Wanderings and Ponderings

giving thanks for my peach

1 December 2013

I am so so grateful to have my favorite boy around ALL THE TIME. It’s dreamy. It’s so good and happy and full of adventure and fun. I am so glad with how life works itself out eventually.

I’m grateful that this boy is such a good cuddler and that he knows and understands me and is always seeking to help me with whatever I need. I’m grateful I’m a happy girl and that I have this little peach in my life. :) I’m grateful he’s an Alaskan too. And that he has a beard.

I’m grateful that he kills the centipedes and the cane spiders and the cockroaches. I’m grateful that he laughs with me when I crash my bike. I’m grateful he accepts my super nintendo desires. I’m grateful he can work hard and also bum around. I’m grateful he makes a point to always go running, and for his desires to be good and healthy. I’m grateful for the sweet movies we watch together.

This lovely long weekend we watched the Swiss Family Robinson and the Brave Little Toaster. Dreamy I tell you. And there’s lots more great films on the list.

I’m grateful he always makes sure we pray together every night. I’m grateful he stuck around for my year of hot and cold and wishy-washiness. I’m grateful he makes an effort to learn portuguese. I’m grateful he got me a great ring and asked me to marry him, and that he found my great wedding dress too. He’s a peach this Christopher boy is. And I am very grateful for him.

Thanksgiving day started with some pumpkin pie for breakfast. Beaut.
We has some Thanksgiving food later in the afternoon, thanks to some Hawaiian friends. I played some Christmas hymns on the piano and Chris and I talked with our grandparents.
When we came home we hopped on our bikes and went for a cruise.
I love these spontaneous little adventures. How great.

Hawai'i

26 November 2013

I miss moments like this with these two little girls.

I can’t wait to see them (and Alaska) again in 2.5 weeks.

Yay!

Hawai'i

tomorning

26 November 2013

I woke up at 6 something this morning. I love waking up early, before everyone else. I come downstairs and open the door and the chickens all come running to get their morning snacks. I love that. Well this morning when I woke up I decided to not get up and run, and to just lay in bed on my phone for an hour. Not the best decision. It never is. But for some reason, I still make that decision and always wish I didn’t. Still working through that. :)
It’s so great when I wake up and say my prayers and exercise and my mornings are so great that way. Not sure why that lazy bone takes over and pushes me back into bed in the mornings.

Buuuuut it will still be a lovely day. I came downstairs about 8, opened the door, and the chickens came running. So they got their daily dose of tortilla chips. :) They’re so eager and precious.

My oceanography class starts soon. I need to do my homeworks for it now. I haven’t been frequenting blog land very much lately. I’d like to more.

I’m so happy Christopher boy is here. We took our engagement pictures. I’ll be sharing some soon. They’re great great.

I don’t feel like going to class, hmmm…I’m not super motivated for school these days. Lots of other life stuff going on.

I’m eating fresh pineapple right now. Yum. Chris loves fresh pineapple.

My dear roommate Taylor is home with us from California and it’s great to have her back. Chris and Taylor girl and I went and saw Catching Fire last night. Great time. Great peeps.

It’s also my first ever roomie’s (Lilly from Fiji) birthday today. Yay! I love birthdays. A lot.
Hmmm… that is all for now. Cheers. :):)

Favorites, Hawai'i

betrothed ♥

11 November 2013

Friday, the 8th of november of 2013.

It began as a normal, lovely, unsuspecting Friday. Chris and I ran on the beach. I went to class and he worked (which on this day meant prepping for proposal). He kept working and I went to the temple, and then made some cookies and quinoa. Yum.

Well… Chris, with help from Alyssa and other lovely people, had been secretly planning and coordinating for a “smothered with love” proposal to get a ring on my fingie.

Chris wrote lovely love notes and hid them throughout campus and Laie. With each love note, there was also a video for me to watch of lots of my favorite people telling me how much they loved me! Yay love love love.

Chris had recorded video clips of some my lovely roommates and neighbors Cherisse, Keryna, Taylor, Victoria, Alyssa, and my favorite twins, Alexis and Elena, and of my Carla girl too of course! They all told me they love me lots and that they’re happy and all of this made me a very happy girl. :)

So Alyssa went around Laie with me on a love note hunt to Peej’s office, to our favorite library study spot, to the peaceful McKay foyer, to our favorite beach nook, to seven brothers for some delicious fries, to the beach glass cave on the point, to the gardens by temple beach, and finally we ended up at the temple, where Alyssa set me free.

