Oh Laie!

I apologize ahead of time if you read this and are bored. I'm just thinking out loud.

I've been reading for the past hour and a half about Laie and the Envision Laie Plan, and also different articles on the plan and the comments of those who also read the articles. RIDICULOUS! I'm trying to find more information to form a better opinion of everything but there is so much going on. I plan to check out the "information center" down at the shopping center. So far this is how I feel and what I know about the "plan."

-there is already land behind BYU that has been zoned for affordable housing. BUT BYUH wants to take that land for themselves and use it to increase the amount of students at the school. (NO THANK YOU!) They are trying to get the state to use OTHER lands for the community's affordable housing.

-They are building a bike path. (woohoo!?) It is a beautiful bike path, and there are a lot of people that like to run that stretch from Laie to Kahuku, but why is it so BIG? It's huge! it could be another lane for cars to drive in. Lol. It is a bit ridiculous. BUT a good start and a good thing. I GUESS. It just seems a bit frivolous.

-They want to build a huge hotel! I heard that it's going to be 4 times as big as the old Laniloa lodge. NO THANK YOU! They bust down the old hotel and have all that land ready to go. Just waiting for approval. I don't like how this will effect the traffic in our area, or the fact that our town will be overrun with tourists even more than it already is! (And it's being overrun by stupid byuh students who walk in the middle of the road down my street and don't move when cars are driving past. Get off the road!) The costs of what the community is paying to have this hotel built (not monetary costs) is greater than the reward.

Ok so I'm just ranting about all of this. I want to do more research. And make sure I have all my facts straight. But from what I've learned so far... This is how I feel. So now i'm going to go check out the info center tomorrow and see what else the plan has to say.

I'm confused and surprised that so many members of our community are in favor of the plan. I can't see the benefits for the community. Looks like PCC, BYU, and HRI will benefit. Not Laie.

Your Heart

Anticipating the cool gel

a bit of slather,

a quick pitter-patter

breathing softly to hear you

while you move

A split second stricken with worry.

Are you still there?

The rhythm starts

first faint to loud

the whole world falls apart

in you I find my universe

Cherishing, loving, listening to your heart

Aloha Hawai'i Ku'u One Hanau

Aloha Hawai'i, the sands of my birth. Words can't explain how good it feels be home again. The sound of the waves crashing in the night to lull me to sleep, the stars at night, the green trees, the beauty of the mountains and the warmth of the sea. I am me again. Complete, in a sense, because I am home.

It's also nice to be reunited with Ohana. The nephews and nieces are growing so fast and mom and dad are still as loving as they always were. It's nice to "make trouble" to dad, and take the kids to the beach, and wake up in the morning to mom's hugs before she goes to work. And of course HUKILAU CAFE. Lehua still knows that I like to order Corn beef hash with scrambled eggs and coffee (on the down-low)!

I'm so grateful for my Timmy. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. He is truly my best friend. I'm so happy that I can share my family and my world with him. And I'm so blessed to be so LOVED.

I could say it over and over again. There's no place like home.

Australia

day 2

Woke up at at 5am to go to the airport. Matt drove us in the rental. On Jet blue your carry on bag can't be more than 7k! ridiculous! got on the plane and sat in the middle of Tim and a blonde lady. The three of us were laughing at the air hostess' welcome speech. She told us to "chillax" and then when she gave her "goodbye" speech she told us, "we know it's a pleasure for you to have us on your flight." lol. it was so funny.

Arrival in Melbourne. Such a beautiful city. So many random pieces of art architecture. There were these cool Oval things over the freeway. Old looking english buildings. We were picked up at the airport by Tim's friend Ryan and his beautiful wife Fabi. She's brazillian. We had brekky on Chapel St. It's famous for it's many cafes AND shopping. We then went st. kilda Acland street to buy me a swimsuit. Got to go to woolworth's (aussie grocery store) it was pretty cool to see the different things and brands they have. BUT EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE! After that we got dropped off at our hotel. The bloomfield. An old english building with a kinda frenchy look inside. Nice small comfortable room.

