Eddie Would Go!

So this past Tuesday, December 8, 2009, all of us decided that we were going to quit college for a day because the epic Eddie Aikau surf competition was going to happen. For those of you who don't know who Eddie Aikau is, he is a legendary surfer from Hawaii. He was pretty much the best of the best. It didn't matter how big the waves were, Eddie would always paddle out and surf them. That's where the famous phrase "Eddie would go" comes from. One day he went on a trip with about 16 crew members sailing off to Tahiti. The winds and waves started getting crazy and the canoe cap sized. The crew was out there for a really long time and Eddie was trying to convince the captain to let him paddle back to shore and get help. The captain finally let him go and a little while later a rescue helicopter came and saved all of the crew members and the search for Eddie lasted for a week but he was never found. Some people say he's still out there surfing the waves because nothing was ever found. So if the waves are big enough at Waimea beach then they have the Eddie Aikau surf competition. The waves have to be over 20-30 feet and surfers have to be invited to surf in it. The last time it happened was about 5 years ago because the waves haven't been big enough. There were thoughts that it might happen on Tuesday so we all got up at like 6 in the morning and headed for the North Shore around 6:30. Many people signed up for the free online text that lets people know if it's going to happen or not. Our friend got the text that said it was on and we were good to go. Many people skipped work and as soon as they got the text they went running. Needless to say, I have never seen North Shore so packed before.

Here are some awesome pictures that my friend John Remington took of the competition. You can see how big the waves are by how little the surfers look on them. Look close! Brandon Long ended up taking first and Kelly Slater took second and I can't remember who took third... Sorry! But it was AWESOME!!!

~*Fall Ball*~

Well it's taken me awhile to blog about this but I'm finally getting around to it! On Nov. 6th our school had a dance called Fall Ball. It was at the Ala Moana hotel in Waikiki and the theme was "Once Upon a Dream." My friend, Spencer Scanlan, asked me to go with him and we decided that we wanted to go all out but look different. It said the dance was formal but most people there were dressed in really fancy church dresses so needless to say, we stuck out like sore thumbs. As soon as we walked in the door it seemed like every head turned in our direction and stared us down. He actually pulled off the prince outfit really well. He even sewed on some red ribbon to his church pants and had a sword. It was pretty awesome. As soon as he took off his belt that was over top of the shirt people were mistaking him for Michael Jackson though. It was pretty funny. Just wait till you see it. I didn't like everyone staring at me very much but I did get a lot of compliments and it was a lot of fun (besides the fact that everyone kept stepping on my dress while I was trying to bust a move on the dance floor).

Here are the pictures of us all ready to go, waiting for the boys to come pick us up. This is me and Alexis. Shout out to my roommates Becca, who was so kind to do our hair for us, and Ashlen for doing my make up. Thanks girls!!

All 3 of us excited and ready to go! Me, Alexis, and Danna

Our excitement slowly began to wear off because the boys were very late (like 45 mins late). These are our frustrated faces. Plus, it was getting so hot in our house, hence my dress is pulled up past my knees.

They finally got there! This is the whole gang (from left to right) Huka, Danna, me, Spencer, Alma, and Alexis

It took us SOOO long to find that stupid hotel! We were in the car for about 2 hours and we were driving around the hotel for about 30 mins. We stopped and asked 3 different people for directions and then we finally found it! We just parked in the mall parking lot and walked because we didn't want to waste our time finding the hotel parking lot. This is mine and Alexis's struggle faces. We were so happy to be out of that stupid car.

Just us girls in front of the decorations


The whole group again


Me and Alexis during our sweat fest at the dance. It was so hot in there!

After the dance we all went to Denny's to get some food/dessert and then they just took us home, because it was like 3 in the morning at this point. It was a lot of fun!

