Video - Birthday Diner at Breakers

Here is one of the videos we took while at Breakers. It was really funny when they sang happy birthday to me because all the people in the resturant started singing along and yelling (it's a small resturant). It was so fun and I'm so grateful for the great friends I have here.

Birthday #19 - Night

The day of my birthday was a school day so we didn't do much because we all had homework. We went to the soccor game and then that night we made my favorite cake (german chocolate) and then just did homework. It was fun making the cake and it was delicious. However becasue my birthday was in the middle of the week we decided we would make it a week long birthday, spreading activities throughout the week. It was the funnest week.

Don't worry I didn't eat that big of a bite...or the whole cake :)

Me, Kaitlyn Schooff

Kaitlyn Schooff, Me

Kaitlyn Schooff, Me

The next big outting was for my 19th birthday!! The Friday after my birthday we went to Haliewa and had diner at a resturant called Breakers. They have some really good hamburgers (as far as Hawaii has to offer) and they have the yummiest brownie and ice cream dessert!! I went to diner with my friends Kaitlyn Schooff, Katresha Veaze, and Cody Teeples. We had so miuch fun, and yes they did embarrass me by singing happy birthday, but it was really funny too, there's a video of it posted below.

Thank you everyone for all of your birthday wishes through phone and email, they really ment a lot to me. I love you all!!!


Kaitlyn Schooff, Katresha Veazie

The most delicious brownie dessert ever!!!

(left) Me, Cody Teeples

(right) Katresha Veazie, Kaitlyn Schooff

Me, Cody Teeples

Kaitlyn Schooff, Me

I had one of the best birthdays ever, thank you to Kaitlyn and Katresha for making it so fun even though I was away from home!!! You guys are amazing!!

Beautiful Maunawilli Falls!!

Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't been as good about keeping my blog posted this semester. So I'm going to catch everyone up with whole bunch of posts, to begin....

Maunawilli Falls!!
It's about a 30-45 minute hike in to where the waterfall is. It's natural water and there are three different levels that you can jump off; the pool at the bottom is really deep. It is one of the prettiest hikes I've been on, I can't wait to go again and actually have time to spend exploring all the different side trails along the hike. I went with two of my best friends Kaitlyn Schooff and Katresha Veazie and her fiance Landon. It was so fun to jump off the falls...even if I did get sick from getting to much water in my head...but besides that it was amazing. The hike wasn't hard at all until we got to the stairs, they're huge!!! but here are some pictures for you to see what it looks like :)

Katresha Veazie, Landon Portor, Kaitlyn Schooff, ME

the killer stairs!!! It's so beautiful and after you hike up the first waterfall there is a second one up above it that you can't see unless your above this one. However I didn't get any pictures this time, but I will for sure next time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JADON!!!!!

I just want to put a special note in for my brother Jadon. Today is his 11th birthday!! I can't believe how much he's grown up and that he will be getting the preisthood in a year. Jadon I love you so much and I am so glad that you are my little brother. I love watching you play sports, especially baseball, and to see your love for the game. You are so fun to be with and are always laughing. I miss you alot and can't wait to see you at Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and it is everything you want it to be. Know that you are loved by all those around you.

Love your sister,

Shiri

Birthday #19 !!!

Thank you everyone for all of the birthday wishes and emails! I had a wonderful relaxing day and it turned out great. I spent the day with friends and webcaming with my family. My friends and I went to the soccor games, one of my friends took me out to lunch, then we all made cake and played games that night. I didn't get to go to the beach because the weather was overcast and rainy but it was still a good day. Because everybody had school we decided to make it a week long birthday. Tuesday we had cake and games, Wednesday we went to Waimea Bay for a couple hours, Thursday we had I went to the Artimos concert and then had a movie night with Kaitlyn, tonight (Friday) is the song fest and for tomorrow I'm participating in a service project and then we are going to Breakers for diner in Halei'wa (this place has the best hamburgers on the island and is delicious!). So needless to say it was a great birthday and it has been a great week that has gone by to fast.

Back in Hawaii

ok so after 11 hours of sitting at airports, sitting in planes and dealing with flight delays I am finally in Hawaii. I'm mostly unpacked...just need to make a Walmart run so that I can get my room organized :) I haven't met my room mate yet but from her name and decorations I know that she is Japanese..at least I think.

