Life as Lil' Red: November 2011

The Hawaiian word for anything you aren't quite sure about or can't remember, a "watchamacallit", is called "Da Kine." That's the best that I can describe my life right now- I can't really describe it! These last two months have seriously been insane, and full of many emotions including joy, love, friendship, disappointment, stress, relaxation, and hope. So, I can't pinpoint one specific feeling of the last couple months of my life here in Hawaii. One thing I do know is that it has been a great learning experience as always. But I have been extremely busy, which explains why it's been so long since I posted!

I have definitely had a lot of fun this semester and have made some great friends. We've gone on little hikes, gone to Turtle Bay for beach days and volleyball, made many little trips to Haleiwa, girl's nights into Honolulu (with way too much shopping), dance parties, taking my friends surfing, kayaking, and had a great Halloween weekend. For Halloween we had our friend DJ for us and we had a rockin' dance party at our house! It was a ton of fun. We also spent the other nights that weekend at other dance parties and went into Honolulu which was completely packed with thousands of people dressed up in the sweetest costumes. I spent the weekend switching back and forth between being Audrey Hepburn and a lion :)

I've done so much and been involved in so many things I can't even believe that it's already November... And it doesn't help that we don't really have seasons here, so it doesn't even feel like Fall! But let me tell you- it has definitely gotten "colder" here, whatever that means haha. The other day I was absolutely freezing at the FoodFest, so I looked at my phone to see what the temperature was and it only said 71 degrees! I mean it was rainy and windy but I never thought I'd see the day when I thought that 71 degrees is cold haha. I'm definitely nervous for when I come home for Christmas now... I mean I hope it snows but that will definitely be a rough transition.

My classes are all actually pretty interesting this semester. I'm taking classes that go towards my major of International Cultural Studies so I'm loving my Anthropology and Communications classes- which is a good sign. I will say though that I will never take 18 credits again,and as much as that keeps me busy, I love it so or try to avoid taking that many as much as possible. Some good news is that I just received a full academic scholarship for next winter and summer semesters, which is such a blessing and such a relief. Woo! I'm also in the Relief Society presidency in our ward now, much. Each week we visit different sisters in the ward and get to know them better and let me just say that there are so many awesome girls in our ward! They have such strong spirits and most are such hard workers and have such strong testimonies.

One girl really impressed me with her story: She grew up in Hong Kong and when she was 16 she was really struggling. She always walked past the LDS church building a couple blocks from her house and one day she decided she would go to church the next sunday. So she just went, and then the missionaries greeted her, she was baptized a month later, then came to BYU-Hawaii two months later and won't return home for three years until she graduates. Wow. I love that, and there are so many interesting stories of international girls here, I love it. I also love being involved with the sisters in need, because it makes me forget about my problems and my life, and to focus on doing whatever I can to make other's lives better. And really, that's what a lot of people are about here in Hawaii, to follow and have the "Spirit of Aloha." Love it.

This last week became a little interesting for me as well. Last Tuesday, I was with my friend Cassie and we had just dropped her boyfriend John off at his house, so I stayed in the backseat because Cassie was taking me home and dropping me off. We were stopped to turn into my house waiting for cars to clear up going the opposite direction, when a van behind us rear-ended us at 40 mph. WHOA. It was a bit freaky to say the least. The car was totaled, Cassie hit her head on the steering wheel, and I had all of that force slammed into my back because I was in the back seat. So now we're recovering and figuring out insurance and doctors appointments, but because I had a priesthood blessing right after the accident, I know my back injury is much less serious than it could have been. This is just another experience that made me be so grateful for the life I have and to remember to live each day to it's fullest and to be as righteous as I can. It also made me realize how much I am loved, and therefore how much I love others. Along with this though came the wrath of Marci, my landlord. We've had many, many issues with her this semester and this time she freaked out about two crashed cars on her property. So without any yucky details, she was extremely rude and didn't even care about us or our safety after the accident and so now I really don't feel comfortable living in her house, so we'll see if I can find something new in a month and a half- eeek! As much as it stinks that all of that had to happen, I'm grateful for it and the many things I'm learning from it all :)