The BIG Day!

Okay, so some back story: 
About a week or two before the wedding, I got kicked out of TVA, where I had been living for A MONTH. They have a policy where you can only move in 3 days or less before your wedding, which nobody told us or the folks from whom we were subleasing, Luke and Tawni, and they asked MULTIPLE times. So Ho'oulu got a call from our R.A. friend saying that his boss said they were planning to have me out by that night. Nobody called me, they just deactivated my key, which I'm sure is illegal in some way. Sigh. So then when Ho'oulu got back from school (he goes to WCC in Kaneohe), I left work (PhotoPolynesia, such a fun place to work!) early and we went straight to the housing office, met with the top dog, and she was very kind but firm about me moving out by the next day (they gave me one last night there, but my key was not reactivated so when they let me in, I had to stay in for the night and Ho'oulu was not allowed to be anywhere on the premises). I am so blessed to have amazing friends like Victoria Jaques, who let me stay in the empty bed in her room (technically Tay's bed! Also an awesome friend!). I stayed for 3 nights or so, then just went to Oregon about a week earlier than planned. I felt bad for peacing out on my new job, and I missed the rest of the semester of voice lessons and summer choir (I can't tell you how sad that part was. I freaking love both of those things). Oh, and initially Housing wasn't sure if we'd be able to carry out our subleasing contract, and I had to make sure I could take classes for summer B (I graduated but was taking voice lessons over summer, but to live in TVA you have to be a student), so we moved EVERYTHING out. It was the biggest pain of my life and I have a lot of bitter feelings toward the housing department. Sooo I was kind of an emotional wreck; people who are about to get married have enough to worry about without getting kicked out of their apartment! And I hatehatehatehate imposing on people, like sweet Tor who let me crash in her room (and I mean CRASH, I was living out of suitcases, people!), or Ho'oulu's sweet sister Kamealani who offered to let me stay at her place, even though she had a newborn at home! Everyone is just too kind, and I hate to take advantage, even if they really don't mind. 
SO YEAH, I wimped out and went home to my mommy and daddy, because that's all I really wanted at this point, and I was exhausted and emotional and crazy. 
Oh, but there was the issue that my wedding dress was being shipped to Hawaii. This all happened like 3 days before it was supposed to get to me, that date being May 14th (which is already so so scary because it was 2 weeks before my wedding, but they GUARANTEED I would have it in my hands by that day). So I figured I'd wait for my dress. So I emailed the lady in China where I'd ordered it from to make sure everything was going smoothly, and she hadn't sent it yet. It wasn't ready because of the Chinese holidays in May, which we had discussed upon my ordering and she had taken those into consideration when she said May 14th. I was furious, but I stayed cool and asked if she could send it to Oregon instead, because I just wanted to be home. She said of course, and all was looking brighter, though not great because I wasn't sure when I'd get my dress. She said it would take two days, and she sent it the day that I was supposed to have it already, the 14th.