We got a call from tim's friend Adam, and he wanted to have a coffee with Tim. He came with his wife Tammy and picked us up. Tim had ANOTHER coffee. lol. Aussie's are obsessed with their coffee. It's too strong for me. But I could get used to if I was a big coffee drinker. We had a nice sit in the sun having water and coffee, and it was nice to be warm and to see Tim catching up with his closest mates. MATES.

We got back to the hotel and Tim wanted to lay his suit out on a hanger. he opened up his stuff and realized that he had left his suit pants back in sydney. HAHAHAHAHA. I couldnt' help rolling with laughter. He's always forgetting things. But he's so cute when he does it! So he left to go back to chapel street to do some shopping. While he was gone I tried watching Aussie Tv. not much good was on. We probably don't get the best stations here in the hotel. but i did find Bewitched on tv. So i watched that while i ironed my dress and prepped my wedding outfit. Tim came back and said he'd have to go back to the store to pick up his pants. They were being taken up.

We went for a swim in the pool on the roof. it was nice and the water was cool. I went with Tim back to chapel street, picked up his pants, had a chicken bacon ranch from Subway, and caught the Trams in Melbourne back to the hotel. We got ready for the wedding and were running a little late. Got to the ceremony right at 4:30 when it was supposed to start.

We looked all the way to the end of the park, and there was the bride with her bridesmaids. She looked beautiful! And the groom looked very handsome as well watching his bride walk all the way across the park towards him. it was a very dramatic and suspenseful entrance! Once they got close the DJ started playing the Braddah IZ version of "What a wonderful world" I had to count in my head to 100 so I wouldn't cry. The officiate was a bit weird, and she sounded like a gameshow host. lol. We went to the reception and there I watched everyone consume a ton of alcohol. did a little bit of dancing with my sweetheart. The food at the wedding was good too! AND THEN at about 11 we went home. It was a good day. And I'm loving Australia so far. There's a lot of nice greenery around and big parks. And it's nice to be back in the Summer weather. And best of all to be with my honey! He's the best!

Australia

Part 1 - Day 1 - Bye bye Tokyo! Hello Australia!

As usual, TnT was running around like chickens without heads trying to get all of our stuff packed up and trying to catch our bus to the airport on time. I had to go to the post office last minute to send my guitar, pull clothes out of the dryer, clean, throw out more stuff, do bed sheets. It was RIDICULOUS! I didn't have time to take all my rubbish bags out or empty my refrigerator. But luckily I have such good friends who said they would take it out for me. (kiele, crimson) AND we made it just fine! We got to the airport, waited in line for what seemed like FOREVER, and then we had to deal with our overweight bags. They wanted to charge us $300 extra! We threw out some stuff and got it down to $170! Just when I started to think we were good to go, the ticket lady asked me for my Australia Visa reference number. Tim had told me previously that I didn't need one and not to worry about it. But that wasn't exactly true. So then I had to go run to an internet cafe and fill out the form online, then pay $20. My card was declined so I had to run back to Tim and get his. FINALLY that was done and we were checked in. GOOD NEWS... They bumped us up to premier economy! We were both starving, got some quick ramen, udon and then hopped on the plane. Lots of space in premier economy, and the BEST service! I made friends with a flight attendant named Gary and he was so sweet! He started talking to me after I used the bathroom, gave me some water, AND THEN he went upstairs to business class and brought back... banana cheesecake in a passion fruit sweet sauce! It was sooo good! He also gave me and Tim complimentary quantas airlines sweatpants and t-shirts! I got to watch INCEPTION on the plane and a little bit of the movie Megamind. I really enjoyed it. The flight went really well, and fast. And it was such great service. QUANTAS.

Anyways. We got into immigration and Tim went ahead of me because he is a local. I had to fill out my arrival card still, when I realized I didn't have an address to put on the card. I started worrying and freaking out. But then, I remembered seeing a tourist book, so I grabbed it and put some random hotel address down. By the time I got back to the immigration line it was SOOOOO long. And of course I was grumpy and tired. It took another half an hour for me to stop feeling so overwhelmed. And when that was over I looked around and realized where I was. And it was BEAUTIFUL! The trees the buildings, the rain falling from the sky while the sun peaked through the clouds, the warm air. I felt so good!

