Life is Beautiful.

Life is beautiful. From things like a tire that bursts open right after being fixed but somehow keeps working just perfectly (a college student miracle) every day as you ride the bike to school (just the fact that the bike is working again is a miracle in itself! Thanks Dad!!!)...

To walking out your front door, walking down the street, and realizing that this:

is practically on your doorstep,

To finding interesting things on the beach...

A jellyfish?

A coconut

To having 2 of your classes cancelled for the whole week (I love school, but a week with two less classes in the middle of the semester is a nice surprise),

To actually being here at the world's greatest university (I may be slightly biased) to study what I love,

To going to a little barbershop by Foodland for the first time to get your first official barbershop hair cut of adult life,

To rainy days that are also warm and sunshiny,

To looking up at the night sky in the middle of the night on your front driveway and seeing the stars and constellations clearer than you ever have before,

I just can't help but feel like I'm living in a world filled with miracles.

And for me the greatest miracle of all is the fact that I have so many incredible people in my life! Really, every where I turn: Wonderful Person!
And not only am I surrounded by incredible people here in Laie, but there are so many incredible people around the world who have influenced my life for the better! Knowing that I have family and friends to talk to, to listen to and learn from, people who want to listen to me, and people with smiling faces and kind words of encouragment-what great blessings!

I think life is just grand.

INCREDIBLE.

That was INCREDIBLE! President Thomas S. Monson, our prophet today and the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, announced today that the age that young adults can go on missions has changed from 19 to 18 for young men, and from 21 to ....19 for young women!! It's the most amazing feeling to know that while before I had a couple more years before having the chance to go on a mission, now the opportunity is right in front of me! It feels unreal! My heart practically flew out of my chest when I heard the number 19 for young women! So many young adults have been blessed today! I'm so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I have no doubt that Christ lives and that this is his church.
It's incredible to picture ...who knows how many! millions? of LDS young adults leaving to share the glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with God's children all over the earth! In their own languages! And I hope to be a part of it!

Four weeks into Fall semester already?

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since school started. Time flies when you're having fun! And this semester has been a LOT of fun! You may ask, "how many times have you gone to the beach so far and are you actually doing ANY school work?" Hahaha! I know it seems suspicious to be going to school just 7 or so minutes away from the most perfect beach in the world, but the truth is...I haven't been to the beach even once yet this semester. (I know, pretty bad, right?) Ok, now that I think about it I did walk to the beach a couple of times with friends, but that was just walking over and enjoying the water on my feet, not serious beach going. Yep, it's been four weeks of being a hermit in my room and doing hours of homework! But I've loved just about every minute of it! Before I continue on to share my love for my studies, before school started, I had the most wonderful couple of weeks in Hawaii ever with my wonderful family!

 My dad is the coolest!

 At the PCC

 These signs were at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. I thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

 Yep, this is real. Just a short hike away from the road and BAM! Paradise!

 My dear sister and I on the train at the Dole Plantation.

 I think this is the most adorable picture ever. My parents are the greatest!

Sister and I in Honolulu! I'm normally not a big city kind of person, but I did enjoy the night life on the streets of Honolulu! Everything is so exciting!

I miss my family, but I'm so glad we could have such an awesome last couple of weeks together before school started.

As for school, I'm loving my schedule so much! I've discovered as an ICS (International Cultural Studies) major, the majority of our homework is reading, and writing too. Lots and lots and lots of reading and writing. But I enjoy it so much! I don't know if I've ever enjoyed homework so much. This semester I'm taking Folk Dance (SUPER fun!), Communications 280: Gender and Culture (fascinating, eye opening, and somewhat contraversal topics), English 201 Honnors (at first I thought it was a big mistake to take honnors, but now I'm really glad I'm in the class), Anthropology 105 (I'm totally converting to anthropology...I think I'm going to do it as my ICS emphasis), Doctrine and Covenants 1 (great class!), and Brass Ensemble (GO BRASS!).
My life at the time being consists basically of eating, sleeping, going to class, and doing homework, but I'm very happy. I also intrude on friends quite frequently and love being surrounded by such awesome people.
I never want to stop learning!!! I love it so much and am so glad to be a student! There is so much in this life to learn! I'm so grateful to be a student and to be at this truly unique and AWESOME university!
GO SEASIDERS!! BYUH ALL THE WAY!

