MORE Hawaiian Happiness

Speaking of Hawaiian things, have I mentioned that I'm part Hawaiian. Can't you tell? It must be my glowing white skin and freckles that throw you off.

Okay, Okay.....sadly, I am NOT of Hawaiian heritage, but I swear I'm spiritually part Hawaiian.

Hawaii is so much more than a group of islands and SO much more than a tourist spot to me. It is a place full of heart, full of love, and full of beautiful Polynesian people.

To back up for a minute. Back in 1977, my dad was serving in the US Navy and he and my mom were stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was born at Tripler Army Medical Hospital. My parents spent their first few years of marriage across the ocean from their home in Southern California. I was nearly born while my Dad was stationed at sea!

Though I didn't live there long, I always felt a connection to Hawaii - and it was always fun to say "Honolulu, HI" when asked where I was born.

I didn't return until I was 21 years old. In the midst of my college years, and through a spontaneous turn of events, I uprooted myself out of my then-residence of Orem, Utah and followed my good friends Karli and Brittany to BYU-Hawaii near the beautiful North Shore of Oahu.

I will NEVER forget the day I moved there. I just packed up and MOVED to Hawaii. It was strange. My mom drove me to LAX and the nerves ran high as we missed the exit...arriving at the airport with like 20 minutes to spare. That was back in the day where my mom could have walked with me TO the gate (strange to think of that now), but we didn't have a second to spare so she let me off curbside with a big hug. I ran through the airport with tears streaming down my cheeks. It was all so fast and scary. I ran onto the plane, and realizing I wasn't sitting next to Karli and Brittany for the 6 hour plane ride to (what felt like) a foreign land, I cried a little more. A few minutes later, the flight attendant came up to me and said "Your mom said she loves you". I said "how?". He told me she'd run through the airport trying to catch up with me, and when she realized she'd missed me, she asked him to "tell the beautiful redhead her mom loves her". Isn't that sweet?

OK, so the sadness of leaving quickly died down and soon my mind was filled with total curiosity. What will it all BE like? (heavenly) What will it FEEL like? (hot and HUMID) What will it SMELL like? (plumeria and more heaven) What will it SOUND like? (beautiful ukulele music with silly lyrics. Oh, and the hum of the ocean)

From the moment I stepped off that plane, my heart was smitten. I was in love. What happened in the year that followed is for another post...or even a small book. I may have learned more about myself that year than any other pre-marriage year. I am so thankful to have had that experience. My heart is forever incomplete because I left a piece of it in Hawaii when I moved back.

I've been back to visit three times in the 8 1/2 years since I've been back. And I can hardly wait because next week will be make it four! Woohoo!!

We're going with Beth and her family, which will be perfect because she feels exactly like I do. Beth and I have been friends for 4 years. Really good friends. And of all the many things we have in common, two of the first we figured out were: 1) we share the same wedding anniversary 5/12/2000, and 2) we both went to BYU-Hawaii. It was a fairly spontaneous decision, but when she and Dane called a few weeks ago saying "you wanna go to Hawaii?", it was hard to pass up! They have a time share we can split with them (niiiiiccccee place, and cheap!) and we'd been looking at tickets anyway, so that was it! So four adults and 6 kids....should be chaotic and wonderful!

Aloha! And the countdown begins...