>it's finals week.

and that is why i have been missing.

i am beyond sleep deprived. 

and i'm pretty sure my brain cannot fit anymore information inside. 

is it sad to say that i almost did this yesterday in the library? 

i can't help but start singing this is how we do it by montell jordan. 

oh how i miss the music of the 90s.

L

>a rambling mess.

today was my last day in my first level peacebuilding class.
i left class teary eyed and with a mess of thoughts.
i've learned so much in this class. words can't describe it.
i would literally write for hours to explain it all to you guys.
but in short, this class and the principles i have learned saved my life.
many of my peers all agree that this class changed them. and it did indeed change me, but it also saved me.
it's crazy to think where my life was a year ago. 9 months ago. and even 3 months ago.
one of my favorite quotes is by j.k. rowling who said, "rock bottom became the solid foundation on which i rebuilt my life."
i honestly feel like within this last year i've taken so many twists and turns. but i've rebuilt my life. i've discovered who lauren is.
i can't help but want to cry when i think back to the past and where i was in life. so many low points. but the great thing about it is that it's in the past.
and i'm finding peace within myself through it all. finally.

xxx
L

i'm in a birdy kind of mood. enjoy.

>anthro dreamin

one of my new years resolutions was to become less materialistic.
so i am proud to say that i haven't gone shopping once since the beginning of the year.
i'm sure for some that read this probably think i'm completely ridiculous.
but for a girl that once wanted to go into the fashion industry... it's a big deal.
it's a good thing though.
we really do spend too much time focusing on all our wants when there are so many
people struggling for their needs.
but hey, who said i couldn't still look?
probably a bad idea though because somehow my fingers typed in the letters, a-n...
and magically this glorious site appeared and before long, i realized i spent about an
hour browsing the entire anthropologie website.
it always seems to happen that way doesn't it? dang it anthropologie.
which then led my eyes to this gem.

come on now anthro, not that i wouldn't absolutely love to sport this at the beach

every day, but $328... let's get real.

looks like i'll continue dreaming and continue not shopping for now.

on a side note, this morning i was awakened by the sound of the

blaring tsunami sirens... i literally gasped as i woke up, heart pounding,

sweat forming, immediately went for my phone to check twitter 

(yes i do indeed follow tsunami watch on twitter)

just a test. beginning of the month. that alarm, always gets me.

oh the joys of being overly paranoid.

happy monday everyone.

xxx

L

>robert fulghum

i believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge

myth is more potent than history

dreams are more powerful than facts

hope always triumphs over experience

laughter is the cure for grief

love is stronger than death

>invisible children.

my final event for the semester and what a great way to end it with invisible children.
most people are aware of the invisible children organization with the newest release of their latest film kony 2012.
back in january i booked the screening for a team from invisible children to come to our school.
with the release of kony 2012 in march it ended up being both good and bad you could say.
good, because some people became supper passionate about the cause and wanted to help.
bad, because some people became supper against invisible children and practically boycotted wanting to go.
here's my take on it all.

get. the. facts.
while i'm happy that invisible children is getting so much attention now, in case you guys didn't know, they've been around for quite awhile now. this problem has been going on for a long time. and just now people are deciding to have an opinion about it all? wake up people. i don't want to come off sounding rude, but the negative criticisms some people voice about invisible children is rude. have your opinion. you're entitled to it. but look up the facts first.

there is one thing i know for sure. they are doing something about the problem in africa. that's more than anyone else can say. i feel it's our duty to help one another. love your neighbor. so why is it that just now we are doing more to help? the publicity invisible children has gotten has been good and bad, but i see more good out of it all. if anything, more people are aware. for the first time i walked past the tv with the news turned on to see them talking about kony. not invisible children. but joseph kony and the problems going on in africa with the LRA. finally. i remember learning about the holocaust in middle school and i always questioned why the united states didn't do more to help? why didn't anyone do more to help? i don't want my children to learn about the attacks going on in africa and ask why we didn't do more to help. now is the time to do something.