Reality Check

So I wanted to blog about an unfortunate event that I experienced last night. That way it's a way of journaling so I can remember my thoughts on it. Last night I had the sad chance of helping out in any way I could with a car accident that occured just right by my house. I live on Kamehameha Highway which is the busy road that people use to get around the island. Well, it turns out that there was this 19 year old kid who was driving somewhere with a 23 year old in the passenger seat and another kid in the back. He was going pretty fast as he was attempting to pass somebody. He lost control and hit part of the bridge and flipped and rolled the car. (the report says that alcohol was probably a factor). There were many people that heard the crash and went running. We didn't hear anyhting until the sirens started speeding down the highway and we ran outside to see what happened.

Some of my friends went down to see what happened and my buddy Amraa went down to see if there was anything they could do to help. As me and my friend started making our way down there, my friend Bryan told us to stop because he said that we don't want to see that. I won't go in to any gory details, but my friends said there was nothing they could do because the passenger was already dead and the others "didn't look good." So as we were walking back we unfortunately saw the families running towards the wreckage and heard the reaction when they saw what happened. I couldn't stand listening to that so we walked back towards our house.

We were just all standing around because we didn't know what to do with ourselves. My friends who had seen the accident were stone-faced and pale and we just didn't know what to do. We saw a short lady dressed in dark clothes flagging down cars on the freeway to get them to stop and turn around because they were closing down that part of the highway and wouldn't let anyone through. So that's when we found something to do. We got some flashlights and about 5 of us were flagging cars down and telling them to turn around and letting them know what happened. The cops brought us some flares to line the road with because they had to work on crowd control and such. The saddest part about flagging cars down was knowing every car that had family or friends in it. They rushed to a stop, got out, and just started booking it down the highway towards all the flashing lights and crowds of people.

We were out there till about 1:30 in the morning but they didn't open the highway back up till about 4. Needless to say, this was a very sad night and a HUGE reality check. It really makes you think about life and how no day is guaranteed. So many people go through life thinking, "it's ok, I'll do it tomorrow." or "I'll tell them I love them tomorrow." But what if tomorrow never comes? I know it sounds cliche to be saying things like this, but every day really is a blessing and you can't put things off. Tell the people you love that you love them because they could be taken from this earth in an instant. You never know what's going to happen to you or anyone else that you know or love so you can't afford to take things for granted. We get so caught up in day to day tasks that we seem to forget to tell people how much we appreciate and love them. So tell them that you love them, every day!

I know this is a really long post but just one more thing. It also made me so grateful for the knowledge I have of this gospel and what happens after this life. There are so many people out there that don't know what's going to happen to them when they die and they think that when their family members and friends die, that's the end and they'll never see them again. It's always hard to lose someone you love and care about, it's never going to be easy, but at least we have the hope of the after life and knowing that we will see those people again someday. Just like I never got closure with my Grandma Waite passing away. I wasn't able to go to the funeral and I still have not been to her grave site in Utah, but I know that she's happy with my Grandpa and that I will see them both again someday. I'm so thankful for that. I can't even imagine how bleak and depressing this life would be if there was no hope for an even better life after this.

Sorry about the wordy post with no pictures, I just wanted to make sure I wrote down all my thoughts and feelings to remember this in the future. Take advantage of every single day and enjoy the time you have with your loved ones and friends. TELL THEM YOU LOVE THEM EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!!

Twilight Obsession

In celebration of the latest Twilight movie, New Moon, premiering in exactly a week from tomorrow, I changed my blog background and decided to blog about Twilight! My friends and I are thinking about getting midnight showing tickets but there is only one theater left on the island that hasn't completely sold out of tickets and it's in Mililani which is an hour away. We still might go but if we don't go to the midnight showing, then we'll be going very soon after it comes out.

I don't know what it is about Twilight that gets me but I absolutely love the books and I can't even wait for this new movie to come out. I've seen every trailer and it looks so much better then the first one. I know that the movies aren't going to follow the books exactly but I still love them and I get a lot of enjoyment out of them. :) All in all, let the countdown begin! T-minus 7 days until the premier of NEW MOON!!!

