and we had so much fun this summer!

Since I have been back, things have been really good. I have all new roomies in my house. They are all really nice and fun. But anyways, lately I have been busy with classes, work, and surfing. Here is my typical schedule: I have class until noon, then I do some homework and have lunch. Then I usually go surfing for about three hours, then running on the beach. After that I have dinner and go off to the library until late! It is busy, but the perfect schedule!

Yesteday seemed like a looong day at first, but it turned out to be really fun! I'm working for catering again this year, it is an awesome job! Yesterday I had to work for a few hours catering an event by myself, since eveyone else had class. I was carrying a huge tray with a lot of dirty plates, food, and silverware on it. I was trying to open a door with my foot and I finally got through it when one of the cooks, who was behind the door, and me collided. Everything went everywhere and it was so noisy! Then I had to rush out and bring eveyone their desserts. They were all asking me if everything was okay and being so nice!

Then after work one of my friends, Poppy, came over to fix my bike. I found an old beach cruiser and it is almost ready to ride, it just needs a few things fixed! Then we went surfing at goats with a few other people. It was so nice and beautiful out in the water.

I feel so blessed to be able to live in such a beautiful and spiritual place. Every day, I have so many opportunities to feel the Spirit and see the influence of the Lord in my life. I am just so greatful for my life!

After we all paddled in, it was pretty dark. When we tried to drive out of the park, we realized we had been locked in by a gate. So, we had to call 911 and the police came and let us out. We didn't get home until about 8:00. I had to go to the library and then back to work at nine, so I ate dinner and then rushed off to the school.

It was a busy day, but so much fun! I love living here in Hawaii!