Oh the Difference

Can I share with you my favorite difference between BYU Provo and BYU-Hawaii?

Here it is.

There's BYU-Hawaii.

And here's the parking lot.

So what's the big deal, you ask? Well, in Provo, I could literally drive around for an hour and a half looking for a parking space a quarter of a mile (or more) away from the school; all while missing my last class before the final. As someone who stresses immensely about grades and tests and punctuality, I would end up cursing BYU and maybe even crying. All parking spaces even remotely close to campus buildings are reserved for faculty and unless you are on campus at 7am - good luck finding a parking spot.

But at BYU-Hawaii, I can come at any hour, park wherever I want, and I'll only be about a 30-second walk from whatever building I want. For this reason alone, I feel like this place is heaven.
And whenever I pull my car into that huge empty parking lot, I feel ridiculously happy and blessed:) It's the little things, right?

And We're Back

We had a wonderful Christmas at home in Idaho with the family. Unfortunately, I fell back into my routine of letting everyone else take the pictures and didn't collect from anybody before we flew back to Hawaii. Oops! But I did take a couple pictures that prove I'm becoming crafty. So here they are.

One day, I sat down with my sisters and we made hair flowers all day. I'm pretty proud of our results.

With my mom as my teacher, I made a BSU quilt for Brent for Christmas. This was my first project on a sewing machine since 8th grade Home Ec class, so I was surprised at how well this baby turned out. I matched up my corners and everything!It took the entire break to finish, but at least I've conquered my first big project and I'm not so scared to move onto the next one. I'm excited I've started down the crafty road because, now that I'm done with school, I'm going to need something exciting to fill up my free time.

We loved spending two and a half weeks with our parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. We also got to catch up with some old friends and I was able to fill in as an assistant at my Dad's dental office for a few days. I love working with my dad!

I also helped convince my dad to get an X-Box 360 with the Kinect (your body is the controller) just in time for our New Years Eve party. SoOOoo much fun. That dance game you see on all the commercials... it's as great as it looks. If this is the future, I'm excited. We can't wait for the Wii to come out with something that rivals the Kinect sensor.

And now we're back in Hawaii. We are loving the warmth and our skin is loving the moisture in the air. We jumped right back into the Hawaiian lifestyle with some starfruit from our landlord. Starfruit is delicious. It tastes like a mix between an apple, a pear, and a plum. Yummy, right?!

Other than that, school has started again for Brent. As a new VP, he's been asked to give the opening prayer for the first campus devotional of the semester on Tuesday where the president of the university is the main speaker. So that'll be fun. Brent's a big wig around campus now I suppose:) We've also inherited a hand-me-down camera from my dad in order to document our Hawaiian experience the way it deserves to be documented. Brent's pretty excited about it. So hopefully this means I'll have a lot of better quality pictures to post from here on out.

So family, we loved seeing you! Thank you for everything. Loveyoumissyoubye!

This Just In

Yes. You are looking at the new Vice President of Special Events on BYU-Hawaii's Student Advisory Council. He's kind of a big deal. He'll get to help plan all the big things that happen on and around campus, I guess. We don't really know what it all entails yet. Except we do know that it includes a scholarship and a small stipend. So that's a major plus:) Tonight we'll go to a pizza party and game night with the other student officials. Friday morning we'll help at graduation and get more free pizza. This situation is looking good to me already!

As for me, I'm going to the beach again today:)

December Happenings

On Friday, we went to our ward Christmas party where our Bishop's ukulele band serenaded us with Hawaiian versions of all our favorite Christmas songs while we ate. We also met Santa.

Other than that, we're just studying for finals.(Or playing games while we should be studying:)

Yesterday, I sat in the library all morning and could not bring myself to study. So, I decided to ditch it and head to the beach for a couple hours. It was great! After the beach, I couldn't study either. I just listened and sang along to some Taylor Swift. So, I went and took my final this morning thoroughly unprepared. First time in my life. And I actually think it went rather well. Hmmm... I should've ditched studying all along for some more time at the beach.

