"i wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if i could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when i came to die, discover that i had not lived. i did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did i wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. i wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life."
oh monday.. starting the week off right by skipping 2 out of my 3 classes... haha
hopefully tomorrow i can get back into the swing of school.
exciting news to report today, i donated blood for the first time!
i have been helping out the last few weeks with the blood drive and signing people up for it at our booth. i realized i couldn't convince others to sign up and donate blood if i wasn't going to do it myself haha. so i gained the courage, signed up, and today was the day.
as my doctor has informed me, i am "low hemoglobin" aka low iron. hence why i'm a weaky, constantly cold, and tired often. so i take vitamins to boost it. and the day before and of i made sure to eat iron enriched foods like broccoli (ew. take note this is the 2nd time i've eaten vegetables since i've been in college... woops. don't tell my mom). i was expecting the worst because i have bad luck with these things. overall i think it went well? minus the fact that they could not find my veins. took 2 different people to try. and i had to pump my hand majorly to get blood. felt like it took forever. but i survived! and i surprisingly did not pass out! i blacked out once.. haha and i've been a little weakling today, but i'm pretty sure that's normal. i don't think i would have been able to do it without my sweet friend nichel encouraging me. we signed up together because i knew i would need a friend to help me. she's a champ at doing this. i'm so happy i did it. my 1 pint of blood will help save 3 peoples lives. and that makes it all worth it.
after i rested for awhile and felt okay again i went and volunteered the rest of the time. i made bows to put on peoples bandages and walked around and talked to people donating to help distract them. if they needed a hand to hold i would sit with them. i just tried to help put them at ease. i made lots of friends today haha. some people donating were way funny. and the nurses too. i think it's such a cool thing that they spend their days getting blood to help save lives. how awesome.
in order to help out with the blood drive i had to get trained and informed of all these details about blood drives. during our meeting we learned that in the state of hawaii alone they need 200 pints of blood a day to help saves lives. today alone we had so many people donating all day long and they estimated that we will collect about 70 pints of blood? after all the hype of this blood drive, that's it? not even enough to save lives for one day. i never realized how much good donating blood did. why don't more people donate? i was always just scared. but when i think about that person in the hospital who is scared for their life, i realized i can get over a day of being scared. if you've never donated before, i definitely encourage you to donate. your blood will go to use within that week. so i know for a fact that i will have saved 3 lives this week. so rewarding to know.
i guess i can cross save someones life off of my bucket list :)
this weekend was so wonderful not having school. i was definitely in need of some beach time. today some friends and i went to the vans triple crown surf competition. it was grand. got some free stuff which is always lovely. i'm kind of loving this place called hawaii.
if you're reading this, i hope your holiday break was just as lovely. (probably not as warm as mine though)
friday night some friends and i headed to town at the aloha stadium to watch the kahuku high school state championship football game. crazy. growing up in the south, i know football. but i have never in my life seen a community so passionate about a high school football game.. ever. kahuku won and the north shore of oahu was going crazy. towns upon towns had huge signs cheering on the football team posted outside of their homes. kahuku is the town next to laie (where i live). it's literally less than a minute drive. as we drove back that night, the traffic was ridiculous. in stop and go traffic everyone was honking and cheering like crazy. after parking and entering kahuku high school, it was a sight i'll never forget. everyone, ages 3-83 was there till the late hours of the night dancing in the streets. literally. speakers blaring. everyone cheering. even the cops directing traffic were dancing! i've never seen so many happy people in one place. this town knows football. yesterday night i began to hear honking again. i look outside and see yet again, a train of cars, miles long, with screaming fans cheering out their windows and honking their horns as they drove all around laie. 2 nights in a row? these people have so much spirit. it was such a cool sight to see. i am definitely a kahuku fan now if i wasn't before. i wonder if the celebration will continue again tonight?
the day before thanksgiving i had the opportunity to go down to honolulu and help feed the homeless. it was such a wonderful experience. i must admit though, the entire time we were there i was filled with so many emotions. at times i was in happy spirits talking and laughing with the people i was helping. yet other times my eyes were filled with tears at the sight of witnessing hundreds of peoples' trials. i left the day feeling extremely selfish. when we arrived we started unpacking donated clothes onto a table for anyone to take. after unpacking the first bag of clothes and neatly folding them onto the table, i was immediately surrounded by people reaching and grabbing to get anything they could. we had only unpacked 1 bag and yet people were so needy for clothes. and here i am, a full closet, and still wanting to go shopping... we live in such a materialistic society. and we're all guilty of complying with it.