we had 5 amazing rhodes come to our school to talk to us. it was so exciting to finally meet all of them, especially sara jane. spending so many months talking over the phone and emailing each other, it was so exciting to finally talk face to face. these people are amazing. i love their ambition and their willingness to serve. i was touched by hearing about pepito's story. he's from uganda and his family was attacked by the LRA. his dad was killed in front of him. his uncle died inside of the house when the LRA burnt it down, and his sister was abducted and later killed. wow. i can't even understand or begin to try and understand what it would be like to go through something like that. he said that it was a miracle that he was even there talking to us. despite all of this, he is probably the most upbeat and happy person i've met. such a positive attitude and friendly guy. he's amazing.

our time was short but fun filled. i'm sorry again for introducing pepito to m&m's because he's addicted now. if you're reading this pepito, easy on the sprite and m&m's... :)

i can't wait for the day when i turn on the news and get to hear about the capture of joseph kony. i pray for everyone that has been hurt by his acts of terror.
peace. that's all anyone wants and all invisible children wants. i can't see how anyone else can't support that.
thank you guys for your trip to our school. i'll never forget the wonderful people you all are.

if you want to learn more about invisible children and get the facts, visit their site and click on critiques.
they have done such a great job at responding to everyone's questions.
when talking to one of the reps, nate, he told me that they encourage people to ask questions.
read the other information out there on the internet. but dig deep. get the facts straight.
xxx
L

>goodbye hello.

well the time has come, a slight update on the blog was very much in need.

i got over the whole hello theme quite awhile ago, so it's time to say goodbye. 

xxxxxx

L

hello kony 2012.

hey guess what tomorrow is? that's right, my next event:

invisible children

4 representatives from invisible children will be coming to campus to educate everyone about joseph kony, the LRA, and how they work to abduct child soldiers. 

i helped out with this event last semester but this semester it was all in my hands and it has been so fun getting to talk to the representatives over the last few months. i'm so anxious to meet them. one of them is even from georgia (whoo hoo). anyways, hopefully it will turn out to be a great event. if you're in the area, come stop by. free refreshments :) now come on, how can you say no?

p.s. i also have 2 job interviews tomorrow. finger's crossed they go well!

L

hello prince kuhio day.

not that i need to say again... but i love hawaii. and another thing i love about hawaii.

hawaiian holidays.

thanks to prince kuhio day, we no have school yesterday. loveee it.

so my friends and i packed our bags and headed down to waikiki and rented mopeds. we spent the day exploring around the island. spitting caves, sandy's, tantlus lookout. it couldn't have been better. and thankfully no one died. just a few small wipeouts here and there and one run in with the cops, it's all good though. there were 19 of us in total. we were our own moped gang and i'll tell ya the residents of hawaii loved us and got quite the kick out of us. all the boys had some great guido hair, courtesy of the wind and we honked our horns obsessively around the island and it never seemed to get old. 

did i mention that i love this state?

what a great day off from school.

xoxo

L

hello photo update.

quick! photo update in 5 words or less, go!

 waimea lookout during sunset

 turtle bay sunset

 where are the turtle's?

 oh hey, that's me.

 oh hey, that's kenneth.

 i kinda like sunsets.

 dave and busters. oh yeah.

 jordan and jordan. love.

 haaaiiiiirrrrr. 45 donations!

 love this family.

my partner in crime. love.

 winter ball. polyneasian cultural center. my hair got long.
more than 5 words. whoops.

we is weird. 

there ya have it!

now time to update regularly again.

xoxo

L

hello new major.

crazy right? my sophomore year of college is almost over and i'm changing my major. yup.

it just seems right. i used to be a graphic design major and now i'm just going to minor in art. as for my major? 

international cultural studies with a primary emphasis in intercultural peacebuilding 

(and a secondary emphasis in communications or possibly anthropology, i haven't decided between the two yet) and i will still be earning my intercultural peacebuilding certificate.

