Friday, November 15, 2013

Well, I'm back. It's crazy, weird, and awesome all packed into one. But as I'm starting out a new chapter of my life I figured I'd say goodbye to this chapter. I'm starting a new blog. So if you're interested just head on over.

http://everydaystrong.blogspot.com

Peace out all y'all and remember, Christ is the Redeemer of our souls if we let Him be.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying.

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.
Miriam Beard

Yesterday, I got to do two things that I have been wanting to do for a while.
At 5:45 am I woke up and got dressed, hopped in the car with Mum, and picked up Klah who is visiting. We took the drive up to SLC to go to the temple. Klah received her endowment there and hadn't been back since and wanted to, and I wanted to go before I left. So it worked out perfectly. And wouldn't you know it, most of the guys in our session were the SLC missionaries? I love how it always works out like that.
Anyway, the SLC Temple is amazing. It's totally different from the how homecity's is set up but it's awesome. I can totally see why it took 40 years to build. It was lovely.

That night, Mum and I picked up Da from work and we went to MOA to see the Islamic art exhibit there. It was amazing! Seriously! I loved walking around looking at everything, learning about it... It even helped me remember some of my Arabic! It was lots of fun to tell Mum and Da about insights that I had because I know a little of Arabic. The whole exhibit just blew my mind. I could probably spend days there and not be able to absorb everything. So if you live in homecity GO SEE IT!! It's wonderful.
I felt really proud of myself too, because I kept some really snarky comments to myself that I really wanted to say to some visitors. "Wow, this is way more advanced than I thought this would be!" No duh sweety. The Islamic empire has been around since around 550 ad. Of course it's advanced. Just because Britain took over doesn't mean the Islamic empire was full of barbarians.
"Look at this one! It looks like something from a fairy tale!" If you would the pretty little words next to the book you would be able to read that it was from their version of a fairy tale.
Grrrrr. I hate stupidity, but I can't really since I'm sure I say things that get others just as upset.
Anyway it's a traveling show so if you're not from homecity look up Beauty and Belief to see if it's coming near you. It is so worth traveling to see. But I might be a tich biased.

Oh and I went and saw Hunger Games with my wonderful sisters on Saturday. I might be wrong but that's the first time in four years it's just been us girls. It was great fun! And Hunger Games was amazing! I was worried the love story would over power all the undertones of the book but the movie was just right. The only two things I have to complain about is that District 12 was way to clean. It's a coal mining area, everything should be covered in soot. Everything, people, buildings. In the book, I believe, District 12 is described as being covered in a layer of grime. In the movie it just looked to clean. Plus the people are supposed to be really poor, Katniss's family is practically starving, and you didn't really see that. Small detail but it was something I noticed.
Second was that Katniss's "Girl on Fire" costume wasn't as awesome as it could have been. I mean, her and Peeta on fire was cool looking but it wasn't as awe inspiring as it could have been. It just looked like a fire coming from their shoulders. To my recollection their whole bodies were supposed to be on fire.
Second small detail.
So for being a well beloved book, it was turned into a movie awesomely. It invoked awesome emotions, like how stupid reality tv is. aka watching children kill each other and being extremely excited about it.
It was an awesome movie, I would recommend going and seeing it, even if you haven't read the book. But as always, read the book too.

Well all y'all, this is goodbye for now. I enter the MTC tomorrow so this is my last blog post here. Don't forget to check out my mission blog if you want to keep up with all my adventures.
I'll be back in 18 months, don't you worry. Till then, I bid you farewell.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

People call it Valentines Day, I call it Tuesday

Sunlight is painting.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

My Valentine's Day was quite epic. I love the random adventures I have with my friends.

"IT DOESN'T FIT!"

"PUT IT IN DIAGONALLY! LIKE THE OTHERS! ... CLOSE THE MAILBOX!"

"IT'S FINE!"

"CLOSE THE MAILBOX!

"IT WAS OPEN! THEY'LL KNOW!"

"WHAT IF IT RAINS?"

"IT WON'T RAIN!"

"YES IT WILL!"

"FINE! ... IT DOESN'T CLOSE!"

This conversation really did happen, and yes, Kwistin and I were yelling it. I can only hope my companions will be as epic.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.
Emmanuel Teney

I'm stealing this idea from my good friend Jaime. It's been a hard week and I think I need the boost, not to mention I hate doing these kinds of things about myself. I get uncomfortable when talking about really personal things about myself. It'll be good for me.

