We're planning to go back to Oahu with my parents and my sisters and our families next summer and it got us thinking about Laie.
Alan and I were at Rick's College and we had been married for about 4 months when I was studying for Zoology on campus one day. I saw an ad in the Rick's College newspaper that caught my eye. It was advertising a full ride scholarship to BYU-Hawaii for transfer students. Alan was about to get his Associate's from Rick's so I knew he would qualify. I came home and told him I had this crazy idea that we could get out of freezing cold Rexburg and try BYU-Hawaii. He was open to it so we both applied, and he applied for the transfer student scholarship. A couple months later, we both received acceptance letters and Alan received another letter saying he had been given the full ride scholarship. We were thrilled! In Summer 2002, we packed up and booked our tickets to Hawaii.
My mom's friend Cindy who was a student there with her husband Troy, found us our first place. The pickins were SLIM since married student housing was full so we were grateful to have anything. It was a tiny basement apartment in this house. We didn't have tv/ cable, cell phones, or an oven, and we used a coin operated washing machine in the backyard and dried our clothes on a clothesline with the single college guys who lived in the other tiny apartment on the other half of the basement. I've heard married student housing has expanded since then, thank goodness. But we loved Yoko, our Japanese landlord who lived above us, and her elderly mother who would bring us her homemade Japanese Mochi. And being a two minute walk from Hukilau Beach wasn't too bad, either. Good memories!
Plus we lived right across the street from Hukilau Cafe. We couldn't afford to go out to eat very often but it was a fun place to be!
Here is a photo of our kitchen! We used hot plates to boil water and that small toaster oven on the shelf was useful in cooking a pizza, half of it at a time. There were plenty of cockroaches and we had a gecko that visited our walls daily. We kept most of the food in the fridge to keep cockroaches from getting to it. We had a fly infestation at one point, as well. We paid $650 a month if I recall correctly. It was an adventure and we were happy newlyweds!
Here we are leaving for school on our first day at BYU-H. We shipped our Toyota Tercel from the mainland but it took a few weeks to get there so we walked everywhere, including to the grocery store. Our first night there in Laie, we tried walking to the grocery store, "Food Land," but we walked several miles in the wrong direction. It was one of our first fights. I was being stubborn, trying to convince him I KNEW I was right about where we were going. I had to be humbled and reminded sometimes I DON'T know everything and sometimes my spouse can help us find our way-- a good lesson in general.
A neighbor gave Alan a ride to the store later. I had him do the grocery shopping most of the time because the crazy Hawaii prices stressed me out! We also had no phone or internet for a couple weeks because Hawaiian culture is very slow when it comes to things like that. We used a pay phone on campus to call and tell our parents we made it safely. I felt very homesick at first because everything was SO different, and Alan and I were just newly weds barely starting out. It was A LOT to adjust to.
We were so excited when we finally had the internet and our computer all set up! It was a connection to the world outside of this peculiar new place.
I loved this Plumeria Tree by our house!
It was fun to live within walking distance to the temple and we attended often. I would also go running at the beach and all around the temple grounds.
We went snorkeling on the North Shore with friends from the ward and a giant sea turtle swam right next to us! I wish I had photos!
We also took a boat out with friends from the ward and went fishing. Alan caught a ton of baby hammer head sharks! (And threw them back).
Here we are standing on a sand bar several miles into the ocean. That was one of the coolest things we did by far.
The church owned and operated a farm right next to the temple and we would go help work there. One time we got lots of bananas. There were so many cockroaches at the farm I remember them crawling all over our shoes.
Living there would have obviously been a great opportunity to take up surfing or paddle boarding or something awesome like that, but we were often so busy with school and work that didn't take as much time to do fun things as we should have. We did have adventures at lots of different beaches and we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center several times. We also liked going to Waikiki and eating at Denny's. (It was a little cheaper). We saw a movie on the beach at Waikiki and took a submarine ride. We tried body boarding at Hukilau beach but sometimes North Shore waves can be brutal. We got pounded one day. I remember the waves tossing me so hard I did a flip and hit my head on the sand.
They finished building this new Stake Center on campus while we were living there, and they had started construction on more married student housing which was sorely needed.
We hiked Diamond Head several times. The view is spectacular.
My Rick's college roomate Vicki was also going to BYU-H and our other roomates Cassie and Megan came out to visit for Thanksgiving. We had lots of fun and hiked Diamond Head with them, too!
We also went to the Polynesican Cultural Center:
We went hiking to a beautiful waterfall for a ward activity:
With Relief Society sisters at ward activities.
I think the photo below was taken near Steve and Julie Allen's house. Julie was one of the only people we knew at BYU-H besides Cindy and Troy. Alan had been in the same ward as Julie in high school in Colorado Springs. She is in the white scrubs in the above photo.