I miss everyone already and the comforts of home, but hopefully I will be able to make this a fun semester and get to know alot of people. I will be updating my blog regularly now that I'm back in school, but as for right now it's 2:00am Utah time and I'm bushed. I will right again soon :D

wow it's been a while!

ok ok, i know it's been forever since I last wrote something...what can I say I've been busy...and I'm on the computer alot more when I'm at school then at home. I've been home about a month and a half and it has flown by. I can't believe I've already been home so long!!! Madilyn and Courtnee are getting so big, all of the kids have grown but most significantly those two. David is a giant and Bryson and Jadon have grown to. I've just been working for Oh My Crafts this summer and getting back into pitching again.

I was clear by my orthopedist a week after I got home. I have a 9-week throughing workout I have to do to get up to full motion and full speed. I only have 3 weeks left!!! yeah!! I start working with my pitching coach, Tim Hill, next week. I've also been working on my hitting and it's been improving also. I love softball, I didn't realize how much I missed it until I started throwing again. It wasn't too bad at school cause I was still on the team and all but when I started throwing again it felt like a piece of me that was missing finally came back. I love the feel of the game and pitching, I'm so grateful Heavenly Father has help me get through this surgery and recovery.

I don't go back to school until September so I will just be working, pitching, playing with friends and spending time with my family until then. It's going to be hard to leave again, it"s so far away but I have a while so I'm going to enjoy every minute of being home.

Finals Week UGH!

Well I can officially say that I now know what finals stress feels like, and it's starting to get to me. At the beginning of the week I was completely fine; confident in my finals and focused (not having any anxiety attacks)...well not so much anymore. I had two finals today and they both got to me. I thought I was prepared, but then 2 hours before test time I started to feel like I wasn't and I wasn't going to do well. I have to say there is no way I would make it through this week without my Heavenly Father and my parents. They have helped me stay focused and positive and Heavenly Father has answered my prayers in helping me not have anxiety about tests and stay focused so that I could do well.

Besides the fact that finals means stress, it also means the end of the semester!!! which equals going home! It's amazing to me to think that I am almost done with my first semester of college. I will be home in 6 days!(...well almost 5). I can't wait to see everyone. I can't believe the semester is already over, in a way I feel like I just got here but I also feel as if I have been gone forever. I just hope that this horrible sinus infection I have goes away before I have to get on a plane; sinus pressure and altitude changes in a plane do not go very well together.

I'll update again when I don't have finals to study for. I love and miss everyone back home. Can't wait to see you!

My Weekend

This past saturday was so much fun! I went with Jessica Locke, Chris Stinson, and Ariel Lovette to Hukilau Cafe, swap meet and the beach.

Hukilau Cafe is probably my favorite breakfast place ever! Their food is so good and the best thing is that it's cheap for alot of food haha. Saturday I got chocolate chip pancakes, they were heavenly :) After we went to breakfast we headed to the swap meet.

Swap meet is kind of like the downtown fashion district in LA. Its at the football stadium in Honolulu, people set up their tents all around the stadium and you just walk around and shop, everything is really cheap (it's a great place to get gifts). It took us about 2 hours to walk around the whole thing. I got some really cool stuff for my family and friends. One highlight was eating a fresh coconut; there was a guy selling fresh coconuts,he cut a hole in the top and you drank the coconut milk then after you were done he broke the coconut open and cut out the meat so that you could eat it. It wasn't very sweet (it was actually really plain) because he gave us a green one, but it was still fun to watch everyone's reactions.

After the swap meet we were going to go to a beach in Wikiki but they were all super crowded and the only place we could find for parking cost $8, so we decided to drive back towards Laie and stop at a beach on "beach view highway". We ended up going to Kulau Ranch Beach Park but by the time we got there it was almost 3:30 and the clouds had come in. It was so windy! It was rediculous, there were so many clouds that you could barely see the sun. It was to cold to swim so we just layed our towels out on the grass...I think all of us fell asleep, we were all really tired from walking around all day. After about an hour we were all freezing so we headed back to campus. When we got back Jessica, Ariel and I had a movie night. We watched 'Sweet Home Alabama' and 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'. It was way fun, we pushed the beds together in Jessica's room and got tons of blankets and pillows. (we have the best movie nights here...mostly because there is nothing else to do lol).

