The Blackest Friday Yet

Woah, what is this?  Two updates in one week? Holy crap am I just so dedicated randomly!  Seriously, what just overcame me?  Welll, Alex and I just finished our movie and have decided to share with how what goes on beneath our shiny, straight hair.  But I am warning you, somethings aren't meant to be shared... however in this case, we are willing to tell all.  Literally.  Seriously.

I should start off with the beginning of our weekend.  AKA Wednesday where I ditched class to go to the Triple Crown Surfing competition in the historical surfing town of Haleiwa (Pronounce the W like a German, weird..).  Wait, back up a second.  Haleigh Clouse ditched a class?  Hold on, what has gotten into me?  I never ever ever ditch school!  Well two things made me ditch.  Number one, I only had one class that day because the other one cancelled and number two:  Alex and Brayden are bad influences on yours truly.  So on that note, Alex and I basically sat on the sand and were astonished by the cool flippies and jumps the surfers pulled.  I didn't understand half of what the commentators said, but hey, when you're raised in a desert, what else can be expected?  So it started raining while we were there.  It got real cold and real windy.  Luckily I was a smart little girl and I was prepared with a sweatshirt.  But Alex wasn't..nope.  She just had a shirt that was not made for holding warmth, and apparently had an umbrella stashed away in her backpack but had forgotten until the rain stopped. Why does Hawaii have to be so temperamental and dramatic when it comes to the weather?  And also, why does it have to be so dang flippin' windy?  I hate the wind.  It's official.  Windy weather sucks, therefore, I will never move to any place that is susceptible to the wind.  Or in other words, I shall live out my days inside of a cave where wind is all but nonexistent.

During a brief sunny respite, we snapped a quick picture

Had to get that banner in the back!

So moving on to Thursday, aka Turkey Day aka Thanksgiving.  Can you say non traditional?  Alex and I got to eat a lot of good ol' fashion Fijian cooking/monster banquet.  There was enough food to feed the masses of a small army.  And in no shape or form am I exaggerating.  Literally there was about six deep dish serving tubs of meat alone.  Piled to the top.  And then there was a whole table that was crowded with deserts alone.  And a whole lot of other things.  At least they had mashed potatoes and turkey.  It was good food.  Real good food.  Would you like to see?

Here is a peak onto Alex's plate.  You can tell she enjoys meat and will never become a vegetarian.  Ever.  Not on your lifetime, sonny.  Also, she likes to  eat purple potatoes that aren't really potatoes, but is in fact taro and "tastes like dirt" (Not our words)  Earthy would adequately describe the flavor.

Not even half of the table is full.  I promise.

Here is our place of dwelling during our feasting activities and the wonderful lady who invited us to the Thanksgiving dinner, Lynsie Atalifo!  She is the best!

The brownies were delicious...leave me alone..

Here are Lynsie and her husband Tevita. They let us play in their house for a while before the dinner.  We got to play Mario Cart Wii and slurp down delicious Pog!  And also, Alex and Lynsie made delicious pumpkin pie that I was supposed to help with except I was on the phone with my family.. thanks guys.  But I do want to thank the Atalifo's for letting us spend Thanksgiving with them, it was delicious and very fun!  Thank you!

Onto our epic Black Friday adventure, yes?  First off, it should be known that we only had four hours of sleep prior and things got a bit boring on the bus so we, of course, had to spice it up.  Also, you are about to see what happened and when it happened.  Good luck.

6:17 am:  Alex and I have embarked on our little excursion to the Ala Moana mall.  We awoke from our dreaming of new clothing at precisely 5:15.  We are tired and loopy and function on less sleep than the average human being, but we are no average humans.  We are women with a purpose.  However we nearly missed our bus and marching onto the first morning bus was the first sweet victory of many yet to come.

6:18 am:  We have been delayed it seems at the Turtle Bay Resort with no sign of leaving soon.  

6:26 am:  Victory!  we have continued onto the mall.

6:35 am:  Strange specimens are finding their way onto the bus.  We will Keep to ourselves and observe with subtlety.  Alex will not cease to sneeze and says "Hi mom!".  While driving past Waimea as the sky begins to turn pink we both wonder "Can you believe we really live here?"  Yes the shock of living in Hawaii is still present after nearly three months.

6: 49 am:  The bus driver nearly hit two baby chicks.  They barely made it out alive.  We have never been so relieved to see their downy yellow fluff scurrying across the road. 

7:00 am:  We have entered into the pineapple jungle.  The air is strangely acidic.  Do not breathe too deeply, it may very well be your last.

7:02 am:  Rumors have reached us that Big Foot lives on this island.  We have the full intent to investigate this claim.  Alex says that she'll keep her eyes open, but thinks that everyone should just leave him alone.  Urban Legends are people too.

