Author: admin

Hana Hou!

 Hana Hou
(Hawai’ian Pidgin ) Translates as “Do it again” ; “One more time”. 
An appreciative response to an event: usage similar to “Bravo”. Often as an exclamation.

Last night, I went to one of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever been to. My friend Clayton and I got tickets to the Honolulu Symphony, and I almost died when I saw the program. They were playing the Eroica Symphony, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Rhapsody in Blue, and Pictures at an Exhibition. Yes, it was incredible. The pianist was phenomenal, and I was actually the first one to stand up after the Rachmaninov, because I was so moved. 
However, as impressed as I was by the Gershwin, I chose not to give him another standing ovation, because I hold that gesture sacred. Clayton, on the other hand, said he felt rude not standing along with the rest of the audience, and it got me thinking about how different our expressions of appreciation have become. What if something is absolutely and breath-taking-ly surreal in beauty? How do we differentiate between that and an excellent performance? Do we jump on the stage and bestow 5 leis upon each player and give them all free tickets to Disneyland? 
Truth be told, I don’t know if many people really can differentiate. If they enjoy it, or maybe even if they don’t, they’ll stand. If they hate it, and it’s the absolute worst performance they’ve ever witnessed, they might grudgingly get to their feet and clap along with the rest of the audience. But music is music, and whatever.
Oh, no.
As pictured above, we have grown to value individuals like unto Justin Bieber more highly than artists like unto Queen. WHY? Oh, maybe because our ears can’t handle more than a 4-chord song with a whiny voice, coming from a boy that looks like a 14 year-old girl.
Sorry about that. But I do think we need to do some serious reconsideration by way of what we value.
It seems that a lot of the goodness in this world gets mixed in with everything else, and then we just get a big bowl of melted ice cream, and you can’t pick out the cookie dough bits or the peanut butter trails or the pralines, or the strawberries, because it’s all been stashed together for so long that you wouldn’t be able to recognize those individual delicious ingredients. Many people haven’t even been introduced to flavors like Sweet Cream or Praline Pecan or German Chocolate Crunch or Haupia. They’re just living life with a melted container of Western Family vanilla with brown sprinkles and peanuts. And it’s all in the same carton, so how is anyone supposed to stand up and cry out in ecstasy at the cascade of flavor from a single, life-changing bite? They can’t, so they just give every bite “2 Thumbs up!” and call it a day.
You know, the same thing applies to modesty and life styles and all kinds of other things, but I’ll stop here, since this has already gone on long enough.
Bottom line, I don’t believe in giving a standing ovation for any old average performance. But I do believe in giving a huge one if the performance is completely spectacular. That’s all I ask. Let’s encourage greatness, and stop celebrating mediocrity. 



Superwoman

My mom is Superwoman. Do you want to know why? Let me tell you a story.

One upon a time, about twenty-two years ago, there were two college students, a boy and a girl, and the girl was in about the same life position I’m in right now. She was an Elementary Education major at BYU. Then the boy came home from his mission, and they ran into each other in the RB. The rest is history.

If you didn’t guess, they got married! She got further into the education program, but nine months after they were married (in the Salt Lake temple, in April. It snowed.) a baby came along. Just perfect timing for the girl be doing her student teaching! That in itself is a big deal, because I can tell you that student teaching is extremely stressful and time-consuming– some of my single friends doing it now are on the breaking point– but the bigger deal is those previous nine months. The baby literally almost killed the girl, caused living hell, and almost kept the her from graduating. But she persevered! She graduated! And she stayed at home to raise her baby as much as she possibly could. She read to her, and sang to her, and played with her, and taught her about Jesus, and set the greatest example of the kind of woman her baby should become that any mother ever has.

The next twenty years were pretty crazy. When the baby was two, she had a seizure, which was the first indicator that she had epilepsy. This entailed expensive health insurance, countless doctors appointments and medical bills, expensive medicine, and eventually a major brain surgery. The girl, who had of course become a very wise woman and mother, was with her baby, who was by this point almost a grown-up girl, literally through the entire process– at every single doctors appointment, from that first seizure, up to the very last day she was in the hospital after her surgery. There was never a single minute during those twenty years that she wasn’t serving her baby girl.

Guess what? The girl is my mom, and the baby is me! Because of my epilepsy, I wasn’t able to get a drivers license, so my mama had to drive everywhere, including early-morning seminary, summer cross-country, concerts, and about a million times down Timpview Drive for everything. She also always kept the house clean, and made good and healthy meals everyday. She practiced the piano with me everyday, even when I complained and threw my theory books on the floor next to the piano. And she never ever ever complained a single time. Ever. Oh, and she also raised three other girls.