So that was my weekend, it was fantastic and an adventure. I love it here but I can't wait to go home. I miss my family and everyone back home, I'm getting homesick because I'm so excited and anxious to see everyone. Even though I know I'm going to miss it here after being home for 2 weeks I'm going to have so much fun being home. (I just wish I could take the weather with me, it's still snowing in Utah :( oh well I guess I'll just have to find a way to survive and keep warm).

We video taped our whole day, so as soon as I get the video from Jessica I'll post it. I hope everyone is doing great! I miss and love you all :-D

18 days left!!!

ok so I have 18 days left in Hawaii, then I'm in Utah until September. I can't wait to go home and see my family! I feel like I haven't seen them forever but it also feels like I just got here yesterday. The time goes by so weird here, the days are really long but the week goes by fast. I'm going to miss the beach and warm weather but I get to see my family YEAH!!!! I love and miss everyone, see you all soon!

Beach Day! (I love hawaiian holidays)

It was SO windy (hence the reason my hair is a disaster lol)!! oh my! the waves were breaking really hard against the point. The waves looked really cool. We didn't last long at the beach because sand was being blown everywhere so we decided to go get acai bowls. Acai bowls are the best thing, they are so good! (don't worry everyone I learned how to make them, so you can taste the best thing ever! haha) .

Beach Day continued

Yesterday was a hawaiian holiday so i didn't have school! Jess and I went to Hukilau beach and we met Darvel and Chris there. Darvel had this huge blow-up ball (above). Its one of those ones where you can climb inside and roll around. I didn't get in it but it was fun trying to get it over the waves. I want one! they are so fun! I have no clue where he got it, but it's Darvel and I wouldn't expect anything less. haha :-)

Crazy Week: only 3 weeks left!

This week has been really busy for me! I had softball games Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, two games each day. School is getting a little bit crazy, I can't believe I'm going home 3 weeks from tomorrow! The time has flown by so fast here, I'm so excited to see my family and friends but I know I'm going to miss it here alot (especially the beach and hot weather). The next 3 weeks are going to be crazy with finals and the end of the semester, but it's also going to be alot of fun. The team leaves for the mainland on Thursday and they are gone for a week so I will have some extra time to get ready for finals and to also go and do some fun stuff before I leave (and get my family some gifts). Well I love you all and can't wait to see everyone in Utah when I get home! Thank you to those of you who have kept in touch with me, sending me emails and packages, I love it.

Enrichment

For our enrichment activity this month we celebrated the birthday of Relief Society. I really enjoyed it, we learned about all of the past relief society presidents and talked about the meaning of relief society. We had cake and ice cream afterward...they had german chocolate so I was happy :) haha love it!

Our Gecko Friend

Just thought I'd share this with you. This little guy and his friends make a common appearance around here. We see one about every week :)

Sunset

This was a sunset last Saturday, it was so pretty I just wanted to share it with everyone. the sky is so beautiful here when it's not covered in clouds.

Rain and Wind UGH!

Jessica Locke, Shiri Stevens (me!)

So when we took this picture it was so windy!!! my hair was blowing everywhere! and was a mess, hence the reason I put on my hood :-) The funniest thing happened, we were all just standing in the parking lot talking and all of the sudden it dumped rain on us. You know usually it starts sprinkeling before pooring well not here!! we felt to drops and then it unloaded on us. in the 30 seconds it took us to get under cover all of us got soaked haha, it was halarious. The past 3-4 weeks its been nothing but wind and rain. the sun finally came out yesterday!! its been sunny lets hope it stays that way, I've lost my tan lol. Love you all!

Last Conferance Mens Basketball Game :-(

Ashley Parry, Ariel Lovett, Shiri Stevens (me!)

