5 Short Months

Five months from now, I'll officially be in Fukuoka, Japan at the gorgeous Fukuoka temple with my mom, dad, and best friend.
Can't wait!

Back to the Future

I've been out of the blog world for a long while now. Too long.

A lot's happened. But here's are just some quick highlights of the past few months.

* In June, I went to Anaheim for a Conference for work.
Angels v. Dodgers
- Diamond Club tickets: FREE
- Weaseling our way to VIP dinner seats on "The Deck": STEALTH
- Extra order of wings: THANK YOU
- "It's Goddzeerah!": HILARIOUS
- Rally Monkey v. Avatar video: CLASSIC
- 3 run Abreau bomb to tie & 2 out rally for the lead: UNFORGETTABLE






The next night we went for a trip to Huntington Beach and Balboa Island for good times and good food (best sushi I've ever had)!




* Took a quick few day trip to Vegas with some of my favorite people.




* Great fireworks show on the 24th of July.


* The BEST thing of the summer - Road tripped to Rock Springs, Wyoming (a.k.a. the butt crack of America) with Chudge to see Lifehouse play at the Wyoming State Fair.
- Classic sign


* Front row, right by the stage. Best show of my life.


* Caught a pick from him. Thanks Bryce! :)




* Won the Masters.


* Labor Day hike to Donut Falls with good people.


* Paint Capture the Flag

Samoa - Day 3

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The heat was killer today. Even when we started going at 7 am. The container was finally ready to go. The first part of the morning was spent unloading it to get out the things we needed to deliver today. So hot and sweaty by 8 am.


Rasta (a.k.a. Dread lock) Dog at the container site

The first stop was Ah Mu Academy (an elementary school). We unloaded the things we had and were kindly given leis. Unfortunately, some of us had to leave for another appointment.



So half stayed at Ah Mu while the other half visited Little Sisters of the Poor (a senior citizen center). We arrived to find a TV crew waiting and about 30 elderly people sitting in a half circle around a fale. We were greeted by an elderly man, who happened to be LDS. Then Sam spoke about who he was, his parents, where he grew up, and who we were. We then sang five hymns and presented the gifts and got to go around and shake everyone’s hand. They all said, "Fa'afetai tele lava," which means thank you and, "palangi," which means white girl.


Then we were back to the container to load up some more goods and head to the National Hospital. This was an eye-opening and heart-wrenching experience.


The hospital was nothing like what I expected. Very dirty with sub-par care for everyone. We were in the pediatric ward to deliver stuffed animals and hygiene kits to children and families. They were there for things like pneumonia and fever. Things that are no big deal to us, but are detrimental for them hear because of poor health care. Another hard thing was to see the many families sitting outside of the hospital, waiting to get in for their children. They will wait for days and days just to have their children seen. And then wait for several more day. So the hygiene kits were very appreciated. And several kids were so excited about their stuffed animals.


After the emotional hospital visit, went to an open restaurant down by the ocean for lunch. Had a ham and cheese sandwich and fries (chips).
We had some down time to rest up before the Volleyball game tonight. The game was fun, but so hot. No AC inside the building. I don’t know how the team survived. We won all 5 sets though.
Supporting our team.

The best part of the night was after the game, when our team gave away all their gear to the Samoans. They were so appreciative and so excited about everything. Old sweaty shoes and kneepads to T-shirts and volleyballs. They were so excited. Many of them wanted our girls to autograph everything. Really neat experience. It’s was so good to give today. The most important thing I’ve learned today - giving is the most important. Giving of time. Giving of resources. Giving of love or even just a smile can make such a difference.

Samoa - Day 2

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Since we weren’t staying with a host family, different families were assigned to bring us breakfast each day. This morning we woke up to fresh papaya, hard boiled eggs, and bread. I remember this moment so distinctly, with the food on the table and the sun shining more brightly than you can ever imagine. I remember that moment as thinking, “Ok, I fell asleep and woke up in a different country.” But I loved that feeling. I was so excited to be somewhere completely opposite of my real life.