Now you must agree with me when I say that my mama is Superwoman.

If I didn’t have a testimony…

I’m in a Mormonism and World Religions class right now, and so far we’ve studied Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Each religion has interesting doctrines and philosophies, each has important values to teach and ideas to consider, and each has been enlightening to learn about. (hahaha that was a pun. Enlightening, get it?)

At first I found it fairly easy to judge them, because I’m very confident in my own beliefs (yes, I do have a very firm testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of JESUS CHRIST),
and could easily spot the doctrinal differences and maybe compare them in the wrong ways. But that only lasted like a week. The way my class is structured invites us to discuss the doctrines of the different religions, and then put a Latter-Day Saint light on them to further our understanding. Interestingly enough, the early history of Jainism started in a way very similar to our’s, not unlike Joseph Smith’s First Vision.

I’ve especially enjoyed learning about Buddhism, because the Buddhist teachings just really resonate with me. One thing that the original/ Supreme Buddha, Siddhartha Guatama, said after he first became enlightened, was, “I am neither an angel or a saint. I am awake.” Interesting, eh? The goal of the well-known Buddhist meditation exercises, which I’ve been doing on the beach early in the morning for my class, is to become awake. I love that! I love the idea of coming to your most natural and self-controlled state (this means literally only thinking about your breathing. Nothing else. This is harder than you might think.) and seeking knowledge in order to gain enlightenment. It feels so good.

HOWEVER. Although I’m intrigued by this and all the other religions I’ve studied so far, they all have something missing. It occurred to me just a few days ago. They don’t have a living prophet who continues to give them revelation and guidance! They also, of course don’t have the same scriptures we do, that just happen to contain the fulness of the living gospel. The Hindu scriptures that I’ve studied so far are actually very interesting. But I’m just observing the huge difference that came to me.

In the end, if I didn’t have a testimony, I would love to practice Buddhism. But I do have a testimony! And that’s that. I can still meditate, and work on ahimsa, and, more than anything else, develop understanding and compassion that will help me understand others, so I can share my gospel with them, and they can share their’s with me. I think we’d both benefit immensely.

Oh you know, just food

Remember how I wrote about the cleanse Madison and I did? Well, be prepared to be impressed: I consumed nothing by 100% juice for an entire 3 days. She went longer than me, but my parents’ concern, as well as my great desire to consume the expensive food of which I had been deprived for so long, as well as the tantalizing cereal bar my bishop gave me, pretty much forced me to return to the old meal plan. And by that, I mean cheese and peanut butter and strawberries. [You’d be amazed at the concoctions these three foods can produce. Strawberries were on sale at Foodland.]

This return to food brings me to what I think is one of the greatest ward traditions ever: Linger-Longers. I don’t know why the 1st ward never had these, but they are awesome. And if your Polynesian bishop has a Polynesian wife who makes very delicious food in very large quantities, then you are set for an entire day. And if your Polynesian bishop also comes to FHE, and brings good food to that, you have another meal or two provided.

So you’re a college student. So you have a slim budget. So you find yourself searching for any method of obtaining any source of nutrients to satisfy your natural cravings. These are methods that have been proven to provide/ conserve enough food to keep a student alive and well:

1. Go on a juice fast… (I didn’t have to buy groceries for a week!)
2. Linger-Longers (if you have morning church, this is enough for the whole day)
3. Fast Sundays (this makes your food supply last at least one day longer!)
4. FHE (depending on the assigned ward member, this could take the place of one of more meals)
5. Left-overs from Break-the-Fast (another amazing ward tradition that somehow got skipped over in the dear Oak Hills 1st ward)
6. Bread heels at the end of the day from the Seasider (This could apply to many other locations. Just find out where they give out free food at the end of the day. You’d be surprised.)
7. Watch for sales!
8. Certain types of home/visiting teachers pay dividends very nicely

TO DO Summer 2012

1. Sunset +Teds
2. Diamondhead
3. Dole plantation
4. Ala Moana + craziness
5. Stairway
6. Chinaman’s Hat
7. Skydiving
8. Shark’s Cove
9. Aulani
10. Waimea Falls
12. Pounders
13. Zoo

The Cleanse

I want to be healthy. I want to honor my temple and take care of it. I want to be able to run marathons all my life.

But I want to eat what I want to eat!