7:07 am:  We find ourselves playing air guitar and singing silently to microphones to Bohemian Rhapsody.  We are aspiring to become more entertaining than the fat man sleeping at the front of the bus. 

7:16 am:  We are ready to shop, but there is no mall in sight... Getting very antsy as the bus sputters and lurches from stop to stop.

7:30 am:  After sending Eric a surprise for when he wakes up, we came to the wonderful realization that we are professional subtle bus dancers.  We entertain only ourselves and those paying close attention to our bodies.  Very awkward.  Until we find ourselves decorating imaginary miniature Christmas trees.  Then it just gets splendid.

The rest of the bus trip was boring.  Nothing of note happened.  Would you like to see the photo graphical evidence?  Okay!

Eric's surprise

                                                                     Meriadoc and Peregrin.

While we were at the mall, we picked a fight with an Asian lady who cut us off.  So rude, Asians just love cutting people off.  I swear, I was going to shove them all over the railing.  I cannot tell you how many times they got in my way.  Guys, I actually miss Mexicans.  What is this? 

But it was a pretty successful day, I got a ton of new things.  It would have been better if only there was an H&M, maybe one day there will be? 

Alex here! So after our long yet satisfying day of mall madness and being uncomfortably close to people, Haleigh and I retired to her peaceful dorm and chillaxed for a bit. We then decided to go eat (did I say eat?) some hot chocolate and then attend the men's basketball game in our sharp new outfits! The game went as expected. Haleigh, Sumner and I sat together and had a grand time. I finally took the initiative to approach the gecko and confess my love. It went nicely, I think, because he did a couple of flips on the court during the following timeout. I went home at 9:00 and skyped the man of my dreams. It was such a wonderful night! Andrew, if you're reading this, a) you're a stalker b) you already know that I think you're a babe.

Haleigh, back to you!

Back to me!  Well, that pretty much covers the weekend!  Today and Saturday were pretty uneventful.. too rainy and windy for the beach. Surprise surprise!

Until next time, my friends!

I have been forced into updating...but I'm happy to, of course!

DEAR MAMA CLOUSE:
Today is your birthday.  Wow you're old.  You have a student in college, and two in high school and then, you have a little elementary schooler to boot!  But he isn't so little anymore is he?  Anyway!  Mom, I just wanted to wish you a very very happy birthday today because you have been an important aspect of my life!  You were privileged to raise this little gem right here, me!  But in all seriousness, I hope you're having an awesome birthday and that you picked out a good restaurant and that you got all the presents you wanted and that the kids are treating you like a queen and that you were given breakfast in bed on a silver platter gilded with gold and other things that are pretty and expensive.  Because you deserve that much because you have been a wonderful mother and wife for quite a long time!  I love you mama!

That's you right on the left with clothing that has your favorite pattern: STRIPES!

You know, I really hope you got a shirt or something that has stripes, that would make you happy, right?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!  LOVE YOUR OLDEST DAUGHTER WHO IS THREE THOUSAND MILES AWAY ON A BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL ISLAND THAT HAS BEEN STRANGELY CHILLY AS OF LATE..or maybe it's because I have a cold...

Anyways, well, I have been a very neglectful blogger, I'm afraid.  I've ignored this thing and I've sort of just let it hide away in a corner like some deprived and starved child while I've gone on living the college life with all the kool skool kids. 

I would personally like to extend my utmost apologies to Caden Lee Alexander because I haven't been updating my life frequently enough.  In an effort to amend my terrible doing, or I suppose, not doing, I beg for your forgiveness and hope that this post will suffice. And also, I'm excited to skype you and Zachary this week.  Oh so very excited.  Very, very veryyyy excited.  For real though! It' s going to be a major catch up time!

As some of you have seen on my facebook page, Hawaii has been slightly chilly as of late.  The weekend probably topped at about a whopping 72 degrees!  Please don't kill me, it was extremely windy and also, I have a cold so everything is about twenty degrees lower to my body!  But other than that, Hawaii has been as tropical and sunny as ever!  I actually love it here, but I definitely have major issues with the pricing of food.  Oh yes, it's true when they say a gallon of milk costs nine dollars.  Feeling a bit better about the cold, mainlanders?  Would you rather be in the snow and pay for food products at a regular price or would you rather be on an island where everything is imported and about ten times as expensive?  Your choice.  Personally, I would pick the main land because I love Fall and Winter clothing and I can't really wear scarves and sweaters and boots and jackets here.  That upsets me.  A lot.  You reading this Erin Timothy??  I am jealous of the fact that you are decked out in cute winter stuff and I'm limited to T-shirts and jeans! 

