Lunch and Elephants

Ok...I just had to blog about this. I swear...my dad's little moments has definitely gotten me back into the blogging world. I mean...who else is gonna document these things right?! LOL! My brother shared this with me and the rest of the facebook world...so I thought I'd share it with my fellow bloggers.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my dad has discovered the wonderful world of texting. So here's another hilarious conversation he had with my brother. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And for those of you who KNOW my dad...I'm sure you will.

DAD: Boy-Son, when is lunch?

BROTHER: You gotta wait, I have a conference call at 12pm, we go after

DAD: WOW, you just elephant your way out of lunch ah!

BROTHER: What is 'elephant your way out', huh?

DAD: You know, elephants, they just shove guys on the side

Oka!!!!!!! Where does he GET this stuff!!!! First exclamatory...now THIS!!! I swear he has a hidden dictionary full of his own slang hidden somewhere. Gotta love it!

picture courtesy of: http://bilia.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/happy-elephant-01.jpg

Texting 101

Oh the joys of texting. This is nothing new to me. I've enjoyed the benefits of texting for quite some time now, but to share this magical new world with my DAD has been quite adventurous. It all started last night when my sister texted her new phone number to everyone in her contacts list...including my Dad. Due to his lack of experience with text messages, he proceeded to call her back, which instigated the following conversation:

Dad: Did you call?

Sister: No...I texted you!! You not supposed to call me back, you supposed to text me!

Dad: Oh!

He later comes out of the room and tells me, "your sister sent me a text and i supposed to text her back. How I do that?"

Since his phone is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, I proceeded to instruct him on the art of "replying" to text messages. Surprisingly he picked it up pretty quickly. His excitement heightened when my sister replied to his reply and their TEXTersation continued! Amongst all the excitement, I texted my brother to inform him of the late breaking news, and HE texted Dad afterwards. This lead to the greatest milestone ever!

Dad: Oh...Jared texted me.

Me: Well, reply. You know how now.

Dad: pulls out his glasses "Ok...lets see." He then proceeds to have a TEXTersation with my brother.

I don't remember the exact message that was received on my Dad's end, but it was something cheeky enough for my Dad to say, "eh! Poto 'oe!" His popular remark after we joke around with him.

Dad: How you spell..."eh"

Me: Hahaha....E-H.

Dad: "Ok...how you write the EXCLAMATORY MARK on dis ting"

Me thinking: what the heck is an exclamatory mark?!?!?!?!?! OH...he meant EXCLAMATION POINT!!! hahahahahahaha!!!!

I couldn't stop from laughing inside. This experience was definitely blogworthy. So...I thought I'd share with my fellow bloggers...not to mention I had to document this moment. This is definitely one for the books along with his "mermaid" moment. Hahahaha. Ahh...the joys of living with the parentals and teaching them the new technology!

WHOA!

IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG!!!!! So much has happened since the European expedition that I don't even know where to start. Do I still have readers? LOL! Oh well, if I do, I apologize for the long absence. Life at home has been nothing but a whirlwind of back to back events. After the 5-week long vacation from Kavaroots, I found myself living there for about a month. We renovated the store, and I must say it looks great! Even though it feels like you're walking IN an Acai bowl, it finally feels like OURS!!! A shot of the new paint job. LOL! I'll have to post more pix later.

The store wasn't the only thing that changed over the last 2 months. Another bestie has graduated to the next stage in life. I never thought she would actually do it so soon, but Aunty Bubs is now a married woman. Her last minute decision to have a reception initiated an impulsive trip back to the mainland. The reception was small and simple, but so much fun!

Me and the Bride

After the wedding I was off to Utah to watch my nephew's homecoming game. Which brings me to the biggest change....the Saaga's moving to Utah!!!! It all started out with Nui going up to play football for a couple months. But as soon as One went up there and saw that she could provide her family with so much more there, she made the decision to move. Nui loves it there. It's so good to see him making so much more progress on and off the field. He's finally growing up...a little. Hahaha. He did so good at his game that I didn't even recognize him! They changed his number at the last minute, so the whole time I was looking for #95, he wasn't on the field. I kept thinking to myself, "man..where is he?! #70 looks a lot like him, but he's too fast!" Lo and behold...it was him!!! What a horrible aunty! LOL!!! Well, at least he's doing better right?

Me and #70...LOL!!!

I've been home now for a couple weeks, and have started my last semester at BYU-Hawaii. I'm excited for it to be over, yet afraid of what the future holds. I have a plan right now, but am worried about any other changes that may occur. Moving the Saaga's has been overwhelming as well. Between watching kids, cleaning, packing, and trying to study I have found myself too exhausted to function...let alone blog. Thank goodness for slow days at Kavaroots. I should be doing homework, but this comes so much more naturally.

So with that, I just wanna say....I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack bloggers! I don't know how exciting it will be now that my hearts are leaving me....but lets just say I've already got a few trips lined up!!!!

Greece!!!

The final leg of our European tour took us to Athens Greece. It took us nearly two days to get there!!! I couldn't believe it. After visiting the New Moon set, we trekked back to Rome, picked up our bags, and waited for our overnight train to Bari (the port city on the other side of the country). Mind you, most of our train rides were quite pleasant. But we must've been too spoiled cause this last train was a mess!!! Hot, sticky, nasty, and a whole lotta filthiness. I'm glad that was the last ride for us cause i don't think I would be able to do that again. LOL!

Anyhoo...we arrive in Bari around 7am, thinking we could catch a ferry soon. WRONG! The next ferry was scheduled to leave at 6pm!!! So we had to wait AGAIN! But, when we did get on the boat, it was so dang huge, we found a corner in the lounge (since we bought the cheap deck tix), and made house. The ferry ride to Patras, a city 3 hours away from Athens took about 18 hours! So, let's see:

Rome to Bari: 6 hours
Bari to Patras: 18 hours
Patras to Athens: 3 hours
Total traveling time: 27 hours!!! Not including the 12 hours of waiting.

It was quite the adventure. But worth it...cause we made it to Greece!!! Athens was not what I had expected. It was pretty dirty and dusty. But I didn't really care too much about that. All I had on my mind was....BEACH!!!! When we got in, we found a cheap hotel close to the metro station, and not too far from the Acropolis. That was cool! So much history there. But my favorite part about the whole trip was the water. Our first beach was kinda dirty cause it was a "free" beach, so the "sand" consisted of pebbles, cigarette butts, trash and dust. Lol. Kinda like a dirtier Waikiki. A whole lotta hairy old men in speedo's too. Soooo not cute. So we caught the bus a few miles down the road outside of Athens, and found a cleaner, less crowded beach. The water was so cool and refreshing, we imagined we were on the island in Mamma Mia! Hahahahaha! For realz...me and Ane sang the WHOLE soundtrack. It was pretty hilarious.