So theeeennnn, Ho'oulu and I flew to Oregon together (I was going home and he surprised me and flew with me, since he flies for free). We stayed with Erica Brady and her amazing family, even though her parents were a little nervous having an engaged couple staying with them (totally understandable). We were able to see The Sound of Music, of which Erica was the star! No really, she was Maria. And her sister Emily was Luisa, which was fabulous and so fun. Her family was SO KIND to let us stay, and kind of on short notice, and they are so hospitable and have such a lovely home. :) Then we got a rental car (broke the Sabbath to get it - oops!) and went to Beaverton and stayed with the Hams, some of my absolute favorite humans! The next day, a Monday, we went all over Portland, getting wedding things ready (paying the deposit on his tux, etc.). When we went to get his tux all figured out, we met the manager of the store, who we'd heard from previous phone calls was from Hawaii. So we started chatting and she asked where we were getting married, and when we told her the Portland Temple, she told us her dad is a Bishop on Kau'ai! SMALL WORLD! So she gave us a rocking 50% discount, and we LOVE her. We were then able to have dinner with the Ham's and spend the rest of the evening having SO MUCH FUN with them because they are the greatest. Words can't explain how great they are, you really just have to know them to get it.
Julie was my first official dance teacher when I was 10 years old. She taught a class in her living room, which she even lined with mirrors. We were the Dancing Queens (we had shirts and sweatshirts made), and we studied at Julie's House of Dance. Hahah some of my happiest memories include that house and that class. I was also her main babysitter; her daughter Lindy and I were pretty tight, and I was her ONLY babysitter... No really, she wouldn't even let her own grandma babysit her, NOBODY ELSE. Julie jokes that she and Gary planned their dates around my schedule, and I loved it. More of my favorite memories! In those days, there were only 3 Ham children: Kyle, Caleb, and Lindy. Now there are 3 more, Jacob, and twins Ammon and Ashley. They are all absolutely adorable and fun and I miss them all the time! And they always go to my parent's house for Spring Break, and I always miss it because of stupid college. :(
Wow, tangent much? But anyway... So we stayed with the Ham's! The kids had a hard time with Ho'oulu's name, so we told them they could call him Ammon. So Ammon Ham was totally stoked! They have the same name! Then he was like Ho'oulu's little pal, it was adorable. One night I read to Jacob. I don't remember what book it was, but it was a novel; this kid is like 6! Haha. I actually have no idea how old he is because he is permanently cemented in my head at age 2. Just like Lindy will always be 4 or 5, even if she's almost taller than I am... NO COMMENT! :0 Haha.
Anywaaaay... So then Ho'oulu and I took the rental car back and he went back to Hawaii (he had to work, booooo). My mama picked me up from there and we talked the whole way home, which is usually my favorite part of every trip home. My mom is always the one to pick me up and we literally talk for 3 hours straight (unless we're singing Wicked the whole way hehe). So that was incredibly nice and exactly what I needed after all the stress and the emotional roller coaster I had been riding. Every time I go home, I think, "I've never been so happy to come around that last corner, my house peeking at first then coming full into view... " Then the gravel driveway knocks me over and I lose my train of thought haha. I was so excited and tired at the same time. Nothing makes me happier than my family (which now includes my sweet husband) and being home. 
I spent about a week playing with my nephews, talking with my family, sleeping in, and barely leaving my house. It was perfect, though I really missed Ho'oulu. :P
Around May 20th, my package said it arrived online. Avery was in town (we really live in the boonies, folks), so I asked her to stop at the post office. When she did, they said it wasn't there. Then my dad called and the lady at the post office found my package (which was shipping from DHL, which meant it was my dress!!!!) right after Avery left! So my dad HAD MY DRESS! He then called back and said this wasn't it... He'd opened it and it was a bunch of Canadian flags and foods... Now, it's not a secret that I hate Canada; it is the Hufflepuff of the world, and what are they good for?! (THIS IS A JOKE! It started with a Canadian missionary who served in my branch when I was in high school, and then it just got worse from there because Canadians are sassy and they just want to be America... I kid, I kid! Please do not be offended if you are Canadian!)
Okay, so the same uncommon shipping company through which I'd ordered my dress sent me a package full of Canadian things. I was just thinking, "This must either be a sick practical joke (I'm thinking of any Canadian friends - or just jokester friends who know I hate Canada - who might know that I am expecting my dress, but no one came to mind...), or there's been a serious mistake and this about to be really awful..." Unfortunately, it was the latter. DHL had put the packing slip they give the post office over someone else's DHL slip. So I had all of the information of the Canadian who all of this belonged to, and that was in Vernonia, a small Oregon town about 3 hours from Heppner. I tried to Facebook stalk her, but her page was super private. So I messaged her, but then realized if we're not friends, it might go to her "other" folder, and who checks that? So I added her. And I looked at her friends on FB with the same last name and messaged some of them, pleading for a phone number or something. By that night, I hadn't heard anything. 
I posted my sad saga as a status, and the blessings and love and support started rolling in. 
 First, my cousin Melissa had read my panicked status and had started asking around her ward and on facebook to see if anyone around my size still had their dresses! She was arranging for people to come from Tricities and all over Hermiston area to bring dresses to her house, and she was picking up dresses and getting ready for me to come and try them all on. And my other cousins and friends were offering to let me borrow theirs, and they were asking their friends, and people were offering to ship dresses from Utah overnight, and so many people reached out. I can't tell you how touched I was by all of the kind thoughts and actions at this point, which I think was the first time I actually cried about it. I can keep it together when everything's going wrong, but as soon as people are crazy nice and generous, I lose it. Haha. But the kindness didn't stop there!
My childhood best friend's older sister Rachelle commented that she had friends in Vernonia. It's kind of a small town, so I became hopeful. I knew if it were anything like Heppner, I would only need one person who lives there and they would be able to find these people, who I desperately prayed had my dress. So Rachelle asked her friend, who then posted on a Facebook page for the town, and someone not only knew the girl, but told us she was an exchange student from Canada and they knew her host family. So it took a couple phone calls, but we were finally in touch with this family... I think the host dad's name was Bob. I may be wrong, but whatever his name (we'll just call him Bob), he was incredibly kind! And the exchange student was at state track, which was really hilarious because SO WAS MY YOUNGER BROTHER! But they hadn't received the package yet (and it was now 10pm), but he said he would call in the morning and try to get it sorted. So I decided to wait by the phone instead of going to my cousin's house to find a back up dress - a foolish move, maybe, but I really wanted to wear the dress I had picked out. I still feel bad for bailing on my amazing cousin who worked so hard to gather dresses for me, so HUGE shout out to Melissa! I owe you all of the chocolate in England. 
