Fall Semester

 This semester I was in the grind. Between working at the preschool, training for a full marathon, and taking 15 credits I didn't have much time for fun. BYU Hawaii has been online for the past 5 semesters. They finally started to resume schools in person as long as everyone was vaccinated and wore masks. I absolutely hate wearing my mask and am one of those people that doesn't wear it over my nose. I physically can't do it. I am constantly being told to pull it up. Let me just say I really miss online classes and am glad I only need to deal with this for one semester. The school is out of control with the convid policy and I am over it. I am going to miss online school. I loved the freedom of doing class work when I wanted to. I feel like I had more freedom and more time to spend with friends. Gavin and I have opposite schedules so we usually see each other in the morning on our run or for dinner. Other than that we are on the move. 

So many wonderful things did happen this semester. Sam and Jansen got married on Laie Point. It was a very small wedding. They didn't want anyone there but then sure enough some people flew out for it and they had no choice. They had a gorgeous morning and Jansen looked so beautiful. I could not think of anyone better for Sam. Jansen is sweet, beautiful, and kind. I was glad I was able to be there to see them married by Bishop C! 

Between all the marathon training I am doing with Gavin we haven't had a lot of time or energy for hiking. We were able to squeeze in just a few of our favorites this semester. Another trip up to Wiliwili Nui with the girls, and Moana Falls with Jaiden and Izzy. We did another campout at the beach in Sam Dome and Sam's friend Rob came from Sams's mission and he was an odd fella. He was laughing like a clown all night long and was giving us the creeper vibes. We also had to say goodbye to Kadee. She is moving to Austria for grad school. I am very sad she is moving to the other side of the world. I am not sure how often I will get to see her. She has been such an amazing friend. We both have the views on covid so that's been one thing we have bonded over. I will miss her laugh and that she is always down for an adventure.  

Jansen and Sam also had their baby! He is the cutest little guy ever. I saw him just three days after he was born. His name is Kaiwi-ola and I love him so much. Jansen says he has his dad's eyes and big beautiful lips. He will be a good-looking kid

Gavin had a Pirate Murder Mystery dinner at his house for Halloween. The Pirahna boys are always throwing parties. We were all given a script and we had to act in character for who we were. We were supposed to go around the room asking questions and gathering information to see who the murderer was. Not even Gavin knew who the murderer was. Spoil alter Gavin was the murderer. Ha! We laughed that he threw this party and gave himself the most important part. 

We had a lovely Friendsgiving in Heather's front yard in Hauula. We played Thanksgiving Trivia and ate the most delicious food. I am going to miss these fun gatherings. There are so many fun people on the island right now. 

I also went to my first protest! The COVID policies have been getting out of hand. You have to show your vaccination card to go inside any restaurant and you have to wear a mask when you are at a grocery store. The social distancing and mandates are driving the world crazy. The state wants to force the vaccine on everyone. We went to a protest basically for people to have their right to what goes into their bodies and stop these mandates. Sam forgot his flags so he bought two of them on the way for $110 each at the ABC store... He brought his huge poles that we tied the flags onto and we put tea leaves on top. Waikiki was insane. The honking and screaming was loud. We joined right with the crowd! Some people were waving flags that said Joe Biden sucks. And arrest Iga (the govonor). We held signs that read corruption in paradise and the truth will never be silenced. We had a lot of fun. The people in the megaphones were cracking us up. There was so much chaos going on. 

Gavin also turned 25! He had his golden birthday. We went to the beach, ate pizza/cake, and watched some of his favorite shows! His birthday was on Thanksgiving this year so we basically celebrated all weekend! 

Here is a picture of the girls in my education classes. We all have the same classes together at the same time because we are all on the same track to graduate together. There wasn't one boy in any of my classes my last semester. How crazy is that? BYU Hawaii is more of an all-girl school. I am looking forward to graduating and moving on to another phase of life. But I will be grateful always that I was able to get my education at BYU Hawaii. I don't know how I would have been able to pay for school if it weren't for the scholarships I got while I was here. I am so grateful for everything! Seasider forever! 

