Thanksgiving Break!!

Let me just tell you, I LOVED going home for Thanksgiving!!! It was amazing! I traveled a little under 7,000 miles in all, but every minute was just what I wanted!! There was so much that happened that it is hard to remember everything. First off, I flew home on Tuesday. I was so excited and was ready to leave about 2 hours before it was time to go. I really do hate flying (I still do not know why I picked a school that I can only get to by airplane because I really do hate them) so to distract myself on this flight, I decided I would finish reading my book A Girl with A Dragon Tattoo. It was not my favorite book, but I still finished it. My lovely brother Ryan (who drove down from Provo that day just to spend time with me) came and picked me up from the airport. He had lots of fun stories to share and I was glad to spend time with him because I did not get to see him as much as I wanted over the summer. My parents and dog all waited up to see me, so I said hello and then was off to bed. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed! I really had missed it!!

On Wednesday morning, Ryan and I got up early to do some things for my mom around the house. We fixed the Christmas lights (well Ryan did), put all those boxes away, set up 2 Christmas trees (I moved the furniture and vacuumed the rooms), ran some errands, got down all the Christmas stuff from the attic (there was a lot!!!), and went out to Raising Canes for lunch with my mom and sister, Amy. It was delicious!! I loved walking around outside even though I was freezing because it finally felt like winter time. I loved the cold air and having to bundle up! Once everyone was home, we took off for Salt Lake City.

All of my mom's side of the family lives up in Utah (well like 95% of them) and we all get together every year for Thanksgiving. I never see all my cousins that often, so this is like our yearly get together. The day started off by helping out with dinner and doing Amy, Ashley, and my mom's makeup. I loved it! Dinner was amazing and it was nice to have a large home-cooked meal. I cook myself dinner at college, but on a small budget, a dinner like Thanksgiving is never possible. I enjoyed it so much!!! Everything was just so delicious! After dinner, some of my other cousins came over that had not been there for dinner. It was so nice to see everyone! The cousins I am probably closest to is my cousin Julie. She is so much fun!! Her kids are the closest relatives I have to my age (the picture to the side two of her kids...Amanda, Amy, Jeremy, and me), so maybe that is why we get along so much. Julie and my family have an annual tradition of BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!!! It is so much fun!! We pretty much spent the rest of Thanksgiving planning our shopping adventure. Everything opened so early this year that there were so many more people this year!! My favorite stores we went to were Wal-Mart and Target. At Target, we waited outside in a line for about an hour in a half. The trip to these two stores was pretty successful and we got everything we wanted. After that though, the other stores were just a bust.

We returned home earlier than ever from Black Friday shopping and maybe got a tiny bit of sleep (more like an hour nap). Julie's family and mine decided to go out to breakfast that morning at a place called Kneader's. It was pretty delicious and was so much fun with the family!! Since I was leaving that night, we had a lot to do in only a short amount of time. I wanted to see my family and cousins for the most amount of time, so our two families pretty much hung out until I left. Julie and I made a run to Costco to grab some other Christmas gifts, I painted Amanda's nails while Amy and Ashley did Brittney's nails, I went to my little cousin Tyler's indoor soccer game (he was really good), and had some good laughs along the way. We returned to my Uncle's house for dinner to eat left overs from Thanksgiving! It was probably even more delicious the second time around!!! After that we just hung out and I got to spend some time with my Grandma. I was really grateful for that.

I then left for the airport. I flew from Salt Lake to Las Vegas. The airport was completely dead and I walked right through security! I actually had my own row on the flight, so I stretched out my legs and enjoyed the space! After landing in Vegas, my good friend Pierson picked me up and took me to the other terminal. I pretty much walked through security there and waited about an hour for my next flight! I love having netflix on my phone because it makes the time go by faster!! After the long flight back to the island I returned home. I really did not sleep for two days (I think I counted about 55 hours of being awake), so I crashed when I got to my bed!!! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and getting used to being in Hawaii again!

I am so glad I got to go home and am thankful I had the chance to. It was exactly what I needed at that moment and it was so much fun to see the family. Holidays are meant to be spent with the ones you love and after being stuck in Hawaii last year, I realized how much I appreciated my family and how much I wanted to spend the holidays with them. Being alone is not as much fun as being surrounded by those you love!

A Thankful Heart

As Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I realize I have so much to be grateful for. My list could go on forever, but there are some big things this year that I am especially grateful for....

