Christmas

The spirit of Christmas started off in Laie at the giving machine! This is the first time the giving machines made it to Hawaii! They passed around a signup sheet at church one day and I signed up with my friends. It was super fun spending time with those giving to others this Christmas season. Also, the PCC is so beautiful, and walking around in the evening in December without a jacket or anything is the best! 

I headed home for the holidays to spend it with my family. Went down to Temple Square to see the lights. I think this is the last year they will have the lights because next year renovations will start on the Salt Lake temple. 

I also was able to catch up with some of my high school friends. I haven't seen them in forever! And I'm not sure when I will see them again. We hung out at Savannah's house. Her place has always been the party pad. I also saw Roxi at the University Mall in Provo. We loved catching up after our time in Ukraine. Friends forever!! We spent Christmas Eve skating at the Midway skating rink! I love some good skate time. 

The rest of the break consisted of puzzles, watching the Brady bunch, catching up with family, and of course screaming in the new year with my pot and pan and watching the ball drop in NYC! It's not New Year's with the annual pot and pan bang! 

Swimming with the Dolphins

Today was probably one of my favorite days in Hawaiʻi ever! I know I’ll remember it forever and ever. Sam, Sariah, Caleb, and I camped on a beach on the West Side so we could swim with dolphins in the morning! I hadn’t been to the West Side at all since moving here, so I loved getting out of Lāʻie and seeing more of the island. I guess camping on the West Side beach is kind of a must-do when you're in college. The reason people do it is so you can be right there on the beach at sunrise, ready to jump in when the dolphins swim by. The night before, we ate spam musubi on the sand while playing with fire (don’t worry we were responsible-ish). We each took turns swinging around a wool sock tied to a string that we lit on fire, and we even released a few lanterns over the beach. It was magic. We fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the shore and a sky full of stars. Since there are no streetlights on that side of the island, the stars looked extra incredible. Sam brought his military-style dome tent and had it set up in like 40 seconds so clutch!

Once the sun came up we threw on our swimming suits and got the kayak ready for launch. We were sitting there watching the cost when I spotted a dolphin. We immediately paddled out as fast as we could. Because we were on a kayak we were able to get right on top of them. When I jumped in the water I couldn't believe how beautiful the dolphins there were. There were probably 50 of them swimming by. They looked so cute all swimming in a pod together. Sariah and I were on cloud 9! We were so happy to have a GoPro to capture the scene! I still can't believe what we saw. We probably spent hours out there snorkeling and swimming with them. It was the most magical thing I have ever seen. No way can I ever leave this paradise. We stopped at Mermaid Cave on the way back to top off our magical morning. 

November's hikes and adventures with Sam and Mission friends

Sam is the ultimate hiking guide to have on Oʻahu. He knows all the hikes and the best times to do them. One Saturday afternoon, Sariah joined us as we climbed Pride Rock. Let me tell you hiking in Hawaiʻi is a WHOLE different experience than on the mainland. First of all, it's so humid that you're dripping with sweat five minutes into the hike. And the trails are either super dry and dusty or wet and slippery from the rain. That day, it was hot and humid. Sam flew up the mountain like it was nothing. At the top, I couldn’t believe what we were looking at it seriously looked like a green screen. How can a hiking backdrop look that perfect and beautiful? Also, now that I think about it, I haven’t done a ton of hikes in my life. But I feel like I’m falling in love with the mountains and trails more and more every time.

The one thing I was most looking forward to doing on Oʻahu was hiking Stairway to Heaven. I used to hear Grandma Donna talk about this hike all the time—how steep and scary it is. She would describe the stairs going up the side of the mountain forever, with cliffs on either side almost the entire way. She’d say it felt like you were climbing to Heaven because of how endless the stairs seemed. After hearing her talk about it, I knew I had to do it someday. But when I got to the island, I found out the stairs are closed, guarded, and technically illegal to hike. You really have to sneak around and be careful if you want to do it. Of course, Sam has done it so many times he knows all the tricks. We started by parking in a neighborhood, and when we thought no one was watching, we quickly jumped over a fence and ran up this old, empty canal into the bushes. After a short bushwhack, we reached the road that leads to the stairs. We walked along the edge of it, ready to dash into the bushes if a police car came by. I got such a rush sneaking around like that. Eventually, we reached the guard station. Sam told Sariah and me to follow his lead. As we walked past, the guard—probably a local guy in his twenties, sitting in an old rusted-out car and smoking a joint—leaned out the window and said, “You can’t be here.” And that was it. He didn’t get out or do anything else. Just went right back to his game. Easy peasy.

As we were climbing I was shocked that the stairs were right off the highway. For some reason, I was thinking in my head we were going to some secluded part of the island. Is any part of Oahu really secluded? When in reality these stairs are right where everyone can see us. Going up each stair was a thrill. I couldn't believe how beautiful a highway could be. I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS. I loved the sharp edges of the mountain and the plants that surrounded the stairs. Sam was great at taking photos of us. 

