Circle Island Tour

On Saturday, Dolly and I went with Mala Fulumu'a and her kids on the Circle Island Tour the school puts on for new students. Although we aren't new students, we thought $3.50 to go to the Byodo In Temple, Pali Lookout, swap meet, Pearl Harbor, Walmart, and Matzumotos wasn't too bad of a deal. My favorite part is that I don't have to drive. Its nice to just enjoy the ride once in a while. I didnt take too many photos at the Pali and Pearl Harbor since I've been there recently, but you can see the temple. It looked really cool with the clouds hovering over the mountains.


This is us at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. And this other one is Dolly and I watching the Laughing with Samoans comedy on my video iPod (which I got for $50...cant say no to that kind of a deal! I have actually liked having it a lot!) while we waited for the bus to leave Walmart.

Home, 'sweet as' new home!

Yesterday I completely moved into my new house, which included moving out of the old house and settling into the new place. I moved to a spot in Laie called the Point. It took all day, and included setting up a bunk bed, rearranging stuff, etc.

I am staying with 3 other guys. The landlord, Wes, is an IT manager at Turtle Bay, which means that we have about 6 computers in the house, mine bringing it up to 7. He is also an entrepreneur, getting his hand in on trading on ebay and running the workings of the video business that is run by the other guys.

Fernando, a Samoan from Salt Lake City, supports himself doing video editing. He has a lot of potential and already has some good clients, including Fiji, a very popular reggae star. He owns a very nice camera, which is always helpful, and he really loves doing video. He is very optimistic about his business.

Joe just got back off his mission in Samoa. He is also a Samoan from Salt Lake. He works security at Turtle Bay, and helps out with the video things. He really is a lover of video and media, and is willing to some dirty work. I met him at my ward, and we talked about video and then when he told his roommates about my graphics, they got excited and offered for me to move in.

Here is a view from the inside of the front room, looking out over Laie Bay. This is what you see from the deck when you step out of the door. In fact, I'm looking at this view right now!
Here is the inside of the front room. Thats a big screen TV, complete with Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 to satisfy all my gaming desires (yeah right!). As you can see I'm watching the Olympics, beach volleyball...GO USA!
The two fish tanks. The one on the left is a fresh water tank, and the one on the right is a salt water tank. Wes and some of his buddies sometimes trap fish from the reef here off the point.
Here is a photo of a sunrise on the point, a very short walk from the house.

A new you

The school is host to a program called "A New You" hosted by Barbara Jones, which is a program which "rejuvinates women on the inside and outside". They have classes ranging from makeup and clothes to motivation and dealing with stress. Anyway, they had a program last night where they wanted to give them a taste of the university. They asked a few students to perform dances. There was an Indian and Tahitian number performed. I was asked to represent BYU Hawaii students and tell how I came to the school, and what my experience has been. The hope of the program was that these women would gain a desire to participate in the schools dealings whether through donations or other ways. I felt like I did a good job. They wanted me to do something in Samoan, so I opened up by doing a little speech. I then said a few funny things to help me relax. I said, "you know, many have asked me if I'm uncomfortable being in a setting with almost all women. I dont however, because I wore a skirt today so we can all match!" That brought some laughter! Anyway, the whole thing went over really well. I had a couple women say they wondered about sending their kids here and now see the value of this school. They also gave me a lei, which I was excited about. I've never been given a lei since coming to school, as far as I remember.

*Bonus story!

You may observe the shirt I am wearing above. Dolly actually gave that to me one day out of nowhere. When she came back here from Samoa when she went for her internship, she came back with this shirt and a matching puletasi, or dress. This was long before she knew me. There was a Samoan club fireside, and she decided she wanted us to wear the set, even though I had no idea it existed. Anyway, so, here is a photo of us matching. Kinda funny! Worked out well for the New You thing because I have kind of grown out of my other nice Samoan shirt.

The day my legs wanted to die

On July 18th, I took a day off so Dolly and I could do a bit of exploring. There was a hike I'd wanted to do for a while, so I figured, why not? Dolly only worked 19 hrs, so she already had most of Friday off. I didn't take in to consideration, however, that my legs were sore from an intense leg workout the day before. But go we did! We first went to Kaneohe where I visited with Doctor Kam who thankfully told me I could take my splint off. Yeah!

We left the office and got on the Pali Highway, nearly getting smashed by a large 18 wheeler. We stopped at the Pali Lookout, which was windy as ever. Also ended up being a bit windy. We left the lookout and headed into town where I took the Jeep to Jiffy Lube for an $60 drink of oil and where we refueled at Subway.

Then, we headed over to Diamond Head. This is a much different hike than I have done previously in Hawaii. Picture a large cater with no trees, hardly any shade, and a lot of dead, brown, grass. I am sure this may be pretty at some point in the year when the mountain is green, but the only reason to hike this is for the view from the top. And the sun was HOT! As you reach the summit, you crawl through what looks like the side of a flying saucer, obviously a remnant from military use, and then hike to a lookout where you can see the city below on one side, and the ocean and coast on the other. Great views!