We went and did a tour of Iolani Place one afternoon and I was surprised at how wonderful the tour was. I learned so much about Hawaiian history and the queen. We had to wear our masks and social distance which was super annoying. We also went out to lunch one afternoon when we were feeling like we needed a mid-semester pick-me-up. We decided on this Mexican place in Haleiwa we were shocked at how big the portions were. I ordered nachos and didn't even make a dent in them.. We were laughing so hard at how big the mound of cheese was. Like what the heck? 

Jansen's sister came and threw Jansen the most beautiful shower at Aunty Tupu's house. We played games ate food and had the best time celebrating Sam and Jansen. Jansen is so beautiful inside and out. Can't wait to see her become a mom! 

The AMAZING proposal

A couple of months ago, Gavin had the idea of throwing an Amazing Race around the island for our friends. It was going to be his 25th birthday, and he said that is how he wanted to celebrate it. I thought this sounded fun and the perfect way to celebrate his golden birthday! He didn't want me to be involved with the planning because he wanted me to race in it. 

Gavin did all the prep for the race. He was working on this constantly, and I couldn't tell what he was planning. He was super good at keeping his notes a secret. We didn't do the race on his actual birthday, because it was Thanksgiving. Instead we did the big party on Saturday. 

On the day of the race I was getting ready at my the house. I put my hair in 2 braids because I thought that would be most comfortable to race in. I had no idea if I would be swimming in the ocean, hiking or what. I was looking forward to what ever fun challenges were coming my way. 

All of our friends were so so supportive and everyone showed up! We started the race at 1pm at the BYU Hawaii flag circle on campus. The teams were: The Twins (Sarah and Anna), College Friends (Kalia and Eugene), Room mates (Nikita, Mya), Teachers (Mallerie and Maddie), Brothers (Jonah and Wyatt), married couple (Izzy and Jaden), and the Bros (Trent and Seth). Amongst the racers we had Gavin's boss, Sione as Phil, Sam, Jansen, and Aunty Mel helping with the tasks. 

The race was fun from the start, and Gavin did the best job with the tasks! As soon Phil said let the race begin everyone went crazy and started sprinting to the clue. There were so many tasks I couldn't believe it. 

Maddie and I were immediately in the back with the twins and college friends because we couldn't kick a soccer goal from half field. We were literally laughing our heads off that we couldn't even muster the strength to kick the ball. Finally once we got scored we ended up at the flag circle where we were told to name 10 of the flags that Gavin had previously picked out. Maddie and I literally didn't know any and panicked. We started googling as fast as we could. 

Of course in every Amazing Race season you never know what's going happen. This time the bad luck fell onto me. My car's battery died and wouldn't even jump start. I thought I was going to forfeit the race. Gavin said no way am I letting that happen and found me another car. #thanksbrothers 

We raced around Laie for before heading into the windward mall in Kaneohe to look for some particular items. Gavin was offering 50$ cash to the winner so everyone was going nuts. That's a lot of money for a college student to win for having fun. One of the hardest tasks for me was memorizing a Hawaiian Ole. Sam Wasson was in charge of this task. Pretty much everyone caught up at this point. Kalia learned this Ole when she was a girl so she zoomed passed everyone. 

The whole group basically caught up at golf. None of us could hit the yardage Gavin wanted us too. So after some time we were all excused. We raced to South side to get pictures in front of certain signs before chugging a huge cup of soda. The race lasted for a good 5 hours. We seriously had a blast. Sam and Jansen were at so many of tasks with their brand new born baby. I couldn't believe how supportive they were being. Gavin was wearing his nice button up shirt and he wouldn't take off his blue backpack. I didn't think ANYTHING was going on besides the fact that our friends are awesome and we are having so much fun running around the island. 

Maddie was a good partner for me to have. We were both pretty chill but also super into the race. We had good time trying to solve all the clues and Maddie literally pulled the weight. She drank all the soda and memorized the Hawaiian Ole. 