So the next day, Bob's wife went to check the post office, but they hadn't received the package yet. Then the head guy (I don't actually know what the position is called) of our post office, who is also in our branch, called and apologized and explained that this happens with DHL all the time (DHL is the worst and their workers are careless!). He said there were 5 packages from DHL that day, which usually come all at once to one post office and are sent through the USPS from there. I don't know why this international shipping company brought the 5 to the Heppner post office (maybe because the woman I ordered from had paid extra to get it there the fastest or something), but the point is, there were 4 possible locations my dress could be, not just the Vernonia post office. I was so so so grateful for Dennis and all of his help at this point already, then he said he'd work on getting in contact with all of these post offices! He was seriously a rockstar and I wish I could give him a raise or something. My faith in the USPS was definitely restored haha.
Then something amazing happened. The family in Vernonia called, and they had my dress. They weren't planning on going to state track, but my mom had friends in the area, one who lived near the family and one who lived about 15 miles away who was going to state track. So my mom called the friend who lived nearest the family, thinking she could pick it up and take it to her other friend, who was going to state track. When she asked the first friend if she wouldn't mind doing all this running around for us, that friend laughed and said they were in the same ward at church as this family! The family was LDS! Heavenly Father, you funny Man. Sooo my mom's friend picked up our package from this dear family, and as luck would have it, her grandkids were also going to state track. So she gave the package to her daughter who took it to state track, where we would meet up and get the dress. So we were heading to state on Saturday and the wedding was Wednesday. I hadn't even tried it on. The last time I had ordered a dress online, it came in yellow when I had ordered navy blue... Luckily I love yellow and the dress was still gorgeous, but if my wedding dress was the wrong color or size or whatever, I didn't have anything else. I was seriously regretting not going to Melissa's and trying on all of her dresses, but I also still wasn't sure I could handle the heartbreak if I didn't find one there...
So Saturday rolled around and we embarked on the beginning of a long journey. Jared's meet was in Corvallis, a good 4 or 5 hours from Heppner. We left early and about halfway there, my mom received a call from the friend whose daughter was bringing the package. Turns out, her grandkids were in middle school and their state track was in Eugene, about an hour from Corvallis. My dad is not one for long car rides, so he was very displeased (not that anyone could possibly be more upset than I was at this point). Luckily, Jared's girlfriend was with us and her mom was going to Jr. High state track, my mom called her mom and asked if she could find some strangers and get my dress, then we'd just get it from them when everyone was back in Lexington... Which would be the next day. Sunday. The wedding was Wednesday. I was freaking out. But I was also so so so so so grateful for all these happy connections and that I would at least get this package. My then future mother-in-law also knew a seamstress in Beaverton who offered to alter the dress over night if I needed, which was a SERIOUS comfort!
My dear, sweet parents decided in the end that we could just drive the extra hour (which would end up being an extra 2 hours there and back) to get my dress that night after Jared was done. 
Apparently Jared's relay team was kind of terrible and only made it to state on a fluke (the best team dropped their baton, or something really unusual of the "best team" haha), so that kind of made this whole thing even more amazing; it's not like we'd be going to this meet if Jared weren't competing. 
So we got there, waited forever for the events, tried to find the Vernonia team all day so I could give the girl her (very heavy) Canadian package. I eventually went up to the announcer and asked them to call her up, but she must not have been listening, or maybe she was getting ready for an event or something, but I was stuck with a package full of Canadian flags and foods in a very crowded stadium.
Jared's team ended up placing in the relay! It was so awesome and I was so glad I got to be there to see it! And we eventually (after all kinds of running and driving around) found the Vernonia team and gave the girl her package. It was finally time to drive to Eugene and get my dress. I was so anxious I thought I was going to puke. I didn't want to open it in the car for fear it would get dirty or someone would spill snacks on it or something, so I just peaked in (it was in like a giant envelope, which I didn't think was very smart or safe) to be sure it was a white dress. It was, so I put it on my lap and tried to calm down. I eventually fell asleep, and then we got home. I immediately went in to the bathroom and asked my mom to come help me. 
THE FREAKING DRESS FIT ME. I was so shocked; after everything leading up to this point, I just thought surely it won't fit, or it's blue, or it's ripped, or SOMETHING must be wrong... But it was white, it fit, and it was what I had ordered and expected and LOVED. It was a little big right under the bust, which gave me this awkward fat, square shape from certain angles, but I didn't even try to get it altered. It was good enough.
Although technically it didn't matter at all because it wasn't even the dress I'd be wearing in the temple, but whatever. Haha. Through the whole fiasco, I kept reminding myself of that and I kept remembering a time when I said, "I don't actually need a wedding dress, it's basically just for show." 
And I kept reminding myself of Ho'oulu. Ho'oulu didn't care what I wore out of the temple, he didn't care what my hair or makeup looked like, he was just there to love me every day and support me (even from across the ocean at that point). The only reason I didn't absolutely flip was (okay, the two reasons, the first being I had SOOOO much love and support from my friends and family, and even from complete strangers who heard my story and wanted to help, and) because I was marrying the greatest man I've known since my daddy and grandpas. Not only did I get to marry him, I got to be sealed for all eternity to him. His big heart and soft voice were going to be mine for forever, we were going to start a family together, we were going to create worlds together. He is absolutely the man I want by my side in this life and the next, and I finally got to make it happen. 
This. This calmed my heart. He calmed my heart in a way only he can.