Hey everyone I know its been a few days, I only have a few new pictures. We were shooting random pictures and this one actuallly turned out good. Its been raining alot so we haven't been doing a whole lot that would be fun to take pictures of. This was last saturday, we won! so we got free ice cream after the game...I swear thats one of the best traditions ever! If the basketball team scores over 100 points and wins all the students get free ice cream afterward :-)

Shoulder Update

Just to update everyone about my shoulder, the doctor said that I was alot stronger and my shoulder was improving alot. Although he said that I have to wait until I get home in April (I'll be at 8 months recovery) and let my doctor and coach in Utah put me on a throwing schedule. I'm still aloud to hit and progress as I am able to do so. I'm also aloud to do sprints now; my shoulder is strong enough that the back and forth motion won't injure it. So that's the latest with me and my shoulder. We play Hawaii Pacific University tomorrow, these games are conferance so they count!!!

Game vs Grand Canyon University

We won both of our games today!!! today we played Grand Canyon University, from Pheniox, AZ. The first game we won 5-4; Melissa hit a home run! The second game we won 6-2. We killed them both games, the intensity was awesome and everyone on the team did great! We're all so excited that we won a double header, there conferance games to so they count. Our next games are on Wednesday, we play Lock Haven. I also have a doctors appointment tomorrow for my shoulder to see if I can start throwing again. I really hope the doctor says that I can progress up to the next level. I'll post what the doctors says tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Amber- thanks for all your comments!! i miss and love you guys. my email is: shiri_stevens@q.com do you guys have a blog? if so what is the URL. also what is your emal? i tried to find you on facebook but couldn't, you have one right?

Valentines day

(left to right) Ashley Parry, Ariel Lovett, ME, Jessica Locke

For valentines day the four of us were going to go out to diner, but we didn't make the bus in time to get there and be able to get back lol. So we found a couple friends and played sardines around campus then watched a movie. It was fun being with everyone and just goofing off. Hope everyone had a wonderful valentines day!!

Hey everyone, I don't have any new pictures of Hawaii to put up, but I thought I would just let everyone know what's going on in my life :-) School has been going really good, it's midterms so thats a little bit stressful. Softball is going great! We won both games last saturday and won one, lost one yesterday. We start conferance games on Saturday, I'm so excited!!! I think were going to do great and have a good season.

I've been sick the last few days but it's finally passing, Thank goodness!!! I hate being sick. I hope everyone else is doing good and life is great. I'm so excited that Matt and Corrine are expecting!!! so fun!! I love you all!

FYI: I don't know where this picture was taken, I think in Utah....I'm not sure but it's one of my favorites so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Game vs HPU

There's a story with this photo. While we were warming up for the first game, we looked over at the tennis courts (which were just down the hill and to the right) and it was pouring rain. It was so funny because you could just see a wall of rain coming towards us. We all had to hurry and run into the dugout and get all the gear so it wouldn't get wet. The wall of rain got to us and it just started pouring. It poured for about 5 minutes then stopped, after that the weather was crazy. It would be really hot, then pour rain, then be warm then cold; the temperature and weather just kept changing about every 5 minutes. It was really funny cause all of the sudden in the middle of a play it would pour sheets of rain. One thing I can say about Hawaii is that you never know what the weather is going to be like, but if you don't like it wait 5 minutes and it will change :-)

Game vs HPU

This is at our game on Saturday. We played HPU (one of the other schools on the island). We lost both games :-( One of our pitchers got hurt in the first game so Jules had to pitch both games which is hard. I kept score both games and just helped the team where I could. Except for the fact that we lost both games it was still really fun.

I hope everyone had a great Valentines day. I love you all!!

Valentines Diner

On Thursday night the elders quorum did a valentines dinner for the Relief Socitey sisters. it was so fun and sweet. They set up tables in a big room and decorated it in valentines colors and so that it had a french look to it. They had a stage where to guys were playing the guitars and singing for us the whole time. They cooked us diner (salad, chicken fedichinni alfrado, croissants, and tres leche cake) it was delicious. They guys were so sweet they just served us the whole time; while us girls had fun talking and enjoying the night, they made sure it was perfect and we had all we needed. My friends and I had so much fun getting ready and going to this diner. I love the ward I'm in, everyone is so nice and we have great guys and girls that do so much for eachother!