We got our last clue which led us to the pit stop at spitting cave. Our clue was to search the land for Phil. I think we got there the same time as Jaden and Izzy because we were all laughing shoving each other around trying to beat each other. And that's when we saw Phil aka Sione. He checked us in and we watched the other teams scramble to the finish. It was so fun watching everyone come in. It was the perfect night. Not too cold, not too hot. And we had a beautiful view of the ocean. 

The sun was just starting to set when last team rolled in. Gavin decided he wanted to do some awards. He had his mat he got in Kiribiati on the ground and he slowly called teams down to get their prizes. As he was doing this he had his drone filming. In the middle of the award giving his phone died which meant, he wouldn't be able to land his drone. I was freaking out because I knew how much that drone meant to Gavin. But thankfully, someone there had the app downloaded and kept it flying. 

Once Gavin was done giving all the awards he called me to the mat. I was getting a little emotional because before he called me down he was basically telling everyone how much he loved them and that he was going to miss them as he moved to Kauai. So I was a little sad myself. 

When he called me down to the mat I had no idea what he was going to do. I thought he was just going to say something like thanks for showing me the Amazing Race show or something. But he didn't. Instead he grabbed his blue backpack and pulled something out. I had no idea what he pulled out till I heard a song in the back ground. Then all at once everything clicked. He was going to purpose. And before I finished my thought Gavin was down on one knee. 

I will never forget this moment. He got down on one knee and told me he loved me that this was just the start of our own Amazing race. Then he said Mallerie will you marry me? 

I was literally so surprised I was speechless. SPEECHLESS. I am pretty sure I just nodded my head and said yes so quietly. When Gavin opened the ring box I could not believe how beautiful my ring looked. The box had a light on the top that made the ring look extra shiny and glittery. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. He put it on and the opal fit just right! 

We embraced and kissed some more as the sun set behind us. It was so magical. I absolutely loved that all our closest friends and families were there. We all celebrated together and it was such a happy moment. Everyone was hugging and smiling. There was picture taking happening and tears shed. A beautiful moment for everyone there. Gavin was sneaky and didn't tell anyone what he was going to do besides Mya and Sam.

I think everyone was surprised because we kept our ring shopping hush hush. Sometimes I think it's fun to have a little secret like this. In fact I knew he had the ring but I didn't know when he was going to propose. I thought maybe he was going to do it when our families were here. When I told everyone how surprised I was they asked me if we even talked about marriage like was I surprised he asked me to marry him. Of course we talked about married I wouldn't have said yes if we hadn't ever talked about it. 

We were all hungry from the Amazing Race that we wanted to celebrate by going out to eat. We all went to PF Chang's to celebrate. Our favorite place. We are obsessed with the street noodle. Everyone came and it was the most glorious night. I couldn't stop looking at my finger and I was just so excited and couldn't believe that I was engaged!  

I absolutely loved everything about my proposal. I loved that Gavin planned it all by himself and that nobody knew when he was going to do it. I think it made the occasion feel extra special. I also loved that all of our friends were there, who were also there the same day we met. These friends saw us fall in love. I love that he picked out the ring. I told him what I wanted and we looked a couple of opal ones that I liked. But in end I wanted him to pick it out. I always pictured my man making the final choice. And let me jus say I am OBESSED WITH MY RING. OBESSED. I love it so so much. 

I just loved that we were us and in our natural setting in Hawaii and everything about the day was perfect. I didn't even care that I wasn't wearing makeup or that I was in my biker shorts. 

When we were in the car on our way to the restaurant, we called our families. My mom said she was so anxious all day she ate SO MUCH FOOD all day long. When Gavin on the other hand, was so stressed out he didn't eat anything. Both our families were happy for us which felt great. 

I love Gavin so much and would have never guessed in a million years that I would fall in love on such a beautiful Island. So so much to look forward too. We don't have a wedding date in mind or anything. We just know that we wanted to get married. So let's get married!