The next stop was unplanned. It was a scenic outlook just North of Hanauma Bay where the waves crash hard on jagged rocks. It was probably one of the favorite places we went that day. The road goes over a bridge right over the top of this place. If you didn't stop, you never know what you would be missing!

The last visit was the lighthouse at Makapuu point. I had heard (falsely) that this was a short hike. Well, I suppose it wasn't bad, but at this point both our legs were about ready to give out, and we were out of water and food. But since it was a "short hike", we went anyways. This trail was also lacking in trees, and we even saw cactus, which was a first for Dolly. I've never seen anyone so excited to see cactus! But we made it finally to the lighthouse, which sits right on the cliff. Incredible view! It was still worth the struggle to get up the hill. We stopped at Ruby Tuesdays on the way home to regain some energy...much needed energy in the form of food and water!

4th of July

This year I watched the fireworks on the beach in Honolulu. We didn't go to Waikiki, but Alamoana beach park. Quite the spectacle. Sailboats lined in the water waiting for the show, the beaches were packed, music blaring, pretty fun! It was fun to lay on the beach and watch the show.

After the show we went and watched the new Pixar movie WallE. Although it was good, it was not up to other Pixars on a story level. Animation was great though.





This may be a good time to mention how I broke my wrist. I broke it during the food fest carrying a large cooler of sausages, and then attempting to run. My foot slipped, ultimately resulting in a spray of sausages highlighting my aerial maneuver as I fell towards the ground. I was in a splint for about 6 weeks or so. My wrist is healed, but sometimes it gets sore, which I think is muscle stiffness.

Homeward Bound

I went home June 14-30, courtesy of Mom and Dad. Actually, it was a result of Dad and I being dilligent in our exercise programs. It was strange to feel the dry heat again, but kind of nice to not have the sweaty, sticky feeling I am accostomed to in Hawaii. My family had just gotten back from being in Europe (see Cassidy's blog) and they were just getting unpacked as well. They brought me an authentic silk tie from Italy and of course, chocolates. We had lunch the first day I was back at Taco Amigo where I met Cassidy's boyfriend, Kevin. He almost got his name right didn't he!



















Then we just went through the normal cycle of life. Church, Grandma's house, the works! Connor started suggesting a family camping trip inspired by his stay with the Linebaughs while the others were in Europe. And so we went to camp at the Timp trailhead. It was nice and cool, but not uncomfortable. I had to step back and appreciate the beauty. I suppose years of scouting has somewhat dulled my appreciation for the sights. We were visited by Carl and Kathy, as well as Grandma and Grandpa.












I was home during my Mom's birthday. Since Dad and Connor were going on a campout, I decided to take Mom for lunch to Sundance and use up some more of my credit. I borrowed Grandpa's T-bird and we went to the Foundry Grill. Lunch was great, I had fish tacos. Mom had a burger. Chad stopped and said hi, offered us desert, and then ended up paying for the whole meal for us. I knew it was a good idea to tell him we were there! On the way back we stopped by Bridal Veil falls and took some photos. That night we all went to Thanksgiving point for an art festival they were having. Famous painters were out and about painting in the gardens, and we got to go up and look at them from a close distance. Pretty fun! Mom was excited to meet James Christensen.

One of the funnest activities was a party we had at our house with the whole extended family. Of course, volleyball was the highlight for me. It took quite a while to set up the volleyball net, and I had an allergy attack in the middle of the process, but we finally got it up. We had a lot of fun. I felt like I played good. I had some thundering hits, which is where I get my satisfaction. I only hit Chad directly on the face this time, the others were spared. Ha ha!

I didn't do too much with friends, but I did go play volleyball with Jon. Competition wasn't high, but it was still fun. Jon also had a pool party that I went to. Water basketball started to get some of my competitiveness flowing through my veins again, and I was probably a little too energetic! There was a foosball tournament that I didn't participate in. I told them that I would beat the winner once the champion was decided. I always keep my word! I also helped Jon teach a mission prep lesson. I shared with them the analogy of the faamo'a, a Samoan fishing technique. I also went with my Dad to girls camp to be a "Priesthood" representitive. That was a new experience!

A little surprise at the end of my visit was coming home from Jon's ward and having the house astir. "Kevin's outside talking to Dad!" I heard as soon as I came in the door. Before long, Cassidy was flashing a ring around and talking about getting marriaged! This means I have to go home again...what a great way to end a trip home.

New Blog Design

So, the blog has finally had a makeover. I consider it a longer than expected project, mostly just never got around to it. But I'm finally fairly satisfied with the final outcome, and this should last me for a bit before I get sick of it.

Let me know how you think it looks!