Just an Update

Wednesday was the last day of my internship at the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii. Since September, I've been riding the bus into Honolulu (about a 2 hour ride each way) and contributing my public health knowledge to the world of tobacco control. I had the opportunity to work on a project that aims to protect youth from tobacco advertising. Throughout it all, I created a fact sheet that will be given to the lawmakers of Hawaii detailing a piece of legislation that we're trying to push. I created a presentation that will be used to empower community members and parent groups about the issue. My research has helped move forward a piece of cutting-edge tobacco control legislation in the United States. And the hope is that Hawaii will be able to stand as an example for other states and even nations. I feel like I've done something worthwhile and maybe, just maybe, I've even made a minute contribution to better the health of Hawaiians and protect families from the devastation of tobacco addiction. I love public health! Now two tests are all that stand in the way of my degree. No prob. (And bytheway, I'm definitely happy to be done with the bus. My last ride was filled with some very interesting characters.)

Yesterday and today we've had a lot of rain here on Oahu. Rain is funny here. One second you'll be walking under blue skies and literally 30 seconds later, you're drenched from head to toe by sheets of rain that appeared out of nowhere. That's what happened while we were sitting outside eating lunch yesterday.

And the rain will disappear just as quickly as it came. Similarly, if it's raining where you are, you can get in your car and drive a mile down the road and it will be beautiful weather. The North Shore gets more rain than the rest of the island. Yesterday we had a few severe weather warnings, but aside from some really heavy rain and loud thunder during the night, we're doing just fine. We're excited to head up to Haleiwa at some point and check out the 30 foot waves and surf competitions. It's only about 20 minutes away.

Brent's been doing amazingly in his classes this semester, even though he's loaded down with Organic Chemistry and Micro-Biology and the corresponding labs, an upper level English class, an online Religion class, and an entrepreneurial class. Hawaii suits him. We're excited to be done with finals and home with family in a week! See you soon!

(Sorry if this post was boring, but I thought at least my mom would care:)

Christmas is Coming

Yesterday and today have been two of the most beautiful days we've seen here in Hawaii. Blue skies, warm sun, no wind. It's easy to forget that Christmas is only weeks away and everyone we know is busy defrosting their cars in the morning and shoveling their sidewalks. But don't worry, every time we pull onto campus, we get this friendly reminder.We'll be enjoying the bitter cold in Idaho in a week and a half! We can't wait!

On Sunday, we got to spend the evening with the Kinoshitas (second cousins on my Dad's side). These wonderful people have become our island family. We feel like we've gained another set of parents and more brothers and sisters. We LoVe it! And we're so blessed that they have taken us in as two more members of their family as well. At least every two weeks, we head over to their house in Kaneohe and enjoy some family time - just like Sundays in Idaho. This week, we got to help them set up their Christmas tree.We felt lucky to be able to decorate a tree this year! We didn't buy our own and our parents' will already be set up when we get home. We had fun; blaring Christmas tunes and hanging ornaments with the other kids.
The Kinoshitas even surprised us with our very own Christmas presents. We got some hot local shirts and a countertop oven! We can start making real food! We feel pretty darn certain that the Kinoshitas are the nicest people on earth.

In other news, Brent also found us a crock pot at a garage sale for $2. First thing we made was chocolate cake. Our first homemade pastry in over four months. It was delicious!We're moving up in life!

As we were walking home from the bus stop last night, some people on our street had just gotten in from fishing and their boat was full of hundreds of fish in a fishnet. Our next door neighbor bought some and invited us over to try it. We watched as he gut the fish, tossed some Hawaiian salt on top, and pan-fried them.I never would've thought I'd eat a fish that was presented to me like this, but it was delicious! Brent and I devoured three! Fresh fish that had been swimming in the ocean less than an hour ago. A-Ma-Zing.

A Whole Year and a Half

Yesterday was mine and Brent's 18 month anniversary. I can't believe we've already been married a whole year and a half. To celebrate, we went to Angel's for some authentic Hawaiian shave ice. Yes, it's called shave ice; not shaved ice. A scoop of vanilla ice cream nestled underneath a mound of snow and home-made, fresh sugary syrup. Delicious. We're lovin married life more than ever and can't wait for eternity!