Later that day, we bussed down to Sounio, home of the ruins of Poseidon's temple, to see the most amazing sunset. It was a great way to end the day.

Being in Greece was definitely another memorable experience to add to the list. However, I just wish I had gone there first. By the time we got there I was so broke, I couldn't make it out to any of the other islands. So that is why I plan to go back and do a cruise in the Mediterranean. That seems like the best way to do it!

Now that I'm at home, and I ponder everything that I've done, I still can't believe it's over. I can't believe I actually got to experience all that I have. Goes to show that once you put your mind to it, you can make anything happen!

New Moon in Montepulciano

Considering we did everything we wanted to do in Rome, we decided to spend our last day hunting down the site of the New Moon movie. According to the fan websites, it was only about 3 hours outside of Rome by train and bus. Since we had the whole day…we decided to go. I guess they filmed a scene in a little town called Montepulciano..which is nestled on top of a mountain in Tuscany. That was a plus. I’ve always wanted to see the vineyards in Tuscany ever since I saw the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun,” and it was just as beautiful in real life. I could totally see myself working out there for a couple months. Since I probably don’t want to promote the production of wine, maybe I’ll just pick olives and make olive oil. Hahahaha.

Ok…getting off track. So…we caught the train into a little town called Chiusi, and then hopped on a bus to M-town. We had no idea where we were going. And since hardly anyone spoke English, we had to use our intuition. After hiking up a hill that seemed to never end, we finally made it to the Grand Piazza where they filmed the movie. We knew we were in the right spot when we saw a “Twilight” menu special at one of the nearby café’s. Then, when we went in to inquire about the special, we saw all the pictures of the set in that café. So of course we took tons and tons of pix to make sure that everyone at home would know that we were there. LOL. So now when we watch the movie, we can totally say we were there!!!

When in Rome...

Rome was a short and quick visit. We arrived early Sunday afternoon, and decided to do the same as in Venice…walk around til we found a cheap place to stay. Thank goodness we did that. We stumbled across a family operated, multi-faceted business. Lets just say…you know its crazy when all operations are conducted out of a Laundromat. LOL!!! Yup…they are the proud owners of a Laundromat/internet service/hostel service/ baggage storage business. It was great! We were able to get a hostel for 20 euro a night…which was completely within our budget. But what was even better was that it included free internet, breakfast AND dinner!!! Not to mention an awfully friendly staff. It was awesome!!! The rooms and bathrooms were a lot “cleaner” than Archie’s, and the dinner was awesome! Definitely a great find.

After we checked in and dropped off our bags, we decided to head out and see the sights. First stop…the Coloseum. That was really one of the two things I really wanted to see. That along with the Vatican. But anyhoo….it was as grand as I had imagined it would be. Its amazing how people totally try to get you to take the guided tour option. Which is true…without it you’re really just looking at a pile of old rocks. LOL. But there were a lot of boards with information regarding EVERYTHING, so I felt like I learned a lot on my own. Quite fulfilling. Our pass at the coloseum was also good for the Roman Forum, which is an area ancient ruins that you could walk around in. It was HUGE! So by the end of the day I was done with Roman history. LOL. Luckily our hostel was conveniently located a few blocks away from the main train station, so finding our home was a breeze.

That evening we were spoiled with the most amazing pasta!!! Ahhh…just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I don’t know what it is…but any pasta in Italy tastes so much better. Thicker, tastier…and scrumptious!!! Ok..enough of that cause I’m getting hungry.

The Vatican was on the schedule for the next day. We figured we should give ourselves a whole day for that place and it’s a darned good thing we did! We were there for nearly 5 hours!!!! That was enough for me. After walking through the different basilicas, chapels, and churches, I couldn’t help but get freaked out by everything. It seemed so dark and uncomfortable. Hmh…something to think about. LOL. The Sistine Chapel was totally awesome. However, that euphoric feeling was rudely interrupted by the blatant disrespect other tourists had for this sacred place. I mean, there was a guy right at the entrance telling everyone to put their cameras away, and to not take pictures, and to be reverent. But noooooooooobody listened! Right when you walk in all you see is FLASH, FLASH, FLASH!!!! And all you hear is CACKLE, CACKLE, CACKLE!!!! I was so offended. So it was hard for me to fully enjoy the experience. Sad.

Later that evening, we took a stroll to see the Fontana de Trevi! That was gorgeous! I so badly wanted to jump in the water…but I controlled myself. Good thing cause I probably would’ve gotten arrested. LOL. We found the best gelato in town! Their mango and strawberry was probably the best I’ve ever tasted in my life. The mango tasted like I was eating the ripest mango from the tree. It was awesome. All in all…Rome was great…but best seen in a short period. Just like in Venice, once you’ve seen one thing, you’ve seen them all. But definitely an experience I will never forget.

Venezia!!!!

Well, we said danke and alvidazen (sp?) to Switzerland, and bonjorno to Venezia!!!! Now…when we first got into town, I couldn’t help but think…”dang these buildings are hecka old!” Duh!!! LOL. We got off the train and boy did it stink. I guess that’s what you get when you’re surrounded by “stagnant” water. But…it was somewhat nostalgic walking down the streets of this old town. We went there with no reservations of any kind. Our goal…walk around and compare prices and find the cheapest hotel/hostel. That was quite the adventure. We walked for a couple blocks, and over only one bridge before we found “Archie’s Rooms,” a quaint little hostel nestled in center of town for only 57 euro a night for the three of us. This was a steal compared to the 75-120 euro/nt at the other places.

I know what you’re thinking…hostel = ghetto. But really…we just needed a bed and a place to leave our bags. Some of the perks included:

- HUGE room with 5 beds. We only shared the room with one other girl who was hardly ever there.
- Free Wifi!!!! This was by far my favorite. I was able to do all my camping on facebook, and upload a bunch of pictures. Not to mention update my blog after what felt like forever (when in actuality it was only like 4 or 5 days). LOL. There were also two computers in the common area available.
- Free lockers to store all our valuables.
- Access to a plethora of kitchen appliances (microwave, kettle, stove, etc.) to cook our food that we brought. Not to mention our own drawer in the fridge.
- No curfew.