Ahem... So... Cheesy moment over... 
SO then we went to Portland.

Ho'oulu was staying with some of his family in Beaverton, my family was staying in a hotel down the road (it was accidentally perfect!). And both were down the road from Costco, not that that matters, but I liked it (even though we didn't go haha). So I had my own wedding dress, I was getting my makeup done at the Mac in Nordstrom at Lloyd Center Mall, but I had no one to do my hair because my cousin Kaylee flaked out (love her dearly, but I'm calling it as it is). So I asked Rachelle, who had already saved my wedding once, and she was more than willing and excited and SO FREAKING AMAZING! Seriously, she solved all of my problems. It was perfect. And I wish I could do my hair like that every day. Lol.



May 28th, 2014

Marlaina, Mom and I were in one hotel room, Dean, Jared, and Dad were in another, right next door. I woke up early and put on a blue dress and a white sweater (reminiscent of my favorite, infamous "little blue dress"). Mom drove me to Rachelle (Hillam) Armstrong's house (but of course, she'll always be Hillam to me haha). She is gorgeous, her home is gorgeous, and she has a TON of pictures and collages and all kinds of lovely all over. She's been doing hair for, I think she said 15 years. I gave her nothing to work with because I had no idea what I wanted. Initially I had wanted my hair down because I have a small head and big shoulders, so I don't want to look like a man on my wedding day! Haha but I decided to go with an updo, mostly because it's classic and Ho'oulu likes it when I wear my hair up. So she showed me pictures of her hair on her wedding day, and it was gorgeous! So she copied that in my hair, and I LOVED IT. We got to chat a lot and she's hilarious and so wonderful, and she saved my wedding in so many ways. 
So then I went straight to the Lloyd Center Mall and got my makeup done at MAC. I liked the trial the day before more than the day of, but it was still wonderful. I went back to the hotel room and no one else was ready. I still had like an hour before we even needed to leave!... I should probably mention I kind of get anxiety about being late for things (school, work, my wedding, etc). Like it wakes me up at night.
SO yeah. Then I got a little antsy. I was the only one ready and everyone else was going to make me late! Haha so my inner 14 year old girl started rushing everyone and we finally left (at exactly the time my mom said we should and half an hour after I said we should) and made it to the temple at least 15 minutes early. Hehe. And then Ho'oulu called and his family got lost on the way (we probably should have met them and had them follow us... Oops)... So then they were about 10 to 15 minutes late, which means my family could have waited! Hahaha. Oh, so funny... :)

And then the most amazing, magical moments of my life happened. I finally got to have "my castle", as I thought the Portland temple was as a child... I used to think it was a castle and I was the princess, and when I got married there, I'd become the queen. And, though I can't give details about the sacred rooms inside, I can say it was the most majestic place I've ever been and I wish Ho'oulu and I could be sealed 100 times a day there. It would never get old because that is the House of the Lord, and I have never felt the spirit so strongly. I cried before Ho'oulu! I cried just talking to our sealer, John Brady (my BFF Erica's dad! So cool!). So during the ceremony, I cried like a baby and my makeup smeared in my eyes and stung like no other. I could barely see my handsome HUSBAND (whoooaaa), although it kind of gave him an extra dreamy blur, like in the movies. ;)
And I have to say I was so happy to see everyone in that room. Every single person there was so special at various times of my life. I felt bad because Ho'oulu only knew like 5 of them (there were probably only 20 tops), and I had originally only wanted family because I didn't want strangers there, but then Ho'oulu had wanted to invite close family friends, but none of his could come... So it was all of my close family friends, most of whom he didn't know. But like I said, I was overjoyed when I walked in the room to so many happy, loving faces, and everyone there was so special to me and to my family. 
I have never felt so much like I was in a dream. It was so unreal, magical, the most beautiful moments; I just could NOT believe it was real life! I was getting MARRIED! 
Everything had come together in the nick of time, and everything was perfect. I was sealed to my very best friend in the whole world, and we got to start our forever.

Give Me Years and I'll Want More Time!