Foodfest

This is at Foodfest last weekend. The school does a thing where all the different clubs (from all over the world) make food from that place and sell it. They also have performances and games. It was so much fun. Ariel and I go Pento's (meaning lunch box) from the Japanese club booth. The chicken we so yummy mmmm :-) even though we kind of made a mess!

Video: Funny Workout

So my friend Jessica videotaped Lauren and I doing our workout. It was so funny we couldn't stop laughing lol. I hope everyone enjoys watching us make fools of ourselves!dsff

funny workout

funny workout

So my friend on the softball team has this workout video. called SHAPE for bikini bodies (i know weird name) anyway Lauren, Jansen and I decided we wanted to try it. We soon discovered tha the hall isn't really wide enough to do a workout haha. It was a blast though!!

Hukilau Beach

This is at Hukilau beach on saturday. I went with Lauren, Jessica, and a couple other friends.

This is my wall of memories (well the right side of it). If you want to be on my wall send me pictures and letters at:

Shiri Stevens
BYUH #1586
55-220 Kulanui St
Laie, HI. 96762

Just in case you are wondering what my dorm room looks like, here it is!! the one on the right is looking in from the hall and the one above is looking from the wall by the window. It is so small!! there's like 1 1/2 feet between our beds and not really any room for anything else besides our closet and desks. (It's easy to keep clean though, there's no room to make a mess haha)...however I still like my big room at home :-)

Here is one of our team photos. The wind was blowing hard that day, we're lucky we got a photo where our hair wasn't going crazy, haha :-) Look at the link on my last post to see more (if they are on there yet, it may take a few more days).

On Friday night (01-23-09) I went to a dance for the Tongan club that i'm in. I went with Jansen, Sharisse, and some other friends. It was so much fun! We met some new people and danced for hours. We were all dead tired by the time we got back to our dorms :-) This weekend has been pretty good.

Saturday I went to the baptism of one of my coaches' son. It was so cool. They baptized him in the ocean, it was so special watching them walk out into the water. The whole program was really cool, except for when the softball team sang (again!) just kidding it went really well. The rest of the day I just did homework and got stuff done. That night I went to a birthday party off-campus with some friends. It was fun to meet new people. After the party I went with Lauren (a girl on my softball team) to hangout with some of her friends. It was fun but we were both so tired, when we got back we didn't even make it half-way through 'Robin Hood: Men In Tights'.

My Sunday has been good so far. I really like my ward and the bishop...he tells me he has a calling in mind for me, I still have to meet with him sometime this week so we'll see... Sundays are the worst homesick days though. I miss everone a ton, Sunday's were always family days. I love you all.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update on how i'm doing. School is good, i'm enjoying my classes (even when my teachers are confusing and don't know what they are saying). Softball is going really well. I went and saw a doctor about my shoulder on Tuesday. He said I still needed to get stronger before I could start pitching and sprinting, but i'm aloud to start running (jogging) and I can start hitting!!! yeah i'm so excited!! My workouts are going really good, I love the team they are so much fun to practice with. All the girls are really nice and have been really welcoming. Our first game is on February 2, I can't wait! We took team pictures on Wednesday, one of the team photos is already up on the website but the individual should be up by next week hopefully.
Tonight i'm going to a performance called Tapshoes and Buckets. I think they are some kind of performing group that useing different things, like brooms and trashcans, to make music; I don't know but it should be cool. Afterwards my friends and I are going to the Tongan Club Dance (yes i'm in the Tongan, Hawaiian, and Surfers clubs)!! I'm way excited, it's going to be so much fun!
It's been cold here the past few days (well cold for Hawaii, nothing compared to Utah I know, but still) it's been really windy and raining off and on :-( I wish the sun would shine so that I could go to the beach.
I love and miss everyone!

So my friend Jansen took me to this place called Angel's Ice Cream and we got this thing called the Halo. it has a scoop of ice cream in the bottom then icey stuff on top. you get to pick 3 flavors to put on top, then they put sweetened condensed milk and whip cream on top. It was SO good!! It is by far my new favorite place. So much fun!

This is my friend Jansen Tesoro. We were both bored so we decided to take pictures. She is one of the funniest girls.

and the next picture is my roommate Sharisse Barber. She is so much fun, we get along great! I love them both to death!