President Hinckley came and announced that they'd be re-doing the temple grounds and some of the surrounding area. They had a parade and you can sort of see him in the car. He's wearing a hat. Sister Hinckley is next to him. For a moment, he waved at me and I was distracted and didn't realize it until it was over. I thought about how symbloic that is-- that we need to be paying attention to the Prophet or we may miss important things.
I had the priviledge of going with a few people from my health class to the island of Molokai, which is the one island that is most untouched by man. We flew on this small plane. It was incredible.
We hiked down to a small village called Kalaupapa where a Leperosy Colony once was in the late 1800s. Whenever someone in Hawaii contracted Leperosy, they would force them to take a ship to Molokai and they would leave them there to suffer and die. It was very humbling to learn about this sad history.
We toured the grounds where the Leprosy colony once was. It was amazing and as they said, it was sacred ground. We learned about the Catholic Priest, Father Damien, who lived amongst the Lepers preaching the Gospel and serving the people. He also contracted Leprosy and died there like so many.
Our tour guide had scars from having Leprosy as a child, but luckily there was a cure by the time he had it so it did not spread.
I was amazed to see there was a small LDS church, even in the tiny village on such a remote part of Molokai.
We celebrated our first AND second anniversaries while living in Hawaii. Both years we went out to eat at the restaurant at the Ilikai hotel in Honolulu. It was quite a splurge on our tight student budget but it was the best food I had ever had! (I don't even think we tipped the valet! Embarassing!)
My parents visited us in our second apartment a couple times. We lived in TVA (Temple View Apartments) for married students. It was a lot better than our first place! And it was $575 a month and had a stove/oven!
We made this pizza for my parents and it's a recipe we will use. It's just dough with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and feta cheese.
The boy on the left was our neighbor. He lived with his mom who was going to college and her husband was at home in Japan. I made them chocolate chip cookies several times and she always accepted them kindly but I couldn't tell if they really liked them or not. One day I finally realized that maybe they don't eat chocolate chip cookies in Japan! They probably have some other kind of treat! I had many experiences like that at BYU Hawaii interacting with people from all over the world. In one class, I sat next to a girl from Mongolia who told me she loves the rain and feels depressed on sunny days. I had never met anyone who felt that way before and I asked her why. She told me it was because in Mongolia, you work hard out in the fields on the sunny days so to her, they reminded her of stress and work. She also said that as a child, one of her toys was a string of sheep's bones tied together. My mind was opened to so many new things and new ways of life at BYU Hawaii.
My 21st birthday:
My coworkers gave me a lei. Alan gave me flowers and M&M's. He knows me well.
Here we are on our second Thanksgiving there. Once again, just us and no family. We had sparkling cider and I made my grandmother's Creamed Corn recipe, but it wasn't as good. We also made mashed potatoes, turkey, and fruit salad.
We graduted in December of 2003. My parents, Carli, Alan's parents, and the Estes came. I was having morning sickness from my pregnancy with Emma (I was 2 months along) but I kept crackers with me and ate them as I was waiting to walk across the stage and get my diploma. I did NOT want to throw up on stage!
I felt so very accomplished! I had gone to school year round so I could graduate in 3 years instead of 4! I went faster and Alan slowed down so we could graduate together.
I graduted Cum Laude and received a Bachelor of Arts in International Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Communication and Alan received a Bachelor of Sciences in Computer Information Systems. My degree is somewhat useless in that I didn't gain any marketable skills, but WOW did it open my mind to so many new and beautiful ideas. It enriched my life in ways I cannot even measure or describe.
Us with Vicki, my Rick's College roomate.
With President Shumway and Elder Nelson. Elder Nelson was an excellent speaker at the graduation! I don't even think he used notes and he was perfectly articulate.
With John Groberg, from "The Other Side of Heaven."
I don't know who these two guys in the front are!
I loved my job working at the Admissions Office. I answered phones, filed papers, processed applications and mail, deposited application fees, and much more. I felt very valued there. Jeffery Bunker, Dean of Admissions, was very kind to me. I was so thankful for the job! Alan worked at the computer lab and even taught classes for a semester!
Of course we did some sightseeing while everyone was there! (And I tried not to throw up!)
Polynesian Cultural Center:
North Shore:
Don's brother Dean played on the BYU-H basketball team while we were there.
Dad liked to call himself "Hawaiian Superman," and he still does.
Alan and I grew a lot during our year and a half in Hawaii. When we got there, we had no family or friends. We only had each other. It was a whole new culture and seemed like a different country, in fact. I am very grateful we had that fun adventure before having kids. It was a great experience!
President David O'McKay made this prophetic statement that I love regarding BYU-H:
"You mark that word, and from this school, I'll tell you, will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good towards the establishment of peace internationally."
I always smiled to myself, thinking that I could be a small part of that.
