Kakela's beach swing

So it's old news but I have been way busy so I haven't been able to update here yet.  I'm getting married!  I'm marrying Brandon Shane Olmstead and he's amazing.  We got engaged on a friday night (Dec 3rd) at our favorite beach spot, Kakelas.  He bought me a TON of flowers and took me there and he pushed me on the swing for awhile then we went for a walk on the beach and he started reciting the lyrics to a song called "I must have loved you before".  There is a line that says "..If I was the ocean and you were the sandy beach every minute I'd be falling at your feet" and he got down on one knee and proposed.  It was really sweet.  Planning is going to be crazy because I will be in Utah and he will be working in Hawaii.  Lots of details to sort out before March 10th. 

hiking

Today was a good day.  Woke up at 4 am (and was happy!) went to hike the Haiku stairs but got rained out.  Instead, we hiked to a lighthouse and up the Koko head stairs.  There was a mine at the top of the stairs and when we were in it we heard a little boy say "dad?" really creepily.  Me and another girl booked it out of the mine but started laughing when we realized there was a vent through to the top.  Now we're trying to figure out a way to watch elf.  I am not convinced that hawaiians know the pleasure of plopping down and watching a good movie.  I have yet to see or hear about a room devoted entirely to movie watching (other than theatres) like they are so easily found in Utah.      

adventures in the kitchen (part 2)

I lost my domestic spirit for awhile but alas! it has returned.  Yesterday I tried my hand at my mother's famous apple pie.  Her crust is flaky, her apple filling is sweet yet natural, and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream I don't know it can be beat.  I got the recipe from her but somehow my crust was a wee bit too small for the pie so it was a one layer crust and with the remaining dough I made a mini-pie.  I was so excited to eat the mini pie because I rinsed off the excess sugar from the filling to make it less sweet. I set it out on the counter to cool and after I went to the fireside I returned to find this:

  It's head was stuck so far into the pie that it didn't even notice the flash.  I guess I should have learned by now to never leave mini cakes and pies out for the critters.  It's like putting a mini toilet in the restroom with a sign "no children".  They're not going to heed the sign anyway and who else would it be for?

Slacking

A lot of my friends slackline and my boyfriend Brandon is a really good videographer so we set out to make a movie.  Here are the fruits of our (mostly Brandon's) labor:

Slackline Adventures

when I wish time would stop

Weekends are so fun.  Waking up naturally, sipping fresh carrot apple juice, and of course my favorite day, super Saturday.  That is what my friends are calling our activity-filled Saturdays.  We do everything from grocery shopping to cliff jumping to hiking.  This weekend we celebrated my boyfriend's new job and went out to dinner, went to a haunted house (the best one I have ever been to), went window shopping at the lavish Ala Moana mall in Waikiki and then my boyfriend took me jet-skiing.  It was so much fun and upon return I made chicken soup and we watched the green lantern.

I sure wish I could figure out how to make my weekends (and dark chocolate) last longer.

Adventure website

I may have found the best website on the internet.  It is infinitylist.com and it is AMAZING.  It is everything I love on one site.  It is a collection of the best videos of all kinds of extreme sports.  I decided it can be my motivation to get my homework done early.
   

adventures in the kitchen

I have really enjoyed cooking lately.  Any extra time I have I like to whip up something new and tasty.  I just wonder how long it will last.  Recently I have been fairly successful regarding the outcomes.  I guess I figure while Im having success I should keep it up. 

This is a cream of broccoli soup.  It was inspired by a Costco sample and it turned out pretty good.  Fairly healthy as well.

 
This is a passion fruit meringue pie. This was a shot in the dark but it turned out really good.  The only thing was I kneaded the dough a little too long and it came out a little harder than I wanted.  The tartness of the passion fruit and the sweetness of the meringue were a perfect match.  I doubt I will do this again considering it took me half my day.  I am learning a lot about cooking and it is so fun!

Another thing i made is a yogurt salad dressing.  It is really easy but really delicious.  You add plain greek yogurt, vinegar, garlic, pepper, olive oil, and italian seasoning.  It tastes a little like greek yogurt dressing.  I have been making it everyday and I'm not sick of it yet. 

the irrefutable truth.....