Well shall we get on to an update of my life?  There is just so much that I couldn't possibly jam it in, but here goes my attempt!  I don't even really know how far back to go..

Okay so about a month ago, I started going to watch the BYUH soccer games for a certain reason and some of those games were absolutely insane!  One game was played during and after a huge rainstorm and man was that field a mess.   There were hidden swamps and mud patches everywhere and our boys, who were wearing white at the beginning of the game were a lovely clay brown at the end.  It was also insanely windy too which made the game even more difficult if imaginable.  And then there was the final game of the season, which wasn't rainy, but oh my was it cold and windy!  I went with my special lovely friend Bailey Alex Staib and her friend, but I can't really remember his name.. Anyways, the game was fuh-reezing and guess what, we won it!  Them boys did a good job out there!

We wanted to document our excitement regardless of the state of the weather and our hair.  We are troopers here.

Here is Brayden!  Basically the reason why I left the warmth and comfort of my dorm room.  He should know how lucky he is that I sacrificed my body heat for him.  But it was worth it because he played the majority of the game.  You got off easy this time, bud!

So I made this friend, mentioned in the picture above this one.  Her name is Alex.  And together, we create utter and complete madness.  Seriously, we've been dubbed Merry (Me) and Pippin (Her).  Why are we those to fabulous characters from the beset books ever?  Well we behave in such a way so much so that we have been given the right to be referred to as Merry and Pippin.  We've also been named TweedleDee and TweedleDum by the person who perhaps appreciates us the most, Eric Harline!  Eric, you know you love us when we are separated and when we are united.  It's time to move on from denial, my friend.  Yes you are in denial.  Back on topic though!  Alex and I, well we plan on becoming roommates next semester.  It is gonna be one carazy party all semester long!  We aren't even living in the same room yet and we're already causing ruckus in good ol' 216A! 

And then next year, we want to move off campus and into The.Same.House.  Look out Laie, there is a possibility the town might not survive us...

Guys, can I just say, Pinterest makes me extremely agitated?  I mean, I log on and I see this amazing food and then the urge hits, I'm just dying to make it and I get really pumped up and happy and then I realize that I have no kitchen.  No supplies and means to make it even though the Hale has a grimy kitchen downstairs.  It breaks my heart every time.  So when I get home in December, I'm going on a cooking/baking overload.  Who wants to sample?  I'll have a sign up sheet! Just kidding.  In all seriousness though, I really am craving good, homemade food. 

And then there are all the clothes and outfits on Pinterest.  Kill  me, the mall is about an hour away and I'm a poor college student.  But my birthday is on Monday and Black Friday is right before.  Can someone say best time to have a birthday ever?!  Ala Moana Mall, you're about to get ransacked by Haleigh Clouse.  You have been forewarned. 

Have I rambled enough? No?  I'll go a little longer then!

Soo I got to skype two very important people a few weeks back.  ERIN TIMOTHY AND NATALIE FIELDING!!!!  My two favorite people!  Talking to them just made me remember all the fun times we had senior year and it makes me so excited to see them again this Christmas!  They are my precious darling friends and we will play and take pictures and make videos and all this other stuff in December.  Look out Mesa, we will be reunited soon.  You have also been forewarned. 

I miss Erin.  I miss her a lot.  Hawaii would just be a million times better if she was here with me on the beach.  We would make new friends every day here because everyone we meet wouldn't be able to handle us combined.  We just make a huge toxic vat of sass and attitude.  True story. 

So here is the question Erin:  Are you gonna be here in Laie next year causing even more ruckus with me?  That answer better be yes or else I will be unbelievably upset at you! 

Also, just in general, I am so ecstatic to see all you Mesa People again!  Even though we lost some to the Mission field, like dear Blake and Matthew, We will still be bomb diggity, alright?  I really miss Matt Pace and Blake Savage though.  Those boys will forever be my heroes.  I am so proud of them for being worthy to serve the Lord and I know that they will serve Him with all their hearts, minds and strength.  Same goes for all you boys who have their calls or will soon be getting them.  You boys are such great role models to me and to everyone else!  Go get 'em tiger!

I can't move.  Thought I'd put that out there... I started the insanity program yesterday and today was killer.  My calves have not been this sore since that one day during pole vault club when our coaches decided it would be fun to do plyometrics.  Oh the burn, it is increasing minute by minute...

Thanksgiving, huh?  Weird that I won't be home eating turkey with my family.  I hope I get turkey... I really hope I'm not served more rice and terriyaki chicken. I am soo sick of rice and chicken.  Blehhh. 

Well, I'll be home late late late on Monday the 19th of December, mark your calenders all, that is less than a month away!  Which also means that it is time to get ready for finals! Yay...

Okay, I think that covers it?  Are you happy Caden? Haha love you prom date!!

Adios!