The first thing I am grateful for is my family. It really took me a long time to realize what they really meant to me. I wish I had said thank you more or I love you more when I was closer and had the chance!! I really did not realize what what is front of me. They would drop anything for me and would sacrifice it all for me. Living 2,000 miles away from them really made me see it. I love them so much and I would not want to be in any other family. I am also so grateful for the chance I have this year to go home for Thanksgiving. I really hated being suck on a rock in the middle of the island last year. I am so grateful that I can go see my family this year and that I get to see all of my family this year. I never realized how much of a family Thanksgiving really was until I had to spend it completely away from my family and not with some of my best friends. The people you spend the holidays with really change your mood and perception and I am glad I get to be with the ones I love this year!!!!
I am also really grateful for my friends. This year has really taught me how to be a good friend. I know I have let down many friends in the past, but I am trying to fix that. I have always been someone who had very few really good friends instead of lots of just surface friends. Going away to college really taught me who was really my friend and who was not. I am grateful for everyone in my life and all they have taught me.I heard a quote the other day that went something like this.... "The friends you meet in college and still talk to in college are going to be your friends for life." I really think this is true!! If you really have been a true friend to me, distance did not matter because for some reason I never live in the same state as my best friend for a long time.
I am also grateful for the chance to go to college. Many people in the world cannot go to college because of many reasons and I always knew growing up that college was always in my future. It was never a maybe thing, but more of a question of where I was going to go. I wish I would have made the decision of what college to attend more carefully, but honestly I am finally okay with where I am at. I feel like I needed to go far away from everyone else I knew to learn and grow personally. I also needed to meet some very important people here that would change me for the better.
I am soooo grateful for having a house and a car here in Hawaii. Hawaii is not a cheap place to live in at all. I die almost every time I need to go to the grocery store. I had to go today and to buy a 24 ct Aleve and 2 Icy Hot back patches costs me $24......basically Hawaii is WAYYY overpriced. Having a car here is a luxury and I appreciate that my parents came over to help me find a car for now and when I do my teaching here. It comes in handy every single day and I love it!!! Someone once told me that my car was probably in the top five nicest cars on campus after the president of our school, his two vice presidents, and the boy who drives an audi. I am not saying I drive a porshe or anything extremely nice, but I do really have a nicer car and I take car of it like no other!!!

I am also sooooo grateful for my puppy dog Miles. She is the joy in my life right now!!! I love her so much and I miss her a lot here in Hawaii. When I pack up to leave or go anywhere, she really does get depressed and gives me this look of "you really are going to leave me behind?" and it breaks my heart. However, every single time I come back home, she goes insane and does not leave my side. I always loved that I could say bed time and she would run up onto my bed or I could say car ride and she would run to the door. She is my sleeping buddy and has her own blanket (or my old comforter that she chewed a hole in) on my bed and has her own pillow when she wants. She is so cute when she lays her head on the pillow and has her body underneath the blanket just like me!!!! Miles is my puppy dog and I love her. I miss her a lot and since I cannot call her on my phone, she is the background on my computer, my phone, and has 4 pictures on my wall.
I am grateful for so many things, but if I ever had to make a list...these would be some of the top things I am grateful for. I know I am forgetting many things, but this is a start. Some other simple things I am grateful for are:
-SLEEP and NAPS (if you know me, you know how much I love both of these)
-Slurpees
-My school and faith
-My Bed
-The chance I have to become whatever I want
-The chance I have to own a phone and laptop
-Warm Showers (I do not like the cold at all)
-The sun
-Dry Heat
-exercise and how happy it makes me
-and lots more....but i cannot think of any right now

Crazy College Life

Some times we just need to take a step back to realize all that is happening around us. Life changes so fast that we can get so caught up in the moment and do not really see it. The first thing that is changing around me is.....I will be home for Christmas break in less than a month (Friday marked 30 days!!!). To go home for Christmas that means the semester will end. As this semester comes to an end, I have so much to do. Papers, tests, and final projects are all very time consuming. I am going home for Thanksgiving (in about 48 hours!!!!!) and need to get a lot done before I can go home. I have been working my bum off to get ahead (and I actually think I am) and I think I am almost there.
This weekend was exactly what I needed after my week. I was so focused on getting ahead that I wrote about 16 pages worth of papers (one being my Shakespeare research essay), did a few chapter outlines, and all my regular work!! You can imagine how much I just wanted to relax this weekend because I felt like I was go, go, go all week. This weekend I wanted to take a little break from school for a bit so I decided to have a little fun this weekend!!!
To start, I saw Breaking Dawn. I am not really a Twilight fan, so I do not know if I can give it a fair review. I tried reading the books, but did not like them. The movie was alright. On Saturday morning I played in a soccer fundraiser. It was a fun little tournament and it was fun to play again for a few hours!! It started pouring buckets while we were playing, so I was super muddy when I got home. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with yummy acai bowls (from the best place ever), Harry Potter 7 part 2, ice cream bowl, and popcorn all completed the much needed lazy Saturday.

