Laie’s Polynesian Cultural Center put on another fabulous Haunted Lagoon this year. As we waited in line for two hours, Stacy, Hayley, and I took pictures of our scaaary and scaaared faces. Aren’t they lovely?
I found genie pants and J-Ru bags in Haleiwa! I looove Haleiwa and I’m so glad I found a store full of stuff exactly like they sell in Jerusalem. Yes, they were much more expensive than in Jeru, but it’s still sooooo good to see the goods. Genie pants, purses, camel mobiles, and all sorts of fun things. I miss all the shops in the Old City though, and my shopping buddies. Actually, I just miss everything about Jerusalem. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. So just so you know, I miss Jerusalem, so so much.
I have taken a liking to rolling in the sand and following little crabbies around with my little camera. I’ve even managed to get a couple little pictures despite the yittle crab’s excessive speed and impeccable skill for camouflage. But by rolling in the sand, I can camouflage myself too. They hardly suspect I’m taking pictures of them.
I even followed Mr. Crab to his crab hole. Cutesy little crabbies.
Oh how I love the grand beach adventures.
The other morning I walked downstairs to this big boy laying on his back by the front door. The next morning, it happened again. Ahhh! Where do the big cockroach nasties come from and why are they on their backs in front of my door?!
Me no likey.
And now for more bad news… last night there was another roachie in our humble abode, but he was not dead on his back like the other two. He was scurrying around our kitchen floor. I screamed and panicked as I stood on the coffee table and told my roommate to get it. But alas, she is similarly scared of the roachies. Before we took any sort of action, he ran away seeking refuge in this weird creepy cupboard. So for the worst news yet in this story… Mr. (or Mrs.) Cockroach is still in this house somewhere, probably waiting to attack me at any moment…
And now for more bad news… last night there was another roachie in our humble abode, but he was not dead on his back like the other two. He was scurrying around our kitchen floor. I screamed and panicked as I stood on the coffee table and told my roommate to get it. But alas, she is similarly scared of the roachies. Before we took any sort of action, he ran away seeking refuge in this weird creepy cupboard. So for the worst news yet in this story… Mr. (or Mrs.) Cockroach is still in this house somewhere, probably waiting to attack me at any moment…
is what I like to do after class, especially with this lovely friend of mine.
How wonderful it is to be fishes with the fishies.
I started this blog to share my Jerusalem adventures. So for my 100th post, I decided to continue to share my love for the Holy Land and the Jerusalem Center and my four months over there.100 Loves of Jerusalem, that I miss so much, (and the list is in no order whatsoever, just the first 100 things that popped into me noggin):
100. I loved everything. I miss it so so much. I can’t even tell you. And I can’t get it off my mind and I can’t stop talking about it.
99. seeing the Dome of the Rock from my balcony
98. pitas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
97. waking my roommates up with strange noises
96. changing money at Aladdin’s
95. call to prayer! hearing it five times a day, having it wake you up early in the morning sometimes… oh how I loved it.
94. goods from the Sheqel Shak
93. the most random class hours ever
92. smuggling food out of the Oasis on Shabbat, and on many other days of the week too
91. Triumvirates
90. Brother Wilson, Brother Huff, Brother Skinner, Brother Brown. The most wonderful men ever. Incredible. And amazing teachers. Taught me so much.
89. watching Anastasia and singing Anastasia foreeever
88. playing the sweet nice grand piano in the upper auditorium on my last night in the JC. It was all dark. I was in there all by myself. The only light was coming from the beautiful city lights of beautiful Jerusalem. I was just in there, playing my little fingers away. Cristofori’s Dream. Such a glorious moment.
87. traveling around the Middle East in a bus
86. linen exchange
85. the bathroom door that wasn’t really a door
84. how so many many people were named Muhammad
83. the awesomely crazy traffic, and the violations thereof
82. the crazy study sessions crazy people would have
81. living in the same building with all the other students and with all the professors
80. the Suk
79. finding new pathways in the Old City every day
78. speaking with a British accent
77. Easter morning at the Garden Tomb! Celebrating Christ’s resurrection where he appeared as a resurrected being! (one of my top three moments in J-Ru)
76. the beautiful ancient city of Jerusalem
75. using squatters here and there
74. love nuts
73. the smell of the frankincense burning as you walk to the Dome of the Rock or to the Western Wall
72. halva
71. finding marbles throughout the city that little kids had been playing with
70. the day I walked into a tree in Jordan on our way to Petra. I was talking with Stefanie Tanner (soon to be Hathaway) and then BAM! Walked in to a tree. Brother Skinner was like, “Are you okay?!” I couldn’t stop laughing. Funninest ever. Who walks into trees?
69. stairs stairs stairs
68. Jerusalem cruisers, Bible sandals
67. Adnan Musallam. “Come on! Come on! Listen to me.”
66. doing animal impersonations and cartwheels and backwards somersault races in front of the forum, instead of studying
65. playing the bells at the YMCA tower, for all of Jerusalem to hear, while singing “I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing….”