I now have an internal alarm clock of 6am.  6 AM!!!! That is the only reason why, on a saturday, when I have nothing going on, I am sitting at my computer, at 6 am.  Nothing worth being up for happens at 6 am.  Probably the opposite actually because at 6 am the cockroaches believe that the humans are still asleep and thus roam the house like they own it.  Ya, I saw the biggest (and fastest) cockroach this morning.  Don't worry though it went back under the fridge before I could smack it with the broom handle, at 6 am. 

The art of bargaining

My housemate, Bev is pro at getting great deals.  There is a swap meet every Saturday where most of the sellers know her by name.  We went there yesterday as part of a birthday weekend for my roommate/distant relative Paige.  She has many tactics to getting a good deal.  Some of them include:
-talking down your price and then walking away
-using the "we're poor college students" phrase
-throwing money at them and taking the item

She teaches us so many things. 

Peggy Sue's Diner

While on vacation with friends we ate at Peggy Sue's, an old fashioned diner like those you see scattered across, well everywhere.  They do hamburgers, shakes, and fries.  Before eating here I thought I had known hamburgers.  I'm American, raised in Santaquin where the Santaqueen and Guy Wall's burgers were a childhood staple.  But it wasn't until I went to Peggy Sue's that I experienced a real burger.  No I didn't get a fancy burger made with steak or smothered in a "secret" sauce.  I just ordered a burger with fries.  I don't know what they did or who they were calling upon to create these burgers but I will tell you I may never have another burger because of them. It does help that they had a car show out front which reminded me of home.


Cheers to Peggy Sue's and for ruining any future hamburger experience. Cheers, truly. 

pics

ya...i live here

A heaping serving of paradise

Sometimes you move somewhere and you get accustomed to the environment and it becomes a mere backdrop for your new life. Hawaii isn't like that. I walk around everyday and still wonder how it is I came to live here. Yesterday I went to a resort called Turtle Bay and swam. The pool was part of the condo development and it was gorgeous! As I sat there wading in the infinity-edge pool surrounded by palm trees and the sound of crashing waves I couldn't help but smile. It kept hitting me and I couldn't stop smiling. My friends were looking at me and giggling because of how much I was enjoying myself.

A phrase that has become quite repetitive in our group is "wait, we live in Hawaii." I am so blessed to be able to be learning and growing in such a beautiful and perfect place.

Cheers to Hawaii!!

love me my fives

So I decided barefoot running was a good idea when it took away my knee pain. My jogging teacher didn't know what to think of my barefoot shoes when I put them on. I told her about the knee pain and gave her an article on barefoot running and she agreed to let me use my Vibram Five Fingers. I was a little scared to teach my teacher but it turned out better than expected. Not all teachers are stuck in their ways.

things to avoid - clubs, car crashes, and candy

So Saturday night I went clubbing and it was fun but kind of not really. I prefer dancing to Yelle on top of a highrise at 1 am in a sleeping town.

On our way home we noticed a car swerving so we backed away and let it pass us. Another car passed us and passed the swerving car but as soon as it passed it the swerving car sped up. It then proceeded to hit the median, overcorrect and hit the SUV that had passed it, drift until it was facing backwards and grind to a complete stop. It all happened about 50 feet from us. It was kind of cool to watch considering no one was hurt. The police said the guy was drunk. I am so grateful our driver was watching and was able to avoid any damage.

I started a jogging class recently. Awhile ago I realized that eating sugar makes it harder for me to do endurance activities so I've cut out sugar. My last sugar meal was a monster and a cupcake. Time to go cold turkey.

10 things I am learning about school but not in school

1. I get to do what I love, learn
2. I am learning that people who slackline on campus are fun
3. I am learning to wake up at 7 am
4. I am learning how to be accomplished
5. I am able to work towards something that will benefit me
6. I am learning how to manage my time
7. I am learning that I never was truly busy
8. I am learning how fun it is to have knowledge
9. I am learning to appreciate my professors
10. I am learning how to learn

You could say I wasn't the most academically interested student in High School but I feel I have come a far way and I love school more than ever. Yes my opinion may differ when I have a 5 page paper due but ultimately I will always love to learn.