We hiked all the way into the clouds by the end, so we didn’t get a view from the top. But honestly, I think the most beautiful part of the hike was seeing the stairs stretch straight up the mountain behind us, with the H3 highway winding through the valley below. That view was unreal. We had to do the same sneaky routine on the way back to the car. This time, the neighbor’s dogs were out and going absolutely crazy as we ran past. We heard people yelling and saw flashlights shining in our direction but we made it back safe and sound! Some of our other hiking adventures included cliff jumping with Jackson Lewis and Sariah. We jumped off Lāʻie Point, and it was terrifying. I think it was my first time ever cliff jumping. The only other thing that even came close was the high dive at the Kamas Pool back in middle school and let me just say, I was freaking out. Then, a couple days later, they pushed me to jump Kapena Falls at midnight. I’m not gonna lie I almost cried jumping into that black hole of water. But I hate backing down from something, even when it scares me. Now I’ve got a video to prove I did it, so honestly... I don’t think I need to ever do it again. We also swam at Ginger Pond and had fun on the natural rock slide that goes straight into the water. Such a good time.

One day Sam invited me to go visit his friend who lives in a tree house near town. We had no idea that he actually lived in a tree house!! We jumped on the boardwalks and it felt like we were in Tarzan land or something. Sam's friend kept calling me happy long limbs and he gave us mysterious juice to drink. 

One of my favorite adventures this month was kayaking out to China mans hat! We all doubled up on boards to hike to the top of the hat. I loved the view of Kualoa Ranch from the ocean. I can't believe how beautiful this island is. 

Thanksgiving on Maui

Sariah’s aunty lives on Maui and invited her over for Thanksgiving and Sariah invited me! This was our first time traveling to another island. We found great deals on Hawaiian Airlines and jetted off the day before Thanksgiving. We asked a guy named Helem from our singles ward to give us a ride to the airport, and he agreed! We didn’t know him super well, so the drive was full of awkward small talk. Not my favorite car ride. When we flew into Maui, I remember thinking how brown the island looked. One thing I didn’t expect about Maui was how dry it was. It looked like half the mountain had burned, and all that was left was brown, charred dirt. Sariah’s uncle picked us up and drove us straight to the house. We were eager to start exploring the island, but when we asked them what we could do, we quickly realized they had no desire to do anything with us. They were totally content sitting on the couch all day watching movies. So that’s exactly what we did on our first day. I think we watched three Captain America movies or something. That night, we booked a rental car on Turo so we could actually get out and see the rest of the island the next day.

I woke up on the roof the next morning because I couldn’t sleep inside. One of Sariah’s cousins or uncles snores super loud, and I wasn’t getting any sleep. So I dragged my cot up to the roof and slept under the stars. When her family found out where I’d slept, they were shocked I didn’t get attacked by night marchers. Apparently, I had my feet pointed toward the door, which (according to local legend) means they can come for you. I wasn’t stressed about it, though. We had Thanksgiving dinner early that morning. And I mean early. I came inside at 8 a.m. and the instant potatoes were already made, the boxed stuffing was done, and the pie was just sitting there on the counter. Our feast started right then. We scarfed down some food before heading out to explore the island. First time renting a car. I'm a big kid now!

We started off by driving the road to Hana stopping at all the waterfalls we could. We couldn't believe how beautiful this side of the island was. We ran through bamboo forests and jumped into many waterfalls. In the car, we had the windows down while singing country at the top of our lungs. One thing I really like about Sariah is that she is always down for anything anytime. I think we stopped counting all the waterfalls we jumped in.

On the road to Hana, we probably saw a million signs advertising banana bread. After the 50th one, we decided we needed to stop to try it. We were enjoying the bread when I found a long hair in mine. I would rate the world's best banana bread a 1/10 for that experience alone. Despite the hair in the bread we were able to see a black sand beach for the first time all the way at the end of the road. 

Some of our other Maui adventures included snorkeling for the first time! We saw a sea turtle the second we jumped in the water. I think it freaked Sariah out for a minute because the turtle was getting very close to her.

On our last day, we went to ʻĪao Valley and swam in these crystal-clear pools in the river that runs through the valley. We couldn’t believe how deep and clear the water was you could see everything perfectly just by opening your eyes underwater. We probably jumped into those pools a hundred times. Sariah’s family was really kind to let us come crash at their place. They’re huge Disney fans, so one night we stayed up for hours trying to answer Disney trivia questions. I swear I know some Disney stuff, but I couldn’t even BS an answer or come up with anything. Sariah and I laughed pretty hard that night in bed about how bad we were at that game.