oh hawaii

Lately I have really been missing Hawaii - the food, family, friends, sunshine, sand, salt water, the smells, the greens, the random old uncles talking pidgin at the grocery store.

here are some photos our friend Jenna took for us before we left:

I knew that leaving Hawaii would be hard, but I really felt it was time to move on. I wasn't happy at work and I wanted to return to school, but there was no other job for me there and no other schooling for me there. Time for another adventure.

And even though I was sad to leave, I knew that I'd always have family to return to, and I had already decided I want to move back one day. Hawaii is where I want to settle and have a family. I know it may  not have the best schools in the country, but the community really supports its youth. Everyone is family, and that is a really comforting feeling - to know that my kids could go to the park by themselves and whatever aunty or uncle is at the park that day will watch out for them.

ANYWHO:

I was hardly prepared for how difficult it would be to go from living with 11 other people to living by myself, and then to living with two other people. I had no idea how difficult it would be to say good by to the family who took me in for the past two years. As I finished packing my suit case before I left for the airport, Sara (niece, age 3) packed herself a suit case too and said she was coming with me. And it broke my heart to tell her that she couldn't. And it broke my heart again when we skyped a couple weeks later and she asked me to be her date to her birthday party this fall. And then it kills me to be missing Waylen's (brother, age 9) football games - he started tackle football this fall. I had no idea how hard it would be not to hear Ciera (niece, age 9) singing every day. I miss talking with her and hearing her stories about her day. I had no idea how hard it would be to miss Michele's (sister, age 15) junior year of high school. I even miss Sean (brother, age 21) playing video games all night and yelling at the tv. I miss hearing him play the guitar, and I miss his laugh. I had no idea how hard it would be to hug Chantel (sister, age 29) goodbye while we both cried. And of course then there's Mama, Aunt Aud, Chase, and Chelsea. I keep expecting Mama to come home from work, Aunt Aud to be making something amazing in the kitchen while she gives the best advice. And what about Chelsea and Chase? Shouldn't they be in the other room?

Even though I am happy to be on a new adventure, I cannot wait to be back in my Hawaii home again.

I'm totally going to be that mom who cries on her kid's first day of school. 

hi again!

so i quit my job at the translation company and i went back to iowa to help my parents pack up our old house. it was hot as the dickens. i wore the same clothes every day and enjoyed the air conditioning while looking through childhood memories.

now i am back in hawaii, spending time with friends, the sun, and the ocean.

and in two weeks I will be living in Aurora, Illinois. and two weeks after that i will start grad school.

here is a funny picture of me sneezing in iowa:

also, in the past year and a half in hawaii i have lost 30 lbs. bodies are weird!

in photos

oh, and here's the past few months in photos:

 haleiwa eats for trav's birthday

 zombie attack

 massage school graduation

 our second valentine's day (he loves me)

 kelli left for fashion school, but not until we all sang karaoke

 my mom came and we hike to makapu'u lighthouse

 and we had a room with a pretty city view

and we went to a skate demo to see super cool pro skate boarders

and so on, and on

since january i've probably worked more hours that i've worked in my life to this point. i am so glad our office gets along so well, or all those 50-60 hour weeks would have been miserable.

now it's may.
in the past months i've listened to some new music. bought some new clothes, gave away some old clothes. spent time with my friends. said goodbye to friends. i've eaten out several times a week and have managed to never get enough sleep. i've played zombies with children and read books with my mother. i've spent rainy days in bed and some sunny days at the beach. and i've been making plans

and now i have one more month of work at the translation company.

and then i'll return to iowa to help my parents pack up our house. my dad got a new job and my mom is retiring, and they are moving. and i got into a graduate program in illinois.

and travis and i are moving there this august.

in the next months i expect to do lots of packing. i hope to spend lots of time with my friends and at the  beach. i want to eat lots of food that i won't be able to eat in illinois. i want to stock up on hello panda, pocky sticks, sour hula keiki, arare, li hing mui, and hi-chew. i'm really excited to spend a good chunk of time back in iowa. i'll be sad to say goodbye to the house we built when i was eight, but my parents already have plans to build a new one. they are moving on and so am i.

i look forward to being able to take road trips to see my friends. i look forward to seasons, to good ole midwestern food and milk and grocery prices.

i'll be seeing you soon, chicago!