Facebook, the anti-personal connection site that lets you brag, stalk, and waste hours of your time

I am very, extremely anti-facebook. Why? Because what is the point of checking to see if people I don't care for say things I don't want to hear about things I don't care about. I have heard many people say to me "you need to get a facebook". I say to them "I have a face and people who actually care to see it contact me other ways". I recently got one to swap pictures from a recent camping trip but quickly decided that no amount of pressure can make me keep it up. Once all the pictures are downloaded it's gone.

Collecting Facebook friends is the equivalent of being a catlady, collecting numerous Himalayans, which you have neither the time nor the inclination to feed. "You have obviously never been on Facebook," he said. "It's so much worse than collecting cats."

This... nicely catches the nuances of the ‘Facebook addict’ type: an anti-social, agoraphobic, ‘low maintenance’ lurker who is also a passive-aggressive and voyeuristic stalker accumulating useless social capital

In the back of the truck with barefeet

This was the sunrise at Haleakala. Pictures don't do it justice. Not even slightly. It was amazing.

Everything that takes me back to the simplicity of childhood is highly cherished. For this reason the past week for me has been awesome. I went camping and hiking and swimming and slacklining and cliff jumping. Most of these things were done barefoot and I realized how awesome being barefoot is. Which makes me realize how much I love Hawaii.

Well my vacation was amazing! Above and beyond any expectation I could have set. Best of all it cost pretty much nothing. Some of my favorite things we did was watch the sunrise on top of the haleakala crater.

Snow, Wake, Surf, and long boarding....I love it all

So I have a thing going where I watch videos of women doing really well at different board sports. It kind of gets me depressed for the lack of them in my life but I enjoy it at the same time. First it was wakeboarding, when family and friends back in utah were boating every saturday. Then it was longboarding, because I missed cruising up and down provo with friends. Then I started watching surf videos to get me pumped to go big while I'm in Hawaii. Now I am starting to think about snowboarding back in Utah. Ya....snowboarding. While I'm in Hawaii looking at blue skies and basking in the balmy weather I am thinking about snow. Some call it crazy, I call it the love of my life.

today

My life is crazy busy right now. I shouldn't be blogging but it's one of those days where I don't want to do the things i'm supposed to, I realize these days come so I take them for what they are and I haven't done any homework today. My roommate just randomly read a quote that said "you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today". Wow. It's a sign.

anyways.....so finals are next week and things are under control. I did, however, just find out that I have a 400 page book to read and I have to write a 3-5 page report about it before Wednesday. I feel I have been doing good at not procrastinating but to never procrastinate would be inhuman so I justify sitting here.

Today I made a chocolate birthday cake complete with frosting all from scratch. I would have to say it was quite delicious. I also made chicken soup which was great. I can brag because this is the first time my cooking and baking skills have produced something even slightly mediocre.

After finals my friend invited me to go camping for 9 days. I am excited beyond belief. I guess my Utah roots have given me an internal love of camping. We are planning on hiking to waterfalls, surfing, and forgetting all about the fall semester that begins two days after we come back. Those 9 days will be glorious.

funny quote of the day "the fat girl inside of me is very happy right now"

Success at Waimea

I went to Waimea bay with some friends yesterday. My goal I made when I first went to waimea was to do a back flip off the highest rock which is about 25 feet. For a long time I had thought about trying it. The night before last I had a dream about doing it and so when we got on the rock I just did it.

Also there was another dolphin experience even better than the last. After I did the back flip I saw them swimming and they kept coming closer to the shore. I grabbed my goggles and swam towards them. They swam past me on all sides. I was in the water this time and about 3 feet away. They were making those weird noises but it was really cool to be so close. It was great!

Laie in all its glory

I went to the PCC yesterday and had dinner and went to the night show. The food was pretty good. It was buffet style and I had sushi and kalua pork and pineapple. The show was cool. I am learning to hula and it made me excited for class.

