So I’m sitting in a hotel room at 5 am in Chicago IL, and life is different now.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for me, finishing school, worked till the last day I was there, and spent my final weeks working with my SIFE team trying to ensure that the success I had built is sustainable, because to quote a very dear friend Steve Gibson, “there is no success without a successor” (I don’t suspect he was the originator of that, but that’s where I heard it)

So yeah, my last days were pretty introspective. I found it rather difficult to try and compartmentalize, or place feelings I have for a place whose influence permeates almost every facet of my life. From spiritual to secular, to work success and social life, Hawaii has played a huge role in where I stand today. I really wish I had time to sit on the beach and just be grateful to a place that had done so much for me. But such is my style, work till the last minute and leave wanting more. I find that takes pretty good care of me. :)

In other news, Chicago is looking really good, there’s something fantastic about riding an L train with people and have all 15 students (white kids included) staring out the windows looking at these ‘crazy buildings’ or getting nervous around black people, or hesitantly stepping on to a train/subway fearing the doors will get them. It’s like I have 15 huge children, it’s pretty fun and I have decided I am one lucky dude.

So I interview this morning with my corporate guys, and again later this week, I think my status is that if I get that job, I’ll take the return ticket to Hawaii and try and get some more stuff / rest for a week. If not, I’ll stay in Missouri and get my move on to Toronto or something of the like. I’ll certainly let you know.

But just in way of gratitude, I need to say thanks to the Tueller family, who so graciously took me in as I was living homeless on the shores of Oahu these last two weeks. I am especially grateful for the chance to be around kids again, to camp out in the back yard and have it be amazing, cook bacon over a fire on a tin can even though the stove just beyond the screen door works fine. I’m grateful for the example of family nightly scripture study, and especially for Sister Tuellers cooking. :) Further thanks go to Audi and Holli, we formed a sort of vagabond posse that looked like hippies and acted like college students, it was a nice way to spend the last two weeks of Hawaii, with some great friends. There’s one more I can think of at five am, and that’s Jared Hinton. We’ve played one on one basketball for almost 18 months, every time things got stressful, or so busy I wanted to cry, he’s been there to work it out with me on the court. We’ve played in the pouring rain, we’ve played in gale strength winds, we’ve played night games under stadium lights, and hours past that in the pitch black under the light of the moon. There have been times when that ball has saved my sanity, and Jared, thanks for being there buddy.

Anyway, there’s tons of other folks whom I love from Hawaii, professors, roomies, families, mentors, and friends, and I hope they understand that I appreciate them, and love them dearly. Here’s to Hawaii…. /me drinks a snapple

Now, standby for the next chapter in this Doan saga.

PS - pics will be up under the photo section, if they aren’t yet, here’s one for now. :)

so I’m in a public management class with the title disaster management. We talk a lot about hazards and disasters and what we can do to prepare. Well today, we went over the ever popular 72 hour kits, and I got the bug. I thought about it, after seeing it right in front of me, and thought I could do this on a college students budget. So a quick assessment of my assets showed I had a few things around the apartment, but most would have to be acquired from the local foodland and so it was. I headed out with a budget of $30 bones to see how I did, and I think we did pretty darn good.

Here’s what I picked up for the 72 hour kit, specifically for Laie Hawaii college students. :) -
(see the list and details after the jump)
Read the rest of this entry »

I love sports, especially out here, I’ve grown to love our teams, and got a good laugh out of this article, and felt like this deserved to be mirrored here, :)

Going against a powerhouse of women’s soccer, the Seasiders hosted the third ranked University of California-San Diego. Losing the game 1-0, the Seasiders dropped their second game of the season.

Though BYU-Hawaii took to defeat, the stands were not short of fans. Alan Doan rushed to the game after making a speech at the International Business Management meeting, not even taking time to change out of his suit. “I feel like they are my girls, I can’t let them down,” said Doan. Doan shouted encouragements and playful remarks from the sidelines throughout the game.

Freshman forward, Alexa Page from Layton, Utah displayed her famous side-line flip-throw over six times during the game, keeping spectators’ eyes on the game. The Seasiders out-shot the visitors 4-2 in the second half and continually put pressure on the San Diego defense.

Playing against Hawaii’s own Chaminade University, the Seasiders shut-out Chaminade 2-0, putting their first win on record.

BYUH never gave an inch as the Lady Seasiders put 29 shots on goal, leaving the Silverswords with 0, proving their complete domination of both the offensive and defensive aspects of the game.