The only drawback…no hot showers. If you wanted hot water you had to pay 1 euro for 8 minutes. So…we roughed it out and took ice cold showers the two nights we were there. It wasn’t so bad once your body turned numb from the cold. LOL. We decided this was probably the best thing to do for the next two countries considering many of these cheaper places may not be listed online. Ahhhh..the life of a backpacker.

Now…onto the city. Honestly, my favorite part of our whole time there was walking around San Marco’s square and along the Grand Canal. After a while all the other streets start to look the same. We realized this when we got lost the first night. Considering we were tightening up on our budget, we decided not to go to any of the nearby islands. Which was probably best considering we pretty much saw enough of what would be found there in Venice itself. Gelatto was the best!!!! Ahhhh….and so was the pizza! We decided to save the pasta for Rome. There are so many little ristorante’s and pizzeria’s it was madness trying to choose one. Mmmm..thinking about it makes me hungry. All in all it was a great adventure…but I’m ready to move on. Being surrounded by all that water made me yearn for the beaches in Hawaii. That was probably the worst…being hot and not being able to jump in the water to cool off. So Rome is our next stop…and then GREECE!!!!! I don’t even care what we see in Greece, I just want to jump in that deep blue water!!!!

Swiss Tour Day 2

The weather wasn’t quite the best today. A lot of rain…and a lot of wind. I never thought it would be cold during my stay here in Europe…but apparently it can still get under 65 here in Switzerland. But that didn’t discourage us. We still set out to see this beautiful country. First stop…Lucerne.

There is a really old bridge there that was a candidate for for the seven wonders of the world. The reason why it was so special was because it was built over a raging river…which back then would have been impossible to build given the resources and conditions they’ve had/experienced back then. It is a beautiful city. You could see part of the alps from the lake there. After visiting there and having some lunch..we headed towards the mountains.

The drive there was amazing. The mountains are so huge…and so green. What shocked me the most was that there was a lake about 2000 feet above sea level. Go figure. But then we were told it was man-made. What baffled me was there were a bunch of people living threre! Why would you live all the way out there? It is definitely beautiful…but even tho it was sunny…it was still freezing!!!! To each his own I guess.

We drove up to this massive waterfall. I couldn’t pronounce the name if my life depended on it, but it means dust shower or something like that. Because when you look at it, the water actually looks like dust. It was huge!!!! We even got to hike up to a spot that was near the back of it. That was a trip….the hills were so steep. I forgot I was scared of heights until I looked down, and then I was ready to go. LOL. But it sure was beautiful.

Afterwards…we caught a train to a village near the “Top of Europe.” It was even MORE freezing up there!!! That little village had hotels and shops up there which made me wonder why people would even bother staying up there. But as I looked around…I noticed a bunch of hikers. I guess you can hike all the way to the top of that mountain. Those people are crazy! Funniest thing…they were all either really young….or really old. Hahahahaha.

All in all today’s excursion was amazing. I got to experience more of God’s creation, and my testimony was strengthened thru this journey. I’m excited to see what else He has in store for me.

Swiss Tour Day 1

Today we went to Lunzeberg. I don’t even know if I spelt it right…but it’s a little town about 20 minutes away from where we’re staying and it is the home of one of the oldest castles in Switzerland. But, before we did that, we took a tour of the high school that Dominic, the youngest child of the family we’re staying with…attends. Apparently, it’s one of the most prestigious schools in Switzerland. It was huge. They actually meet in an old monestary…or part of the monestary. They have their own garden…which for me was probably the coolest part. The flowers here are absolutely gorgeous! It seems like many people here are self sufficient. They plant a lot of their own fruits and vegetables in their backyards…and even in their schools. America needs to get on that.

The castle was pretty interesting. It kinda reminded me of Iolani Palace with everything that was on display being roped off. LOL. The only thing though is that we didn’t have to wear booties. It was cute cause they had tours available for little kids where they could dress up like medieval warriors, and they even learned how to fight with swords and bow and arrows. It was pretty cute. I couldn’t help but think that my nephews would’ve loved this place. The castle is up in a huge hill that we had to hike up to. I tell you…I’ve never hiked up so many hills in my life. Sheesh! I better be skinny by the end of this trip. LOL.

After the castle we cruised around the city of Zurich. Our trusty tour guide said that Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. It didn’t seem that big, so it just goes to show that there are a lot of little tiny villages here. Interesting. It was such a long day. But there’s still more…how exciting!

Hallo Switzerland!!!

Hallo…as the Swiss say it! Yup…we’ve arrived in Switzerland and it is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! The 5-hour train ride (not including 3 stops) from Paris to Zurich was unbelievably fast and surprisingly comfortable. This is definitely the way to travel thru Europe. Luckily for us, Umi knows a Korean family that lives in Boden…a small town about 30 minutes away from Zurich. They live up in the country side amongst fields of corn, barley, pastures and so much more. Totally country…totally unexpected…totally AMAZING!!! I already know what you’re thinking…RANDOM Korean family in Switzerland. But they are the sweetest little family you’ll ever meet. So gracious and hospitable. Beautiful home. Beautiful people. Beautiful country. Makes this trip all the more worth it. An amazingly delicious Korean meal was prepared for us and we ate like Queens. It was divine. Next on the agenda…check out some castles. Exciting!

Paris Day Two

My oh my…so many things to do in this amazing city! First on the list today….CHURCH! What a way to invite the spirit. Even though I couldn’t really understand what was being said, I definitely felt the spirit. The gospel is the same no matter where you go…feels like home. We hit up Notre Dame and the Louvre…just one word to describe both….AMAZING! For one thing I can’t get over how HUGE this buildings are. And to think that they were built hundreds of years ago makes it that much more crazy! How they heck did they do it without the technology that we have today?

So…summary of events for the remainder of the day:

• Check out the home of Quasimodo…Notre Dame. Humongous building!!! Very goth. Would have loved to go up top…but line was too long…and wasn’t up to climbing 400 something steps.
• Hit up the Louvre. Saw Venus de Milo. Mona Lisa. And everything else. Well as much as we could before my feet felt like they weren’t part of my body anymore.
• Hopped on a train to check out the Royal Palace in Versailles only to get kicked off because something was wrong with the track. Got shuttled by a bus to another station, and got to the Palace just in time for closing. YES!!! Gotta luv it!!!
• Caught the train back to the main city to check out some garden just to turn around cause THAT was closing too.
• Finally got hungry, and had some French food.
• Walked down Champs de Ellyse in search of the Louis Vuitton store. I was instructed to take a picture in front of it.
• Headed back to the hotel room to start planning the next leg of our trip.

