And Then There Were 28

I officially went from 32 teeth to 28 yesterday and I'd do it all over again just to get put under. All I remember is laying in the dental chair looking at the light above my head and then getting into my dad's car. I don't remember falling asleep or standing up out of the chair or if anyone said anything to me in the process. I barely remember seeing my dad's bright blue car and then I fell asleep again on the way home. When I got home into the kitchen my dad had me take the gauze out of my mouth to take my medication and then I stumbled down the stairs and passed out on my bed for the next 3 hours. I woke up a few times to wipe the drool from my face but other than that I was just out cold.

Don't read this next part if you have a weak stomach...

When I woke up from that state of unconsciousness I went into the bathroom to discover that it wasn't saliva I was wiping from my face. When I took the gauze out of my mouth to take my medicine I didn't put any back in and I had just been bleeding everywhere... not drooling.

Other than that I've just been keeping frozen vegetables on my face, sleeping and watching the beginning of movies... it doesn't help that I already have a movie watching disease that I never stay awake anyways, but add some good strong drugs on top of that and its a sleepy combination.

Wish me Luck!

I'm finally going in to get my wisdom teeth out today at 2. I've been putting it off for a while with the excuse that I couldn't afford to take the time off. So now that its summer and the weekend and my teeth are starting to bother me, I think its about time. It kind of happened all of the sudden though, so I don't have much time to prepare. I called the dental office yesterday at 11:45 after I got home from school to set up a consultation and the receptionist said "Can you be here at 12?" So I called work and told them I would be late and went down to their office. Then after an x-ray the doctor said he had a cancelation for today (thursday) and they could fit me in at 2. So here I am, I haven't eaten since dinner last night and will probably only be on soft foods for the next day or so.

Can anyone recommend any good movies or stay at home activities?

I Like Smiling, Smiling's My Favorite

When I lived in Hawaii I fell in love with Melona Bars. They are an ice cream bar that tastes like you're eating a freshly cut honey dew but colder and 37 times better. Ever since I've been home(3weeks) I've been craving them but no store I've seen has carried them. So last night I went on a Melona Bar google scavenger hunt and ended up on some random person's blog who was having a similar predicament. This man said that he found them at a Korean market, so I continued on with my scavenger hunt and found an Asian Market right by MCC where I'm taking summer school. So today after class I went to this Asian market and felt completely uncomfortable and out of place being the only non-Asian in the store, but ended in victory with the precious Melona treasure. I bought two boxes and opened one as soon as I got in my car and became overwhelmed with the glorious Melona flavor that brought back so many wonderful memories. I was literally smiling and laughing out of pure glee for the rest of my drive home while I enjoyed the sweet sensations filling my mouth. I am happy.

Only in Las Sendas

Saturday night me and 4 friends went to go longboarding down the hills of Las Sendas. We would all take turns, one person drives the car down behind the other four going down the hill. We were on our fifth run of the night and I was at the head of the pack when a cop pulls up coming the opposite direction and shines his big spot light on me and tells me to go sit on the sidewalk. As I'm getting up and looking back at the other guys coming down the hill I see Mike biff it and skid on his back and then start rolling. He ended up getting a little bit of road rash on his elbow and a soreness in his shoulder. The officer informed us that it was a violation to be skateboarding on the streets in Mesa but they only enforce it in Las Sendas. (no signs posted about this law in the area) He took all four of our IDs (not the driver of the car though) and wrote us all tickets... not even a warning.
Officer Smith wasn't aware of the fine associated with this violation but gave us a number to call and a court date for a month from now. He was then nice enough to give Mike some first aid for his elbow and went on his merry ticket writing way. Blasted Mesa City Cops!


The fine shouldn't be more than $20... Do I pay it? Or go to court and fight it...

I'm HOME!

I'm back in AZ, back in the heat...(how did I ever live like this?) and back to reality. It's kind of weird not to have people around that want to just play all day. I go back to work on Monday and then a week from Monday I start summer school. Play time is over for me. I made a lot of awesome friends that I know I'll stay in touch with... and got a decent tan. I'm very happy I went but its nice to be back in Mesa with my family and friends.


And contrary to Abbie's blog, I'm not looking to move out just yet. My bed was so amazing to sleep in last night and my shower actually got all the shampoo out of my hair.

Sea Life Park & Stairway to Heaven

On Monday Erik, Heather, Matt, and I all went to Sea Life Park. Its kind of a very very small, not as interesting version of Sea World. They had an exhibit for sea turtles, penguins, sea lions, and a 10 minute dolphin show.
It may have been more worth it if we wanted to pay the hundred bucks to swim with the dolphins but that didn't seem worth it to me... heck I've done that in the ocean with just fins and a snorkel.



Then that evening we met up with a few more people to do a hike called Stairway to Heaven... Not even lying its literally just stairs all the way up the side of a mountain. The group made it about 45 minutes or so and stopped at a platform.

(this is a tricky picture because that's not really the top, it just keeps going)

Me and a three others kept on truckin another 30 minutes to see how high we could get. We made it pretty far up, high enough to be engulfed in a cloud, but ended up turning around because it started getting dark and we knew we had a long hike down. I think if we would have had another 30 minutes of daylight we probably could have made it to the top but I am completely satisfied with where we ended. I think going down was way harder because of the darkness and the shaky, jello-y legs. I am going to be completely sore from the waist down for the next few days. I can already tell

(The fogginess of this pic is because of the cloud)

Waimea Falls and Swap Meet

Friday we went on a hike called Waimea Falls. It cost $5 to get in and the whole thing was paved and was only about a mile and a half there and back. The hike ends at a waterfall that we swam out to and played around a bit.