25 things I Like about Myself

1. I read and I read a lot. I've pointed this out before but I really do like this fact about myself. A lot of my random facts come from my readings. Most of what I know comes from it too. Even if my favorite genre is fantasy.

2. I'm a gamer chick. This makes me a rare breed. The boys tell me I'm a hot, good gamer chick, which makes me even rarer. I don't quite believe them on the "hot" aspect but whatever. I love the fact that I can pick up a game the boys have been playing for ages and be almost as good as them a week later. My proudest moment is when I shocked Gaxor into silence and got a "Well done" from Georgia Boy during a StarCraft match. Gaxor is the man to beat and Georgia Boy has only shocked him into silence twice and they've been friends for ages.

3. I dabble in a lot of things. This is frustrating sometimes but usually I like it. I mean how many people have taken a welding class, woodworking, game, are a rec management major, plays at being an artist and photographer, plays basketball, writes, laughs at most of the nerdy jokes on Big Bang Theory because they actually understand them...this list could go on forever.

4. I listen to people. This has gotten me into trouble when I don't do any of the talking but meh. It's helped me establish a lot of relationships that I cherish. I mean I don't think me and Love would have as good a relationship as we do if I hadn't seen she needed an extra person to bounce ideas off of, the same goes for Mal and Kwistin, Writer and once upon a time Hols. There are so many people that just need an unbiased ear in the world. Like the kid I've only talked to once before Sunday who came over, sat down and told me all his girl problems. Poor heartsick kid.

5. My taste in music. It's all over the place and I love it. I'm listening to a playlist right now that has Paramore, Parachute, Mumford & Sons, The Script, Adele, FloRida, One Republic and others on it. If that ain't the craziest mix of music tastes, I don't know what is. This past semester I was sitting with Georgia Boy playing some music while helping him with a final. He mutters something under his breath and then says "Why is it I always find good music when I'm with you?"
"When will you learn? I am a music goddess." (I did something flourishy with my hands even) I meant it as a tease since we were broken up but he just nodded his consent and went back to work. So I stand by my statement.

6. I try to expand my horizons. Most people are happy with what they know, when I sink my teeth into something I have to know more. And then I love to share what I learn with others. It's fun being able to do stuff like that. So I guess this relates back to number 3.

7. I like that I like to teach. I've never found it to be a calling of mine but others seem to like how I teach. I had a couple of girls in my ward last semester that had nicknames for everyone. Mine was "The good, not boring Relief Society teacher." It made my heart smile, I get real nervous about teaching cause I don't think anyone else is interested by what I'm saying so positive reinforcement like that is good for me.

8. This relates to teaching but... I can take something potentially complicated and put it into everyday terms. Like the comment that set off the mission alert. The teacher had asked the difference between knowing of Christ and knowing Christ. I raised my hand and said something to the effect of " I don't live in this ward so I know of the people in the ward. I know you exist and have lives but that's about it. I know Llama and Jay. I have a personal relationship with them." *shrugs* you can be the judge.

9. My loyalty. It's gotten me bit in the behind more times than I can count but to the people who actually care about me, I feel like it's what glues us together. Even if we don't talk for years on end. I always say I'm like a dog: affectionate and loyal. Once you have that loyalty it's pretty hard to lose. Though I have met one or two people who kicked me a little too often and a little too hard.

10. My eyes. They're a tricky thing. They look brown till you get real close, then you see they are actually green with a brown ring. They also change colors depending on my mood, not by much but still. In high school I started calling them Dragon Eyes, because in some myths the dragon's eye color changes with their mood.

11. I can pick up an accent mighty quick. It can be annoying and does get me into trouble sometimes. People think I'm making fun of 'em when I'm not. You might have noticed this post has a bit of a southern feel to it. It's cause I just finished The Help. I'm excited to see what kind of accent I pick up in Boston.

12. I still have the awe of a little kid in some things. Mostly nature. I love clouds, forests, the snow. I love being able to text Kwistin and have someone to get excited with about how pretty the mountains look cause they're all pink with a light blue sky behind them and the full moon rising.

13. My facts. They might drive some people crazy but I like being able to say things like "Did you know you replace 92% of your atoms annually?" or who sings a song and what the title is, and knowing it within the first 10 seconds of the song playing.

14. The fact that I decided to serve a mission, and that I'm actually following through. It's a bigger step for me than I think I realize. I'm excited and nervous, all at the same time.