I'm a freaking busy person. I don't like to have free time, so my whole college career (and high school and middle school, if we're being thorough) was filled with tons of extra curriculars, such as dance team practices and performances/basketball games, student council, choir, etc. So this means I never had free weekends to just play, which is a bummer when you're seriously dating (or dare I say courting? Muahaha).
My senior year of college, when I was taking 17 or 21 credits, depending on which semester we're looking at, I decided not to do the dance team. It was incredibly heart wrenching and I still miss it all the time. I would have been a 4 year member! It was a really difficult decision, but I was a student first, and I was trying to keep good grades for scholarships (and because I like to get good grades). I thought for a second that I might be able to go the outer islands and play on holidays because of this (we always had games during breaks, like Thanksgiving and things like that), but I was of course busy with everything else, like school and choir and all the reasons I didn't do the dance team.
So then for some reason, in December (right before my last full semester of college), I was like, "Hey, I have time to do the musical. It's only for January and February. Easy!" But what I didn't know was that it would then CONSUME MY LIFE. I had practice all the time, including (and especially) on holidays. So poor Ho'oulu didn't get to take me out all the time, as he had hoped. And we never had time to go to outer islands, but it was impossible for him to get time off of work anyway because he has a Mandarin position, which means he can only switch with other Mandarin-speaking-employees, and they hired all of the Mandarin people for the same shift. So we were stuck on this island anyway!

SO THEN. Flash to MLK, Jr day on February 17th (our 11 month anniversary haha). I had rehearsal that night and Ho'oulu had work, but we didn't want to waste the day, so we decided to go ice skating! I had this really cute jacket that I bought to wear when I was in Oregon for Christmas that I wanted to use again haha. Ho'oulu came to pick me up, but then turned toward the school, and just said, "detour." We stopped at the temple and he was being oddly serious and weird, and I was kind of jokingly thinking, "he's either going to break up with me or propose..." We then drove to the parking lot by Temple Beach and started walking toward the beach. I was very hesitant; what happened to ice skating?! I was wearing ankle boots and socks (so that I didn't have to bring socks in my purse for when we went ice skating), so I suggested we walk toward the temple. He was insistent that we walk to the beach. When we got to the sand, I was very annoyed! I have slight OCD and I don't like to put socks back on after I've worn them once, even if only for a little while. I also hate putting socks on if I have even one piece of sand on my feet, and I don't put anything on my feet but slippers if they are wet. So this was all terrible! But he took his shoes off and kind of pulled me along. So I angrily took mine off and followed. I was then slightly cranky for our walk on the beach, but I still noticed he was being weird, which ebbed away at my crankiness and made me feel... Weird. So halfway between Temple and Hukilau, he stopped and asked what was wrong. I was a little bewildered because I had told him very clearly that I didn't want to walk on the beach (haha). So then he just hugged me and said, "Please, please don't be annoyed with me." And I'm not saying I have a heart, but hypothetically speaking, if I did have a heart before that moment, it would have grown three sizes that day and then melted. Haha it was kind of tender. But then I noticed him pulling something out of his pocket and shuffling between hands behind my head as we were hugging. For a fleeting second I thought of a ring, but I had asked him like the day before if he had one, and he did not. I turned my head slightly and he had his phone out. Why was he texting behind my back (literally, not figuratively). Then we headed back in the directed from which we had come. Some girls we'd passed earlier who had been sunbathing were now walking toward us. We passed them and they laid out again, and I thought, "It's not any sunnier over here, ya weirdos." There were a bunch of sticks in the ground when we got back to Temple. We stopped right in the center of them, and Ho'oulu got all weirdly serious again. I was kind of beginning to panic when he said, "I talked to your parents." And that's when my heart stopped. The only reason for him to talk to my parents was...

 (Those nice girls who moved because Ho'oulu texted his brother Kaanoi, who was hiding in the bushes to take pictures, and asked Kaanoi to ask them to move. They were super stoked for us, even though we didn't know them. Thanks, random strangers!)

While we were out getting all engaged and such, Pononui was setting up an awesome party with some of absolute FAVORITE humans, including my parents (and Avery, I think) via Skype! And then Tor had Cat on Facetime... I cried like a baby.

 (As soon as I saw my parents, I started bawling. Like full-on ugly crying.)

 (Ris!)

 (I cried like a baby here, too. Super funny video on Facebook.)

 (Sparkling cider to celebrate like the sober Mormons we are!)

 (Here's the amazing spread, complete with fancy set up and table clothes! Thanks to Pononui, Kamealani, Umi, and everyone else who contributed!)

 (The rings... Every kiss begins with Kay!)

All pictures courtesy of GCB Photography, which is super amazing and I would HIGHLY recommend for any event, even if you just feel like pictures for fun! You can find GCB Photography on Facebook here (seriously, check them out!): 

https://www.facebook.com/GCBPhotos

Oh yeah, so then Ho'oulu got the day off of work and he came to rehearsal with me and showed off the ring and such, and then we were just TOGETHER. And it was so fabulous and I love that day with my whole heart, and I love every single person involved or even around that day. It was absolutely perfect.

It's Been A While...

Soooooo I got married! Yay! And I'm the worst at keeping a journal, so (like every other newly wed Mormon,) I'm going to put all my business on the internet. And you, for some reason have chosen to read it! Thanks!

Okay, so the last time I posted here, I was like, "I dyed my hair!" So I should probably back up and start with, "I started dating this guy..." 'Cause that usually comes before a post about getting married.

March 17th, 2013.