All in all Paris has been quite the adventure. Even though we’ve hit a few bumps on the way, it was all worth it. With each new place I can’t help but pinch myself because I still can’t believe I’ve finally made it here. After months of talking and planning…I’ve finally made it. But the adventure continues as we head down to Switzerland. I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m open to anything!!!

Bienevenue de Paris!!!

Well, we've finally made it! After getting delayed the first day due to weight issues with the plane, we finally made the flight out to Charles de Gaulle on Thursday, July 2nd. Business class is definitely the way to go. I think they fed us enough food to last me the whole trip...cause seriously...I haven't really eaten much since.

Anyhoo...we arrived on Friday, July 3rd and stayed in a small town 20 minutes outside of Paris. It was quite an adventure. Here are a summary of the events that occurred that day:

* Looked for Ane's bag for a good 45 minutes, only to find it sitting outside the unlabeled, totally hidden baggage claim office!
* Took our first metro ride!
* Got stuck in the metro station in Chelles because our tickets wouldn't work. LOL
* Hiked for a good hour looking for our hotel
* Meeting some of the friendliest people France has to offer, and loving their patience for our lack of skill with the French language.
* Cracking up at the smallest room and bathroom EVER!!!
* Taking a stroll around town and enjoying the beautiful countryside.
* Having random frenchmen show us their muscles during our nature walk.
* Being scared out of our minds at night because of some of the shady people staying at our hotel.
* Staying up til 4:30 am chatting it up with Ane and Umi...the excitement for the city was overwhelming!

This was just day 1! The next day we packed up and headed out to Paris. After fixing up the drama with our hotel room (they wouldn't allow the 3 of us to stay so we had to book another room!), we took on the city. Here's a summary of that day:

* Took on Moulin Rouge and that whole area! Amazing!
* Went to some Basilica...sorry can't spell it...where Van Gogh and Picasso studied. Amazing building!
* Got hustled by some street vendors. Never been hit on more in my life!
* Got some shopping done in that district.
* Went to the Arc de Triomphe to find some type of ceremony going on for US's Fourth of July. Random.
* Cruised with some crazy people on the metro.
* Hit up the Eiffel tower. Built up enough courage to go all the way to the top only to find that it was closed.
* Went on a boat ride on the Seine River to get a preview of what to expect today (ie. the Lourve).
* Cruised by the tower for a lil' bit to watch the light show.
* Headed back to the hotel after a looooooooooong day.

Now it's Sunday morning, and we're ready to hit up the local ward. Totally excited for that. Sorry I don't have pix, but if you have a facebook, you can totally check out all my pix there! Stay tuned for more of our Euro tour!!!

Summer Tour

Well, I'm here! I finallys made it off the rock! I arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday and have been living it up ever since! Thanks to Greg and the Dowdens! My weekend has been nothing but relaxation, good food and good company. Got to make some new friends, and reconnect with old ones. Gotta luv those. Now I'm in Las Vegas for a day and will be heading out to Salt Lake City...the final stop before the European tour!!!! I can't believe it's finally here, but I'm fully excited! Here's some pix of my adventures so far! Thanks again Dowden's!!!

Swine Flu???

I hate you whatever you are!!!!! I don't know if it was the H1N1 a.k.a. swine flu or something else, but some mysterious virus attacked half of my family last week. It was not fun. Sucky thing was we were all stuck together in the middle of Waikiki. So what was supposed to be a mini family vacation turned into nothing but coughing, sneezing, sleeping with a fever miserableness!
After a week of being stuck in a bed, I'm happy to report that I'm out and about and ready to work! Actually, I've been working straight since Monday morning...ALL day EVERY for the next week. Yup...this is what I get to look forward to considering I missed work all week last week. Fun? I guess. Tiring? Totally. But it's just good to be out of the house! So just fair warning...keep a mask on if you're ever by anyone sick, cause you never know what they might have.

Whirl-week!

This past week has been such a blur. Actually...the past week and a half has been a blur. From graduations, to weddings, to baby blessings, and birthdays...busy is an understatement. But before I even begin talking about those events, I just have to say that I am so glad school was is finally over for me!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

Thursday, June 4th marked the last day of "school work" for me for the next month and a half. The official last day of school was actually June 3rd, but we had a Kid's day at the beach on the 4th which was totally awesome. We taught the kids some stories we learned in class, and one of my classmates taught them how the paint surfboards. It was totally narly dude! LOL! Here's some of the kids getting their creative juices flowing:Saturday was probably the busiest day EVER!!! It started bright and early at 6 in the AM. I offered to be a volunteer for the BYUH graduation, but I didn't realize it would require me to wake up so early. It's all good though...I needed to do more service this year anyway. LOL. I must say though...I haven't been INSIDE a BYUH graduation in some time now, and it hasn't changed much. It's still boring. LOL.

But ushering is a whole new experience. Not only are you bored, but you get sore feet from walking all over the place, a sore back from standing the whole time, and you even get faced with the occasional "I think I'm better than you" guests who just walk past you and the "Reserved" sign. *sigh* But the winner was the old asian man who tried to walk behind the drop down screen, a.k.a the "off limits territory", to take pictures on the other side. He soooooo wasn't paying attention to me trying to tell him to walk around, and uncle ran straight into me. Eh, I never know tackling people was part of the job description. Hahahahaha. Oh well...good times. Congrats BYUH 2009 graduates!!!





After making my rounds, and taking millions of pictures...it was time for some grub at my cousin Anthony's graduation party. Congrats Anthony! You did it! And in only 3 years! You rock cuz!!!

Normally, this is where the day would end right? WRONG!!! After a quick shower and wardrobe change, I was off to Mililani for a wedding reception for one of my dear friends. It's always fun going to weddings of your friends because it's like a huge reunion. All of us from high school always seem to flock to each other and catch up on the latest. Gotta luv those moments. Congrats Granny and Crystal!!!




I think I had the best sleep ever after this day! But there was still more to do. But I'll save that for another post cause just thinking about posting it right now is exhausting. So stay tuned!

I'm Sailing Away.....

First off...I just have to say that I'm so stoked that I found my battery charger...so my camera is up and running again! Woo hoo!!! So, of course, I just HAD to share some pix of my most recent activities. One including hosting a good buddy of mine around so he's not bored. LOL. I highly recommend parasailing to anyone who hasn't gone. Even if you're a scaredy-cat like me...the whole 40 stories high thing is a breeze. You are as free as a bird. I mean...minus the whole strapped to a rope that looks like all ____ lbs of me might make it snap. But it's so peaceful and serene. The weather wasn't necessarily the greatest, but it was still super duper fun!!!!

