Aloha!

Aloha from Hawaii!

Mary Beth and I have been enjoying our time away from our lives on the mainland and embracing the lovely culture of the island. We arrived in Honolulu last Wednesday and spent most of the day exploring the area around the hotel we are staying at in Waikiki. We are staying in the middle of the shopping district and we are a ten minute walk to the beach, so there is lots to see. We got up early yesterday to hit the waves. The water here is lovely and Waikiki has an amazing beginner's break. We took a surf lesson from Mike who had been teaching for about twenty years. We each caught at least seven waves in our first hour in the water and finished our lesson exhausted, but very happy.

me surfing!

Today, we took a trip up to the North Shore to check out the waves there and to get away from the mobs of tourists here in Waikiki. The beaches on the north shore are beautiful and the waves are intense! We didn't venture into the water here, but we got to see some amazing surfers ride the waves here.

The North Shore 

While we were out shopping yesterday, I discovered an artist local to the north shore of Oahu who creates these beautiful paintings and recently teamed up with Rip Curl to make some pretty awesome apparel. Her name is Heather Brown and be sure to check out her website and her blog.

We've also been meeting some pretty interesting people here. We met a pro surfer at the Rip Curl store named Edrick Baldwin and a hopeful singer-songwriter named Elijah who currently works at a Cheeseburger restaurant. There was also the two Japanese guys that came up to us on the beach tonight who run a cosmetics business in Japan and could not believe we were only 21 and 22 and that we really do work for NASA. 

Mary Beth and I have been spending the past few hours before bed playing our new ukeleles, which we are very excited about. They are quite possibly my new favorite instrument because it's small, easily portable and it is very difficult to make it sound bad. Tomorrow we will be taking free ukelele lessons from the music store in downtown Waikiki. The guy we talked to when we bought our ukeleles promised that by the end of the lesson, we would be able to play "Happy Birthday," "I'm Yours," and "Amazing Grace." We're hoping that by this time tomorrow, we will be ukelele masters.

"Surfer Girl" by Heather Brown

Go Bruins!

Last month, Alexis and I took a trip to UCLA to visit our favorite brothers of the Psi Chapter. After a three hour drive, a few wrong turns and a harrowing drive through LA, we finally arrived on campus. We got to see their pep band in action at a UCLA women's basketball game while sporting our new blue and gold shirts. 

My little bro and me at the game

UCLA Pep band

Later that night, we got to see the Beta Omicron candidiate class go through second degree and then hang out with the brothers of Psi and sisters of Epsilon Kappa at a "Decades" themed after party. I was rocking a poodle skirt I had from a half-time show I did in high-school and Alexis went as a hippie.

Overall, it was a great trip. I loved being able to meet new brothers and sisters that I haven't seen at district events as well as seeing old friends again. Going to these events and seeing how much love there is in the bonds between brothers and sisters makes me so proud to be part of an organization like Kappa Kappa Psi. I didn't think it was possible to feel so much love from people I have never met before, but every time I meet a new brother or sister I automatically feel this connection to them. It is almost like we become instant friends because we already share this great love for music and promoting band programs everywhere. Especially in the Western District, I think that we share a unique enthusiasm and connection to other chapters that is not found in any other district. The best are truly in the West! MLITB!