Great weekend. It was Chelsea Owens' birthday on the Friday the 15th, so while Pononui, Ho'oulu, Alyssa, and I went thrift shopping (where the girls all got some sweet matching leggins, and I got a super sweet little boy sweater! *see picture* Sidenote: Look at my skinny chicken legs in the top left picture in that collage... Bahaha), Tay and Hailey threw a surprise party mostly for her, but they also got me a present and gave it to me a little late! So sweet. It was this really cute, brown corduroy-type backpack with a big button and it snapped closed. They got Chelsea a red plaid backpack which was also so super cute. (I loved having thoughtful roommates!) So then we set up a couple little tents in our living room (or actually, I think they set everything up while we were gone) and watched movies and ate brownies and snacks and had all kinds of friends and fun happening at our house. So I claimed a little tent of my own that was on the outside of the room, closest to the sliding glass door in the kitchen area. I looked up and saw Ho'oulu across the room sitting in a chair, watching as I laid down, so I lifted my eyebrows and looked at the spot on the ground of the tent next to me. He smiled and made his way across the room to me, and we snuggled for two whole movies (let the records show, I made the first move).  The next day (March 16th), we hung out all day and then went to Tor's later and watched a movie, then she went to bed and Pononui left and all of a sudden, Ho'oulu and I were the only people awake. So he walked me back to my house (across the grass from Tor's), and then we KISSED in my empty living room (with only a tent for a witness)! Woohoo!

The next day, a bunch of us decided to go for a walk on the beach (Ho'oulu, Tor, Gabe, Keryna, Addison, and I, if I remember correctly). We walked all the way down Hukilau and ended up seeing some WHALES IN THE OCEAN!!!! Keryna became known as the whale whisperer, because she would call to them and they would breach, mostly just for her. Haha. Gabe also had a really nice camera, so we took some sweet pictures! (Oh, and it was St. Patrick's Day, March 17th [also a Sunday], so we were all dressed appropriately. Also, I loved my new leggings so much, I wore them for like a week straight bahaha). So we took some group shots, and then Ho'oulu and I took our first official "couple" picture haha. We have a couple (some from Ho'oulu's phone, some on Gabe's nicer camera).
None are super flattering of me, but here's my favorite haha. I love St. Patrick's Day!

(Side note, I used to work out.)
So then we have hung out almost every single day from this point on, except when I was off island for a week in April between semesters, a month and a half during summer (during which I went back to Hawaii for a weekend), and two weeks for Christmas (he came with me to Oregon to drop me off AND pick me up).

But let's back up again. We have had some amazing times in between all that. Like our first big date, which was planned before we were officially together or whatever, was Winter Ball. The theme, for some stupid reason, was Prehistory Romance (whaaaat?), so Tor and Pononui were going as Fred and Wilma, and Ho'oulu and I were going as Barney and Betty... This had been decided a couple weeks before Ho'oulu and I started dating 'cause the 4 of us did EVERYTHING together, so it just made sense (and it was apparently very clear to everyone else that Ho'oulu and I liked each other). SOOO yeah, we went! And I couldn't really find a good Betty dress, so I went in this

I know it looks black, but it's actually really dark blue. BUT, because I am a huuuuge skank, I got turned away. It "showed the top of my knee caps." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was a BYU-Hawaii dance. Skanks not allowed. (I'll have you know I was the only LDS girl in my high school; every dress I've ever worn either had sleeves or I wore a jacket. I had a friend in high school who called me Lovebug because that Jonas Brother's song says, "Modesty is just so hard to find," and it made them think of me. So I was mortified and a little offended at being turned away.) But then my darling, wonderful roomie Chelsea offered me a dress that was way more perfect for Betty anyway!

I know it's hard to see, but these are the best we got. Haha. I was so so so super grateful that my amazing roommate Chelsea had this perfect dress, and that she let me borrow it and the undershirt! 'Cause she's the greatest! And I hope I washed in a timely manner, 'cause I was the worst about that when I borrowed her clothes. (She is such a patient human being!)

But yeah, so here was "the group":

Some of my all-time favorite humans! Love everyone here. So then we went on lots more dates, I joined the Hawaiian club and danced at Culture night (he was a musician, along with his bandmates and friends, Jon Ako, Spencer Mau'ai, and Keanu Reeves... Jk, Idk Keanu's last name! Sorry K), he came to basketball games, I went to wedding receptions where he was playing, he won us free tickets to advanced screenings of movies (shout out to Leilani Miller and Oceanic Cable! Thank you!), and we just had TONS OF FUN all the time!! Oh, and in July, he started working for Hawaiian Airlines, which is how I was able to visit him during the summer and he was able to come to Oregon twice over Christmas break... And we were able to go have fun on Maui whenever we wanted! For the day or whatever. ;) Here are some pictures of random fun times...

 (Jon, Ho'oulu, Spencer, Keanu, the Hawaiian Club 2013 musicians!)