There is a great cliff jumping spot called Laie point. My friend is a video producer and was going to shoot a video there while the sun rises. He wanted a bunch of people to come and jump off so he could get some cool footage. I woke up at 4:30 to meet them there. When we got there it was raining and there were clouds so we headed back. I cant go back to sleep so it is now 6:30 am and my laundry is done, my homework is done, my bed is made, and I went on a bike ride. Now I have no clue what to do until the rest of the world wakes up.

It feels good to have some free time.

10 (more) things I know for sure

1. snorkel masks like to such your eyeballs out of their sockets
2. my student id is hideous
3. going to 4 beaches and then work is torture and is known to cause narcolepsy
4. watching others surf when you cant is also torture
5. i can sleep through 1000 decibels after going to 4 beaches and work
6. Alf isn't always an appropriate show
7. i have the coolest friend ever
8. fake is better
9. Hawaii will probably never see me with my hair done
10. I get awkward when someone tells me they like my buckets.

I'm 21. wahoo.

My day started at 7am when my roommates took me to breakfast. Then at 10 i went to class. After that I just hung around and did homework. Then at 4 I went to work. During work my friend Abbey brought homemade salsa and jello cake. I brought chips and cinnamon rolls and the Koreans I work with brought some rice crackers that were real tasty. After work there was a party at my apartment where we had rootbeer floats and lit sparklers (thanks mom!). Then I took the new scooter that is at my disposal for a ride. The gifts I got are:

shirt, PMFP, journal, postcard - Lex
sparklers, sponge, q-tips, cotton balls, chocolate, fruit leather, foot lotion, wrap - Mom and Hay
$30 - Hinkins
$100 - Grandma
wallet - Edna
PCC tickets - Bev
hawaii driver license - Me
Bracelet - Paige
North Shore book - Adam
Tie-dye shirt - Pam
Necklace, cup o noodles, hard-boiled eggs, banana bread - Xiaorong
2 salt water taffys - John from Ed Outreach

The next day I woke up at 7 and went to the temple. It was awesome. I am sad i don't go very often. I want to go again next week.

Root of all problems

Think about all the times you have been in a tiff with someone else. I can almost guarantee it's because you had expectations. They aren't bad but when they are believed to be what the future will hold then it becomes a problem. The only person you can rely on 100% is you. Lots of the time you even let yourself down. My 21st birthday is on wednesday and I am annoyed at the expectations the world has put upon that specific number. It really means nothing for me except I have to renew my drivers license. I am going to try to serve others more and use my birthday as a day for me to grow and learn. What better gift to myself can I give?

A few realizations...

.......life never stops.

I have always had the innocent idea that once work is done it is time to relax. I now realize the work is never done. There never is a moment in time when there is no work to do. Wow. That has hit me like a ton of bricks.

I am a lover of silence. I love the stillness you get in nature. I love the quiet drives down deserted roads and I love the people who enjoy the silence with me.

cheers to empty space and silent friends

PMFP

Has anyone heard of Libby's Potted Meat Food Product? I believe this is the epitome of a horrible American diet. A friend and I were doing our weekly shopping awhile ago and found this "substance". Something to be eaten, as it says, on crackers. Ingredients are as follows: mechanically separated chicken, pork skin, partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue, partially defatted cooked beef fatty tissue, vinegar, less than 2% (thank heavens!) of salt, spices, sugar, flavorings, sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrate.
I see many problems here.

1. when an ingredient contains both "defatted" and "fatty" does that mean the ingredient doesn't exist?
2. when the first word is mechanically, does that mean i am supposed to eat the can?
3. what sort of flavorings are we talking about here?
4. why the fancy name? i mean the price of .75 cents already identifies upper-class as your target audience
5. also I never understood why recipes have both sugar and salt.

Coming Alive

"don't ask what the world needs.

ask what makes you come alive,

and go do it.

because what the world needs is people

who have come alive."

