island summer

I was going through the photo roll on my phone the other day and enjoying its contents immensely. I'm not a great picture-taker, but the one's I did capture make me smile. I hope they will make you do so too. 

This is just what it looks like, a massive pile of pineapples. Believe it or not, these are the leftovers from a dozen or other, much larger piles we've had steadily sitting, dwindling, and then replenishing in our carport for the past two months. Every ten days or so my grandpa would disappear with my brother and come back a few hours later with a truck bed full of perfectly ripe, sweet, and delicious pineapples. As you can imagine, we all average about two a day, not including fresh pineapple smoothies, jam, and pies that have been staples. Alas pineapple season is at its close now, so no more of these Goliath surprises, but mango season is right around the corner!

sometimes people from the mainland ask me how my life is different here. Aside from "everything is more expensive", I really can't describe differences very well because it's just my life and most everything seems normal to me now. But this was one thing that made me smile and realize, "oh yeah, this is not something you usually see." This is a wonderful ward member of mine working out the pieces of a broom she is going to make by stripping single leaves from a palm frond of their hard inner core. Amazing. I didn't know that's what our broom here at the house was made of!

some of my primary kids. (I love these kids!) we went to the beach as a primary activity during ward camp week and had a blast burying these gems in the sand. 

 

 

both of these pictures were taken while I was enjoying the beautiful Kapalua ridge trail to the north of where I live. Faka'ofo'ofa.

 

 

One of my favorite things this summer has been the frequent text messages from home containing funny stories and pictures of my ID fam. these beauties came from my currently samoa-dwelling sister who kept me updated on amusing antics with regularity. these pic's make me miss my family and everything a desert summer means: canal swimming, outdoor family movie nights, trampoline sprinklers, cool-evening lawn mowing, garden vegetable eating, backyard camping, and sunday afternoon sibling time while mom naps. Oh, and remember connor's affinity for costumes? well he actually made each of those helmets from paper-mache. I tell you what, this boy's a keeper!

 

cousins have been here visiting from CA. from right--sister, Lope and I on the way to an eat for a baby blessing.

 

attached to a text message from a different sister in the words of M (cousin): "I love you Kasia. you're only the best you're only the beautiful you're only like me most!" haha. miss this little girl oh-so-so-much. how did I get so blessed to have such delightful relatives?

sometimes I'm just driving and wake up to the realization of what I'm looking at. holla.

new haircut. woot woot.

for me there is nothing like flying that makes me feel closer to my Creator and more in awe of his handiwork. this is Oahu and Diamond Head (the big volcanic crater in the center) before landing at honolulu, where I went for a YSA conference a couple of weeks ago.

at said YSA conference huki-ing (sitting on top of each other) to fit in the shuttle van to the church. from left--friend, brother, me, mom. all totaled we had 10 very large adults in a 7 passenger van.

dad and mom (YSA parents in the ward too!) at conference dance. love them so much.

I work there!

cousins and total hams. :)

haha, M and her friends from a picture text.

received an amazing blessing+tender mercy when a dear friend from Vienna-days came to HI for vacation and ended up (randomly, but not really, you know?) staying at my resort while she was here. I introduced her to cliff house for some picture-perfect cliff-jumping and Ulalani's for shave ice. wunderbar.

I know I look ultra-creepy but I had to show you this picture of my current boyfriend. I VT his mom and O. and I are in love. no matter who is cuddling him in that moment (and in a Tongan ward babies are ALWAYS getting passed around), when he sees me his eyes light up, he smiles, and he holds his arms out to come to me. heaven. love this child.

Looking at all of these pictures and thinking about all of the scenes not captured on camera, I am overwhelmed. The Lord is so good! When we put our trust in Him, there is absolutely nothing that He cannot do for us, and He will do it if it's right. Although life is not perfect and I am really not perfect, my happiness is at a ten. With blessings and tender mercies and opportunities to learn and grow abounding (not to mention the above beautiful things and people to look at), I really have great reason to rejoice! 

PS- Coming soon: another book post!

Diese Woche

Went to Kona for the Temple trip this week. Beautiful.

I love rickety rides in tiny airplanes over the pacific ocean.

I live in such a beautiful place.

 One of the coolest parts of the trip, aside from the Temple itself, was taking a day trip with a bunch of ward members to Volcano to see Kilauea, one of the active volcanoes on Hawaii.

We also stopped at a beautiful black sand beach on the way back. There was a large sea turtle on the shore, and as we were standing there "ooooh"ing and "aaaaah"ing around it, some waves came in and it began shuffling out to sea once again. So neat to see that. Here's a picture and the video for your viewing pleasure.