On the grass I saw a nice little computer surrounded by lovely Hawaiian flowers, and a box of tissues. So I went and laid down and watched 17 minutes of my family and Chris’s family expressing more love and gratitude. It was so great. I loved that a lot. So happy that that boy got many of my favorite people to be a part of these special moments. :)

Then out popped my macublet Christopher Robin.

And out popped the question and out popped the ring!

(I LOVE this ring a lot. Rose gold and moissanite.)

I met this Christopher boy in my home Homer ward when I got home from my mission over a year and a half ago. We got engaged one year and four months after we first cuddled and sort of kissed haha. I dragged my feet for quite a while with plenty of indecision and doubt, without my mind and heart being fully open. But luckily this boy was good and patient. He’s such a peach. My heart and life are full of love, and love which will continue to grow lots and lots. Happy happy.

So let’s get married!

Hawai'i

Two of my favorite things about life in Laie

4 November 2013

1. The sunrises.
Since I’ve been here the last two months, my body has gotten into the habit of conveniently waking my up around 6:30 am. That has made for some very beautiful moments and good feelings.
This beachfront view is maybe a minute long walk from my back door. Dreamy. I just wake up, walk across the lawn, and take a run or a seat in the sand. :)

2. The chickens. And the kittens!
I’ve made it my personal goal to befriend these kittens. How surprised and happy was I when I was feeding the chickens and they finally came over! We have ten chickens and one rooster here. By feeding them lots of leftovers and stale food, we have become quite good friends. One of the black ones is even so bold as to step inside the house for parcels of food. :)
The kittens however are not quite as courageous. But fortunately I’ve been able to start feeding them too. They are soooo cute. I love Hawaii’s wildlife.

Hawai'i

Pumpkins

20 October 2013

Waimanolo Country Farms on Oahu.
What a lovely pumpkiny day with some of my most favorite souls here on the island.

Hawai'i

13 October 2013

My two most favorite little girlies in the world.

Missing them a lot lately.

Wish I could be home for their birthdays this month.

Hawai'i

Aloha Boy!

5 October 2013

Christopher got here yesterday! Oh I am oh so happy.
And I’m happy he’s here for conference weekend.
And that we got him a cruiser bike yesterday.
And that we jumped in the ocean.
And that we went to the temple.
And that we cuddled lots and lots.
I’m a happy girl.
And I’m happy he’s not leaving anytime soon. :)

Alaska, Hawai'i

Owl be your friend.

26 September 2013

Gente, então… vimos uma coruja. Eita coisa boa. Beijos para todos.

A month ago, Chris and I stopped in Hope – Alaska’s best preserved gold rush town.
What a fantastic place. I had been there once before when I was ten or so.
It was a most beautiful day, and we were blessed enough to see this cute little owl!

Grateful we got amazing fotos of such a beautiful, intense, calm little creature.

……

I’m in Laie, Hawaii now. Chris gets here in about a week. :D
I’ve been super unusually busy.
So this morning I had to take a break.
I woke up at 6:30. Made some cookies.
Ran on the beach. Played some guitar.
Did some pinteresting. Wrote letters.
I missed two classes this morning.
I still feel pretty good about that choice.
I needed a bit of rejuvenation.
Now I’ve got to bike to school for two more classes.
Then some work and homeworks tonight.

Our house is getting bombed tomorrow.
The amount of cockroaches in here is cuckoo insano.
Not sure how I feel about my house being filled with toxicity.
But these roaches… meh…
But my cookies today are delish.
Cheers.

Alaska, Hawai'i

adventure buddy reunion soon

22 September 2013

So there’s this Chris boy, who unexpectedly journeyed his way into my life and heart since I got home from my mission almost a year and a half ago.

We’ve adventured together a lot.

Before I left Alaska for Hawaii two weeks ago, we went cruising around Prince William Sound for a few days, and we did some backpacking in Denali. We had an excellent summer.

As always, it was quite difficult to leave home. And to leave this Christopher Robin.