 (Free advanced screening of Despicable Me 2!)

 (Free box of donuts for dressing like pirates... ON MAUI! Love those Hawaiian Airline benefits!)

(On our way to Secret Island, where he was performing with Jon and Spencer at... Some event. I forget what. Possibly a wedding reception, but I really can't remember. They're pretty famous!)

(Here is a collage Ho'oulu made of some of the pictures we took this one time we played hooky and went to Maui for a day, just for kicks and giggles! Because we can!)

SO YEAH! I'll do a separate post for the engagement and wedding stuff. But these are just some great pictures and memories I wanted to document. :) Wonderful times with a wonderful man! So much love in my heart! (I'll save the cheesy stuff for the next post.)

Welp...

My life is really not exciting enough for a blog.
Here's what's up:

And then I went a little bit blonde... And then there's that...

And then baby! Love my nephew!

You're A Peein'! Europe 2012!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 Mar, Mom, and I left for Portland. We stopped to see Jewell at her new apartment in Beaverton... I can't believe she's married!! It was super fun to catch up with her. Then we went to see Lauren Kearsley, who just got home from serving a mission in the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center in San Diego. She is soooo skinny now, but just as funny! Marissa was also there with her baby Gray, who is super hilarious. Mandy Lemmon also came to Kearsley's, so it was a party! We decided to go eat at Red Robin, then BJ and Mom went to see the Browns, who were in town. It was cool to see them, but I didn't do a ton of catching up with them; they went back to their hotel room and just Elizabeth stayed. I completely blew off Chelsea Earl and Michael Pham, so I have to see them when I get back from Europe! I haven't seen Chelse in years, and I miss her far too much. At the end of the night, we went to find a hotel, but there were no vacancies anywhere! We were like Mary and Joseph, except no one was pregnant. We finally found a place a this super sketchy little motel in Aloha. When Mom was checking in, the guy asked what brought us to Hillsboro and she mentioned that we were going to Europe, then she spent the rest of the night freaking out because he was going to think we were rich and rob us. She has been freaking out since we made plans to go to Europe. Wednesday, July 25th Mom and I went to breakfast with Debbie, then Evelyn came later. I have missed spending time with them, even if they are my mom's friends. We ate at the Shari's in the Sunset Esplanade, then we hurried to go get Mar, check out of the hotel, and go visit Julie before we went to the airport. Lindy was visiting family in California, so I didn't get to see her (BUMMER!). I don't even know where Kyle and Caleb were, but the only kids home were Jacob, Ashley, and Ammon. They were super fun and cute, as usual. I always hate leaving friends, but I was excited to get a move on! We got to the airport with barely enough time, so we were starting to panic. Thank goodness all of our luggage was under 50 lbs, we didn't have any knives or liquids, blah blah blah, so we did not miss our flight. The flight was 9 hours long, and they fed us like 4 times. We got peanuts and pretzels at first, which I thought would be the only free food - wrong! We then got pasta, salad, bread, and a brownie. I was like sweet! Then later, they gave us a roll with turkey and ham, so it was like a mini sandwich, you know? It was pretty good, too. THEN they gave us a banana, orange juice (like they have at elementary schools in the cylinder shaped thing with the foil top that you peel back to drink), and this sausage roll type thing, which was actually pretty good too. They also had free movies, TV, and music for the whole plane ride, with individual screens on the back of every seat. Delta is amazing! They really take care of their customers. They also have this really cool "track your flight" thing where you can see exactly where you are... At one point, we opened our window cover and looked down and saw lots of ice. I jokingly said "Looks like we're flying over Greenland!" We looked at the tracker thing and we seriously were! We could SEE Greenland! It was soo cool. I watched the movie Joyful Noise, which was the worst movie ever (I fastforwarded through most of the music - ESPECIALLY when Dolly Parton was singin, ick), part of Sherlock Holmes (I just can't get into it for some reason, plus I was kinda doing Sodoku), and I watched the Hunger Games basically on fast-forward. Wednesday turned into Thursday at some point, but I'm not really sure when (we lost hours due to time difference and we didn't sleep on the plane). So that was the first 9 hour flight. Then we had a 4 hour layover in the Amsterdam airport, but it didn't seem as long because we had to find our gate, go through security again, blah blah. That is THE coolest airport ever! There are lounges, a library, a sleeping area, all sorts of shops and things, plus it's just very clean and nice... I loved it. We could have spent more time there! Haha. I wish we would have done a little excursion or something, but Mar was NOT willing to leave the airport. And neither of us had slept on the 9 hour flight, which left Portland around 1pm, so we were pretty pooped! When we got to our gate, we really, REALLY just wanted to hurry up and get on our plane, but we were so early the flight before ours hadn't even boarded haha. So we tried to stay awake, but as soon as we got on the plane, Mar was out. We were separated by a very skinny, dark Dutch girl who said she was in her first trimester of pregnancy and needed extra barf bags. As far as I'm concerned, she never puked, but I was so far gone, I couldn't tell you for certain! We got to Leeds and it was a pretty small airport. We had to go to a different line than most of the other people on our plane because they have different lines of EU passports and everything else. The lady who stamped our passports was "very familiar with Doncaster", though I don't know if that means she's from there or what. Anyway, we were finally in England!! We didn't see Catherine, though, and the airport waiting area was teensy, so we went to the regular departures (vs. international), and as we started to walk back to the international side, we saw Cat walking toward the door in her yellow dance team jacket (she's our manager) and bright pink pants. She was dressed for us to spot her! Her dad was driving so we met him first (even though I've met them all via Skype before). It was super weird to see the driver's seat on the other side for real, then driving on the opposite side freaked me out; I kept thinking the oncoming traffic was on the wrong side of the road and that it was going to kill us! Haha. Mar and I could barely stay away to enjoy the scenery, so we dozed a bit. (Okay, we were out.) We got to Cat's and met James and her mom, and I think Joe was there at that point... Maybe we didn't meet him till later, I can't remember. Anywho, so then Cat showed us around. The hallways and stairways are SUPER narrow! I could barely carry my bags up them, it was so crazy. Her room is at the tippy-top of the house, up like 3 flights of stairs - it's a serious work out! Haha. So after we looked around a bit, we were feeling kinda hungry, so we went down the street to the best fish and chip place around! Mar and I don't really like fish, so we got fish cakes, which are like patty looking things that have mashed potatoes in them! And mashed potatoes make everything better. They gave us a million chips, aka fries for the Americans haha. And tell ya what, those chips were sooooo good! They're thick and cripsy... and you can add malt vinegar and salt, which is pretty good, but I prefer them straight. We also eat them with fry sauce, aka mayonnaise and ketchup for the Europeans! Haha. My mom loooves fries like this (the thick kind, you know? No wimpy McD's garbage!) (TO BE CONTINUED...)