Countdown and Sleep

I go home in 11 days!!!!!!! This is literally the most exciting thing in my life right now!!!! I have so much to do before I can leave, but I am very excited to be going! I think I will be the happiest person on that plane! In the 73 hour period I am home, I will have traveled on 3 plane rides, been in 4 states, crossed an entire ocean, eat a delicious meal, go black Friday shopping, see my puppy dog, and finally see my family!!!!! So much is crammed into this visit and I actually won't sleep for most of it! I guess that fits my themes right now...lack of sleep.
If you know me, you know I love sleep so much! Naps are my favorite! I do not mind going to bed early at all because I will get more sleep. This week my sleep schedule has been thrown off and I feel as if I am not productive. Tiredness is not a good thing for me! But the weekend is here so I hope I can catch up on some sleep then!
But life is good!!! It is 11/11/11 so do not forget to to make your two wishes as 11:11!!!!

The Quiet House

Houses back on the mainland have numbers. When you are traveling to a friend's house or to someone you know's house, you would call it (insert their name)'s house. This is not true in Hawaii. The houses do have numbers, but this is only for postal reasons. Houses here have names. I live in the Quiet House. Some of my friends live in the Bridge House, The Red House, The Backyard House, The Country Club House, The Goat House and The White House. Houses get there names for different reasons--sometimes is where they are located (Bridge House, Temple House), sometimes it has to do with their color (Red House, Yellow House), sometimes it is used as a describing word (Quiet House, Utah House, Castle House, A-frame House), and sometimes there is no meaning behind it (VIP house, Tree House). Each house has a different personality and mine has a very girlie one.
My house was built specifically to be student housing because we do not have apartments here. There are the dorms (which do not even house all the freshman) and houses people in the community own and rent out. My house was built to accommodate a bunch of girls (38 to be exact!). We have the house with the most amount of girls on campus and it is crazy. Now the house is divided up into parts, so I only see and feel like I live with 10 girls. And to be honest, I do not see all ten of them everyday. Our house can get really crazy at times, but it is very nice. Living with ten girls does not always bring out the best in everyone, but I am living with a bunch of girls, so I feel like it is bound to happen. Every day is a new experience and something to learn and grow from.

My roomies are always bringing home a new and exciting story. We have some crazy stories, fun times, and silly adventures. We laugh at the craziest of things. The picture above does not have all of us, but pretty much sums us up. We actually have to have a 2 quote walls because we say enough stupid, funny, or just quotable things!!!

Adventure Time

So if you know me, you know I call any outing an adventure. When I am bored and you ask me what we should do, I say lets go on an adventure. Adventure is a very vague term that I use to mean anything fun and exciting. This weekend I went on an adventure. But let me back up and go over this week.
It rained every single day and the sun did not shine. It actually felt like fall because it finally felt colder. It was nice and I enjoyed wearing jackets to class every day. I did not have a ton due in my classes this week, but I was assigned a lot of work that is due in the next month. I hate waiting until the last minute, so I have already started some of my projects. By Thursday, I wanted the weekend to be here already!!! I tried to accomplish a lot that night so I would have less to do over the weekend. When Friday came around I was ready....sort of. I felt very tired from the long week, so Emma and I decided to just have a movie night at her house. We made delicious hamburgers and baked french fries for dinner, went on a walk around Laie, and then over to her house to watch some girlie movies. I had never seen Never Been Kissed, so we watched that one first. After a quick intermission of some left over Halloween candy, we put on She's the Man. In my Shakespeare class, we have been studying Twelfth Night all week so I really wanted to watch this movie. Emma completed the night by giving Katie (her roomie) and I manicures. Friday was just the kind of night I needed.
Saturday was my adventure day. Emma, Mary, Sydney (one of my roomies), Sharee (another roomie) and I all went into town for an adventure. We stopped by Target because Mary needed to by a new suitcase. This honestly was one of the largest Targets I had ever seen. They had a two story parking garage that included a huge elevator so you and your cart could get up to the second level. I think we spent a good two hours here. My purchases at Target included this:

I bought the wreath, lights, and the ornaments all for $10!! I was a very happy girl. When I got home, I put it all together with the help of Mary and I love it!!! I feel very festive and holiday-ish now. (48 days till Christmas). Mary and I had also been looking for these cookies for a while now and finally found them at Target. We were so happy to find out that they were also on sale because Halloween had past and they wanted to get rid of them.