Read the rest of this entry »

So misty (see little brother Jakes wife) has requested that I give up some of the juicy details of my life for her entertainment pleasure. I thought this was a great idea until I realized that I have very few juicy details to give up right now. I will be honest, I’ve tried hard lately to get some juicy details, but no matter how much I want to, I just can’t make myself be a man-slut. I go into dates with the manly intention of grabbing a cheap make out and running, but then I just feel guilty for compromising my standards and what not, then in the middle of the deliberation, the girl will spout off something ridiculous like “Do you think I’m stupid cause I’m transferred here from BYU Idaho and not BYU Provo?” or the always popular “are you mad at me?” at which point all ill conceived dirty pleasure is forgotten and the girl is promptly taken home to wallow in her insecurities or whatever it is that makes the women I’ve been going out with lately be the way they are. And it’s not just one either, I can’t figure it out. But without fail, I’m always grateful that I held to my guns and didn’t end up getting “involved” with one of the crazies. Blessings all over I reckon. So there’s my juicy gossip, the more I date, the less I like it, I’ve actually taken to BBQ’ing some brats with the roomie and inviting married couples over to play games on the Wii, we laugh, have fun, eat well, and don’t have to worry about poor susie who can’t figure out the nun-chuck controller, or betty who doesn’t realize that the controller is a pointing device. I am finding more satisfaction in losing myself in math, or SIFE projects than I have found in love, so for the time being, I’ll leave it at that. Programming and saving the world via SIFE, that is the Life o’ Doan.

It got pretty intense down there, the rules were to dance in a Cook Island style, it was crazy, but in the end, we pulled it out.  Watch ya self!

Part One - Heidi and Taylor set the standard
Part Two - Me and Kristi counter
Part Three - We pull away with our Cook Island flare.

my trip to LA and a couple of weeks ago, the day we had the earthquake I had time to take a walk, and here’s what I found then

Kiwi Night 2006 video after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Well Sunday was a doozie, on the big island there was a 6.8 earthquake, shook us at about 4.x, so it was noticable, but all it did was take out our power.  A good adventure all the same, but talk about weird, no internet for a whole day!  Wow.  It was Sunday, so I studied as long as I had light, then ran the laptop into hibernation after the battery died listening to conference, then I wandered the streets of a dark, dark town.  It was pretty crazy, an eerie feeling being in the middle of town and feeling like there’s no one for miles.  Recomended activities for when it’s dark like that - walk the streets, head to the beach, look at some stars, bbq with friends.  All went well, all are safe, college - electricity = chaos.  btw. 

Anyway, I’m running myself dry between work, school, and life, this site is in dire need of a face lift, it will come soon, I promise.  I’m still looking for good internship opportunities, if anyone hears anything or knows anyone, hook me up, I’m contemplating a winter term or spring term internship, then I graduate next year.

So yeah, I’m loving life, mom and dad are here right now too, they love hawaii, it’s pretty good I guess, :)

Hope yer all doing fine, drop me a line sometime,

Enjoy,
Al

This summer has been one of a kind for me. I have never packed so much into such a short amount of time in my life. I have been on more adventures, seen more sights, met more people, had more adventures, and accomplished more life goals this summer than in any summer previous. It is amazing to me all the opportunity I’ve been afforded. Read the rest of this entry »

Aloha, Talofa, Ahnyanhisayo, Ni how, Sha Nyi, bonjour, privyet, and how’s it?

Well, I thought I’d take a quick moment here and let you guys know how things are going. I’ve had a few good events come through. First and foremost I think people have most enjoyed the thought of me trying to dance. Well in fact it is quite enjoyable, and I’m one of the better dancers of the group. It seriously is a blast. Yesterday we had out first exam/evaluation and that didn’t go so well. We were split into groups and had to write a routine using the steps we knew, well my group followed me to destruction virtually, don’t get me wrong, it worked great, but apparently it wasn’t exactly ball room. I employed a Virginia reel method for changing partners, we had a 6 count of the guys putting one arm in to the middle of the circle and pin wheeling, and then we had a synchronized step back with the girl hesitation for dramatic effect, oh and of course the dip at the end. None of which she had taught, all moves I had in my personal arsenal. And I think we may have pulled it off, but in practice, I taught Aaragon to do a Mexican “hoiiiiiiyaaaahh ahaha ahaha ah” yell, I didn’t anticipate that coming out during the performance, which it did several times, and disgusted our very proper teacher, :D ooops, J Also, this weekend I went surfing of the 200 ft foam board they rent to us big new guys, the thing was mammoth, but man, what a blast. I went down there with two girls who were trying to find a group to go down and everyone kept bailing out on them. We had so much fun, we just hit the bus and rolled for an hour down, then surfed, swam, ate at cheese burger in paradise, cause it was the same price as mcdonalds on Waikiki, and then took a two hour bus ride home, which was kind of an accident, but we got home right, :D But anyway, things are going good, I’d love to hear from you guys a bit more, drop me a line sometime.

Enjoy,

Al