Buuuut a couple days ago, my favorite Chrissy boy got a one way ticket to Hawaii!

Tropical adventures ensuing shortly.

Alaska

4 September 2013

I love summer beach days with these two.

Alaska

siblings forever :)

3 September 2013

Holly girl – Stacy girl – Jakey boy

These are my favorite kids ever.

There’s no body like your fam bam.

Summer is ending soon.

A good time was had by all.

Alaska

I like to look for rainbows.

3 September 2013

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Alaska

Wowser.I beat Bowser.

4 August 2013

I love Super Mario World.

I played it a lot when I was a kiddo, but my dear brother always beat everything before I did.

Chris and I just got a Super Nintendo, and he’s not much of a Mario player.

So… for the first time ever, and with my favorite nieces by my side playing with me,

I beat Bowser’s Castle.

I’d say summer has been a success.

Alaska

Update.

13 July 2013

First, it’s 11:11 pm. Yay!
Second, I tie dyed this week!
Hallelujah! That makes me feel more like normal Chelsea girl.
My beautiful nieces helped me.

Third, it’s been super beautiful lately.
I love summer in Homer.
It’s the greatest.

Fourth, Chris boy and I are having lots of great summer Homer funs.
It’s already been a year since we had our funny awkward first kiss. Hehe. :)

Fifth, and super important, we have a super nintendo now.
Mario for days, kids, days.

Sixth, I do lots of lovely boat cleaning.
Seventh, it’s not actually lots of boat cleaning, but it is some and it is lovely.
And it is so beautiful here!
Mmmmm I love it.

Hawai'i, Lower 48

General Conference weekend

2 May 2013

I’m in Utah at cousin Shara’s house right now.
And I’m doing some blog catch up.

Lately I’ve been going through waves of blogging.
If you’d like, you may look, read, comment, anything…
I would like for you to smile however.
But blogging for me is a great way for me to keep in touch with myself. To remember where I’ve been and what I’ve done and how I’ve felt and to remember the people. I don’t want to forget the peoples.

In Hawaii, to watch General Conference live, you start at 6 am.
What a better way to do that then to get together with people you love and have a pajama party in the living room at the wee hours of the morning.

To make it extra interesting, we had a grand crepe feast in between sessions. Both days. Saturday and Sunday. So great and happy and yum.

Then on sunday afternoon a few of us had a salmon and veggie feast! I love salmons!
And I love foods. It’s a great way to bring people together. Magical.

Btw, General Conference was excellent to say the least. It’s so refreshing hearing the familiar voices and counsels of our prophets and leaders.

Hawai'i

Amigas

2 May 2013

My roommates and neighbors and friends this semester are so super fantastic.
So beautiful inside and out.
We went on many great adventures.
And we ate lots of yummy food.
Here’s just a few pictures from the last few weeks of the semester.

This is Taylor. On March 31, she was the Easter bunny.
Then comes April 1 and she’s the April fool.
She got me good with one of the oldest tricks in the book of taping back the sink hose sprayer.
I got soaked. So funny. She loves April Fools Day.

We had lots of good beach days.
This day included a green smoothie with Alyssa and Tor!

I discovered snapchat.
Alyssa sends me so many great snapchats.
I love that girl to pieces.

I made lots of yummy foods this semester.
Here’s some coconut chocolate bread! So yum.

And the last few weeks of the semester involved lots of studying.
Sometimes I’d fall asleep.

Studying together is much much better.

Yay, I love everyone!

Hawai'i

Easters!

2 May 2013

I LOVE EASTER!
Oh my goodness it is always such a fantastic day.
In fact, one of my most favorite days of life was Easter 2009, when I was in Jerusalem.

My roomies and peeps and I stuck with the classic egg dying tradition.
I was a little tired and hungry and grumpy and that’s always funny.
But oh I love these kids.

Aaaaand when I woke up in the morning, easter bunny Taylor came! I love her. And it was so nice to get easter goodies.

When I came downstairs Easter morning, I discovered we had melted another plastic plate in our oven. Oops. We call it art.

Easter was fast sunday. I had a good, purposeful fast. And I just remembered that when I got home from Jerusalem four years ago, I spoke on fasting. Giving talks in church is grood.