Hawaii

I guess its about time I get back on the blogging horse! Its been a while, and the longer I wait, the harder it will be to start again.

I was so blessed to be able to spend the past two weeks with my dear cousin Jessi, and my beloved friend Brittney. 

 

There were many times during my Hawai'i trip, that I was afraid Jess might eat me!

 

Met my soul mate on a hike up to the falls/ pond behind BYUH! (I'm not even sure what the heck that is... But I kissed it)

 

Then I met this little darling and just couldn't control myself. He was waiting for me at the wonderful land of the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) 

And I got a LOT of sun. If you can't tell from this picture... IT WAS BRIGHT! But what can you expect from Hawaii!

But sometimes it wasn't so bright. We even got the chance to set up a tent in the pouring rain. Tavin, Brittney, Jessi, and I decided it would be a good idea to go camping while it was raining. haha

 Our tent

Tavin standing outside the tent

Jessi inside the tent!

A soaking wet, and little bit crazy Sam :)

The most beautiful girl I know, just hanging out in the tent. I don't think she wanted her picture taken, but you know what, SUCK IT! <3 br="">

Snacks as the card games begin! (we played uno... haha)

Jessi and Brittney. I love you guys and I miss you so freakin much!

 Jessi and I took the bus pretty much everywhere. And when we weren't on the bus, we were in the back of Tavin's truck

 

Just. Pure. Awesome.

I also spent a lot of time on the beach. Want some pictures?

 LOOK AT THE PICTURES!

Did you like my beach pictures!? 

I can't tell you how peaceful it is to sit on the beach. With all the trash I deal with in my life, I was so grateful for the waves to just pull away all my stress and all my pain. I will never be able to fully express how thankful I am for the beaches and the wonderful woman I got to spend time with ON the beaches. I was so fully cleansed of all my pain and hurt while I sat and watched these waves.

Not only did the waves cleanse me, but Jessi and I felt it necessary to cleanse ourselves a bit. Go out on a limb. Be a bit crazy. So we died our hair blue :)

Jessi's bleach is in!

YIKES! Lets not EVER go blonde!

Jessi's looks good though

I'm so intense about it... I don't even know why it was such an intense moment for me!

We also did a lot of other fun stuff like surfing, sneaking into Turtle Bay Resort, going to the Swap Meet in Honolulu, AND had LOTS of yummy food. But my favorite thing I can say I did... I jumped The Point.

Let me say that again for you. 

I JUMPED THE POINT.

Maybe we took the "going out on a limb. Be a bit crazy" thing a LITTLE bit to far. This fall is about 35 feet. Thats a lot. Into the ocean. With waves. I dont know how to swim. And I'm afraid of water.

I DONT KNOW HOW TO SWIM.

IM AFRAID OF WATER.

But everything turned out well. And I made some awesome memories! :D 

Thats me. With my hands in the air. Wanna know why I jumped? Because a beautiful Poly boy told me to. And I would do it again and again and again and again if he told me to. MAN! I would probably do pretty much anything for a good lookin' Poly boy. haha

I think my new most favorite place in the entire world would have to be Hale'iwa. Heres a smattering of pictures for you. :)

Best. Shaved. Ice. Ever.

 The artwork in Hawai'i is terrific! I have never seen anything like it!

 Jessi has lit up my world in a way I didn't know was possible. I love her with my whole heart and I dont think I will ever stop loving my amazing cousin!

I also got to go to the Laie Temple. I think that was pretty high up there on my #1 list of thinks I did in Hawaii. Here are some beautiful temple pictures

THIS TREE IS SO INTENSE! I CAN HARDLY HANDLE IT!!

This temple was so beautiful to me, because I have been unable to attend the temple for personal reasons for way to long. Now that I am finally able to go, I feel so overwhelmingly blessed. I have never seen such beauty in my entire life. I now understand the importance of the holy temples of God, and I value them beyond compare. I will not give up a temple marriage for anything.

I love the fact that my CTR ring peaks through my ring just a little bit. It is so beautiful, and I think it symbolizes the fact that choosing what is right shines through the beauty on the outside, and shows what is inside.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go on this trip. I still have more pictures, (sun silhouettes, food pictures, Dole plantation pictures)  but I think I will leave you with the peace of the temple. Maybe I'll post the rest later. Maybe not. You wont know unless you look again :) I hope you have enjoyed my first blog post in a REALLY long time. Hopefully this time I will actually keep up with my posts. Stay tuned for more of my life, with a dash of humor. 

Sam