Stuff I Stole from Pinterest.

http://swensonlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ugly-mens-shirt-no-more-summer-dress.html http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592022382/ Bahahaaaa. http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592173011/ I like the Superheroes one. :) http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592007048/ http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592088839/ Cheeeesey. But I love C.S. Lewis quotes! http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592094054/ http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592082180/ Face! Also, nutmeg, cinnamon, honey, and lemon face mask. http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592221166/ MUST. HAVE. http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592177447/ http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592098485/ My life... :( http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592140589/ You get over it. http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592088854/ http://pinterest.com/pin/104286547592190451/ http://www.mommysavers.com/c/t/73996/favorite-meal-5-or-less

La-la-la-la Life Is Wonderful.

What a week! I have so much I want to remember...
Labor Day Weekend:
Hank's blessing! The entire immediate fambam gathered in Ashland, OR. We went to Taco Bell one night, all the siblings (except Lyssa), and my mom and dad stayed with the babies. Dean, Brian, Avery, Marlaina, Jared, and I piled into a 5 seat car, which wouldn't be a problem except Brian sat in the back seat. Luckily, Jared's as small as Brian is big.
The blessing was wonderful, as was the whole weekend. I still can't even believe Brian is married, much less a FATHER; we are sooo lucky he found Avery because she is amazing! And Hank is adorable, I wish I could just hold him forever. I can't wait to have babies!
My dad is the ultimate baby hog. It's pretty precious. He's also incredible at the hand-off! He taught us all how to pass the baby without letting his head flop, even though Hank was already lifting his head (he was two weeks old!). He's also huge, so he's going to be some kind of superhuman, plus he'll be a genius (look at his parents).
Marlaina, Dean, and I flew out on Monday morning. Since we had to be in Portland very early and Ashland is 5 hours away, we left Sunday night and got into Portland around 11 or midnight ish. (I watched an Alan Rickman British TV movie called "Benefactors" on the way there!)
When we got to the airport in the morning, it was just after 8. My flight was for 10 and Mar and Dean's (they both live in Provo now) was for 11. We had some father-daughter-son time in the airport. :) And we ran into Greg Smith! What are the chances? :) If you don't know who he is, you're missing out.
I went through security by myself, and despite my anxiety for airport security, I was not tackled by security guards, my bag was not additionally checked because it failed the x-ray test, I was not strip-searched, and they didn't even have to throw away any shampoo or lotion; I was good to go.
My flight was uneventful. I sat by a nice guy named Kenny in his mid 50's, possibly pushing 60 (he's not going to read this, I think it's safe to guess his age, even though I'm horrible at that; my parents look the same they did when they were 30, minus the bad hair, so I have no idea what people their age are supposed to look like). They played the movie X-Men, which I knew not to watch because my friend Brigham forewarned me! I forgot the warning at first, so I think I got charged the $5 for plugging in the headphones, even though I took them out after less than 20 minutes. Dang airlines.
I got to Hawaii and went to baggage claim. (Hopefully to be continued...)