24th BDAY & SHARKMAN

A LOT has gone on since I've been in Hawaii and it has only been 5 days! My birthday was Thursday and some friends and I drove to Waikiki Beach in Honolulu and ate at the Cheesecake Factory! On our way there, it rained a little bit and we saw a double rainbow! And we saw the end of the rainbow. Pretty sure not too many people have seen that. Ha. It was gorgeous.The Cheesecake Factory doesn't take reservations, but we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated so that was cool. Since the restaurant is right next to Waikiki, tons of tourists walk the strip and eat at the Cheesecake Factory. It's supposed to be the busiest out of all of them. We wanted someone to take a picture of us, but didn't know who to ask because people are known for running off with other people's cameras since there are so many tourists. So, we picked our camera picture taker and chose a man with a baby stroller with a toddler in it and figured he wouldn't be able to run fast enough and push the stroller if he wanted to steal my camera :) We had a lot of catching up to do because we had not seen each other in 4 months. I LoVe these girls!!!

Andrea, Monica, Me & Natalie

Showing our 30 minute wait...ha ha
Natalie and I are both accounting majors. I just walked up to her one day in the library and started talking to her. That's pretty much how we became friends. She gave me a birthday card and in it she wrote, "I admire your courage because you can talk to random people...unlike me AKA the chicken :) I will always be grateful that you were brave enough to say hi to me in the library. If it weren't for that, we both may have missed out on a lot of fun!" SO TRUE NATALIE! I love ya!
My true love...cherry cheesecake. YUM!
Shaka baby, Go Devils, West Side!!!I have SO MUCH fun with these girls and we laugh constantly!!
Monica told the waiter it was my birthday and he brought out a little cup of ice cream with a candle in it and sang "Happy Birthday" with a few other waiters. Monica told me her family has a tradition where they sing "Happy Birthday" to them at the top of their lungs, and she told me she was going to do that to me. I didn't believe her, BUT SHE TOTALLY DID IT! All these people were starring and I was dying laughing. Monica, you ROCK!

My birthday was GREAT! So many people called and texted me, my family took me out to dinner the night before I left for Hawaii, my friends celebrated with me at the Cheesecake Factory, it was an awesome day!

UNTIL...my car SHARKMAN decided to break down on our way back to Laie. I was 8 miles from home and it died on me! My battery light and brake light were on and my airbag light started flashing. I thought my car had stalled, since I drive a manual, but the engine was still on. I was going about 40 mph and I looked down and the arrow dropped to 0 mph and then my car shut off. I was sitting on a hill around a corner and was afraid someone would come around the corner and nail me, so all 3 girls got out and pushed...
It was HILARIOUS because my car went down the hill about 100 feet and they were laughing and trying to run after me as I'm rolling downhill, alone in the car, trying to maneuver it. What an ordeal!!! I tried to start my car again and the battery was clicking. It was 10:00 PM. Who could I call?! MITCHELL! So I called him and told him I needed a jump. He came right away and we only waited about 10 minutes for him.
I was on the phone with Mitchell, and the girls were so patient and trying to help me out. I felt so bad because some of them had homework and who thinks they're going to break down on the side of the road?! Ha ha. I kept apologizing and they were being so nice about it.

Mitchell jumped my car, and it fired up right away. Then it died 15 seconds later. He jumped me again, this time we left the cables on for about 10 minutes to recharge the battery. We all jumped in the car, Mitchell closed the lid, and I took off. I went about 50 feet and my car shut off again like it did the first time. DANGIT! Mitchell went to jump me a 3rd time and my alarm starts going off. Horn honking and everything. Watch video...

I was getting frustrated at this point. Why was the alarm going off? What triggered it? I didn't even know I had an alarm! We kept trying to jump it and the car would never turn over because the alarm would start up every time after that. I called my Dad for help because I didn't know what to do and I didn't really want to leave my car on the side of the road. It was about 2:15 AM for him, but it was only 11:15 PM for me. I'm sorry Daddy! He gave me some ideas, we tried them, and the alarm kept coming on anytime we tried to start the car, so Mitchell drove us all home and I left my car on the side of the road :( We all got home around 12:30 AM.

The next morning my Dad had already done some calling around and found an LDS guy in the community who tows vehicles. I borrowed my roommate's car and had the tow truck follow me to my car. He towed it back to Laie for me, only 8 miles and took about 12 minutes, and it was a WHOPPING $120.00!!!!! Ouch! The tow guy referred us to another LDS guy who works on all the vehicles owned by the church at BYU Hawaii. So my car is parked in front of his house now. I met up with him on Friday. He took my battery to work and charged it for an hour, disconnected the alarm so it wouldn't go off anymore, and found out I need a new alternator. I drove to the next city, 45 minutes away, and bought an alternator for $140.00! I don't even know how much this guy is going to charge me to replace my alternator, but I'm already out $260.00 :( I think since I went home for the summer and no one drove my car for 2 months, this is what happens. Lesson learned.

Thanks girls for an awesome birthday and for being so patient waiting with me on the side of the road! Thanks so much Dad for ALL of your help! I'm selling SHARKMAN in 3 months. I hope it'll last me that long :P