Good times in July

 July started off by saying goodbye to our dear friend Larissa. She has been one of my best friends this summer. She is a fellow lover of chocolate so the two of us would often get together in the evening and eat chocolate. Sadly she is from Canada and has to go back every 90 days for a bit. We had a big party at the beach the night before she left. 

That same night Sam, Stacy, and I decided it would be fun to paint some cinder blocks on the side of the road. Sam painted one several years ago with some friends that reads Aloha is a lifestyle. This sign has become a gem to me on the North Shore. Every time I drive past the sign Stacy and I throw it a shaka! Because we love the sign that much. We waited till about midnight before hopping in Sam's truck and heading to the spot on Kam Highway with the blocks. We had to be sneaky because people in Hawaii love to get in your business. We had to make sure nobody saw us. We took turns painting and watching for cars. It took us forever to paint because every time there was a car we had to grab the paint supplies and squat behind the blocks. We finished just as a cop car drove by! We drove by the next morning to see it in the daylight. The sign reads  Ue Ka Lani Ola Ka Houna. Which means when the heavens weep the earth lives. It's an olelo no'eau (Hawaiian sayings like metaphors) as I was taught even during some of your hard moments in life you're still growing. In other words, be optimistic and look for the good in everything regardless of the bad. We felt it was very fitting for the par of the island it was on. 

This was not the only illegal thing we did this week. I say illegal but that's because the state doesn't want tourists going to all these crazy places. Sam took me to the ice pond and the infinity pools in town! We had to get up super early to see the infinity pool because it's in a private neighborhood hood and the guard doesn't get there till 8am! And the Ice Pond isn't illegal but there isn't anywhere to park so you have to park like 9 miles away. Unless you are Sam then you just pull over the hwy. 

I went home for a week and a half to visit my family. I do enjoy Utah a lot more in the summer! I hiked my favorite mountain. Mtn Timpanogos with some other Hawaii friends Stacy and Tyler. We decided to hike up during the night so that we could see the sunrise the next morning! We started off freezing cold but slowly got super sweaty so we shed a ton of layers. We weren't happy about all the extra weight we had. We also must have been hiking very fast because we got to the top at 4:30am and had to wait a couple of hours for the sunrise. We sat in the little shack at the top and it was FREEZING. We were very happy we had some warm clothes to throw on. I swear it was below zero. We sat with intense winds and freezing cold air. We were all huddled together for warmth. We weren't the only ones up there though. There was another group who looked like they belonged in a rock band. They had long hair and were only carrying a water bottle with bare arms and legs. I felt bad for them they were suffering. I would say the freezing cold and alnighter was worth it though because the views were seriously unreal and so beautiful when the sun came up. This hike is probably one of my favorites in the whole world. This is why I go to Utah in the summer!