Hawai’i

After three hours of sleep and a little plane ride from Oahu to the Big Island, I went here, to the beautiful Kona Temple. Our temple in Laie has been closed for a year, so my ward planned a trip to the temple on Big Island. About 25 of us went and we had such a wonderful time.

After baptisms we really had nothing to do but sit around the temple grounds and laugh and take random pictures and have some serious bonding moments. I had such a good good good time.

This was just the start of endless laughing this weekend. I’ve never slapped my knee so many times. Love it love it. 

We played in a lava tube for a bit, then back to the plane…

This evening Hayley and I went for a run/walk/exploration. We went from Bikini Beach all the way to Pounders. There’s like a little coral bridge that you can walk on that connects the two beaches.
It’s magical.
I also found a big pillar and tried meditating on it. And I found a sweet sandy camo hat, which I proceeded to wear for the rest of the exploration.
I really love exploring, and realized how much more I need to do that.

Saturday brought much happiness,

I miss kayaking, especially with my favorite ol’ Dad.

We have such good adventures. 

I can’t wait for more this summer.

Nothing but good things ahead.

P.S. A happy happy birthday to my dear friend Alex.

My dear friend Ting just posted this picture.
He would take so many beautiful pictures of us all.

I love these good old days.
And I really love all these people.

P.S. Exactly one year ago I discovered love nuts in Jericho. Oh how that moment changed the rest of my time in the Holy Land.
I was addicted to those things, as is clearly demonstrated in this post.
I have overcome my addiction, which is probably for the best, since I know longer have access to those little bits of Heaven.

Today I hiked to this wonderful lighthouse,
with these wonderful people,
Stacy and Medusa.

Wait, that’s not Medusa, that’s me and the wind!
I really really love wind.

Today’s windiness reminded me of when I was in the Galilee.
I was so in love with the wind there.

I was in love with everything there.
Especially with this day, and this moment.
This was honestly one of the best days ever.
I was in such a beautiful place,
with beautiful people,
learning beautiful things,
being beautifully happy.

I can’t seem to get over this homesickness for Jerusalem.
I don’t think I ever will… and I don’t want to.

I love February.
Tis such a loving month.
To celebrate this month and this time of St. Valentine, I made magical red popsicles!

I made some orange juice,
blended a bunch of frozen strawberries,
mixed them together,
filled tiny little cups full of my magical mixture,
put cute little plastic silverware in the cups,
stuck them in the freezer,
and BAM!
OJ Strawberry Popsicles!

Yum yum. What a delightfully fruity treat.

Service projects are beautiful.
We had one at PCC this morning for a couple hours, unfortunately there were only five faithful people from our ward that showed up.

It was so good though. Tis always nice to play with leaves, rocks, sticks, garbage bags, buckets, and little bugs.
I haven’t had so much dirt in my nails for quite a while. I liked it. And I liked it even more when I was able to clean them out in the sand and the sea.

And I made some new yummy soup tonight! It was similar to this spring minestrone, but with no asparagus, since it’s $7 a pound here, and with some extra added green veggies. I love soup. And green.

He must really like me a lot. That makes me so happy! And I like him too. Yes I do.
I can’t wait for summer so we can hit each other and fish in the sea and scrub boats and trade music and eat yummy food and watch good movies and laugh and play.
I’m so happy I have such a good brother.
And I’m so happy he thinks I’m amazingly fabulous.

Now would you like to know why else I am happy today?

-I killed a big cockroach on the wall this morning, and didn’t even hyperventilate or sweat profusely.
-I went on a beautiful run on my favorite beach in Laie.
-I only had one class today and all we did was shoot 100 free throws. I only made 25. Oops. I’ve never really cared for basketball, clearly.
–Anita came over and she, Stacy, and I watched Anne of Green Gables: the Continuing Story. I’ve been wanting to watch that one since watching the first two in Jerusalem, and now I finally have. This one was definitely not as good as the first two, but you still gotta love it. I need to read the books.
-I slightly resembled Richard Simmons.
-I heard screams and stumbles upstairs, to discover that Stacy had also defeated a cockroach. He was chasing her in our room, but she smashed him. Unfortunately is was with my favorite shoe.

Sister and I decided to go for a Sunday evening stroll on the beach.
And of course we came back with lots of pictures!

P.S. My presidency and I finally got set apart today.
Makes me so grateful for the priesthood
and so grateful for my wonderful bishopric.

I love church.
Had hours and hours of meetings today.
But I like it.
They come with the new calling,
Relief Society president.
Which I also really really love a lot.
A lot.

I miss my bike.
She has a flat tire.
I am devastated.
I miss her so much.
But it’s been nice walking on my wonderful feet.

I like feet, especially when they’re bare.
And I love my bike. I miss her.
I miss my nieces too.
And I really miss peace and quiet.

“May your day of no work be peaceful.”

My day was definitely peaceful, though not very restful. It was quite a busy busy day, filled with almost six hours of church meetings. But that’s how it goes these days, and I like it. And I really love love Relief Society.

Anita dear came over tonight too. We had a little art night creating birthday cards for our favorite missionary, Leana.

Holly and Jordin emailed me this darling picture of my darling nieces. I miss them so much.

I watched Invictus tonight too. Twas quite good. Where would the world be without people like Nelson Mandela?