64. using the men’s bathroom at the JC when we were up late partying
63. having everyone eat falafel when we’d go out to the city
62. the opportunities for service
61. the beautiful children
60. knowing every single article of clothing of all my fellow JCites
59. shekels!
58. learning that there are two sides (or more) to every story
57. kibbutzim
56. parties in the LRC and the white chairs
55. our wonderful security at the Jerusalem Center
54. wandering through the Old City alllll the time
53. calling my fam from J-Ru
52. the party taxi van with sweet music, sweet sound system, and sweet awesome lights
51. reading about Christ teaching on the shores of the Galilee, while I was on the shores of Galilee!
50. Palestinian Costco with awesomely inexpensive produce
49. the awesome shops and shopkeepers we all went to
48. going to all sorts of different churches
47. growing so close to my fellow JCites
46. Sahar, the most courageous woman I have ever met
45. blog nights in the study rooms
44. wearing genie pants without being shunned by society
43. “Shine, Jesus, Shine!” which is the best song ever and I sung it sooo much.
42. how if anything was less than 2000 years old, it really was that old
41. taking the sacrament while looking out at the beautiful city of Jerusalem, seeing Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb, all these places where Jesus walked, talked, healed. Wow.
40. attempting to speak Arabic with peeps in the city
39. camels!
38. headsets on field trips
37. getting the spiritual, historical, and political aspect of everything we learned
36. yummy cadbury chocolate from Lina’s
35. the little little babies at the Muslim hospital
34. Shabbat!
33. clapping in unison after amazing performances, especially the Messiah
32. seeing the most ancient tower of all time in Jerusalem
31. going to the Garden of Gethsemane or the Garden Tomb on Shabbat after church to read scriptures or journal. The best Shabbats ever. Shabbat Shalom!
30. the sweet awesome 12/15 shekel t-shirts that we all have waaay too many of
29. seeing ultra Orthodox Jews on bikes, with their ringlet curl sideburns flapping in the wind
28. my roooooomies!
27. Galilee! I loved how green and beautiful it was up there. Another one of my favorite parts of the four months.
26. Ma-es salame!
25. walking up and down those big hills, as I shove love nuts in my mouth
24. Shukran ktiir!
23. wearing scarves all the time
22. going to the pyrmaids
21. bus buddies!
20. the gardens at the JC
19. walking through the Old City, crammed tiny little spaces, making your way through lots and lots of people
18. my birthday. one of the best, happiest days ever! nothing like turning 20 in the Holy Land.
17. goooood hummus
16. singing hymns everywhere we went. we sang hymns alllll over the Holy Land. Love it.
15. the service missionaries
14. severe jet lag
13. the special Jerusalem style we all got while we were there, modifying our regular clothes to be more conservative, wearing lots of scarves, t-shirts galore, and even genie pants. ooh la la!
12. Field trips galore! We’d go eeeeverywhere. It’s the best learning about the Bible and about ancient history on site. Wow wow.
11. the incredible enlightening facts I’d learn in my Old and New Testament classes, and of course in Ancient Near Eastern History. Man oh man I learned so much.
10. learning about Israel-Palestine every day in every way
9. the “gym”/tiny room with eight exercise bikes
8. bartering
7. movie marathons in the lounge
6. becoming a fountain of knowledge :)
5. striving to be more like Christ than ever before, because I learned about him like I never had before
4. taking GQ pictures all over the place
3. pitas pitas pitas!
2. all my fellow JCites, everyone at the JC, incredible people, who I love and miss incredible amounts
1. having the most incredible, spiritual, educational, enriching experiences with the most wonderful people in the world, every single day
This is my roommate Hayley and I. We decided to become skydiving buddies, and we like to wear skydiving harnesses, just for fun.
This is my instructor Joey. He’s teaching me how to jump out of an airplane, because jumping out of airplanes is totally the thing to do.
This is Joey and I in our parachute, coming back down to the ground after a 12,000 foot descent, after a 45 second free fall at 120 mph, after 5 minutes of chillin’ in a parachute over the west coast of Oahu, and after the one of the best 5 minutes and 45 seconds of my life.
This is me, a lover of skydiving! It was the best ever! I highly highly recommend that you do it, now. I want to do it right now, again, and again, and again. I have fallen in love with jumping from airplanes (only with a certified, all knowing instructor of course).
Meet two of my five new friends! They are cute little fishies.
I was out frolicking in the ocean and guess who came along…
Yep! It was these little beautiful creatures (that I tried getting a picture of).
First they followed Sister around and we she got out of the water, they flocked over to me. That’s a happy thing on a Happy Friday.
And they just stayed right next to my black suit and if I’d swim away, even if I was swimming like a majestic dolphin, they’d swim with me.