Phil, Umi and Me ready to fly!

Umi and Me
And we're off!

Hey you guuuuuuuys!!!!

And a quick dip in the water

2 down...One More to Go!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!! I am on step closer to being set up for my Euro-tour, and I'm so stoked. I just purchased my Eurail pass which will take me from Paris, France down to Rome, Italy and eventually over to Athens, Greece....with a few stops in between. I'm so freakin' stoked. I wish I took a picture earlier to document that amazing moment where I clicked "Confirm." Soooooo awesome. My trio has increased in size and we are now 5 strong!!!! Woot, woot! The more the merrier. So, for those of you who love to live vicariously through me, here's a rough draft of our schedule...LOL!

July 2 - July 5: Paris, France
July 6 - July 8: Bern, Switzerland
July 9 - July 12: Venice, Italy
July 13 - July 16: Rome, Italy
July 17 - July 22: GREECE!!!!

These are tentative dates, but that's what we've figured out so far. Now, all I need to do is take care of my ticket to Paris, and I'm set. I can't believe its all going to happen in about a month!!! Insanity!!! And I can't believe how broke I'm going to be after this is all over, but it's all worth it! I can't wait!

Overwhleming Morning...

It has by far been the most traumatic morning! Here are the events in a nutshell:

- Wake up at 7:30 am to get ready for work. Called the parentals for a ride...and they agreed to pick me up by 8.
- Parentals are late, and pick me up at 8:15. Confirmation that I need to get my own car. Ugh.
- Get to work by 8:40, the store's supposed to be open by 8:30. Oh well...it happens. I search my purse for my keys....NO LUCK! The thought just dawns on me that I left my keys IN THE STORE on Saturday.
- Make mad phone calls to all the other girls to see if they can bring me a key. Again, no luck. Since there is another girl scheduled to come in at 10, I decide to wait for her. She should have her key.
- 10am rolls around the corner, the girl comes, and she doesn't have a key either!!!! We're officially screwed!
- Phone calls start up again. Finally somebody answers, and says their on their way from Hau'ula. It should take another half hour. It ends up being 45 minutes.
- We open the store and we jam out an easy 20 bowls within the first 10 minutes. Things look good. Then...the POWER GOES OUT! If there ever was a sign that I SHOULDN'T be working...this was it.
- I close the store down....due to the recent power outage. Arrive at home. Get ready for the beach since its GAWGEOUS outside. Boss calls...asks if I can come in later today if the power's back on. Like an idiot I agree. So my almost "beach day" has been cut in half. If I do go in, and the power goes out AGAIN, I'm burning that store down!!!!! Hahahaha...j/k.

So there you have it. My overwhelming morning for the year. And how appropriate it be on "Memorial" Day. Wut a tragedy to remember!

Beautiful...

I've never had a greater appreciation for that word. It applies to so many things. Weather. People. Personalities. Music. LIFE.

The past couple of weeks I have been blessed with all of the above. After what seemed like forever, the sun has so gracefully returned. Needless to say we have had the most BEAUTIFUL days here in Hawaii Nei. You're just going to have to imagine it because I lost my stinkin' battery charger, and have been unable to take ANY pictures.

Anyhoo...this has been a pretty busy month so far. Along with BEAUTIFUL weather, I've been fortunate enough to enjoy the company of BEAUTIFUL people. Its always nice to visit with friends from out of town. Line, Savani, Ana, Mele, Deb....and many more...you guys are awesome.

I'm still trying to recuperate from the many adventures I've had so far this month, which include the following:

- 3rd Annual "Mother's Day" Get-Together with an ever increasing crew. The tradition started 3 years ago when a bunch of us decided to go to Waimea for the day. We would swim, tan, eat, sleep, etc...pretty much all day. Then later that night we'd take a trip to the airport to get a lei for our mothers. We had a great turnout this year, and improved on our provisions, complete with the essential pop-up tent. Keep in mind we started off with NOTHING the first year. LOL. Again...sorry no pix. But lets just say that I pretty much got fried....but it was all worth it.

- Visitors galore!!! Ana came in earlier this month on the 9th...and just barely left on the 19th. Now Mele and Deb are here along with Mele's two cousins from Salt Lake. So, its been hard trying to juggle school, work, and cruising around with everyone. But again...all worth it.

- The semester's coming to an end, and I must say it hasn't been TOO stressfull. Majority of the work I need to turn is over, and now its just cracking down on doing all the work for my online class. *Sigh* I can't wait to go back to doing nothing but working soon. I feel I've learned so much this summer, so even thought it was a lot of hard work, it was all worth it.

Hope I didn't lose you in my random ramblings of all that is BEAUTIFUL. But, that thought provoking word...BEAUTIFUL....can really get my mind going. What word/words do that for you?

School's Cool

It's been a while since I've posted anything mostly because my camera has been completely dead and I can't seem to find my charger, and I don't really like posting anything without pictures. But anyhoo...the past couple of weeks have been pretty boring anyway. LOL.

I am totally in love with the classes that I am taking this semester. Even though the classes are 2-3 hours long. The classes include Pacific Regionalism, History of Surfing in Hawaii and an EXS class online. I never realized how much I LOVE learning about the countries in the Pacific, and the different issues they have to deal with like the rising sea level (poor Tuvalu), phosphate mining (Nauru), and various native land rights issues (all of them!). I think the reason why I enjoy it so much is I am fascinated by the many similarities we all share. We've all been screwed somehow by some foreign colonial power. How annoying!

Then, with my History of Surfing in Hawaii class...I feel so connected to my heritage as a Native Hawaiian woman. I LUV LUV LUV IT!!! It is a little disturbing reading about all the ways Hawaiians were mistreated and even marginalized in the past. And seeing how that is commonly overlooked even today. It really makes me think about what I can do to work towards making positive changes for my Hawaiian community. I get all hyped up when I read about the hoale trying to make surfing a part of THEIR history. But...ummm..yeah..we'll have to leave that for another post. Did I mention that we get to go on field trips for this class too! Yup...we already hit up Malaekahana and Sunset, and then on Tuesday we're going to Waikiki!!!! Woot woot!

I wish all my classes could be like this!

UGH-MAY-ZING WEEKEND!!!