-howard thurman

It is so important for me to feel alive. I believe it develops potential, makes us happier, more aware humans, and opens the floodgate which love flows from

A blog I love to read does a weekly post on different people and what makes them feel alive. I realized I needed a remedy myself. Here is my concoction:

-exploring nature and letting my imagination run wild
-dancing (anywhere, usually spontaneous)
-singing in the car on a long drive
-running at full speed
-a deep conversation with a loved one
-hugging an animal
-motorcycle rides through the orchards

10 things I know for sure

1. I could eat berries and yogurt and granola for the rest of my life
2. Beta fish like peas
3. No matter where I go I will always miss the canyons and stretching fields of Utah
4. My family is awesome.
5. Spontaneity is a necessity for me
6. I can live off of 1/10 of my wardrobe
7. Rabbit in the headlights and age old tree are amazing blogs
8. I have the best friend/cousin ever
9. Four hours spent doing History homework is too much and may be less beneficial than it is beneficial
10. A mosquito bite on a bruise is really annoying

ps. love this popcorn recipe:
INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup butter, melted
10 cups warm popped popcorn
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

PREPARATION:

In a small bowl, stir paprika, red pepper, and cumin into melted butter or margarine. Gently toss butter mixture with popcorn, coating evenly.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and toss till coated.

best when eaten with chopsticks!

Swim with dolphins - check!

A friend invited me to go paddle boarding with him. It was something I had wanted to do for awhile. We went out to Waimea bay and paddled to a hidden cliff-jumping spot. After a few backflips we headed back. As we were nearing the bay I noticed something jumping out of the water and doing flips. It was dolphins! We turned around and started heading their way. After navigating through the waters for awhile we got close to them. We watched as they swam around us. At one point when we were heading back, the dolphins swam on both sides of us and were close enough to touch.

I am happy to say that I can now check it off my bucket list. I am extra happy to say that it didn't cost me a penny, considering doing this commercially is over $150.

It was a great spontaneous adventure.

This video isn't of us but it looks identical to our experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhXorqcVqwU

Perfect day in paradise

So today I woke up naturally. Learned how to put together a bike. Went on two hikes that led to waterfalls. Went to a rope swing and did my first backflip off of one. On the way back from the hike I ate fresh lilikoi, greens beans, and strawberry guava. Found out about a flower called shampoo ginger that is like shampoo and smells amazing. Got home and took a hot shower outside while it was raining. Made banana ice cream with chocolate sauce (healthy style). Went on a bike ride with some friends. Going to watch an english film. I declare today a success. summer is wonderful, I'm glad in Hawaii it never goes away.

Have I learned yet?

So recently I got a call from my mother who told me my wakeboard that I never let anyone borrow but let my family borrow this one time got ran over by a four wheeler. Before that my car that i never let anyone borrow but let my friend borrow this one time got wrecked. I suppose I am supposed to learn something from these recurring events. Either it is to never let anyone borrow your things or look beyond things and realize they aren't what matter in the end. Ya I like to have a car to drive and ya I like to have a wakeboard to ride but ultimately I care more about the well being of others than possessions. Maybe I am just being given the chance to prove myself.

Also, thank you Mom and Dad for helping me get my car fixed. I appreciate that.

AloHA WAII

e
k

I haven't posted in awhile but here's a quick update.

Moved home from NY. Was a nanny in Herriman, UT. Moved to Hawaii. Still in Hawaii. I am having an awesome time and doing so many things. Things I don't want to forget are:

first time surfing
starfruit
climbing the banyan trees
snorkeling at numerous places
eating fresh mangoes
the rope swing on the beach
backflip on the beach
slacklining on the beach
swimming with turtles
sleeping on the beach

I love the beach even more than I knew I did before I came. My roommates are fun. I became really good friends with one of them who has left on a mission to Nagoya, Japan. I met someone else who slacklines and lives right by Waimea. We are the exact same person. Her name is Tailee and she is getting married soon.

I made some pudding today that was really good. It had avocados, cocoa powder, honey, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. All blended in a food processor. It is worth a go if you like pudding.

life as I know it...

I was thinking about how long it had been since I posted anything on here. I wondered why but then I realized that I had moved back to Utah and the extent of my adventures are dinosaur museums and aquariums (with three children). So I feel any future posts will just further prove how lame my life has become since moving back to Utah.