hawaii nei

yesterday at work, as i was walking between classrooms, i glanced up and remembered that i live in HAWAII.

this morning i took a break and went to the beach in kailua. i wouldn't mind just being a bum and getting some sun every day.

here's a look at some of my favorite photos of le aina
(click to view full photos)

i'm turning into a thirteen-year-old

So for the past month or so I've been working for After School All Stars, a program Arnold Schwarzenegger put together (I know, right?), designed to help intermediate school students succeed in school and life. So many city kids are left with nowhere to go and nothing to do (except make trouble) after school. Our job is to come in and offer a variety of fitness, enrichment, and academic courses for students after school. We have homework hour and study help, cooking, soccer, photography, weight training, yoga, arts and crafts, etc. We are here to be positive role models for these kids.

I don't know if anyone has ever worked with thirteen-year-olds before, but MY GOODNESS are these kids sassy. I really enjoy hanging out with them every day, but seriously? Sassiest bunch I've ever met.

And I think they are influencing me more than I'm influencing them.

Since I've begun working at King, I've gotten hair tinsel, I've gotten sassy, I've gotten more local ("hoh!" "sistah girl" and "you like try?" have become pretty standard additions to my vocabulary), I've gotten Justin Beiber stuck in my head for hours on end. I crave rice and spam musubi all the time and I want to skip work sometimes to go to the skate park.

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

Just call me Tita.

beach babies

same beach. same week.

just a little bit of change to spice things up.

guess i'm going brown for a little while!

p.s. it is a LUXURY to have TIME

update

Hokay, since I basically took a semester-long hiatus from this little blog, and I don't know if anyone has followed my tumblr much, I figured I would post an update here for any friends who still check up on it from time to time.

This past semester was...different.

Last June all of my roommates left within a week. One of them came back in the fall. And I got three other new ones (who were great, by the way). But a good share of my friends were gone to other schools, to home, on missions, or at BYU Jerusalem. Had I not made some great friends in the summer (see below), I am not sure how I would have stayed very sane during the week.

(the return of ting shen and ice skating. LtoR: ting, ian, trav, me, jolie, kara, robbie, cassie, ryan)

(Rachael! My room-roommate. Best closet to share. And sometimes we accidentally dressed like twins!)

(Jane Jung. Not another person like her.)

(Bonnie before singing with the choir for Devotional)

(Sunday Dinners - Kara and Cassie)

(Art nights. LtoR: Ian, Nathan, Scott, Berries, and Cassie)

(And of course, the epic Harry Potter Christmas Party)

Besides all these wonderful people, I had Travis. By far the kindest, most patient, wonderful, generous, and well-balanced human bean I ever did meet. And he's pretty cute too. And a total goofball. And the best friend I've ever had. I spent my weekends with him and his family, and let me tell you: Waylen is the coolest eight-year-old on the planet.

(Waylen and his "imaginary friend")

So, I had my friends, I had my sanity. I finished school and my family joined me for graduation. I couldn't be more relieved to be done with school. I pushed myself. I don't think I'd go back and redo it, but it was definitely a decision that came with consequences. I had to make priorities. And unfortunately, that meant that a lot of my contacts back home got left behind. I didn't have time to "keep in touch" during the semesters. I barely had time to see the friends I lived a few houses down from! I took maximum credits and worked maximum hours. And now I feel so good to be done. I think I work best at maximum intensity. And now I have more time to enjoy. I have a job teaching at the Sylvan Learning Center in Honolulu. I have a nice house up in the mountain with pleasant roommates. I've got a car. And I've got time. That one word that makes all the difference. I'm excited to have more time to do things I've always wanted to: write, read, garden, catch-up with old friends, and offer more service.

(My parents and I at graduation)

Right now I'm still in Iowa at my parents', but I return to le aina this Friday. I'm excited to get back to my little room in my nice house, to get back to a steady job, to have sunshine and blue skies again. I'm excited to get back to the family ward Trav and I have been attending. They just don't do church anywhere else quite like they do in Hawaii. I've never felt sooo welcomed into a new ward before. All the members there are great and so loving. Trav is having fun learning, and I'm cherishing my new perspective. Hopefully Waylen will continue to come with us from time to time -- I think he'd have a blast in Primary. But, we'll see. Only Time will tell.