Three words pretty much sum up the whirlwind of a weekend I've experienced:

UGH-MAY-ZING!!!!! (Yes...still trying to make up my own words here. LOL)

Don't you just love it when family come in from out of town to visit. I know I do because it definitely gives me an excuse to do the things I wouldn't normally do. But when you add great weather...correction...PERFECT weather to the mix, that's just an open invitation to the world of awesomeness!!!

Sadly...my camera charger is totally lost (kalofae), and since I forgot to download all the pix from my cousin's camera before she left, you'll just have to use your imagination. LOL.

Well, as I mentioned, my cousins were visiting from Utah. My cousin David, his wife, and their 3 kids ranging from the ages of 11-16 (along with the token haole bff) decided to spend their spring break in our beautiful islands. David's sister, Chantel, who I am super close with works for Delta, so I convinced her to come out with them as well to join in on the festivities.

*Here's a pic of us at our reunion in New Zealand. Chantel's the one holding up the backwards "C". LOL

So, because Chantel was coming in on Thursday, I worked all week before that to make sure I had the weekend off. Did I mention it was spring break for me as well? So after picking her up from the airport, we went and watched my boyfriend Vin in his latest movie "Fast and Furious." Can I just say...awesome action packed movie. Story line kinda sucked though. I'll just leave it at that.

FRIDAY:
Mahea had planned for all of us to go parasailing in town. We had planned on taking my brothers kids cause I haven't hung out with them in FOREVER, but we ended up taking my sisters kids as well because as I've mentioned in previous posts...with these kids, if I take one set, I HAVE TO take the other. So we all piled in the car and headed out to Honolulu. Because there was so many of us, we had to take two seperate boats. But its all good.

OH-EM-GEE..all I gotta say is if you've never gone parasailing, you should definitely do it. I felt so free and at peace up there. It was like a whole new world (LOL) up there. But the best part was we saw a couple whales swimming around. One even breached while we were in the boat. Me and Chantel were stoked we went on the second boat. I can't wait to go again.

After our parasailing adventure, we decided to go jump in the water near Mahea's work (Duke's) in hopes to go cruising on the Catamaran, or even get some surfing lessons. Well, we did neither, but it was cool just cruising at the beach. One drawback: cruising with all the other tourists in Waikiki...so NOT cool!

So after a couple hours of swimming in what seemed more like suntan lotion than water, we packed up and headed towards the North Shore. I exposed Chantel to the awesomeness of the Storto's sandwich. Mmmm....just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Because Matsumoto's was down the road, Chantel had to get her fix. If you ask me I think Matsumoto's is totally overrated...Waiola's in town is WAAAAAAAAY better...but that's just me. Ok..enough of the food critiquing (sp?)...LOL.

We still haven't had enough of the beach, so we decided to eat our sandwiches at Ke Iki beach. For those of you unfamiliar...it's an amazing beach right next to Shark's Cove. Unfortunately, when we got there the waves were HUGE and the poor kids couldn't go swimming. But that didn't stop them. They found that if they sat in a certain part of the reef, the water that would wash up formed little pools for them to sit in. So all enjoyed the water on the reef. And this is where it happened.

For some reason, I was under the impression that I can withstand Mother Nature and all her force, and decided to sit in a spot on the reef a little closer to the edge. Sidenote: never test the forces of nature. The first couple of waves were ok. They would crash towards the edge of the reef, and slowly die out as it reached me. But then a bigger wave came, and because the first few waves didn't cause any harm, I thought I would be able to hold my ground.

WRONG! The wave, which actually looks like a ripple from where I was sitting, was a lot stronger than I had anticipated and knocked me flat on my back! All I remember seeing was Mahea (my sister) laughing her head off while I tumbled on the reef. Then, just when I thought it was over, and before I could even sit up, another wave came, and this time I rolled over the huge rock I was sitting next to. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to some, but this was no ordinary rock. This was on the REEF! So those rocks are sooooo not smooth. So my back had all these little scratches and a few cuts. I'll definitely have to post those pix as soon as I get them. The good thing about this experience: the kids were able to see first hand what happens when you sit too close to the edge of the reef. DON'T DO IT!

But, at the end of the day, it was all worth it. I was able to spend the whole day with family, get a whole lotta sun, something I haven't been able to do lately with this horrible weather. Which by the way was short lived because it's cold and rainy right now as I'm typing. And, these series of events inspired this blog! UGH-MAY-ZING WEEKEND!!!!

Blogging Funk = BLUNK!

Hahahaha....like my new word? Well, that best describes my inability to blog for the past week or so. Well, besides my "Yay-for-Spring-Break" blog. Anyhoo...I think my brain has been so fried from all that last minute studying and paper writing these past few weeks, that I don't know how to blog or function (blunction?!...hahahaha) anymore. Well, it's not like there's a whole lot going on in my life right now, but there are definitely a few things that I've been wanting to get out there in the blog universe (bluniverse?!...hahahahaha...ok...stopping NOW!).

*Sigh* Where to begin? Well, as you all know, school's out, and I'm so relieved to be one semester closer to graduating. I believe I have approximately 29 credits or so and an internship until I'm done. Can I get a HALELLUJAH!!! (sp?) Life is sweet.

Work has been pretty interesting. We've been on a Spring Cleaning schedule, so it's always nice to de-clutter the store. Man....cleaning really does make a difference. You just feel so accomplished after clearing out a whole new area, or discovering all the pens you haven't seen in the past six months because they've fallen behind the shelves. Hahahaha. Yup..that bad. Now, if only I could be that motivated to clean my house!

Besides work and school, I've inherited a new hobby....COUPONING!!! Thanks Hine for introducing me to some UH-MAY-ZING couponing blogs. It's not as big a deal out here as it is in Utah, or in the mainland, but I'll take what I can get. The crappy thing is living half an hour away from any store! Ugh! How annoying! So, I have to plan these trips out in order to get the best deals. So, I'm just grateful that Long's and Walgreens are within walking distance from each other. I haven't hit up Walmart yet....still a newbie, so I still need to collect more coupons. But these are some great deals that I was able to conjure up with my mad couponing skills. Hahahahaha.

- Two Schick disposable razors (3pk) for $2.00 TOTAL!!! A total savings of $12.00!!!
- Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner for $6.00! I think I saved like $3.00 on both!
- Two Zooth kids toothbrushes. The really cool kine with the characters on the handle. Hahaha. I got BOTH for $1.50! That's half of the normal price for one! My niece and nephew were stoked about that one. I've never seen them so happy to brush their teeth! Hahaha.
- Two Softsoap body wash bottles for $3.50! I can't wait to use my coconut one! LOL!

