So I am back to the mainland now. I got to the canyon last night and it is so good to be back and to see everyone! I've missed this place a lot. Darren and Deanna picked me up from the airport wed. morning and we went and met Lacey, Drew and Whitney for a while before Lace took off for the Hawaii. It was so great to see you all. Its really hard to put into words just yet how my 3 months in Hawaii was. I am still processing through a lot. It was amazing!! to say the least!! I learned a lot about love and acceptance. I went on amazing adventures and made amazing friends. Got a tattoo and learned to spin fire... I definitely have come back a changed person. I miss everyone there dearly already! Its weird my first week there i had no idea how I would ever fit in at a place like that. How do I fit in with a bunch of hippies or the hippy lifestyle. But in the end what I learned was that I fit in just fine. Because we had the same heart and thats all that mattered. In the 3 months that I was there I was able to open my heart up so fast and let people in so fast it threw me for a loop. Over all when thinking about it the hardest yet most rewarding part of my summer came on the last day. I met with the volunteer coordinators for an exit interview and they told me -1- don't go, please stay, 2- that I was a bright light at Kalani, and my light shines brighter than most. And that right there meant a lot to me. They don't know me very well and have had maybe 3 conversations with them the whole time but for them to notice that in me-was great to hear. Not knowing that my bright light is jesus because even though it wasn't talked about they could still see there was something different about me from the way I lived my life. So that was pretty cool. My entire time there was a test of my faith and my beliefs and to come out a stronger at the end is great! So that is a little about my trip. I am in transition right now and am planning on being in the canyon for a week or 2. Then from there still not sure. I've been applying a few places and you never know if none of that works out I may be back in Hawaii soon... I will keep you updated! Hope everyone is doing great!

My last few days at Kalani were pretty hard and sad for me. I didn't really realize how much that place or the people there changed me or impacted me till I was about to leave. It's a pretty magical place. I do want to go back and visit for sure maybe volunteer again. Will see- only time will tell! One of may last days there Rachel took me to Fox's landing to this Lava tube that opens up over the ocean. It was amazingly beautiful!! It a little rough getting into it- seeing how you had to crawl on your hands and knees and squeeze through small spaces... but once you got to the end it was worth it... I will post pictures at some point . my computer is a little sick and is having troubles uploading and doing anything at a decent speed... more later!

I did it! I lit up!

No folks I didn't pick up smoking... but I did however pick up fire spinning. And I was going to light up for the first time this sunday but on a whim with Rachel decided to light up tuesday night. I am so glad I did because Sunday night has turned into my going away party and it sounds like a lot of people will be there so for my first time I wanted just a few people there. It was great because it was just Rachel, Satya, Taylor and I. I spun 3 times that night. It was one of the most amazing, exhilarating feelings I've ever felt. So much adrenaline!! I absolutely love it!!! By the third time I spun quite the little crowd had showed up. But by this time I was a little more confident. I will be lighting up again on Sunday night for my joint going away party!! I really enjoy this and plan to continue learning and spinning in the future.

Earlier on Tuesday morning I had another first. Yup, you heard right- I got a tattoo. It's really small and it says "Love out Loud". For me Love out Loud stands for a lot! I wanted to get something that symbolized my summer here and I wanted to have it done here as well.
There is a volunteer here who gives tattoo's for donation and I thought it would mean more to have someone from my Ohana do it. It took about an hour and a half. It didn't hurt really at all! I love it a lot! Your probably wondering why Love out loud... well -- Love out loud is the name of a song that has been a theme fro me this summer- but beyond that - love has been a huge theme of my summer. I've learned so much about love and acceptance! Love should be loud!

I can't believe that I only have 4 days left!! aghhhh!!! There is still so much to do! The goodbyes have already started. One of my bosses in Housekeeping Annalisa left today for vacation so I had to say goodbye to her last night and Betsy who is one of the managers here also went on vacation and I had to say goodbye to her today! I am not ready for the goodbyes... well I am off to bed.. here is one last pic. Ocean left last week and we had a surprise superhero going away for her. here is a pic of all us superheros and one of betsy, annalisa and I! Hope all is well!!

ahh one week left!

My new thing right now is spinning poi. Or fire spinning. I am not in any place to light up yet but I've been practicing everyday and I am getting pretty good for a beginner. I just started 2 wednesdays ago and I already have learned 8 tricks. Now I am just polishing them. Making them smooth and getting my planes straight. My hope is to light this sunday night at my going away party! I am super excited but at the same time a little nervous. But I will have plenty of experienced people around me to help out and to train me on fire safety. I will have to post video and or pictures after the event.
The other night I went to visit Pele again and it was the best I have ever seen. You could actually see the lava flow into the ocean! It was beautiful! I will post pictures later. My computer is being really slow and I can't really upload anything right now but when I can I will put them up!
So I can't believe that tomorrow is my last day of work already. Ahhhh... it is so crazy. I only have a week left then I will be back in Portland for a while! I am really excited about whats to come next although I don't know what that is yet! Being here has given me this new sense of drivenness.. I am realizing how much of a driven person I am-its pretty crazy. I have this new focus, vision, view on life. Its pretty great! The island is such a magical place. The energy of Pele is insane...
In my last post I mentioned how everyone was leaving and newbies were coming.. well I dropped off yet another friend at the airport this morning and around 13 of the 18 newbies are here already! Its been weird to see the change over happen so fast! I will be really sad to leave all my new friends here that will forever hold a special place in my heart! This place definitely rocked my world and opened it up. I am definitely leaving a changed person! I will write more on this in a later post because right now it is hard to put in words how I am feeling and what I've gone thorough this summer. But I can say its been amazing and I have loved my time here.. I can't wait to see all of you soon! I miss you all!

Off to Ocean's going away party- Its another superhero party! It is going to be so much fun!

Aloha!

I wish every one could wait to leave till I leave!! =:(

This is the week of everyone leaving... it's been a sad couple of days... everyone that I have become really close with is leaving this week for the most part... It started this past Friday! I brought Eliza to the airport on Friday night. She was only a one month volunteer but it seemed like she had been here longer. She is from Massachusetts and just graduated high school. She was leaving here to go to South Carolina for school.
Sunday!- I've been dreading this day. Kayo- she's been here for 2 months and worked in housekeeping with me. She is from Japan and came here to learn english. She is beautiful inside and out. It was hard to communicate with her but she is such a joy to be around. This afternoon Melissa was leaving... this is the departure I was dreading. Ever since day 1 Melissa and I connected and she was just so sweet and turned into be a great friend for me here. She is 19 and is from Vancouver, Canada... I know we will definitely be seeing each other again. it is going to be weird to not have her here the rest of my time here. We hung out quite a bit. She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside!
Mon. August 3rd.- Bernard is leaving. Bernard and I never got real close but he has always been a joy to be around!
Tuesday August 4th! Ahhh my roomie is leaving!!! Lauren is leaving to go back to Jersey/NY. She has been the best room mate ever.. Things are looking up for me to not have another room mate in my time here, but will see! Lauren is a beautiful and very wise girl! I will definitely miss her being around! Tom is also leaving this day! Tom has an amazing spirit! Always so happy! We got to spend a lot of time together recently on our Kona trip! I am going to miss his aloha! It just shines out of him! Can't wait to visit you in San Fran!
Wed. August 5th- Kylie is leaving! Kylie is this amazing person from Melbourne, Australia!!! She has taken to me as an older sister! Every morning she walks up to me and gives me a hug! She also has this amazing spirit and energy around her. I will for sure miss her as well! I am so excited to have some where to stay when I come and visit Ausie land!