Unfortunately, what I want to eat doesn’t necessarily coincide with my previously stated desires. I mean, it does on some levels. For example, I love Mexican food. And everyone knows that Mexican food is extremely healthy. I also love pretty much all fruits except bananas and blueberries and papaya. Pretty much. And the list of healthy foods goes on. *Please note the healthy cheese in this picture.

But then I also like other foods like ice cream and pie and pizza and pie and spam musubi and pie and nutella crepes and pie.

So I find myself in a predicament. In my 20 years, I have learned that the aspect of my life of which I have the least self-control is my eating habits. Food– really good food, that is– is on my top 3 list of Greatest Things On This Earth. And if you have a polynesian bishop, who happens to make excellent food for his ward on a regular basis, sometimes you just have to support your bishop and your ward and consume the delectable spread of deliciousness. You know what I’m saying?

What I’m trying to announce is that Madison and I are on a juice fast, and I am dying. That’s all. I’ve grown to love carrot juice. Coconut Water is pretty good, and V8 makes me sick.

Check back with me in a week, and we’ll see if I’m still breathing.

Winter 2012 Quotes

“I don’t know music.” -Lauryn
“Wait, Mozart was Classical, right?” Lauryn

“Did you know this was filmed in Hungaria?” -Madison

“Amber, I just spilled chocolate on my skirt. I know that’s what you’d do if you were here.”-Sophie

“Our ward is so handsome! I’m really glad I teach Sunday School so I can look out and say, “you’re hott. you’re hott. you’re hott.’ “
-Lauryn

“Is 1000 meters a mile?” -Madison

“Sometimes I just want to make Heavenly Father a plate of cookies. …” -Janelle

“That’s so Europe-esque.”-Madison

“Les Miserables changed my life. Well,the music was absolutely fantastic.” “The musical that changed my life was Wicked.” “The musical that changed my life was Sweeny Todd.” -Suan, Amber, Dan

“Have you ever just been sitting in your room, alone, not knowing what to do, and you just think, ‘I wonder how to blow up a dumpster.’ ?” -Shaun

“I wish my life was in sepia, because I look beautiful in sepia.” -Sarah Tovey

“Just go buy a smart phone.” “I’m too poor.” “Well, just have your parents buy you a smart phone!” “They’re too poor too. We’re all poor!” “Well, ask your grandma to buy you one. Oh wait, she’s dead.” “My grandma’s not dead!” -Amber and Madison

“We all agree that music is among the most delightful and pleasant things, whether instrumental or accompanied by singing, so one might from that fact alone infer that the young should be taught it…” ~Aristotle

“Listening to begining violin students is like getting a lobotomy.” -Katie K

“Dell. It never says in the Humpty Dumpty rhyme that he was an egg.” “I know! For all we know, he could have been a violin!”

“I’m just really hoping that no one else was thinking of asking me [to Winter Ball] because I would hate to have to tell him no. That would stink for the guy.” -Sarah C

“Who should we invite?” “Do we have any other friends? [besides Amber and Madison]” “No, I don’t think so.” -Lauryn and Amber

“I put Nathan in the friend zone right when I met him. But he took himself right out of it.” -Lauryn

“I don’t see the potential for either of us to be heartbroken anytime in the near future.” “I just want to have this playlist to I can give it to other people.” “I wasn’t aware we knew any other people.” -Madison and Amber

“Peanut butter and pie. That’s like you and Tessie in one human!” -Madison

“Red hair can get you places. It was the bane of my life when I was a kid, but as I got older, I found that people really respect those of us with red hair. You’d be surprised.” -Dr. D

“It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the crop.” “Um, those aren’t the words.” -Lauryn

“Ian, don’t do anything you would do.” “Are you kidding? It’s Amber! She would kill me!” -Shaun and Ian

“How old is your husband?” “27.” “How old are you?” “I’m 24.” “Oh, so it’s not that big of an age difference.” “3 years. But you can totally tell the difference. He’s so mature, and I’m just this insignificant little girl.” -Hilary and Amber

“There’s going to be food there! Doesn’t that make you wish you could go?” “Well, I’m over food.” “WHAT? Food is what drives my life!” “I’m just done letting food drive me.” -A and Matthew

“If I looked at buff as I am, I would be ripped.” -Dan

“My uncle is the type that isn’t happy until someone’s crying. And he always tried to get kicked out of our family reunions.” -Clayton

“You should crash Cassie’s bachelorette party and spike the punch with Kava.” -Dan

“Oh man. I haven’t talked to [President Hinckley] in forever!” -Madison

“Make sure I like this [on facebook].” -Lauryn

“I don’t care if I bother people. I just care if they bother me. Which usually isn’t an issue because I just move as far away from them as possible.” -Madison

“Go for it, Jonah!” “Um, she’s a black belt.” -A & J

“OH! I was trying to figure out why LMN was familiar. It’s because it’s the alphabet!” -Madison

“Peeps are just diabetes in bird form.”