One more day and then "ALOOO-HA!"

The summer has been fantastic and it's hard to believe it's already come to an end!...Well, almost! Becuase up next is our family trip to my island home of Hawaii! School doesn't start until around September 14th, but we're leaving on Tuesday (that's only a day away!!!) morning because my family is coming to "drop me off"...for a couple of weeks! I am so excited to have my family in Hawaii with me. Ever since begining school in Laie, I've felt so at home there, but the only thing missing was my family! Now they will be there with me! At least for a couple of weeks!
Friday was my last day of work (Good bye, my dear Great Harvest Bakery!), and Saturday was probably my first Saturday off of work that I got to spend with my family (besides my grandma's funeral earlier this summer). And it was a GREAT Saturday! My dad, sister, and I started the day off by riding our bikes around Lake Natoma, about 12 miles I've heard. It was a really nice ride! The weather was perfect, the scenery incredible, and the people all smiling happily. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Later that day, my parents and I walked around Old Folsom, browsed through the art galleries and random stores (like one filled with mystical creature statues, geodes, and other earthy things), and had dinner outside on a balcony. 'Twas lovely!

I'm so grateful I was able to be home for the summer. I wasn't planning on coming home this summer, but my old boss from Great Harvest called me a couple days before Winter semester ended and asked if I wanted to work at the bakery again. All of a sudden coming home became a possibility and before I knew it (and after a couple of super stressful days filled with last minute packing and planning and stuffing all of my belongings under my friends' beds) I was home! It certainly wasn't the most logical thing to do (although it worked out nicely and has been beneficial to my education financially), now, looking back, I know that this is where I needed to be this summer. Thanks to the opportunity of coming home for the summer, I have learned so many valuable lessons, have been able to spend time with my family and friends here, and I was able to see my grandma Betty again before she passed away and was able to be here in the area with her and our family. That has been such a great blessing. I've been blessed in many many ways this summer, and have learned that even when things don't make sense to me, if I am doing what my Heavenly Father would have me do and going where He wants me to go, everything will work out, becuase He (very unlike me) sees the bigger picture!

And lastly, today I came accross this verse in the scriptures: "And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy." -Doctrine and Covenants 45:71. It reminds me of byu-Hawaii and the incredible people there from all around the world. I go to the best school ever. Well, tah-tah for now!

 

The Birthday Boy

Today's a very special day! ...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! I've got a pretty cool dad! In fact, I think he's the greatest in the world! And I'm so lucky to have him as my very own ol' man!
Then...

And Now!

Hello Blogging World!

Hello family, friends, loved ones, and anyone who happens to be glancing at this blog post! So, I've decided to start a blog. Firstly, because on Sunday I taught a lesson in church about advancing the work of the Lord, and as part of the lesson we discussed how technology can be an awesome tool to do great things! I mean, seriously...I can type up a message (like I am doing now for example) and then click the "publish" button, and somehow this message is going to shoot into outerspace and then back down to earth where it will be available on computer screens accross the globe! And all within approximately 1.3 seconds! Pretty incredible, right? I really don't know how that works at all, so I appologize if I got it completely wrong, but my point is that technology these days is actually pretty cool, and incredible! And I'd like to do my part in using the internet for good. Secondly, I've enjoyed reading other people's blogs and I think people who keep blogs and inspire others are super admirable! And lastly, I could use the help developing my computer skills. I feel quite old fashioned at times, and this could be a good way to learn more about modern technology! And also (lastly for real), as a college student, it's always nice to have a way to escape the stress of school for a little while, so I think this will be a good outlet.