along with many others, we helped feed over 500 people, 1 meal. 1 simple meal. only once a year. and although we make jokes about the starving college student, i don't really find it funny anymore because i have never come close to understanding the feeling of poverty. to see this small glimpse of one day, in one city. it hurts. it hurts knowing that there is an entire world filled with billions of other people just like those 500 people i served on wednesday. and here i left knowing that i had many thanksgiving plans the next day and would definitely have a full belly by the end of the day. it's a tough concept to swallow.
there are so many things that i'm thankful for, but i look past them every day. warm showers. clothes to wear. shoes to walk in. a blanket to keep me warm. a house to shield me. a bed to sleep in. friends and family to love me. a gracious god to look over me. i am so beyond blessed. my goal this year is to remember these things and give thanks daily. not just around thanksgiving time.
today was just another simple reminder of how thankful i am for life. after classes were over some friends and i ventured off on a hike to a breathtaking waterfall. sacred falls. technically... this hike is illegal... but the beauty of it is unreal. the nature that surrounds me, it just leaves me consistently grateful for life.
today i am so thankful.
i am thankful for...
friends that can make me laugh.
the breeze felt from the back of a truck.
running through a field of flowers.
friends that held my hand to stop me from falling, multiple times.
the beauty and secrets the jungle holds.
safety.
the ice cold water i swam in.
the fresh feeling felt underneath the waterfall.
good conversation.
rope swings that make me feel like a little kid again.
beautiful sunsets.
calmness and serenity bestowed in nature.
repeat episodes of rob dyrdek's fantasy factory.
texting friends 5000 miles away.
a cozy and warm bed.
thanksgiving is getting closer and closer. after 12pm tomorrow, the break begins. it's so close. i can't even wait.
thursday night i joined the rest of the woman around the world and saw breaking dawn at midnight. obviously i loved it. go ahead, judge all you want. i'm okay with it. my roommates are so great. i came home thursday afternoon to find that our entire house was decorated with twilight pictures, candles, red and gold chocolate, vampire cupcakes, and sparkling cranberry juice (get it, it was red, like we were drinking blood?). we had a lovely twilight party before we left. we had a toast and everything. a little much? i think not. it was so fun. team edward forever and always.
(don't mind me, i know i'm weird..)
friday night i was asked by my friend kenneth to go to the fall ball with him at turtle bay. it was a lot of fun with all our friends.
saturday i had a date night with my lovely roommate rach. we went to cheesecake factory in waikiki and just walked the strip. i love waikiki at night.
sorry i've been slacking on blogging. i've been busy, busy.
last wednesday i had the chance to help out with the hunger banquet. for those of you that don't know what it is, i'll explain...
when you arrived at the event you would receive a piece of paper that gives you a profile of a person. in that description it classifies you in one of the 3 world classes (low, middle, and high income). based off of what income class you are in, you sit in that seating area. if you were low class you sat on the floor in trash. middle class, you sat in chairs. high class, you sat at a nice table arrangement, candles, violin players, and butlers included. we had some musical performances and speakers. the statistics i learned through all of this is really quite sad. as the night went on everyone was served dinner. low class, a serving of rice in their hands. middle class, rice and hot dogs on a plate. high class, salad, spaghetti, bread, drinks, etc.
overall, i think the event went really well and we had a great turn up. my sweet friend mackenzie put on the majority of the event and if you're reading this, you did such an amazing job!! so happy i could volunteer with you :) ONE also helped out at the event. love that orginization. did you know that BYU-Hawaii is ranked #3 in the US for leading colleges involved with ONE? and the two schools above us are the university or michigan and the university of florida. and our school has like 2,500 students. waddupp.
one final thought on the whole hunger banquet..it's interesting how in the US we think of middle class in a specific way. however, compared to the rest of the world it's completely different. there is so much poverty out there. it's so saddening. and it's saddening too because we can end poverty. we have the means to do it. but there are too many people that can't help themselves, and too many people that don't have the kindness to help others. and that my friends, is why the world is the way it is. sad.