“You look like someone from a horror movie.” -Hilary to Amber C.

“Can you give me an example of a low pitch in your daily life?” “Darth Vadar.” -Mariko and Eve (piano pedagogy; Eve is 9)

“Lug, you taught me what a pet peeve is. You also taught me some swear words.” -A

“You’re not all bananas. You’re all fruits. Some of you are peaches, some of you are plums. Some of you are mangoes. And some of you are nuts.” -DB

“Chromatic trichord? That’s Satan’s theme!” -DB

“It feels so good when it’s right.” “I feel like that’s a song.” “It is, but it’s probably not talking about a kazoo.”

“The Second Viennese School loves the chromatic trichord.” “Did you go to that school?” -A and DB [the second viennese school is not a school. This was an extremely stupid question.]

“Oh my goodness! That’s OMG, right?” -Dr. B.

“You think Mozart makes babies smarter?” “That’s what my parents say.” “You throw this right back in their face: Zelda makes babies smarter.”

“If you see a person with a nose ring, you know they’re evil.”

“We are all walking-talking, ticking-tocking polyrythms.”

“A 12-tone matrix is really child’s play.”

“What do you call your mother-in law? Do you call her mom?” “No, I call her Louise.” “Oh, you’re one of those people?” “Her name is Mary. And sometimes I call her Gunther.” -A and DB

“Guys in tuxes just make me shiver. It’s not possible to not look nice in a suite.” -Suzy

“Do you have a question?” “No.” “Well, let me know if I can help, because I’d really like to help, as you’re doing your course evaluations.” “Now throw in a spiritual connection.” “You’re all going to Hell.” -BM

“I don’t like Ms. When I teach, I’m gonna be Miss Blair.” “But when you get married, you’ll be Mrs. Blair. Actually, you’ll never be Mrs. Blair. You’ll have to be Mrs. Blair-Schlniklefritz. You can hyphenate that.” A and DB

“I’ve never met a Matthew I didn’t like.” -Aria

“You look nice, Brooke!” “I didn’t try.”

“You have a very adorable sneeze.” “Does anyone have tissues?” “I have an umbrella.” -DB, Amber C., Hilary

“As you can see, Milton Babbitt is quite old.” “He wasn’t always that way.” -DB and Aria

“You don’t have an oven? So you can’t make enchiladas or anything like that!” -girl in ed class

“You could do it like my wife and me and never date. We met at Institute.” -Dr. B.

“Think about David slaying the Philistines. When you play Liszt, you have to take off your toupee.” -Bro. McCarrey

“Don’t do anything rash like quite this class or punch your mother-in-law.” -DB

“I’m down with cheese and crackers.” “Your feet are down with cheese and crackers.” -Aria and DB

“Jonah. Oh ye of little Putlocker knowledge.” -Madison

“Guys, my left hippocampus is just a trooper.” -Amber

“If I had no morals, I would be a hippie.” -A

“How does Jonah get so much sleep? I mean, he’s not a cat or a baby or an old person, so I don’t know how he does it!.” -M

“This may sound odd, but I really like my teeth. Some of my worst nightmares have been about my teeth falling out!.” -M

Easter

Okay. It’s obvious that there is no tooth fairy or queen of England, but it’s even more obvious that there is no Easter bunny. Like really. Who came up with that?

As much as bunnies and chicks and colored eggs and candy baskets are great (except Peeps, which are disgusting), the events that we honor this Easter day– the Atonement and the resurrection– are literally the most significant events that have ever occurred on the face of this planet, or any other planet, and it just hurts to see them disregarded, as things like poser marshmallows and oversized rabbits take the forefront.

He lives! I know that He lives! This coming week, starting tomorrow, is finals week (Hooray! :/) and the only way I will have the strength to make it through another one of these weeks is through complete reliance on Him. Seriously. It’s always great to be in the testing center, and see a kid sit down and bow his head to pray before he starts his test. Without that, without a Savior who lived and died and knows exactly everything I feel and need, without being able to pray to Him, I would undoubtedly evaporate. I am so thankful to Him.