Well...these were the great bargains I was able to find with the help of some awesome blogs. Here are two of my fave blogs. These ladies are on it! They show you all the best deals at a bunch of stores. And since we're pretty limited out here in Hawaii, their little pieces of advice hlep out a lot.

*Moms By Heart
*The "Cent"sible Sawyer

The best thing...when you go to their links, they'll link you up to other coupon crazy women with more deals and MORE coupons!!!!

This has probably been the MAIN reason why I've been unable to blog. I would login to my account and get distracted by all their new posts! Go check 'em out yourselves. I'm telling you...it's addicting. Next thing on my list.....homemade laundry detergent! Supposedly it knocks your laundry detergent bill to 3 CENTS A LOAD!!!!

So, there you have it my fellow bloggers. The things that have contributed to my absence. Whew...it feels good to finally get that out of my system.

Spring Break...I've Never Needed You More!

Last week Friday was the last day of the Winter semester, and I've never needed a break more than now. Woo hoo! Well, technically I'm not really on a break, considering I scheduled myself to work all day everyday up until Thursday this week....but money's always good. Besides...I will be enjoying the WHOLE weekend at the beach with my family that's visiting from Utah. How excited am I?! The beach has been calling my name all weekend...and I can't wait to be reunited with my long lost friend...Mr. Sun. He's been in hiding lately...but now he's out and ready to play! Woo hoo!!!! Don't worry Utah-ans...I'll be sure to post beach pix later so you can feel like you were there too. Hahahaha. Just kidding.

SPRING BREAK HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!

The End is Near....

It has been a looooooooooooooong 4 months...but the end is drawing near. Today marks the first day of the last week of the semester...and boy am I ready! With two finals down, and two more to go, I am anxious to say "bye bye" to winter and HELLO spring! I must say, this was probably one of the harder semesters for me, but I'm hoping my grades will be a positive reflection of that. The sucky thing about the semester being over soon is that I only have one week before the new one starts up again! Ugh! I can't wait for this year to be OVER!!!!

Presentation, Presentation, Presentation!!!

So label me the QUEEN of procrastination. Yes...I haven't learned my lesson, and continue to leave things at the last minute. I know you're all probably thinking...."oka...broken record already." But I just had to share. I have three presentations today. Two are on the papers that I've written earlier this semester, and the last being a group project. So...after a long week of relaxation and lazines...I accomplished NOTHING. Yup...there's that procrastination again. But how could I resist lounging on the couch, in front of the t.v. all week while my "roomies" were all in Wakiki??? Hahahaha. So leave it to me to prep my first presentation at 6:00 this morning.

But...the important thing is I got it done, and it went pretty well. Lucky for me the person who went first took up half the class, so the teacher was more interested in me finishing in time than in the presentation itself. Hahahahaha. Gotta love Dr. Jonassen. Always a stickler for time. But aside from my earring falling off in the middle of the presentation (I have no idea how that happened), and my inability to pronounce "Linda Lingle", it went pretty well. So I'm looking forward to a good grade. Whew. Relief. Now that's one down...and two more to go!

Veggie Lifestyle

So, in my previous post I mentioned how I started the Vegetarian lifestyle. Well, actually, the Presco-vegetarian lifestyle because I still eat fish. But I'm proud to say that I've maintained this healthy habit for three-going-on-four whole weeks!!! I'm so excited and proud of myself. But what makes it even better is that I've seen the benefits. I've lost 8 lbs!!! Woot woot! I think I probably would have lost more, but that dang ice cream is still in the freezer. Hahahaha.

Now, all I need to do is get back on the exercise wagon. That's the sucky thing about the end of the semester. There's so much work that needs to get done that I'm just too lazy to do anything else. P90X totally kicked my butt for the first couple weeks that I haven't given it another chance. LOL. So, I'm gonna be rejoining Shaun T. and the rest of the Rockin' Body crew. Those workouts are more forte. You know...hip hop and dancing always gets me moving.

After reading Line's post about her anti-sweets journey, I thought it would only be fair to update all you bloggers about my veggie-ness. I've given myself a month, but I'm actually gonna see how long I can go with this diet. Its actually been pretty easy, and I've come to enjoy eating fish.

Story time with my daddy....

Those who know my dad, can attest to his love for "talking story." He can talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Just as long as you give him a listening ear, and your full attention. His topics range from what barely happened to him 5 minutes before you saw him (LOL), the lives of his six children, the forgetfulness and "craziness" of his wife (ok...I added the "crazy" part), or whatever else is on his mind. Whatever it may be, just plan on it being extended to the half hour version. LOL. Whatever it may be, these are the times I treasure most with my father.

Well, tonight, after picking he and my mom up from town after spending nearly a week in Waikiki for their 37th wedding anniversary, father and I had a great conversation. Instigated by an earlier post by a cousin of mine, I wondered what it must have been like for my dad to grow up in Hawaii before it became a state. Long story short, here are some of the things I NEVER knew about my dad and his family:

1 - His mother spoke very little English. Hawaiian was her first language. Unfortunately, my grandfather only spoke "broken english," so my dad could only understand a little, so he and his siblings would reply in English.

2 - My dad and his older brother were the "black sheep" in the family...according to my grandfather at least. My grandpa would make my dad wash the car EVERY DAY!!! Now, when I say wash the car...I mean...WASH. THE. CAR. Inside AND out. He said even if it was dark outside, grandpa would make them wash the car with a flashlight, and if they missed a spot, they would get dirty lickings. This explains his infatuation with the cleanliness of any car he drives. Even if it isn't his own car, if he's driving it, he makes sure its clean.

3 - He grew up with very little money, and wasn't able to enjoy simple luxuries like breakfast. When he was in elementary, they didn't have money for breakfast. Grandpa would drop them off at school so early that they would get there before the milkman made his delivery to the school cafeteria. So my dad and his siblings would help themselves to the milk that would be sitting right outside the cafeteria door. LOL.

4 - He got caught switching his "sardine" sandwich, with some other girls bologna sandwich. Hahahahahaha. He got whacked with the ruler when he got caught for that one, and he said that was the first and the last time he ever got lickings in school from the teacher.

This last one is my favorite.

5 - My dad was the first in his family....EVER to graduate from high school. According to him, the highest level of education that his father and all his uncles and aunty's were able to achieve was the 5th grade! I know things were a lot more difficult for them back then, but I was so proud of my dad when he told me that. It just makes me appreciate him even more for all the sacrifices that he made to ensure his own children get the best education possible.

