15 December 2011

Merry Christmas!


Family and Friends!

Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) from the Big Island of Hawaii!

It hardly feels like Christmas is around the corner with all this sunshine I’m experiencing on the beach. It’s fantastic!

I hate that I take for granted how blessed I am. It usually takes me sitting down with a pen and paper reflecting, before I recall all the amazing things in my life. I always forget how many things I have to be thankful for.

I kicked off this past New Year living in Missouri with my little sister Sarah. I was working freshly out of cosmetology school as a brand new hairstylist. It was pretty intimidating the first several months. Shampooing men’s hair… That was way out of my comfort zone! Or trimming a cute guys beard… Especially intimidating after they’d asked you out and you’d declined with a lame excuse. It was all a bit much. You’re up in their face and they have nowhere else to look but at you. I probably could have avoided some of the awkwardness if I didn’t first start out by saying, “this isn’t awkward at all”, and then nervously laughing. And no matter how I try to avoid it, I will inevitable always stick the clipper guard up their nose. It’s a site to behold for sure.

So, other than having to get used to all that, I absolutely love being a hairdresser! I am so very thankful I took time out of my travels to go to school.

After living in Missouri for a solid year and a half. (I know, record breaking.) I moved up to Kenai, Alaska where I have always wanted to live. It’s such a breathtakingly gorgeous place! My best friend Amanda lives there and I finally got to meet her baby Malachi. He’s such a doll! I was working in a salon with some amazing ladies. They taught me so much and I am just so thankful to have met them.

When I wasn’t at the salon I was either bundled up on the beach with a fire or out on a boat fishing with one of three beach sites I know.

I moved up there in April, stayed through the “warm” part of the year, and then when I had to start scraping ice off my windshield in October, I decided it was time to migrate to warmer grounds. I love Alaska, and I feel like I can’t say that enough. Because it really does feel like home. My heart is in Alaska. And one day I might be able to move back, but for now, I just feel I need to be somewhere else.

I’m in Hawaii at the moment working as a Mission Builder for the University of the Nations. I have been here about two and a half months and have met so many incredible people from around the world. It has been so refreshing. It just feels like a little break from life. Like the world has stopped spinning for one second and I can stand up again and breathe. Everyone here is just so encouraging and uplifting. It’s been a blessing for sure.

As for right now, I’m in the process of getting yet another cosmetology license. Each state requires a different license, so it is a bit of a pain to move around. I’m spending Christmas with my family in Arkansas and I hope to get a place close to my little brother Luke until summer. Possibly back to Alaska for fishing in July and then I’m thinking maybe California would be a great place for me to live. I might be able to make it in the Geniuses World Record for most held cosmetology license after all this. =]

I hope this New Year is full of joy –real genuine joy for each of you. And I hope you will know the love of God.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Danette