"if you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one."
yesterday my roommate alexis was babysitting this sweet little girl maya. we decided to go for a walk on the cloudy day to say hi to some near by friends. in the words of maya we saw, "sweet doggies!!"
needless to say, it was a fun walk.
i love the innocence of kids. how the little things in life give them the most joy. spending time with maya reminded me to take pleasure in the simple aspects of our everyday lives. to lift your arms up and take a minute to really feel the warmth of the hawaiian breeze as it flows through your fingers. to take a minute to really listen to the whimsical noises of the palm tree leaves as they waver in the wind. to take a minute to really enjoy the time we have here and the life we are fulfilling. it's so important to take those minutes out of your day to ponder and think. to feel something. otherwise, before we know it, life will have passed us by without us ever taking advantage of those precious minutes of appreciation for what we have.
last week i had the opportunity to help plan an event at our school.
pretty much it was amazing.
let me introduce you to a wonderful organization called invisible children.
for those of you that have never heard about this organization, i highly suggest that you look into it.
long story short, it's an organization that helps spread awareness about this 20 year war going on in africa right now. in this war, the leaders are abducting children and forcing them to fight for them. the statistics and abuse that is going on is unreal. and most of us have no idea about it. people are comparing this to the next holocaust and here we sit, caught up in our own worlds, not a care about helping those in need.
the craziest part of it all to me, is the fact that 3 college kids discovered this entire tragedy going on in africa and created the invisible children organization only a few short years ago.
wow.
i feel so productive with my life...
honestly, this whole thing has really gotten me to think about what i'm doing with my life.
how much good am i doing for others?
planning events for non profit organizations is my dream job. helping out with these organizations that do so much good for others is what i want to do with my life. i can't think of anything better.
warning: ranting of thoughts about to start.
sometimes i get somewhat frustrated with our society. maybe this is me just being selfish though. but really... there are so many people in this world dedicated to so many things. sports, partying, drugs, art, music, facebook. the list goes on and on. but if just 1 out of every 5 of us could put half of the dedication we do into those things, into helping others... can you imagine how much better of a place this world would be? it just seems so simple to me. i don't get it. there's a solution for peace. so just do it.
be nice.
help others.
do good.
yet you turn on the news and we listen to endless stories about tragedies going on around the world.
alright, i'll chill out with my little rant of thoughts.
but really, this organization is great. it has such a special spot in my heart and i really respect everything they stand for. spend a few minutes and look into it. it's amazing.
well anywho, the event went amazing. we had a great turn up and i was so happy with the way everything went. great music. great people. great organization. great night.
saturday morning i had the opportunity to go to a retirement community and help do some yard work and clean up the elderly's homes. it was seriously so much fun. i'm so lame i know. but i loved it. those old people were so sweet and funny. i find people so interesting. everyone's story. their history. their trials. i talked to this one lady who is 92 years old. 92... i'm turning 20 soon and i feel old? it's honestly such a beautiful thought to know that there are so many more lovely events to come in my life.
while we were there i had the chance to make a new friend. his name is ford. ford has down syndrome and honestly is one of the funniest & nicest guys. talking to him i couldn't help but smile. he is so kind and friendly. i saw him yesterday and sat and talked with him for awhile in the aloha center.
me: "ford, what's been the best part of your day so far?"
ford: (leans back in his chair, takes a deep breath, and throws his hands behind his head) "ahhh this, reeeee-laxing!!"
i love the pleasure he takes out of the simple moments in life. whenever i see him around he just gives me the biggest smile and wave and it makes my day. i'm sure he has no idea how wonderful it is to chat with him, but it is indeed quite lovely.
lovely. that's how things are feeling out here in hawaii. quite lovely. i'm learning to appreciate the smaller things in life. i'm learning to put others before myself. i'm learning to be happy. i'm learning to find joy in everything i do. i'm learning to love life.
a day late, but it still counts. halloween this year was probably the most exhausting weekend ever. it consisted of multiple house parties all weekend and waikiki on actual halloween night. ridiculous. i've gotten a totaly of 3-4 hours of sleep each night. which has resulted in many naps during the day. which has resulted in bad grades... whoops. but it was a success nonetheless. i achieved my life dream of being a dog one night. dogs are the best. rach and i were catdog. hehe we think we're clever. enjoy the pictures. hope everyone had a wonderful halloween :)
