Some things never change.

So I told you I would update you on my shopping trip in Waikiki but Im pretty sure that if I told you about that whole day you would be bored to death. So instead, Im just going to tell you that Erica and I took the bus to Waikiki and spent the entire day there walking the streets andshopping. It was a lot of fun. So I'm going to show you pictures instead because Im sure thats a lot more interesting and you'll get the same information!

We've actually been on a couple shopping trips together! We went this last weekend and another girl named Kahana came with us! This is us on the bus.

So basically, long story short, we love shopping. Whats new?!

Stairway to Heaven.

Last weekend I did the craziest thing I have probably ever done in my life. I hiked a mountain. But it wasn't just an mountain. So its called the stairway to heaven because it is literally a 4,000 steps to the top of the mountain in the clouds, but it was more like a ladder because they were so steep! But thats not all. Its technically illegal...yes, I broke the law. It was originally built for the U.S. Coast guard and it is government property and pretty dangerous so thats why its illegal. But that didn't. There are guards that come at 5:30 am so if you go after they get there you can't get in, but if you go before...you're golden. There was a slight problem though...not very many students have cars here so instead we took the bus, but the busses do run that early in the morning and they stop at 10:30pm so we took the bus to the mountain the night before and stayed the night in a sketchy abandoned house in the middle oflike a forest basically. This picture is of most ofthe group on theoutside of the house. Itwascompletely graffitied inside, and apparently some crazy gang meets there sometimes? I don't know if thats true, but I heard that after I stayed there. All I know is that it was kinda sketch. The plan was to sleep there but I don't really think I fell asleep for longer than 5 minutes at a time. So basically I pulled an all-nighter. So we "woke up" atabout 4:00 tomake our way to the entrance of the stairs where the guard goes. It took a while to get there so we had to leave pretty early. Anyway, so we started up the stairs and naturally I had to pee like no other right when we started. I wanted to die I had to go so bad. This made the first part of the hike very difficult. By the way, its still pitch black so Icant really see where Im going, all I know is that Iam on a ladder on a mountain. This picture kinda givesyou a good idea of what Im talking about. This is looking down the stairs...crazy. But once we were hiking for a while, we got to a small platform where we couldrest and watch thesunrise. It was beautifulfrom even just there and we weren't even to the top yet! The next picture is before sunset at the platform. I love all the city lights. It was amazing! So after this, part of thegroup kinda chilled at the flat for like an hourhaha because it was really pretty and nice to rest because it was such an intense workout! After being there for a bit, I went on to finish the hike with most of the other people in our group but a couple people stayed behind. I am so glad that I did the whole thing. it was definitely worth it. I almost did, which now that I think back on it, I would have been crazy if I didn't do the whole thing. After pulling an all-nighter in a sketchy abandoned house...I'll do anything. The second half wasn't as hard as the first half surprisingly, but it was the more dangerous part. For some reason I was not scared at all and everyone was freaked. At onepoint, the stairs were wider thanthe part of the mountain we were walking on. Im just not afraid of heights so it wasn't a big deal. Oh, before I go on...this picture is of me on the first platform. Well the platform had railings around it but there was this lovers leap rock that I went out and sat on. Ok, moving on...so yeah, the second half wasn't as hard. I enjoyed it a lot more because I was able to see everything and itwasn't dark out. It was green everywhere. Im probably starting to bore you because Im taking so long with all my little details but oh well. This next picture is probably one of my favorites that I took. I don't think that it was quite at the top but I love it. It looks fake. And finally, the last picture is me at the top. Ihave a lot of pictures of me at the top but this was at the very highest point. Its not a very good picture, and my body looks out of proportion because it was so windy that my shirt was going crazy but it kinda give you a better idea of where I was and what was going on haha. From the top you could see most of the island, except for the couple parts that were blocked by mountains. But it was insane! It really made me realize how small this place is. If you want to see more pictures from the top, feel free to check my facebook...there are a ton on there. So on the way down, my legs were jello the entire time, but it was an adventure. Going down was a breeze. It didn't take long at all. I loved this hike. If you ever go to hawaii...I highly suggest it.

So long for now...next post...all about Waikiki!

Isn't that slick?

So Im taking Calculus...again, and my teacher is crazy. He says the same things all the time. For example, he says...easy enough? make sense? Isn't that slick? sound good?. He says them so many times I decided to make a tally. At the end of the semester I will post a picture of it so you can understand what I go through. I think I might actually be excited to go to this class now that I have something to do. Just so you have an idea of what I'm talking about, he said "make sense?" 4 times in the same minute. I about died laughing. He probably thinks I'm an immature rebel child because I don't really pay attention (because I've taken the class before and I understand pretty much everything already), and I laugh every time he says one of the lines I mentioned. Just thought I would fill you all in. It is outrageous.

A whole new world.

