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!