Hawaii and Arizona

Well, I'm not very good at posting on this blog, but now that I'm back in Arizona I finally I have time. Here a some of my favorite pictures from Winter Semester. It was a crazy, busy, awesome semester! Me and my best friends Sam and Katie had some of the most awesome things happen. At Waimea, we got to paddle out on the lifeguard rescue board (thanks to our lifeguard friend, Johnny) where a ton of spinner dolphins were. It was SO amazing, they were swimming and jumping five feet away from us!!! That was the coolest thing I have EVER done! We also had a ton of amazing surfing days including one of the best days ever at V-land! Me and Sam surfed until we were the only ones out and it was pitch dark! That is my favorite thing ever to do! The three of us also went to my favorite place ever, Waialua bakery a million times. And guess what... that is where I met Judge, the most awesome guy ever (: We got to hang out a ton my last two weeks, so that was really fun. We surfed and snorkeled for shells and hung out as much as possible on the beach! I also hung out a lot with one of my best friends, Lindsey my last week. On my last Saturday we rode bikes from Laie to Sharks Cove. We got acai and stopped at all of our favorite beaches. It was so fun!! Now I'm back in Arizona for the summer to work. It is really hard to leave everyone and Hawaii, but in three months I will be back there. It is really good to be able to see my family here. I miss them a ton when I am in Hawaii. They are the most awesome family. I don't have any pictures of being home yet, but we have had a lot of fun. It has been so fun to talk to my mom a ton, hang out with all of my sisters, and see my cute little nephews. I just wish all of my family could move to Hawaii and then everything would be perfect!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

My mom is the best mom ever! She is the nicest, prettiest, most fun mom ever and I am SO grateful for her! I always want to be just like her! Here are a few of my favorite memories with my mom:

*When I was in high school I had seminary at 5:45 am. She would wake up every morning to make me breakfast. She did this for all of my sisters too! I really appreciated it and I loved being able to talk to her every morning.

*Also in high school, she would let me ditch class so that  I could have a break. We would go out to lunch and shopping. It was so fun!

*Every summer, she plans tons of fun trips and activities for our family to do. 

*Last semester her and my dad came to Hawaii for vacation. My dad was working at a convention for a few of the days, so I came into town to hang out with my mom. It was so fun to have a little vacation and be able to spend time with her. We went to the beach, went shopping, went out to eat, went on a sailboat ride, and visited my dad at his convention. It was so much fun! They stayed a week and we all hung out on the north shore for a few days after my dad was done working. It was awesome!

*My mom still tucks me in at night when I am home(: I love having time to talk with just me and her every night. I miss that when I am away at college!

*She talks to me on the phone all the time. Sometimes I call way late at night (because of the time difference) and she will still talk to me as long as I need for. I really appreciate that.

Well, I could write a million other things, really! I love my mom SO much and am SO thankful for her. I hope you have an AWESOME birthday mom!!! I love you!

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.