Such little cuties they were. I’m glad we met.
Got together with a couple lovely Jerusalem ladies. Happy! Ate acai bowls. Yum. Drove to costco. Talked a lot. About school. About our fellow JCites. About our incredible four months in the Holy Land. And about how we miss it all so so much. Can’t stop thinking about it, ever.
…the best beach day yet!
This weekend has been delightful, because for eight hours I got to hear divine instruction from prophets and apostles. What a blessing General Conference is. I love it.
I learned/relearned so so much. Now I just better get on top of applying all of that guidance.
1. Take creepy pictures with roomies, so as to create some sort of costume with your face.
2. Paint nails highlighter orange, because who doesn’t love having yittle/little pumpkins on your phalanges.
3. Dye hair dark dark brown, so it could maybe look a little black.
4. Hang out at graveyards, or on the beach where you can at least find dead fish.
I must say, though these events may seem like preparations for All Hallow’s Eve, they are actually just regular ol’ everyday occurrences in my good life. Meaning that I frequently take crazy pictures with crazy people, and that I like to dye my hair dark, and who doesn’t love a little neon orange, especially on your toes? And since I practically live on the beach, it so happens that I’ll see a remnant of some sea creature on occasion.
I’m excited for Halloween. I love holidays and celebrations and such.
P.S. Columbus Day is coming up soon! :)
To celebrate the arrival of this blessed month, we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!
My dear mother made these cookies all summer long and I ate far too many of them, and I’ve already done again that tonight. But I’m so happy about it! I looooove these cookies.
Mom put all of the dry ingredients together at home and then sent it to Stacy and I, along with the almond butter too. So Stacy and I got the bag of flour and sugar and such, and then added the eggs, butter, applesauce, vanilla, and can o’ pumpkin. Oh, and of course the choco choco chips.
The chocolate chips are the best part. I don’t think a cookie is worth eating if it’s not full of chocolate chips.
By the way, these cookies are whole wheat, and with half of the butter replaced with applesauce and with half of the sugar replaced with powdered milk. So they’re kind of healthy. At least they’re healthier that regular cookies.
And they are soooo good. I think I could blog about these cookies for days. Maybe I will. :)
Many mahalos are in order for my wonderful mother.
Tonight I had these four lovely ladies over for a little dinner party.
I wish our other two favorite girlies could’ve come,
but Sasha’s in New Zealand and Leana’s on a mission.
It was still most delightful though,
especially since we ate yummy yummy
black bean and tomato quinoa salad.
I like that stuff you know.
And my oh my how I’ve missed these girls.
It was so wonderful being back together.
We all started school here the same semester two years ago.
It’s been nothing but love and joyfuls since then.
And because Sasha and Leana aren’t here,
we decided we needed to write them letters.
Mail is so good.
Twas such a goooood reunion we had.
I’m so happy about this love.
I discovered almond butter this summer, and fell in love. Then I came to Hawaii, and couldn’t find any. I was sad. Then I found some for $37 and $23 at a health food store. I’m not paying that much. So my absoultely wonderful mother sent me some in the mail. This big ol’ jar is $8 at home. Now I get to have almond butter and jam toast and apples and almond butter. I am so happy about that. Happiest girl in the world. Thank you, Mumsy.
I watched Fiddler on the Roof today in my intercultural communications class. It took me back to my days in Jewish land.
This is the holiest day of the year for Jews.
Since I only realized this fact about an hour ago, I unfortunately didn’t do much to observe this sacred day, except watch Fiddler on the Roof.
Despite my lack of observance, on this day, Yom Kippur, Jews all around the world have been fasting, praying, and going to synagogues, seeking forgiveness from God.
I wish I was in Jerusalem now, so that I could be experiencing the streets empty of cars, the tvs and radios without broadcasts, and the shops and businesses all closed.
But I was lucky enough to be there for Passover, and for many a Shabbat, and especially lucky to be there for Holy Week, with Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter.
Actually, I was lucky enough I got to be there at all! What a incredible blessing that experience was. Life changing.
I still miss it, almost more than I can bear.
I just changed my background to this beautiful picture, since me and this crazy girl will be reunited in two months. Carla girl bought her ticket this morning to come to Hawaii for Thanksgiving. I cannot wait! More happy happy pictures like this to come soooon!
Us four girlies in this picture, Hayley, Ally, Stacy, and Chelsea, live right on Bikini Beach. Seriously, we are right on the beach. Like I walk across the lawn and bam! There’s the beach.
So I always just go to our beach, and never to Hukilau, even though Hukilau is better. And I’d been back two weeks and hadn’t even gone to Hukilau yet! Crazy, I know.
But today… I finally went, and with all my roomies! Twas most delightful. I missed it.
Oh how I love the Huki Huki Hukilau. And the roomies. Especially that one, you know, that sister one. Yes. I love that girl.