15. My writing. Not that I would show anything past what's on my blog to anyone. Not that I've written anything since that poetry class two, two?!, years ago. I have a lot in my head but I never seem to be able to sound right on paper. But when I was writing regularly I did have some pretty good stuff.

16. My ability with kids. I adore children, I really do. I love playing with them and seeing their sense of wonder at everything. Seeing how they work out problems and seeing their imagination run wild. It also makes me smile when a mom says "Wow, she usually screams when she doesn't know someone." Gives me hope that I'll be an okay mom someday.

17. My imagination. I know that it's a lot smaller than when I was little but it can still get away from me sometimes. This is slightly embarrassing but meh. When I took my avalanche class last year we went out into the canyon between Jackson Hole and Pocatello to do some beacon training. As we trudged through the snow and snow covered pines on our snowshoes, I imagined I was in Narnia. It made the half hour trek seem a lot less long and made it that much more magical. I mean the scenery was breath taking anyway, but it added an extra bit of magic. I do little things like that sometimes, makes life more interestin.

18. My adventuresome self. Drove my Mum near crazy when I was little, me running off for hours at a time but I had a grand old time. It's carried over to adulthood too. Snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, and the random adventure with a friend. Grand times are made, my friend.

19. Going everywhere barefoot. Well not everywhere but as close as I can get. It's just another one of my lovable quirks. It's a great thing when your friends invite you to something and then say "Bring shoes, we're going out in public." Or when you actually wear shoes and everyone is shocked.

20. This next one is total geekery and will cause and uproar but here I go. I like how I've embraced the Slytherin House from Harry Potter. Let me explain some. One year I was cast as Slytherin at Halloween cause I had all the green clothing and since then I've slowly come around to the idea. Not the evil part of Slytherin but more of becoming an... activist.... for the house. Everyone always says that Slytherins all turn out evil. I like to point out Andromeda Tonks, Tonks' mother. She was a Slytherin and she married a muggle. Just sayin. It drives me crazy when people focus on the bad of the house when there is so much more to the house. I guess it relates to a nation that I'm mighty fierce about defending.

21. I'm a total geek/nerd. What ever you want to call it. Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, gaming, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings. Yup that's me.

22. I'm a nature person. Send me off into the woods, canyon, mountains, whatever, and tell me to go play. Yes sir!!

23. My true laugh. The one where you have to sit on my stomach to get out of me. At first I hated it when Gryff found out about it. It's loud and obnoxious, or at least it was to me. And once she told Georgia Boy about it there was trouble. He soon found out that all he had to do was give me a good squeeze and the laugh would come out. He finds it endearing while I hated it more and more. Couldn't I just have one thing that was girly about me? Well, it's grown on me. Just don't let him know that.

24. My quirks. There are a lot of them. At least 23 are listed here. I do like them, even if I do curse some of them.

25. The fact that I spent most of the night blogging when I should have been sleeping. Gotta use that freedom while I can hahahaha.

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Yes, you kill my patience

No one wants advice - only corroboration.
John Steinbeck

I'm in a blogging funk. I have a lot to write about, especially on the mission blog, but I'm not motivated. So here is the annual "8 things" thingy.... hopefully it'll help

8 Things I’m passionate about
Gaming... yes I'm a gamer
Being yourself
Family
Loyalty
The gospel
Friends
Music
Different cultures

8 Things I want to do before I die
Trade ipods with someone for a day
Camp on the beach
Own a Mustang
Live in Boston (this was on the list before the mish call, just by the way)
Buy a house
Have a family
See the northern lights
Have my own car

8 Things I do now
Game with Georgia Boy (yup, that hasn't changed)
Read, a lot
Look around my room and say "I really need to start packing things away"
Half heartedly shop for my mission, hey I hate shopping
mope around the house about a certain person
Come up with creative ways to try to motivate myself
Listen to music
Marvel at how stupid people are

8 Things I often say
"I hate that stupid boy...no, I don't mean it"
"Are you freaking kidding me?!"
"In my room!"
"Massachusetts Boston Mission. March 28th."
"Can I borrow the car?"
"Kwistin with Pants!!!"
"Did I tell you this already?"
"I swear my hair has already grown 3 inches!!"
"Legit!" This was added after the post was posted, Kwistin pointed out I do say this a lot =}