We got to Nige's house and I met Matt, Tim's older brother. I was nervous at first but he was so sweet and welcoming. It's fun to see Tim with his closest and oldest friend. We went out for Brekky and i had aussie french toast which wasnt that impressive. next time i will try bacon eggs poached! We had a nice view of the beach from where we had breakfast.

We went to dmv in aus called RTA. Tim had to renew his license. Then I went to a salon and got a good deal on a leg wax, brazillian, and a mani-pedicure! it was a pretty good deal. But the brazillian was PAINFUL and it wasn't executed as well as I thought it should've been.

We went to the mall looked for dress and bought a camera instead and some makeup. By then we both just wanted to get to the beach. The weather was being crazy. It was pouring rain, and then really hot and sunny, and then it would pour again.

We went to beach and Tim went out for a surf. I was still to tired and the water was to cold to go in. I'm glad I didn't go in the water. A NE wind (i think) started to blow really strong and it blew a ton of blue bubbles (aussies call it blue bottles) into the beach. I'd never seen so many! There were hundreds of them!!!

Tim came in from the surf and didn't get stung. We both decided to lie down on the sand for a little bit and then we knocked out. It was the best!

For dinner we ate at a place called Icebergs. It's a swimmer's club on the beach that's famous for swimming in the winter. Once a year they swim in the cold water and throw icebergs in! Crazy aussies. lol.

Matt, Tim and I @ Iceberg's

Looking Forward

I've been having so much drama... just within the past two days! It's ridiculous! But I don't want to dwell on any of it because I really do just want to leave it behind me. And I know some smart ass person would just respond with, "well then leave it!!!" And if I could really do just that I WOULD'VE DONE IT ALREADY!!! But i'm trying. Trying. And that's where this stops.

.........................................................

Tim is in Australia and I'm here in Japan trying to pack up 5 years worth of CRAP. I've only lived here for 2 years BUT there's a lot of stuff in this room that has been passed down in the past few years. This room has never been completely empty! And now the task of doing it is mine. I'm not sure how this room was able to squeeze so much into it! It's amazing! I already have 4 trash bags full of old clothes and things that I don't wear anymore. All my cabinets and shelves of books, and linen closets with other oddities have been cleaned out. They are now separated in two piles. Trash and things to pass down to next years girls. There's a TON of stuff that I have to give to next years crew. winter scarves, jackets, first aid kits, office/desk supplies, a box of tools, a few bottles of rubbing alcohol (2 to be exact) lotions, towels, tea light candles, a ton os good stuff. I'm excited for next years girls. I hope they have a fabulous time here in Japan. I know I did. Oh wait. There is another section, located on my fold out couch that is dedicated to things that need to be shipped home! My little sister on her mission just south of where I live sent me a box of her ugly modest clothes to send home. Haha! I know she's not gonna wear it when she goes back home. I also have to send all my shoes, a few books, and clothes. And best of all PRESENTS from Disney

I'm not sure how we are going to get all of this stuff out of here! But I definitely have a lot that I need to ship home. Guitars surfboards etc. I'm excited for the new year to come and to be reunited with family and friends... And there are also some other new and interesting developments that will be taking place next year! Woohoo! I love my Timmy. He is always so good to me, and makes me want to be a better person while at the same time never making me feel like I need to change. We have so much fun together, and if my computer wasn't acting up I could post another adventure with video and pictures! Oh well!

TnT Camping

The year has gone by so quickly. I can't believe it's winter again! ugh! Anyway, there are so many things that we want to write down and record, so many things we've been able to experience this year. So here's a short video I made for Tim about our surf and camping adventures.

We surfed a lot this summer. It was so nice and refreshing to get out of the busy city and out into the country. All of our surfing and camping was done in Chiba.