Halloween

So I have to admit, normally I don't like Halloween. It just seems like a pointless holiday to me unless you're a little kid who gets to dress up as your favorite super hero and go around to houses and get candy. I stopped trick or treating when I was in middle school and ever since I just haven't really seen the point of it. However, this Halloween was actually a lot of fun. Everyone in my house thought that we should all dress up together as a group costume. I was a little worried that they wouldn't turn out but we actually looked pretty freakin awesome! We all dressed up as the characters from Peter Pan/Hook. We went to Wal-Mart in Mililani the night before Halloween to get some costume things and then started piecing everything together. On Oct. 30th we had a school Halloween dance that was a lot of fun and then on Halloween we just went to the volleyball game in our costumes (where I was on TV) and went to Denny's in Kaneohe. I couldn't find a green dress for my costume, because I was Tinker Bell, so we proceeded to buy green fabric and wrap it around and pin it in random places. It actually turned out really well! It was a lot of fun!

Since Rufio (leader of the Lost Boys in Hook) isn't pictured in our group picture below, we had to get a single one of him. Ivan Goldtooth isn't very good at making scary faces because he just starts laughing. This was the best he could do. :) But doesn't he make a freakin awesome Rufio!!

Everyone in the group. Starting from left to right Jessica who was Wendy, Becca was the mermaid, Michelle didn't dress up, Kyle was Captain Hook, Whitney was Tiger Lily, Alexis and Bryan were the Lost Boys, and then I was Tinker Bell and Em was thee Peter Pan.

Tourist Time!

So my best friend from Utah, Kaelyn, was here for the past week and a half to visit me and it was so much fun having her here! She got here on Oct. 8th and didn't go home until the 18th so it was a good long trip and gave us time to do everything we wanted to do. It was her first trip to Hawaii and since this is my last semester out here she took the opportunity to come out and visit me. She rented a car and we basically drove all around the island hitting every tourist spot that we could think of to give her the tourist Hawaii experience as well as the experience of a college student going to school in Hawaii. Plus, I got the chance to go to some tourist spots that I hadn't been to before either so it was good for me to see those things before I leave this place. :(

We went to the swap meet and the International Marketplace to get some shopping done and then stopped by Wal-Mart in town to get a few things we needed.

She came to church with us on both of the Sundays that she was here.

And we all got bright neon Hawaii shirts and decided to all match on Sunday night.

This was Kaelyn's first Thai food experience. We went to Haleiwa Eats in Haleiwa (obviously) up on the north shore. She liked it so much that we went back there a second time before she went back home!

Then after Thai food we went to my school's volleyball game so she could see that too.

We went to the beach, A LOT! This was at Waimea

We also went to the Haunted Lagoon that was going on at the PCC with a big group of people. It was fun that she came in October and got to do this. Everybody in the community goes and it's become so big on the island that they had to have it open the whole month because last year they only did it for like 2 weeks and had to turn people away. They make a lot of money off of it and it's just fun!

Here's Alexis, Kaelyn, and I at the beach again. This one is at Hukilau, the beach right across the street from my house.

And we went to the girl's and boy's soccer games too.

I couldn't let her come to Hawaii and not get the full PCC experience. So we did the Haunted Lagoon one night and then the next day we went back to do the villages and canoe pageant. The luau was sold out for that night so we bought tickets for the next night. Thank goodness my friend Bryan was so willing to help us out and get us 50% off on our tickets since he works there! It was so nice of him. So on Friday night we went back to the PCC and did the luau and night show thing. That was my first time seeing the new night show and it was AWESOME!! This was taken before the night show started.

Then on her last Saturday here we crammed everything else in. We went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, then we went over to Pearl Harbor. After that we went to Costco so me and Ashlen could get food to hold us out through the rest of the semester (THANKS KAELYN!) and then we went back to get ready (and so I could write my talk) and went to Foodfest on campus that night, then the volleyball game, and went and saw the movie Surrogates after. It was a pretty good movie. Weird, which that's what I was expecting because it's about robots, but it just kinda ended. I was entertained but I'm thinking it was probably a one time see. Here are the pictures.