When we got home last night, we made a batch (we bought two boxes) and watched Baby Mama. After everyone had finished shopping at Target, we went out to eat. There are very few fast food places to eat over by us, so we definitely wanted to get something good while in town. We decided on Wendy's because it was less than a mile away and a frosty sounded delicious!!! After food, we went to Pearl Ridge Mall. This mall is literally right next to Aloha Stadium (University of Hawaii's stadium) and since there was a game yesterday, traffic was a mess.  This mall is really cool because it has two different parts. It is like two malls very close by and you take a little shuttle from one side to the other. It was nice to feel like I was in a city again and not just out in the country. I am definitely a city girl at heart.

Our crazy adventure was complete with singing, laughing, and being our funny selves. I am so glad I have Rapunzel (my car) to get us around and take us on many adventures!!! It really is the best car ever!!!

Rain

This is the weather forecast for the upcoming days. Some male think Hawaii is all sunshine but not always. Fall/winter season has officially started. Our colder part of the year basically means it rains everyday all day long and is not very sunny. It is not that cold, but is cold at the same time. I wore a jacket to school today. I can just imagine how much I am going to freeze when I go to Utah over Christmas break.

Three Weeks!!!

Three weeks from today I am going home for Thanksgiving!!! I am so excited and cannot wait!!! I feel very blessed that I am able to go home this year in more ways than one. Looking back on it, I almost feel as if I needed to dislike being in Hawaii on Thanksgiving to ensure I would be going home this year. It is really cool to see how things work out like that.
This year I am really forward to just being with my family so much. My trip will be super short but totally worth it!!! One of my favorite activities I will be doing is BLACK FRIAY SHOPPING!!!! It will be so legit and I really missed it last year. It has been tradition for almost 5 years now that I go with my cousin Julie to help get her kids Christmas presents. It is such much fun and very crazy at times!! Let's just say that I missed it so much last year that I have super high expectations for this year.
Three weeks until I embark on my trip that will last about 80 hours and will involve 3 plane rides (12 hours) and a 6 hour car ride. Pretty much I will not be sleeping during this trip but it will be worth it!!!!

Exercise and Eating Healthy

I have been very active my whole life. Some of my first memories I can remember about moving to Las Vegas is me joining a soccer team. From that movement on, I have always been involved in sports. My senior year of high school--however--I started to get really lazy. I was eating like junk (this was nothing new) and was drinking 1-2 very large slurpees each day. At practice we were not training as hard, or I was sick and could not practice, or even injured. This is where my problem started. I had never really thought about what it took to be in shape and thin because it had always come so naturally. However, about half way through the summer before my freshman year of college I realized I needed to become more active or eat less, but I choose neither. College was not my friend at all. I was eating at funky times, not getting enough sleep, missing home, and not exercising. I made my new resolution to lose all the weight I had gained within the last year.

When I first got back to school in the beginning of the year I was not really sure how I was going to be more healthy, but I knew I wanted to. I honestly do not think I really made much progress during those first 3 or 4 months because I would eat healthy all week and blow it on the weekend by eating tons of pizza or desserts. During early spring I decided I was going to work more on the exercising part of being healthy. I started to exercise almost daily, but I really did not make much progress because I was not fully committed. My goal for the summer was to get healthy.

I really did make progress over the summer through different diets and going to zumba weekly, but I did not notice my progress. I decided I was going to keep up being more active and eating better when I got to school. Eating healthy at school is actually easier than I thought it would be. Food in Hawaii is not cheap at all. Produce is one of the most expensive items you can actually buy here because most of it is actually imported. However, the school has this farmers market I go to every three weeks that has some of the best deals on produce you are ever going to find. When you have complete control over what you eat and food is very costly, you tend to buy less of it I have noticed. That has been one of the best things that could of happened to me along my goal to be fit again. My portion size has decreased simply because buying more food is not plausible right now. I saved just enough money to only allow myself to spend so much weekly on food. That money does not go very far, but it gets me a healthy amount of food. I have also found that pilates is not only a great workout, but a nice stress reliever. It helps me calm down after a long day. Pilates also works my whole body which is soooo nice!!

I am happy to say that I am 5 pounds away from being where I want to or what I was at the beginning of senior year and I am so excited. I literally gained so much weight and became so inactive that it was not good for me at all. I am glad that my hard work is finally paying off and that I was able to really commit so I could achieve my goal.