so what's the short phrase for what you are majoring in? 

peacebuilding. 

i love it. 

so so so much. 

i just need to take a minute and explain how blessed i feel that everything has lined up this way. the peacebuilding program is not a huge program offered at every college. i felt good about coming out to hawaii, but never 100% good. i came out here on faith. and although it has taken me some time and it wasn't instantaneous, every day i am here is a testimony to me that this is where i am supposed to be. and i can't express how grateful i am for that.

xoxo

L

hello locks of love.

yes i know.. i have been gone for quite awhile. let me explain.

remember that event i blogged about? 

well it happened.

and it went so unbelievably well.

and i spent the entire last week recuperating from my exhaustion of months of planning.

but i'm back and ready to blog.

i'm so happy that my locks of love benefit concert went so well. i love event planning, but at the same time i hate it. and planning events on the college level are so much more stressful because of paperwork. so fun. i must say it was grand having to jump through so many hoops to get everything done. but hey, it all worked out in the end. it always tends to doesn't it? 

i had 16 acts performing at the concert. they were all wonderful! it's great having so many friends with pretty voices. while the acts were performing, there were also hair dressers there to cut hair for those that were willing to donate 10 inches of their hair to locks of love. and then there were a lot of facts about cancer spread out at the event and refreshments. the point of the event was to raise cancer awareness but in a way that wasn't asking for money. you see, we just poor college students that want to help. 

the theme of the event was the american cancer society's theme: imagine a world with more birthdays. so we had birthday cake and balloons. the different balloon colors represented the different types of cancer. (ie: pink-breast cancer, black-melanoma skin cancer, white-lung cancer, dark blue-colon cancer, etc) during the entire week before the event we had a table set up where people could decorate luminaries in honor of someone they know that is fighting cancer, beat cancer, or passed away from cancer. we had all the luminaries set up at the event. i also gave a little cancer speech half way through. and basically my main point was just that i hope if anything, people left the event with a willingness to help others. 

alright so for the exciting stuff... the months, weeks, and days leading up to the event i was super nervous about how many people would come, if it would be successful, if anyone would donate their hair, etc. about a week before the event only 6 people had signed up to donate their hair... yikes. my goal was 30 people... and i was desperate just to have 10 people sign up. well, i am unbelievably proud and excited to report that 45 people donated their hair that night. yup.. that's right... 45! (ahhhhhhhh!) i was just a little thrilled. 

so many people were inspired last minute to donate their hair. there were even a few families that came where grandmothers, mothers, and daughters all donated their hair. it was so awesome to see one mom donate 26 inches of her hair. and it was quite the tender moment when i saw this one girl i met donate her hair and her husband held her hand as she did. her husband who is currently battling cancer and going through chemotherapy. 

overall i feel so blessed. i hope this event motivated someone to help. just one and i'll feel satisfied with how it went. cancer is a disease that is so close to my heart. and something that effects so many of us. thank you. thank you to those 45 people that donated their hair, the hair stylists, the performers, the locks of love foundation for their easy cooperation and encouragement to put on this event, byuhsa service, and the amazing volunteers. i could not have done it without the help of some great friends. thank you. 

here are a few pictures from the event, but i'll post more later. 

looks like i can cross host a cancer research event off of my bucket list :)

hello tomorrow.

tomorrow.

i can't even believe that it's tomorrow.

let's take a look back to january.

"hey lauren, would you be interested in planning an event that has to do with locks of love?"

"yeah sure!"

"okay, go for it!"

.......

well after lots and lots and lots of planning. many ideas. and a few months later. the event is tomorrow.

locks of love benefit concert. 

i can't wait to hit my pillow tomorrow night. oh what a joy it will be.

hello evolution.

life has been in the fast lane lately.
so many ups and downs.
but as for now i'm pretty content on the ups.

saw this on pinterest.
figured i'd share because i love it.
& i love ghandi.

xoxo