8 Favorite foods
Subway
This yummy shrimp concoction I discovered
Hamburgers
Pulled Pork
Lasagna
Turkey
Pita
Cheese

8 Things you may not have know about me
I may stay out East after my mission, depending on how much I love it.
I really, really hope I come home with a Boston accent
I want to cover my room with flags of places I have visited.
I cut my hair. Imagine Rapunzel at the end of Tangled =}
I want to get married in the new Provo Temple. Here's to hoping it'll be finished while I'm on my mission.
I received my endowment!
I have recently rediscovered how much fun Yoga can be.
I still want to dye my bangs green

Monday, January 02, 2012

Missionary Love

I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
Frederick Douglass

So I've actually followed up on something, I have created my mission blog! Here is the address:
http://sisterkanani.blogspot.com/

There are several reasons I have created a separate blog for the mission. One is that I really like that this current blog is read by those who have either stumbled across the blog or those that I have specifically given the address to. I like that I can post mostly anything I want, speak my mind and whatnot, and mostly not get in trouble for it. I want to keep this blog that way, while I want to promote my mission blog as much as possible. Not so people will read it and go "Oh look what Kanani is up to" but I hope to inspire people to come unto Christ. I want people to read it and feel the love of God. I already sound missionaryish huh? =}

Well, here's to a new year full of adventures waiting to happen!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

What was so special about our victim that someone wanted to erase his identity? Don't say spy.

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.
Groucho Marx

Just as a head's up, I'm working on setting up a mission blog that is apart from this one. I'll explain more when I launch it but know that it is, in fact, in the works.

Sometimes I have really bad luck. Sometimes it's a couple of days, or months, sometimes it's only with certain things. Take, for instance, cameras. I have had 3 in the last 8 months. 4 in the last 4 years. I know, right? It's like I purposely take them, chuck them at the ground, and then look for another one. Well let me explain to you how they have taken that last plunge.

My first camera served me well. It was silver. I got it for Christmas my junior year of high school, I'm pretty sure my friends hated this gift as I took pictures of everything. It even served me well when I took my trip to Jerusalem, that is until someone stepped on it. Now, it's my own fault. I shouldn't have left my bag where my camera was on the floor when we were learning Dahbka. But I thought it would be safe and out of harms way. Little did I realize how big the circle was going to get. Luckily it was on the last few days that the camera broke. When I got back to the states I went to get it fixed. I was then told that to replace the inner screen that had cracked would be more expensive than just buying a new camera.
This is how I got my second camera. I also got it for Christmas. My nice blue camera served me for almost three good years. It saw a lot of fun and a lot of my college life. Then as I was packing my room to move home from college I was the one to step on it and break the inner screen. "Aw crap," was my thought.
This was how I got my third camera. My nice pink one. It lasted for 5 months. It wasn't stepped on this time however, I dropped it. It wasn't a hard drop either. I was up at Bridal Veil falls with Georgia Boy, Kwistin, Mal, and their boy/date. The trip had been going great, lots of pictures, laughing, lots of running around barefoot. You know, the usual. I had placed my camera in the front pocket of my hoodie thinking it would be safe there. After all I had just climbed through the pool at the bottom of the falls several times and not dropped it. I did a small happy dance, or some sort of dance, and what happened? The frackin thing fell out of my pocket. This time however the inner screen didn't crack, yay! Bad news is the focusing part of the lens had gone crazy. It wouldn't focus and the camera would shut off after a few minutes of scary sounds. Mum and I took it to a camera place in October, I was desperately hoping that it would be cheap to fix, and found out that a new camera would be cheaper. Seriously people? Why can't you just make replaceable parts for these things?
This is how I got my fourth camera. It's nice and black and all shiny. I am going to guard it with my life. It's going to go with me on my mission and it's going to come back in one, not broken, piece. And Mum bought a 2 year warranty for it. If it breaks in anyway it will be replaced. Mwhahahaha. Still guarding it with my life though.

Anywayz. Christmas was great! I didn't get a lot of presents but I'm totally okay with that. I would rather the money go to my mission than anything right now. Though my wonderful sister Lani did give me one of the coolest things ever. She made me some Felix Felicis. It's so awesome. She put it in a tiny potions bottle on a necklace and everything. I'm thinking about taking it on my mission but I don't know if that would count as sacrilegious or not.

Well, hope you had a Merry little Christmas yourself and happy New Year!


Oh and if you don't know what Felix Felicis is, go read a small book series called Harry Potter.