That morning, Coach had to spend time getting the container (filled with donations for all our service efforts) cleared. Unfortunately, that was a really long process. So our service projects were delayed a bit. We went into town to shop and go to the flea market instead. Such a fun experience. Our first order of business was to buy a lava lava. Done. Headed to the flea market and took care of the second item of business - a fan!



We left the flea market and sat on a wall by the ocean for a while. I loved watching all the school kids and people wait for the public buses to come pick them up.

"Life Goes On..."


After lunch and our trip into town and still having issues with the container, Coach decided we shouldn’t waste anymore of our day. So we headed to the South side of the island to Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa, which Coach’s family members own. The drive alone, through the rain forest, was gorgeous. But Sinalei is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. They showed us all that had been rebuilt since the Tsunami’s destruction. We headed down to the beach, jumped off the pier, and swam for a while. It started to rain toward the end of the evening, but that just made it even more calm and peaceful. We went up to the fresh water pool to rinse off before leaving. As soon as we got in the pool, a waiter came over and offered us drinks. No one got anything, but I got water. He brought it poolside. I swam around with my deliciously refreshing glass of water. And returned it to him poolside. Ha it was cool.



Once night came, we left Sinalei and returned home to change and head to dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant where we all ate family style. So good! Much fun had with the group.

Samoa - Day 1

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

After our 3-ish hour flight that took us back in time a day, our plane landed in Apia, Samoa. We stepped out the door of the plane and literally hit a wall of humidity and heat outside. And we were pretty much hot, sweaty, and sticky for the rest of the week. We took a few pictures outside. We were all so happy and excited in Samoa.






Once we made it through security, customs, and baggage claim (which was a breeze compared to New Zealand), we were greeted by Uncle Sam (Coach’s uncle) who gave each of us gorgeous leis. Side note: I am now convinced that they wear leis like deodorant. Yep. Also, Coach’s son Sam, who is there serving his mission, greeted us at the airport.






After taking several pictures, we all piled into vans (with the same van groups of course) and headed to Uncle Sam’s house for a late night dinner.
It was pretty late (around 9 or 10pm) and very dark. So the 30 minute drive to Uncle Sam’s was pretty surreal. This is when it really hit me that I was in a different country, and a third-world one at that. We drove down dirt roads and all along the way were lit up fales (like houses without walls) and people sitting on the ground. We also passed several bingo houses were huge groups of people were playing bingo.

Once we arrived at Uncle Sam’s, which is directly across the street from the temple, pizza was waiting for us in the outdoor eating/gathering area we would come to know quite well. The pizza was ... different. Egg pizza. Spam pizza. Steak pizza. I just stuck to pepperoni.


After dinner, we met our host families. Well the girls I stayed with didn’t have a host family. We just got to stay in an empty house on the compound. The compound - completely owned by The Church. Within the compound is the LDS College at Pesega, the temple, the mission home, distribution center, and tons of housing for members. This is where we all stayed. It’s a gated community with 24 hr. a day security.

Before going to our house, the man who helped us took us to buy water at a grocery store. We drove through downtown Apia and past the ocean. Incredibly surreal. Very poor. I’m not really sure how else to describe it. Wild dogs everywhere.

Then we were off to our house, which was so nice! And air conditioned. Yes! And actually froze. I had to wear long pants, two jackets, and socks to bed every night because it got so cold. Great day! Excited to be in Samoa. Already the nicest, happiest people I’ve ever met.

New Zealand - Day 8

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Today we packed up everything and left for Samoa. It was very sad and hard to leave.

I’m in love with New Zealand. It’s so gorgeous and I love the people. I love Temple View and our host families. I love the memories I have of New Zealand. The food. The accents. I really miss all of it.
The final goodbye.

The drive to the airport was long and rainy. I spent most of the drive looking out the window, trying to take in as much of New Zealand as I could.

We made it through the airport. Ate lunch. Relaxed at our gate for a bit. Used a bathroom that talked to me. And boarded a plane bound for Samoa. Then traveled back in time.

Meow

Photo I found that I took of Trey right before he went on his mission.
We went surfing and he's wearing a silver and black zebra print cat suit.
I haven't laughed so hard in a while.