Anywho, I'm quite excited about life and where mine's headed. I'm very happy and looking forward to good things this next year. I'll keep you updated. =)

in review

So, I figure I'll be starting this little bloglog back up again. I'll have more time to think, more time to write. Anywho, here's a look at the past year....

So, I thought I'd hop on board with all the year-end hubub. This past year was...great! I was a mess most of the time in 2008, and even though I had a fair share of grief, 2009 done me good. Let's review a few of my favorite moments (and series of moments.) In no particular order(ish):

10. Working at the RWC. Best job ever. Hands down. I started in August of 2007. Worked there alll fall, winter, spring, and summer. Coolest (and nerdiest) coworkers. Greatest boss. Hours of laughter at staff meetings and trainings. I've never learned more and had the best time doing it.

9. Hikes. Doesn't matter who I'm with. Something about my feet in the earth, getting my hands dirty, pushing my to its limits and finding out there's more. All that time traveling for my hand to dive down into the soil and back up into the skies, and to come out feeling more like myself and more like the earth, and everything's beautiful.

8. Dance parties. Thank you Cassie for invitations to much needed stess relievers. Dressing up, and boogying down. P.S. Jolie -- why didn't I know you then? I met See Bee way back! Bahhh why didn't we all play sooner!

7. The Outback House. Katie, Rachael, Jane, and Collette made it the funnest, cleanest, most comfortable, and absolutely lovely home. Sharing five closest. Dinners together. The random screams coming from Katie's room. Jane's crazy jokes and late night talks. Rachael making a rap video. Collette and I being married. Oh, and art time together.

6. Tie-dye party in my front yard. The most gorgeous summer day. Lots of great friends. Good music. Everyone coming from the beach, from work, everyone just stripping off their jackets and their shoes. Rolling up their sleeves. Basking in the sun waiting for all to dry. How groovy the clothesline looked with it all hanging up. It was just one of the most peaceful afternoons.

5. Living around the corner from Alyssa. Watching Season Seven of Gilmore Girls every day after school (when we still had time). Nightly hangouts in front of Sam's Store. Her roommates thinking I lived there. Others thinking she lived at my house. The times we squished onto Collette's bed for homework and late night talks. Mornings and afternoons at Hukilau. Trips to town, just to wander: Greek food, the library, and some Menchie's. THANK YOU MENCHIE'S.

4. Biking up North Shore all the way to Shark's Cove. Acai bowls. Back to Keiki's for a day in the sun. Getting absolutely fried. Fighting the wind the whole way back. A stop  at Turtle Bay, water, and some free pineapple. Getting face-licked by a wookie dog. No really, click here.

3. Iowa for a couple weeks. Mini road trips with my sister. Field of Dreams. Ice cream capital of the world. Spending afternoons with the twins down at the creek. Dipping in my ankles. Swinging. A backyard picnic party. Harry Potter. Family photo shoots. Catching up with the cousins. Growing corn in our own garden. Cleaning out Gram's old house. The Renegade Garden out back. Knowing I'll never live here again, but still loving the visit.

2. Ridiculously amazing beach days with good friends. Back to the house for talks on the living room floor. FUN PIX. Ice skating. Adventure lists. Shopping malls. Shokudo and honey toast. New friends. A new home. Beautiful, beautiful people.

1. Oh, and falling in love. =)

sunset

once again, cassie captured some amazing shots at sunset beach.

aunty kythira

the new wheels.

(named after this greek isle)

that which moves my spirit

I've recently brought back to life my joy journal -- appropriately dubbed "That which moves my spirit"
          and just in time to match these newly penned pleasant notes,
                                                                              a long run of wildly wonderful, fulfilling days

sunshine.beauty. sand. everywhere. pasta and good friends.sundays.lazy, hazy Saturday afternoons.wandering.purpose.thoughtful conversation.incessant giggling.harry potter.silly internet quizzes.baking.books.alice in wonderland.getting to know someone new and loving every minute. grocery shopping.cleaning. being free.getting organized.doing the dishes. making someone smile.feeling loved.family. and knowing it all just keeps getting better

super saturday

this past saturday was so wonderful and fulfilling and satisfying. it was just the right mix being productive and doing nothing. spent the morning cleaning and doing the necessities, and then spent the afternoon at the beach with two dear friends. after sunset we ambled home for music, good talks, my first avacado, and the compilation of an adventure list.

thanks for the photos and the fun, cassie!