This was our amazing ice cream we all shared. It was in a half cut pineapple with pineapple chunks in the bottom, the famous pineapple sherbet on top, with chocolate, caramel, and strawberry syrup. Wow! Don't worry, we finished it. (and all gained 5 pounds)

Some things I didn't get pictures of were going to Pearl Harbor on Saturday, going to get acai bowls two different times, once before the beach and once for breakfast, and pictures of foodfest. She's gone now so it's out with the life of a tourist and trying to recover my life as a student. But it was definitely worth it!

Time for Fall

Well I survived First Term and actually made it out with good grades! I got a B+ in Physics which made me very happy (I was just praying I passed the class period) and I ended up with an A in stats. I was trying to find any major that didn't require me to take stats because I am terrible at math and everybody was scaring me out of it and I don't even know why now! I just kept sitting in that class waiting for it to get harder and it didn't. I was very proud of myself. Now Fall classes started today and I know that this semester is going to be a little bit overwhelming because people are starting to scare me out of my Human Physiology class by telling me how hard it is but hopefully I can do it.

This past week I had absolutely nothing to do because we got a week break before the Fall semester started. It was so nice to just be a worry-free bum in Hawaii and actually be able to enjoy this beautiful place where I LIVE! Needless to say, we hit up the beach A LOT and just hung out with each other. That's really all there is to do in Hawaii. But it was so relaxing, fun, and really needed! My friend Shad's birthday was this past Monday and he was turning 24. We wanted to do something special for him because he's leaving on a mission probably in January so it would be his last big hoorah birthday before everybody goes their separate ways. I made him that awesome fun-fetti cake that is pictured below and we had a bonfire on this hidden beach. It was a lot of fun until we got busted by some Turtle Bay people. I guess that beach was on Turtle Bay property (oops!) so they sat there and watched until the fire was completely out. That was kind of a drag but it was still a beautiful, clear, starry night and was fun to be all together.

Side Note: The Office started back up today (Yipee!) and Hawaii has some of the most beautiful starry nights that I have ever seen in my life!

Shad and I

Labor Day

Well Labor Day this year was pretty awesome, not gonna lie. It was so nice not having class and just getting a little break before I have to worry about finals this week. At first we thought our Labor Day plans were going to be foiled by the rain, but it only rained for about 20 minutes (typical Hawaii) and then it was a beautiful hot and sunny day! Instead of me telling you all at once, there are pictures of all the events we did so I'll say it as I go.

First, we all got in the truck or in Bryan's jeep and made our way up to the North Shore to go to Sunset Beach. This is me and Emily in the back of the truck.

Sunset Beach

Then we made our way to Kava Roots to go get a delicious Acai Bowl! It was definitely one of the best ones I've had! After leaving Kava Roots we were in the Foodland parking lot going to our car and I saw John Locke from the TV show Lost in his truck! Unfortunately I don't have a picture to depict and prove this event because he was leaving the parking lot but I saw him I promise! I've heard he's really nice so I was bummed that I didn't get to meet him and get a picture but it was still really cool!

After finishing our Acai Bowls we made our way to Waimea Beach to enjoy the sun some more. :)

After we were all fried from the sun and dead tired, we went back to Foodland and back to the Bus Stop House to start our Barbeque. I don't know what it is about BBQ's that are so fun and make the day so much better but they do! We had some intense Guitar Hero going on and some yummy food with fun friends! It was pretty awesome

This is a Chilean (sp?) hot dog that we had courtesy of our friend Anthony, who lived in Chile for a long time. It's a hot dog with mayo on the bun, avocado, and tomatoes. It usually has onions on top of all of that but I'm not a big onion fan. I admit, I was a bit skeptical at first but I tried it anyway and it was pretty good! It was very filling but it was good.

All in all, a pretty freakin awesome Labor Day in beautiful Hawaii! :)