Aloha Oe

once again,
it was a blast reuniting with my Hawaiian friends
and the culture that I have grown to love so much.
Aloha Oe, until we meet again : )

  

 

BYU Luau

This Tuesday and Thursday evening in the Wilk is the 

BYU LUAU

Every Saturday morning starting @ 6

I have been dancing away preparing for Luau (Hawaiian Section). 

It's going to be an awesome show, 

with dances from

Hawaii

Samoa

New Zealand

Tahiti and

Tonga

Presented by BYU Multicultural Services, 

the BYU LUAU is an event to raise money for international student studies

All proceeds go toward scholarships.

It's a fabulous cause, an exciting event, and a delicious meal.

Buy your tickets now!

You won't want to miss it!!

For information click here

Luau

Last year, I attended this beautiful university;

the experience of a lifetime to say the least.

Unfortunately, I could not stay forever - 

BUT I still have the chance to be involved with the amazing Polynesian culture.

At 6 AM this morning, 

I attended rehearsals for the BYU Multicultural Luau, 

a performance to raise scholarship money for international students.

Every Saturday morning I will be up in the Wilk dancing away, 

reminiscing...

I guess this will have to suffice until I see that beautiful island again.

Aloha Oe'

Until we meet again

do you remember?

that time we hitch-hiked to Waimea, nearly a dozen of us in the back of a truck...

or the time we had photo shoots with breakfast foods and froot loops... I could not get the smell of milk out of my clothes for weeks...

What about the time we took a vespa tour around the south eastern side of the island, ate nutella and peanut butter sandwiches on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and hiked to the top of the lighthouse - only to find it was fenced in... so we climbed the fence...

Remember when we painted easter eggs to look like ourselves,

and ESPECIALLY that night we raised our elbows high : )

Remember when we watched the Sunday morning session of conference at 6 AM,

or that awesome Valentines day when we made a movie?

or better yet, the Christmas movie! creeping on the rocks, dancing with Santa in the Aloha Center, smelling the poinsettias, or kissing the toy soldiers

Do you remember the trips to the Cheesecake Factory, giving Gandalf as our name

Spicy cats... oh those spicy cats....

I remember going to the lovely Laie theatre to watch New Moon, Invictus, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and so many more..

I remember playing with the amazing Norton boys, Lincoln asked me to marry him : )

do you remember chasing the rat around Trisha's room?

or watching Keith,
what a horrible excuse for a movie....

I miss those days.

I miss you guys.

Somebody better get married soon so we can have our crazy bachelorette parties : )

Photo from Trisha Zemp

Halolani

I finally named my car

The name by which she will be known is

Halolani

Lani for short

Halolani meaning "fly like a bird" in Hawaiian

tourist for a week

I KNOW IT HAS TAKEN FOREVER. AND IT IS STILL NOT DONE. but i am tired of waiting for more  pictures.... so here you go!

So here are some tidbits from my adventures in Waikiki...
(the "gang" refers to Kylie, Jessica, Sydney, Kaitlin, and I)

Monday

 

the gang checked into the hotel

went shopping for food

 then headed out for a day of adventure on the Waikiki strip

making sure to stop at the International Market Place

a bird pooped on my head

we ate dinner at Macaroni Grill at the famous Ala Moana Shopping Center

some friends came down to join us

Kaitlin and I had our first birthday celebration of the week, (20th and 23rd) and our waiter sang to us in Italian!

We only had one car to get back to the Hotel that night, so we squeezed 8 people in the main section of the car, and Jessica and Kaitlin volunteered to ride in the trunk. They're crazy.

Tuesday

the gang- minus Kylie, plus Dane and Andrew- headed out at 3:00 am Tuesday morning to hike Stairway to Heaven, an old military staircase to the top of a mountain 

 about halfway up, there is a hut that the military used to have a cable cart run to in order to get supplies up to the lookout.  It has since been covered in grafitti and it is awesome!

around 5:40 am we reached the top and boy were we happy. 

 it had rained for the first half of the climb which was really unfortunate and made the journey much harder, especially going down 

 

we waited for the sunrise

then began our descent back down

stopping to take the occasional picture here and there

who woulda thunk it was dangerous?

it took much longer than it should have, due to the rain, but thankfully we all made it back down in one piece. 

we were EXHAUSTED so we spent a the afternoon relaxing at the pool :) *photo edits by Kaitlin

the gang walked to Ala Moana again that evening and passed some friends along the way!

 Jamba Juice in the food court...

then for some shopping

some of us were very exhausted and fell asleep in the dressing room... so we headed back to the hotel for a good night's rest

WEDNESDAY

the gang plus Champ and Dane headed to Swap Meet via the bus!

we found some really awesome stuff 

 did you know you could send coconuts in the mail?

for lunch, we made macaroni & cheese in the coffee maker!

that night, the gang - plus Jarek, Champ, and Dane - headed out for another night on the Waikiki strip  

 

we had fun playing at the Ferrari store :) 

then ate at the Cheesecake Factory 

where Kaitlin, Jarek and I celebrated our birthdays again (20th, 21st, and 23rd) 

Then off to bed at the Hotel for a good night's rest. 

THURSDAY  

Thursday was a relaxed day beginning with a massage at Spa Olakino

followed by a glorious day at the beach; though I must say, Waikiki beaches are nothing compared to the beauty and tranquility of the North Shore.  

 I did try my hand at surfing!  I only caught one wave, but give me more than 45 mins and I could be great ;)

 once again, we walked to Ala Moana for the evening

 nothing too exciting... Panda Express kids meal and Jamba Juice for dinner, some shopping, then back to the Hotel for Moulin Rouge and sleep. 

FRIDAY 

a very relaxed day

 

 hanged out on the strip...

stopped at Planet Hollywood
Dennis Quaid! we had just seen him filming at pounders a week or so before!

ate at Coldstone Creamery

and the food court on the strip

checked email at the apple store

explored the wildlife :)

and stopped to explore St. Augustine Catholic church before the 5:00 mas

finally, we said our last goodbyes to Jarek :(
we went to P F Chang's for dinner
then had intentions of watching the last song, but instead went home to crash before our big day
SATURDAY 
Saturday was one of the greatest days in history

at 8:00, the gang set out on mopeds to explore the island! 

stop one: Hanauma Bay!

where Jessica and I went snorkeling

 

 

and saw sea turtles!

and fish :)

we then stopped at the grocery store and picked up some snacks;
aka bread, pretzels, peanut butter, and NUTELLA!

that we ate at one of the beautiful lookouts on the windward side
next, we rode around to the Makapu'u point light and took the trek up to the top!


SUNDAY
sunday was a day of rest as we spent our last day sleeping by the pool waiting for the time to come to shower and head to the airport.
While waiting at the gate, Jessica and I watched our dance concert on my computer.
then it was time to say Aloha to one of my best friends in the whole wide world.

and Aloha to the most amazing chapter of my life.
I cried the entire 14+ hours of the trip home that I was not sleeping.

and i cry almost every day.
i want to go back.