Another best part of the trip was all the time I got to spend "supervising" kids at the pool, which is a more responsible way of saying that I was the one who got yelled at by the manager when everyone was jumping off rocks into the shallow end. And then they took my football away because our game of keep-away was too noisy, apparently. I admit, we were a little rowdy, but with twelve boys between the ages of 8 and 15, eight girls ages 7-12, and me, what do you expect? Anyway, it was fun, and actually the first time I ever got "kicked out" of anywhere. After that we were only allowed to sit in the water. Honestly. Who goes to Hawaii to their hotel pool just to sit? But we survived....

 Those are the main culprits, right there. Man I love these kids.

Oh look, don't they look sweet in their church clothes?

That's pretty much it. Good trip, good to be back home. Life starts again tomorrow (we're learning "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" in primary). Bring it on.

Thoughts on a Sunday

I'm hungry, so I'm thinking about food--


Thoughts about food:
1. I love vegetables, and fruit, and cookies made with applesauce, and oatmeal, and peanut butter, and raisins. 
2. I once received a bag of tomatoes as a present from a boy I was dating. I had remarked earlier that day that I would really love to eat some vegetables. Those tomatoes remain in my memory as the best/most thoughtful gift ever. I hope someday my future husband knows that I would rather him give me applesauce than chocolate. Someone tell him for me, okay?

[note: note my picture]

3. Today, after church, I ate raisins and peanut butter and applesauce. Together. No, it was not gross. It was delicious. 
4. This is not related to food, but I also love flowers. I hope my future husband brings me flowers. Again, someone please tell him sometime will you? K, thanks. 

[also not my picture]

5. Today for dinner we're eating shoyu chicken and rice, leftover and preheated sausage pizza, and stir-fried cabbage and onions. ......I'm probably going to be the only one eating the cabbage and onions but oh well, more for me, right? :)


And other thoughts: 
1. I love my calling as the primary chorister. Those kids challenge and delight me. They scare me and they teach me. I love them. (ps only 11 more Sundays till primary program!)
2. Someday I want to serve in the Young Women's program. My heart is always with the Young Women. 
3. In thinking of what I wish I could tell every young woman today, I found a couple of things on Youtube this morning, which I will link here. So good! 

"Virtue" by Jenny Phillips
Modesty #1
Modesty #2
"Happy Ending" by Jenny Phillips


And some just-in-general thoughts:
1. I'm going to the temple this week, for the first time in Hawaii since I moved here. I cannot wait.

[this one's not my picture either..... yet]

2. I have clothes to wear, food to eat, a car to drive around in, residence and citizenship in a free country, a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, friends and family to laugh and spend time with, jobs to work and earn money at, and so much more. I am so blessed. 
3. I have great reason to rejoice!

Buecher

Since graduating and passing though my post-college "I'm too burned out from reading assigned materials to pick up any book so I think I'll pretend I'm illiterate for awhile" phase, I bought a NOOK (such a good purchase, especially for travel) and have discovered some GREAT books. The following is a mostly-complete list of what I've read in the past few months (I don't have a very good memory for every title), combined with what I'm currently reading and planning to read soon. I've offered a short blurb and personal rating along with each title. Enjoy!


FINISHED:

Breakthrough
Very good. A non-fiction history of Diabetes and the discovery of Insulin. Well-researched and fairly well-written. Found it fascinating from a medical perspective. 

My Antonia
Very good. A classic about one boys friendship with the daughter of an immigrant family in Nebraska. Made me miss my rural background.

  The Last Aloha
Very good. A historical novel of the politics surrounding the annexation of Hawaii to the US. Well written and interesting. Very clean, mostly political, but there is a little bit of a love story that is good. 

Moloka'i
Very good. A historical novel about the leper colony on Molokai. Told through the eyes of one leprosy patient, a Hawaiian girl who is sent to Molokai to live in the colony and grows up there. Contains some sensitive scenes, but nothing too over-the-top, at least in this day and age. 

Diamond Ruby
Alright. Novel based on the story of Jackie Mitchell, the first professional female baseball player. I liked this one okay, and especially enjoyed the history of the Spanish plague in NY, which it deals with, as well as the vein of baseball throughout. Overall though it's not that intriguing. 

The Mormon Way of Doing Business
Loved. Made me proud of the high-profile businessmen who represent the members, tenets, and faith of the Church so well by their actions. Also made me want to be better, which is a sure sign of a good book, right? 

The Screwtape Letters
So good. Always, always love reading this book, so I finally bought it. A classic about a devil and his nephew and the wiles they use to ensnare humankind. Definitely changes your perspective and makes you more aware of the temptations you give in to and the sins you succumb to. So good. 

Olive's Ocean
A recent Newberry award winner. Alright. Nothing that special. Basically about a young girl who learns about grief and growing up when an acquaintance of her's from school is killed. 