3 weeks later and Im back to update because I was starting to get complaints. I dont even know where to begin. Im in a place where they serve rice and pineapple at every meal, as well as random foreign meats. Breakfast is definitely the ONLY meal I can count on haha. But the dining hall does have its good days every once in a while! When I first got here I felt like I was in a whole different world and I still kind of feel that way. I would say maybe 1/3 of the students here are from the mainland, so we are basically minority, which is crazy to think about. The first couple weeks were really hard, just trying to adjust to the culture and the new people and food and everything basically. I was told that the first month would be super hard too but I didn't really understand how it would be. But now that I have been here for a while, I totally know what they meant. Its not something you can really explain, you sort of just have to experience it for yourself. Sorry for being so vague but you really wouldn't understand what I mean unless you were here. But anyway, things are starting to get really good and I have met a lot of really cool people. I've met people from all over the world. China, Australia, Spain, Mongolia, France, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa....you name it, Ive met someone from there. Its crazy!

So the first weekend I went on an Island tour and went to a bunch of famous places on the island like the valley of the temples (where karate kid was filmed), pearl harbor, a swap meet, haliewa, and walmart. Yes, walmart. Its a big deal here, ok? haha. Just as a side note, I had to go to walmart again after this trip and it took an hour and a half to get there. Its super far and there isn't anything like it closer...thats why its such a big deal haha. Who knew. Anyway, the island tour was super exhausting because it lastedall day but it was a fun way to meet new people and explore the island a little bit. This picture is from the buddhist temple wewent to! It was so pretty! It was kinda back in the mountains...as you can see.

The temperature is amazing here. Its like 81every day but its humid so sometimes it feels kinda hot, but its amazing! I've been trying to go to the beach as much as I can. I've been more busy

will school the last week so I haven't gone as much but Im definitely not going to let that happen anymore. This is the beach thats right by campus. It takes like less than 5 minutes to get there riding my bike, and I pass the temple on

the way! The Laie temple looks a lot like the Mesa temple, which I like because it reminds me of home. I'll have to take a picture sometime soon and post it. Its absolutely beautiful! It has been under construction for a while but they are reopening it in a couple weeks and I get to go to the open house! Im really looking forward to that!

I've been on several adventures. Its fun to just get on the bus and go somewhere new. Like

2 weeks ago my roommate was checking out some surf boards that people were selling on craigslist so we just hopped on the bus and just went searching. We stopped at a couple

different beaches, including Sunset Beach which is MY FAVORITE! I love it so much. You meet some pretty interesting people on the buses too. Last Saturday I went to the beach all morning, and then in the afternoon we went snorkeling at sharks cove (the picture is me at sharks cove). As you can see, I am already super tan, and I still have at least 2 more months! As of right now, I do not even know how long I'm going to be here haha. This place is amazing. I wish I could remember more of the things that I have done in the last 3 weeks. I need to take more pictures. Im gonna work on that. I think that you people that actually read this should remind me to write more often so that I don't forget anything that I've done. Anyway, I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Aloha Hawaii!

Ive got a lot to catch up on. Its been about a week and a half since I last wrote and a lot has happend since. Ill begin with the day we left for Hawaii.

Our flight was at 8:30 but of course, like usual, we went 2 hours early because my mom insists every time so we don't run the risk of being late. Here's the thing...instead of flying straight to Honolulu, we got to stop in Dallas first, which is 2 1/2 hours the opposite direction. We were all pretty much out of it that entire flight. So we get to Dallas and the airplane person gets on the announcer and makes us believe that its almost 9:00 there and our flight to Honolulu was at 1:30. I was considering taking a cab to see my friend Matthew who lives somewhere in Texas because we had about 4 hours to spare...so we thought. I didn't go see Matthew. So close, yet so far. It probably never would have happened either. So the Dallas airport is giant right and we had to take a train to get to the different gates. We're standing on the train and I look up to see that the clock says that it is currently 1:18. Here we were, on the opposite side of the airport, thinking its 9:00 and we had 4 hours to kill but no, our flight was going to leave in 1o minutes. We booked it. I felt like I was in one of those movies where the people are always late for their flights so they run all through the airport. I even said that out loud. I got some interesting looks. Anyway, with barely any time to spare we got on the plane and of course, I was the last one to find a spot in the overhead compartments for my suitcase so I kinda held the crew up for a bit but whatever. I do what I want haha. So we're on the plane and of course we get the middle row and so none of us have a window seat so we barely got to see anything! But, the guy sitting next to me was wearing the flower touristy shirt and a glasses croakie (sp?) that said calculus...I knew then, that this next year was going to be an adventure.

So my mom and sierra were here with me for about the first week which was nice because I got to be with them and we had a rental car so it was easy to get around and see everything. We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center (which im applying to), sharks cove, sunset beach, waimea falls, waikiki, turtle bay, and many many beautiful places. This picture is of me and sierra the Polynesian Cultural Center. We got really good passes for cheap because the lady at the register was moving back home and she had discounts she needed to get rid of. We basically got to see everything there. We went to a lu'au and got awesome real lei's and

after that we went to the night show which was AMAZING! I honestly dont even know how to explain how cool it was. And the crazier thing was that everyone that I saw working there and acting in the night show are all students at my school and a lot of them are in my classes and ward too! Enough of that....my favorite beach by far as of right now would be sunset beach. I love that beach so incredibly much! It is so beautiful and the water is so clear and there are barely any waves so you can just sit in the water! You wouldnt even understand unless you were here. I think that this year here has gotten a good start. Im meeting new people from all over the world and learning many new things. There are people representing 73 different countries at here at BYU-H and its the most culturally diverse school in the world. Im so happy and grateful that I am able to be here and I plan on making the most of it.

