I'm Living in Paradise...

Waimea Bay

Okay so I realized today that I hadn't blogged in forever, but guess what? I have an excuse! Because I'm living in paradise where everything is... let's just say... NOT in the fast lane. No, that's not an excuse for not blogging but still, I would definitely say I now live in "Hawaiian Time." And I'm definitely alright with that :)

So it's time to update everyone (and myself) on what has been going on in my life the last two (almost) months! To begin with, let me just say that I have been loving every minute I've had here. From the start I met so many nice people who are kind and welcoming and just happy people. What an amazing feeling. I've also noticed that no one is judgmental here. Everyone accepts everyone, which is such a breath of fresh air. People here are simply happy, and I love it. That's how it should be.

I also love my ward and my Family Home Evening group, which is such a relief! The culture represented on campus is fascinating. It's such a great experience and eye-opener to be able to interact with people from across the world each and every day. I think it's so awesome that some of my best friends here are from China, Mexico, Pakistan, India, Hawaii, Japan, and Micronesia. I'm so grateful for the friends I have made here- for my FHE family, the girls in the house behind us, my roommates, the boys in the house behind us, and of course the boys in the red houses on beach side. I was instantly friends with all of them and our friendship grows each day. I am also SO grateful to Melany and Adam Lang, who have seriously been so helpful. They do Costco runs for me, or even take me along, and they're always so willing to help me out with anything I need.

I've already completed my first term here! It lasted six weeks, and in it I took History of Civilization to 1500, New Testament 1, and Fitness for Life. And I survived taking all of those courses crammed into those six weeks. As for New Testament- I absolutely loved that class and my teacher Elder Richard Draper was the best teacher I've ever had. He gave such great perspective and I was constantly learning something new and fascinating. He has written many books and articles, so I would suggest you look him up! :) As for History... let me say I'm extremely glad that class is over. I've now started by second term, where I'm taking English 201, New Testament 2, and get this: Achieving Eternal Marriage. HA! Don't worry, I'm not getting married anytime soon ;) Though it will be an interesting class with valuable stuff that I can definitely use for the future- keyword: future.

About three or four weeks after being here, my friends recommended me to their boss at the Alumni Relations Office, and I got the job. It's really a perfect job for me, because it's on my own time and only adds up to about 10 hours per week, so I can keep my grades up. And what I do is pretty cool too- I write articles about Alumni from BYU-Hawaii and what they are doing now. Those articles get sent out in a newsletter each month to over 17,000 people. What an addition to my resume! Don't worry, the articles I write are much more refined and professional than the writing you are seeing here in this blog ;)

Now for the fun stuff! And there's lots of it. I've been hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, swimming with sea turtles, parasailing, and of course I've been to the beach almost every single day :) I've also been able to make lots of trips exploring the island, to Honolulu for shopping and parasailing, to Haleliwa (mostly for "Haleiwa Eats," this amazing thai food place!), and to Waimea Bay where the sun shines the best! It seems like every day is an adventure. Especially when I take the bus... yikes! It's also an adventure when you consider the weather. I swear its less predictable than Reno weather! It will be absolutely gorgeous and sunny outside, and if someone told me it would be down pouring and thundering in less than two minutes, I wouldn't doubt it one second. It changes so fast and so often, but that also makes it more fun. Did I mention I absolutely live each day just to look outside my front window and gaze out at the ocean? Because I most definitely do.

My life has changed so much in the last year. I've learned and grown so much. But one thing I do know as fact after this last year is that Heavenly Father has a PLAN for me and that he will take control and lead and guide me to do whatever I'm supposed to, and to wherever I'm supposed to be. I have learned so much because of the places and people I have been specifically placed by, and for that I cannot even express an inkling of how grateful I am. I have definitely learned to just sit back and let Heavenly Father take the wheel, because He knows so much better than I. So, due to this, I will now be coming home for First Term, which is the end of July to the beginning of September. The idea came out of no where while talking to my mom one day, and from that everything has just worked itself out. It was stressful at first because that meant taking online classes, packing and storing everything, leaving my friends, and selling my housing contract. But, I found perfect online classes and I also realized that my roommate needed housing for first term, so that was easy. Now I will not only be in Reno during my absolute favorite time of the year in Reno, but I will also be home with all of my family and be able to see some of my best friends, save money, and work a little. It will be great!

I would say that I am living THE life. I feel more and more blessed each day. Yesterday I was on my walk/jog on the beach and the sunset was so beautiful that I actually laughed out loud to myself! I just honestly couldn't believe that I was there in that moment- thinking to myself, "What the heck am I doing here? What did I do to deserve this kind of amazing life?!"

So next Friday is going to be an extra awesome day, because Amber is coming to visit me!!! I can't believe it's happening, but it is! She will be here for five days, and I'm pretty sure it will be some of the best five days I'll have here- just like when my mom was here. Family is the best! Oh, I forgot to mention that my cousin from my mom's side Kaylani Setoki got back last week, so I'm pretty excited to start making memories with her. Life is so great right now and I can't believe I've already lived in paradise for two months.

Don't get too jealous now.....

Kayaking!

The Tower

PCC Falls Hike

Gorgeous sunrise after a very long night sleeping on the tower..

Parasailing in Honolulu!! SUCH an amazing experience!

PCC World Fireknife Competition

Cannolis for my birthday at Bucca Di Beppo's!

Yes, I'm 20 and I had Funfetti Cake...

Kaylani and Andrea

Rebecca and Alex

So beautiful.