Then on Saturday we headed out to the swap meet to get some needed souvenirs and then down to Honolulu to do more shopping and get some lunch. I had to buy some new tennis shoes at Nordstrom Rack because I haven't seen mine in about 4 weeks. I have no idea where they ended up.

Its Dark at Night

Jumping off rocks is definitely scarier at night. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago but we all just went and jumped off that same rock at Waimea in the dark. Do you ever have those times where a scream comes out of your mouth when you weren't planning on it? Its just an uncontrollable urge that happens sometimes when scary things happen. Well I experienced that midway down the jump. Wasn't planning on screaming, but it sure belted out without any warning.



I've also become reacquainted with the love of tennis. I hadn't played since 9th grade but I've played quite a bit here in Hawaii. So if anyone wants to challenge me to a match in 5 months when the weather cools off in AZ, I'm game to play.

She's Gonna Blow!

Lately I've been drinking lots of fluids to keep me hydrated since I know that I'll be out in the sun quite a bit. And with consuming more beverages comes one vital consequence... the need to excrete these liquids. Now my body doesn't like to give me a warning when the need to tinkle comes about, its more like "You better go now or you'll wet yourself". I'm not always in a place where a restroom is readily available and most places around my area don't offer public bathrooms anyways. Sometimes the ocean works cause no one knows whats happening but what about today, when I was by myself and not wearing a bathing suit? I was walking back to my house from this little surf shop but still a good 15 minutes from home. I had to walk across the street to a public beach and find a bush that was mostly hidden from any humans and passing cars and piddle there. I guess I was blessed to have some good friends who showed me that this act can be done at any place and any time and not think twice about it ... (ie. Brittany, Briley, and Deb)

The Way It Should Be

I'm not usually a big movie goer but since I've been in Hawaii I've seen three movies in the theater.

Shrek the 3rd,





Surf's Up.

and Ocean's 13,

All of them good movies but I extremely recommend Ocean's 13, Its a lot like the first one of the series.

Now I'm not just here waisting my money... a student ticket only costs $3.
I watched all three movies for the same price as one regular ticket on the mainland.
In my opinion, movies are way over priced... Hawaii just knows what they're doing.

Good Riddance

My new cheap sandals hurt my feet... so I burned them

Dole Makes the Best Pineapples

Today we were planning on going on a hike but the rain did not stop all day long. In the morning it was coming down really hard but then through out the day it was usually just a light mist of rain but very constant. So instead we ended up going to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. There's not much to do here but see how pineapples grow and shop for things that say "Dole" on them. We always make it fun though with photo opps. Then before the sun went down we went over to Pounders Beach so a few people could do some body surfing and buggy boarding.
This picture is a kid I met here named Cory, I found out that he served in the same mission as my friend Jonny Barnes... its definitely a small world isn't it.

Rope Swings are Funtasgreat!

Today we drove about 40 minutes to a rope swing. The hike down takes less than 5 minutes and it was totally fun. I was the first girl to try it because everyone else was too nervous so I had to lead the way. Everyone ended up doing it and thankfully no one got hurt. I even got to spend a little time with my friend Rob who I met in Hawaii 2 years ago. He moved down to Honolulu and got a girlfriend there so this is only the second time I've seen him since I've been over here, the first was when he picked me up from the airport. I wanted to get a picture with him but my camera battery died right at the end of the trip. I know I'll see him again so its not a big deal.

The Last Sunset of May

Does it get much better than this?

You weren't supposed to see this yet...

Blast! I was waiting to post this until I got some more pictures from other girls but thanks to nosey Abbie its already starting to spread. So in case you haven't seen it yet, here is an unfinished version...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Waikiki

Friday night a big group of us drove down to Waikiki to stay in a hotel. We ate at Cheesecake Factory and then walked around the strip and ended up playing games at a grassy knoll of a different hotel. I think we ended up craming 15 people into one room that night.
Then Saturday morning we got up and rented scooters to drive around for the day. We had them for a total of 6 hours and just drove around to some different beaches, Hanauma Bay, and to Diamondhead Crater.

That night I had my first experience eating sushi... not too bad... When we got back to Laie, everyone was just so worn out by the long day in the sun that all efforts to hang out failed and everyone ended up going to home to sleep.

Waimea Bay

Today's adventure started with a stop at Waimea Bay.

It wasn't a long stop, just maybe an hour long because everyone started to get hungry for lunch. A couple of us jumped off the rock and others just laid out.

Then Erik, McKay, Levi and I went over to Haleiwa to eat at Cholo's restaurant. Its probably the only Mexican food place close by.
The trip home ended with McKay entertaining us with some hilarious freestyle rap. That kid is truly amazing. Later on that night we had a little game night and then took a freezing cold dip in the ocean. All in all it was a pretty fun day.

I can breathe clearly now

They other day I got my nose hairs waxed! I have never even heard of doing that before but one of my friends here, Beana, offered to do it and I accepted. It truly is amazing. You don't have any little creepers sticking out or buggers that hang out accidentally on the end. She heated up Brazilian hard wax and put it on a stick and then up my nose. You lay down and wait till the wax hardens and then yank it out... I let Erik pull mine out.

Chinaman's Hat

Today we went on a hike called Chinaman's Hat.

To get to this island you first have to swim out to it and then hike your way up to the top, and in some points you're basically rock climbing. I was smart and bought some water shoes right before and was able to walk most of the way on top of the corral in waist to chest deep ocean. On the way back I had to do a little more swimming because the tide had come up. The whole voyage took us about 2 and a half hours to complete. There was quite a bit of resting on the island though, so that we could enjoy the view from the top of Chinaman's Hat.

Say NO to Humidity

This is my hair...

This is my hair on humidity...

Any questions?