Thanks Cass for some key pointers!

Under Construction

As you can see I'm working on changing the look of my blog. I have gotten distracted recently from the task, so it may be a week or so before it looks presentable again. Sorry for the delay in posting too!

UPDATE: I am almost done! Just have to play around a bit more with the header! Thanks for being patient.

Devin

World Fireknife Competition

One of the fun parts of being in Hawaii is the fun cultural festivals that occur. This last week was the World Fireknife Competition. The fireknife dance is a Samoan dance where they use nifo oti, or blade, with fire on both ends and spin it around in some pretty crazy ways. I was able to meet several of the main competitors in the mens division.

Last week I also helped organize animation workshops put on by BYU professor Ryan Woodward and his students about The Turtle and the Shark short film. I was even interviewed by a school writer about this event. As part of my job of filming and documenting everything this group did, we went to a TV studio here in the North Shore so that Pulefano Galeai could interview them on his Samoan show. While at the studio, we met Mikaele Oloa who was the 05-06 champ, and was then obliged to sit out for one year. He is 18 yrs old and is moving here from Florida. Through him, we met his doubles partner and cousin VJ. VJ is 16. The two of them won the doubles competition and then VJ ended up winning the singles division, and Mikaele got second. Pretty good trip for those boys!

The event went from Wednesday til Saturday and featured womens, doubles, youth (2 categories) and mens classes. There were some amazing performances that by far exceeded most things I have viewed before at the PCC.

Dolly also participated in the fireknife, along with Lisa Solis. They practiced for about 2 weeks for the event, and went for fun and to enjoy the experience. They got 3rd and 4th in the womens division. Both have some pretty serious burns and cuts to show off too! I just know I couldn't even come close to doing fireknife. You can see the detail of the knife. It has two sharp edges and a hook just to make things even more dangerous.

The evolution of me

Many times, people try unsuccessfully to establish good habits. I have finally succeeded in setting one: exercise. Previously, I had tried setting exercise routines, but rarely were they intense enough to make a difference, and never did they last more than a few weeks. I hope this blog is not read as being conceited or vain. I look at this as an accomplishment, much like graduating or performing well on an instrument. It has taken time, patience, and great effort, and I feel like I would like to share my accomplishment. So please take it in that light, rather than making other assumptions that would be easy to do on such a topic.

In high school, it didn't seem to matter that I had no exercise routine. Playing basketball and volleyball a few times a week with friends kept me going, and a fast metabolism helped to ensure that I stayed trim despite my ravenous eating habits which I'm sure my mom remembers well. I remember when I got my drivers license, I was 5'3" tall and 130 lbs. When I graduated I was almost 6' and weighed 155-160.
The mission proved to be a changing experience! I realized that I had taken my fast metabolism for granted when I was introduced to the Samoan program in New Zealand. I was soon eating a diet chuck full of starch (taro, rice) and meat (pork, lamb, chicken, fish, anything!). I continued to eat as much as I could hold much like I had at home. Soon, my pants were getting tight. Before long, had gained 65 pounds, putting me at 230. At this point, I was no longer feeling healthy. Everyday tasks were noticeably harder and I couldn't even do ten push ups! I tried losing weight, but it was very hard considering the circumstances. I came home closer to 190, and before long was down to 170.
While at school here in Hawaii, I heard several talks that seemed to tell me that I needed to be exercising. I knew that I've never been consistent at exercising, and that I needed some motivation. I knew my dad also had a similar discipline problem with diet and exercise and one day I asked him if he'd like to make a sort of deal that he could lose weight and I could go to the gym. So, we made plans and started. My main reason for going to they gym was to become healthier. However, since you need to pick a type of exercise routine, I ended up going with a bulk up routine because the guys that helped me out at the gym were on such a routine. Doing this with my dad helped me to get consistent. There were mornings where I didn't want to go, but I thought that if I wanted Dad to do his part, I needed to do mine. It is proving to be a positive motivator.
Since starting, I have increased my maximum lifts significantly. My bench has gone up 80 lbs. I can bench 265 (once!) and normally lift 225 for my sets (2 plates on each side). I have seen significant results in strength increase in all muscle groups. Consequently, I have also seen physical changes. I have increased muscle mass significantly. I have gone up a shirt size, and am in the process of rotating out my old wardrobe. I weigh 190 again, but this 190 feels a lot different than 190 did on my mission.
Here are some positive effects I have noticed since exercising on a normal basis. My immune system is up. I have really only had one cold since starting to lift, which is much less than before and significant due to how little sleep I get sometimes. I also feel more confident in myself. I am more alert and active and dont feel as stressed. I can spike a volleyball even harder and I can get people to do what I want by giving them a mean look (just kidding! I dont to that! I can certainly testify that in this fluffy, technological world that demands little physical labor, it is critical to exercise to obtain our best physical selves.