Kira-Kira
Good. Also a Newberry winner. About two Japanese-American sisters and the life and times of them and their immigrant parents. I felt I could relate because so many of my friends are immigrants. Made me cry. 

When You Reach Me
Good. An interesting book based on A Wrinkle in Time. The story of one girl and an experience she has with time travel. 

A Wrinkle in Time
Good. Reread this one for the fun of it. Still good, first-experience science fiction literature. 

The Help
Good. Very similar to the movie, so if you've seen it you won't be surprised by anything in the book, but still very well written and a really, really good story. 

The Hunger Games
Entertaining, but that's all. Read this because I had nothing else to do at Thanksgiving. Didn't think it was very well written and definitely not a classic book on my list. But I was entertained. 

Catching Fire
Sequel to the first Hunger Games. Not worth reading because it's just more of the same from the first novel. Bleh. 

Unbroken 
LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED. One of the best books I've ever read in my life. Non-fiction--the story of an olympic runner who is drafted into WWII, gets shot down over the Pacific, and becomes a POW to the Japanese. SO, SO, SO good. SO well researched, SO well written, and the author is my new writing/researching hero. Love the subject character of the book and the (non-biased) Christian theme. SO, SO, SO worth reading. 

Born to Run
So good! I LOVED this book. A book about running, racing, and athletes intermingled with the story of the incredible Tarahumara tribe in northern Mexico. A very, very good book. 

Pollyanna
Good. Classic story of the cheerful girl whose innocence, faith, optimism, and love for life changed the hearts of all she came into contact with. A great read. 

Heidi
Also good. Hadn't read this before, but it's the heartwarming story of a young girl from the Alps, her grandfather, and how they influence a young crippled girl. 

Pygmalion
Classic story. Not really complete without "I have often walked down this street before" playing in your head, but love it anyway. I prefer the ending of this play as it is written over how they do it in "My Fair Lady."  

My Samoan Chief
Good. Autobiography of one woman who, after earning her PhD, moves to Samoa with her native husband in the 1950's. Her account of island life as seen through her western eyes. There was so much I could relate to in here, and I respect her a lot. Wish the book were longer or had more info. 

The Mansion
Great story by Henry Van Dyke that teaches readers about the folly of laying up for ourselves treasures on earth. 

Daughters in My Kingdom
BEST. BOOK. Teaches so much about the value of women and the place females have in the Lords Church and Kingdom. So, so good. 

Northanger Abbey
Bleh. Dissapointing. Boring, quickly-read Jane Austen story about a spineless female character who likes some guy and goes to his house and thinks there's some mystery surrounding his mother's death, when there isn't. The worst part of the book is that they end up married, I think. Made me want to gag. Yuck-yuck. 

A Christmas Carol
So good, I'm not even going to say anything. I love this book so much. 

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man
Yuck. Not worth reading. I almost didn't put it on this list because I didn't want to admit I read it. It was on the shelf at work so I took it home. A very worldly look at dating and relationships. Had some valuable advice about self-respect, but overall I don't think it's something most people would benefit from. (aka don't read it)

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. 
Blech. Could have been good--a memoir by a mormon girl about her young adult experiences. But it's most ruined by her yucky choices and wishy-washy opinions. Related with a lot and did make me laugh out loud at some things, but I wouldn't recommend it, and didn't like it overall. 

Heaven is for Real
Very good. The story of a little boy who was very sick, went unconscious, and then proceeds to tell his parents all about the heaven he experienced while he was out. Really made me think and search the book of Revelation. I recommend this one. 






CURRENTLY READING:

Heart of Darkness
Love it so far! Incredible deep story about the theme of darkness in humanity--from nighttime darkness to skin color to the darkness of the human heart. 

Lone Survivor
Haven't finished it because he's so cocky I can't stand it!! Interesting section of what it takes to become a Navy SEAL though. They really do earn that distinction of being the best of the best. Pretty amazing actually. 

Die Buecher Dieben (The Book Thief) 
I've heard it's SOOOOO good, but I bought a copy in German in Berlin a couple of years ago and I am determined to finish it in German and not succumb to curiousity and just read it in English (which would be sooo much easier and faster--the Deutshe version is waaaaaay longer). I was about 2/3rds of the way through when I came back from Germany but haven't picked it up in so long I started over. 

The Emperor of All Maladies
So good so far! A history of Cancer. Can't wait to get really into it. 

Barefoot Running Step-by-Step
Also good. A running technique book. Since beginning this book I watch for the foot-fall pattern of every jogger/runner I see. 

Marley and Me
Good and funny, but very similar to the movie so far, so I'm not in a hurry to finish it. 









TO READ:

 Running with the Kenyans
Just got this today. Can't wait to start reading it!










Yes, I like running books. And I also like classics. And non-fiction. What do you like to read? Any recommendations?