Hello friends! So our gloomy doomy weather on the Windward has continued. Actually, most days are pretty nice, until exactly 3:00 pm when I get off of work, and until Saturday, when we get to go the beach. What the crap trade winds?! Why you gotta bring us clouds and wind? 
Actually, truth be told, two weekends ago it was fabulously sunny and warm on our side for once. But on Saturday we wanted to surf, so we headed towards the North Shore, but there was loooads of traffic.  So we decided to head the opposite way and drive until we saw a good beach. But everywhere else was cloudy and windy and cold. When we had finally driven to the opposite side of the island we realized that home was the only place with sunshine. So we headed back. But when we got back the clouds arrived with us! So we settled in for an afternoon watching shows and eating at home. We had asked for too much, we should have just stayed put at our house and soaked up the rays instead of searching for sunshine AND waves. You can't have it all, ya know? (says the girl that lives in Hawaii ;) )
We did stop at the Poly lookout on our 2 hour long joy ride. Don't be deceived- there were clouds over that ocean!







This weekend we went on a hike with some of Scott's young men, and then soaked up some rays at Wainae beach. These two boys that took us on the hike, Colton and Nathaniel, are so sweet! Colton has been coming to church with Nathaniel, and for the past week or so has been taking the missionary lessons at our house. In fact, last Wednesday I sat in on one of the lessons- my first ever! It is amazing how much I have learned in church that I didn't know when I was younger, and most of the time I feel like they are saying nothing new, but boy did I feel knowledgeable during that lesson. 

 Also, we faced one of my fears and I free climbed this! (Don't worry, it was only about 15 feet high, Scott had to squat to make it look this tall)

 We hiked through this ravine to a great view, and a bunker- those things are all over here! 


Nathaniel, Scottie, and Colton. 




 Can you believe that our little underwater camera took these pics?! I can't tell if the camera is even better than I remember, or if my photography/editing skills are improving? Both I hope! 

The boys decided that this last section of the hike had to be run. They are all running ahead. Like I was going to do that. HA!





 Moss covered trees, vines, gorgeous lighting, and tiny flowers. I was in heaven. As I told Scott, "This is where fairies live."




Only a few weeks left! :( 

Silent but deadly. Usually refers to farts, but today I would like to apply it to West side of Oahu. Me and Scott have traveled about every road on the island, and you will remember I had a post this summer from when we made it the end of the road (literally), where the road ends on the North shore. Well we finally made it full circle! That's right; two weeks ago we made it to the end of the road, on the West shore. The two ends are only a few miles apart, but you have to around the entire island to go from one end to the other because it is a rough dirt road. Shockingly, we decided not to try and drive our 1997 Honda over this area, so it took a while to get there. 
The day we went it was crappy all over the island. Not just where we live, on the windward side, where clouds and wind and rain are not uncommon in winter, but EVERYWHERE. Sandys and Waikiki, which are always sunny, were disasterous. We stayed in the house until I couldn't stand it any longer. Scott has noticed that if I go without sun for too long I get very sad and tired (check Seattle off our list). So we packed up and decided to drive until we found sun. And here it was! 
Another reason we had never gone this end is that the first 3/4 of that side is very misleading. It's dry and sandy like Tucson, and then you pass all of these very.... what's another word for white trash? towns. And everything smells di.sgus.ting. Like sulfur. So you travel this way for about 30 minutes, and then BAM. Everything is green, and sunny, and the beaches have sand and grass dunes. So the pictures below are beautiful, and only indicative of an about 2 mile area on the end of the island. 

Look at those colors!

Can you guess what I was thinking here? A sandy, grassy, romantic beach perfect for a picnic. North Carolina, Nicholas Sparks love story here I come! 








 This is electric beach. We went here a year ago and I was too scared to snorkel (who knew I inherited my mom's claustrophobia- hearing yourself breathe is scary!). So Scott went out with my brother and my cousin, and Scott spotted a shark! So he popped up and yelled "Shark!" then swam as fast as he could in. Of course my cousin and brother didn't see the shark so they swam in very leisurely.  No fatalities though. 
We returned this time and I forced myself to snorkel all the way out to the pipes. This electric beach on the shore has pipes underwater a few hundred yards out that pump out warm water. The water causes more plants and algae to grow, in turn attracting more fish, and thus dolphins and sharks. I was so scared to go out that Scott had to hold my hand the whole time. Luckily for me there weren't any sharks out that day, even though we brought our waterproof camera so Scott could take pictures (while I would simultaneously pee my pants and doggy paddle to shore). 


I am the luckiest. Sweet boy held hands with me and swam slowly for me. We faced my fears head on!




When we saw this weird thing blowing up bubbles I felt like the Little Mermaid. 




PS. I didn't even touch up the color on my hair- I am the little mermaid! 

Thumbs up for facing my fears, with the help of my best friend! 

Since we are leaving the island in April we have been trying to get in everything we wanted to do before then. So here I have some pictures of the boats by Kaneohe that I have been wanting to take pictures of for foreeever. We have done pretty much everything and all that is left on our list is: 
1. See dolphins
2. Hike Stairway to Heaven
3. Go to electric beach and take pictures with the sharks


(Psst.. I have been watching lots of videos here, can you tell?)







Last but not least, the CFA Challenge! On February 15th Scott and the team from BYU-H competed in the CFA Challenge for Hawaii. Basically each college had a team that has been studying the Bank of Hawaii since September. All the last two semester my poor baby has been getting up at 4:30 am, studying the bank until 10, then classes, then he would stay until 5pm or 10 pm. On that Friday the team presented, and I got to watch. 
Scottie is a natural presenter, and the whole team did great! Although they didn't win, they got second place, and a bunch of financial big-wigs told him he was the best presenter of all day! We wished they would have won, but now that the competition is over I get him all to myself again!!!! 


The BYU-H CFA Challenge team!
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