I hope that I will be able to post things more often because I dont want to forget anything about this experience! Miss you all!

A new beginning.

Well, the time is coming...Im moving to Hawaii in approximately 3 days. It hasn't really hit me yet. I figured that now would be a brilliant time to start a blog since I cant get my self to ever write in a journal even though I have been supplied with a million of them from church throughout my life. I absolutely love reading friends' blogs and hope to one day entertain people as much as my friends do with their outrageous stories.

I think that I will start by summarizing my summer at BYU. Amazing. I spent about 2 months in Provo going to school, trying to transition into the college lifestyle, and goofing off of course. It wasn't difficult. Living on campus was maybe one of the smartest things I did. I met so many

amazing people living in the dorms and went on so many fun adventures that I may not have experienced had I not lived on campus. I roomed with Aliese Jorgensen who is a friend from back home in Arizona. We got along really well and did pretty much everything together. We are a lot more alike than I ever had expected to be...except the whole height thing, but thats just the story of my life. By the way, this picture is just of us in her car before we went to anunderground neon dance part. Crazy night.

When I wasn't with her, I was with Lindsay. And when I say Lindsay, I mean Lindsay and Spencer. Ok well I did hang out with her alone a lot too. Its amazing how much a relationship with a sibling can change when you aren't at home. I feel that now, after spending 2 months in Provo, we aren't just siblings, we're like best friends. 7 Peaks season pass was probably the best investment I made this summer thanks to her. We spent countless hours there hitting the wave pool, going on all the slides, including shooting completely off the end of them (which obviously is not supposed to happen), and of course attempting to walk across the lily pads. I failed miserably. So many memories at that place. We also had a class together. Living Prophets. I honestly don't know where to start. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into with this 2 hour class but somehow I managed to pull out a 99% overall?? Dont ask...because I dont know. I took her and Spencer to lunch all the time because of the massive amounts of money I always had on my meal plan. It was nice to always have someone to eat with. Going to Plato's Closet was our favorite thing to do, especially when we had a hard day. It was always a bitter sweet experience because we love everything in that store, but thats exactly the problem...we couldn't have it all. We always happened to leave the

store with large quantities of clothes and jewelry in the end anyway. I am in love with that place.

I would just like to recap on some of the best days that I had at BYU. One of the first things I did was hike the "Y". Aliese and I met up with one of her friends from bowling class who brought some of his roommates. This little shindig happened on the 4th of July. Well the night before. That night was the Stadium of Fire performance that was put on by BYU as a 4th of

July celebration every year. This year, the special guest performer was Carrie Underwood so it was I guess you could say...a big deal. Unfortunately none of us got tickets to this, but it was ok because we had a little party of our own. We hiked the "Y" mountain and once we got to the top, we watched the big firework show mainly from the Stadium of Fire but saw other firework shows off in the distance. It was crazy to be above the fireworks and also hear the echoes in the mountains. The group is in the picture posted above. These boys were a lot of fun to

hang out with. We saw them

multiple times this summer. Lets see...we went bowling, disco roller blading, ice blocking, and they took us to their favorite place to eat, Rancheritos (I think haha). Aliese almost won $230 playing a game there! Ahh it was crazy. I couldn't even look it was that intense. Goood times with those boys. I will never forget them. Oh and the picture on the right...quite possibly my favorite picture from the night we went disco roller blading.

WORLDS LARGEST WATER BALLOON FIGHT. Need I say more? I think not. But I will anyway. Firstly, I got a free shirt. This was one of THE most outrageous things I have ever done. BYU broke the world record for the largest water balloon fight ever. There were over

120,000 water balloons and nearly 4,000 people. I didn't even know there was a world record for largest water balloon fights before this! Before the actual water balloon fight there were a lot of things going on. There was a DJ and people were dancing and then there were different crowds of people doing different things. I originally went with Aliese and a bunch of people from my ward but then I saw Lindsay and Spencer so I went over to say hi to them and talk to them for a bit and next thing I know is that Aliese and everyone else are no where to be found. Lindsay and I actually lost Spencer at one point as well and so she got on my shoulders to try to find him but that turned out to be an epic fail. So in the mean time, we decided to have a little fun and explore and we found ourselves in a dance competition thing? It wasnt really a competition, we were just chosen dancers to be in the front of the video camera for the news haha. It all worked out nicely though because the guy I was standing next to was super nice. His name was Seth and he ended up driving me home after the water balloon fight haha. He's on the football team at BYU! Anyway, rewinding....after the dance thing we found Spencer and then the fight began. It was seriously so much fun! Ahh soo gooood. Moving on...later that day there was a blood drive and I went with my friend Devery who was in my ward. AND...we got free shirts! 2 free shirts in one day?! I say it was s successful day.

Thats all I have for now, but I will definately write more about my BYU summer term experience soon!