*sigh* I never realized before that my dad was the first to graduate. Not only that, but he was the first in his family to become converted and remain an active member of the church. He is quite the pioneer. And how grateful am I to be his daughter.

Counting My Blessings

I am so so so so so so so grateful! As I've mentioned in one of my previous posts, procrastination is one of the best traits that describe myself. Hahaha. But yes, I STILL haven't learned my lesson. But I am so grateful for a Father who understands me and loves me and continues to help me. I know that I wouldn't have been able to do it without His help. I just finished writing my term paper for another one of my classes, and this time I had to write 8-10 pages!!! But yes...I still did it folks. I kept putting it off, and putting it off...all the way until this morning at 8am! Did I mention the paper was due at 1:20?! So after gathering all of my research that I previously made, I was able to write 9 pages in 3 1/2 hours!!!! How I did it, I have no idea! But I know He helped me along the way. I feel so blessed.

"No Meat! No Meat! La la la la la la!!!"

It's official. I've jumped on the "no meat" bandwagon. I've been playing with this idea for quite some time now, but have never really been able to go through with it. But after talking to friends and family who have done it, and said they feel much healthier ever since they have, I've decided to give it a shot. Now, I told myself that I would start small...like just eliminating any beef or pork. That if I absolutely HAD to have some "meaty" consistency, I would substitute it with chicken or turkey. But I decided against that because I've done it before, and it never works out. So, vegetarianism...here I come. I think my body is fighting against what my mind has chosen for it because I'm typing this while laying in bed with an upset stomach. HAHAHAHAHAHA! We'll just say that my body is "cleansing" itself of all the meat I ate over the weekend. I hate sick stomachs.

So...since accountability is key...I'm putting it out there. If you run in to me anywhere, and see me about to eat anything with legs...I give u full permission to slap me! Lol!

1 down....2 more to go!!!

I have officially booked my tickets to L.A. for this summer. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but it means that I am one step closer to my Summer Expedition in Europe!!!! Woot! Woot! You read correctly....Europe baby!!!!!

A couple of my friends and I are currently planning a backpacking trip throughout several European countries this summer, and boy am I excited!!! At first we were thinking of going on a Mediterranean cruise, because one of the main places we wanted to go to was Greece. But we figured, since we're there, we might as well try to see more.

So we decided to take the Eurail to 5+ countries. The train pass is actually cheaper than the cruise itself, the only setback is that we'll have to pay for lodging and food ourselves. But my friends have some companions in some of these countries, so we're gonna try to stay with them. Here are the countries we decided we HAVE to go to:

- France
- Spain
- Italy
- Greece
- Switzerland

The pass lets us travel up to 15 days to up to 21 countries!!!! We are so excited!

So...now that I have one of the major costs out of the way (my roundtrip ticket from here to L.A.), that's one less thing to worry about. Now all that's left is the roundtrip ticket to France from Salt Lake (I'll be road tripping it from L.A to Salt Lake), and then the Eurail pass. Europe....here I come!!!!!!!!!!!

TARGET'S FINALLY HERE!!!

This just might be the number one reason why my wallet will be on a diet for the next couple weeks:

Yes folks...TARGET has finally come to Hawai'i nei. I'm so superly, duperly, OOBERLY excited!!! Ever since roaming its magical aisles for the first time in good 'ole Orem, Utah, I couldn't resist the jaw-dropping deals on the best items!!! Not to mention that they cater to us plump/plus women! I. LOVE. IT!!!! So, yes...my wallet may be getting smaller, but my closet will be loving the new additions mama will be bringing home! Ahhh...I can't wait to go!!!

Blessing in Disguise

Yesterday was one of the busiest Sundays for me. Baby blessings, meetings upon meetings, CHURCH, and an impromptu fireside by one of the Apostles. But I had the reassurance that if I was diligent in my callings, I would be blessed. AND HOW BLESSED AM I!!!

Today is officially the midpoint of my semester and I have a lot...I mean A LOT of stuff due. Here's a list...just to give you an idea.

6-page term paper for Public Administration class
Chapter Review questions (30+) for Astronomy
Midterm for Political Inquiry (my hardest class this semester)
Article review for Political inquiry

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have been procrastinating BIG time, and the only thing I was able to finish before today was the Astronomy assignment. So I woke up at 7am to start my 6-page paper, thinking in the back of my mind that I still have to do my article review, which is due at 2:30. Did I mention, my term paper is due at 4pm? So you can see where this is going. Luckily, I have today and tomorrow to take my midterm...so that's a blessing in itself. But the biggest blessing was the email I received, around 11:30 saying that my article review won't be due until 2:30 Wednesday!!! HALELUJAH!!!!!

You can just imagine my utter joy and relief after reading that email. I wanted to kiss the screen! So now, my time is devoted to finishing my term paper, which by the way I am currently halfway through page six!!! Woohoo!!! Then after that, my time is devoted to studying for this midterm...cause it's gonna be a doozie!

I knew that if I put my trust in Him, He would bless me. Thank you. Don't get me wrong...I know I wasn't blessed because of my procrastination. And I know I shouldn't be waiting til the last minute to do EVERYTHING. I'm just saying, that I'm thankful for a Father who knows me, and loves me still the same.

Procrastination....

Procrastination is my best friend, yet number one nemesis!!!! Ugh...the stress involves much hair pulling, late nights, early mornings, nausea, and high blood pressure. Hahaha...ok...maybe not the last one. But that is definitely one f the things that I have difficulty with. This bad habit must be genetic, because I see it in my mother AND my oldest sister. Why...oh WHY....do I have to take after them??? Why can't I take after my "always-prompt" father, or my overly efficient brother. Why oh WHY am I a procrastinator. Well, here's one reason I was able to come up with. I DO BEST UNDER PRESSURE!!!! I don't know why, but most of my best work was done hours...minutes...seconds before its due. The thrill of working against a running clock always gets me going. I love and hate it. But the older I get, I think I hate it more. Yet, I continue to procrastinate. By writing this blog. Hahahahahahaha. I need help.

High School Memories

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be! At the end, choose 10 people (or more) to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...


1. Did you date someone from your school? Negative. All the boys at my school were either waaaaaay tiny...or waaaaaay iritz. LOL.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Nope...still single. Hahahaha.

3. Did you car pool to school? Carpool, with about 50 other kids on the big yellow twinkie bus!

4. What kind of car did you have? Big Red Truck.

5. What kind of car do you have now? Little Red Truck...well...Maroon actually. And neither are actually mine. They're my parents. But I did, and still do have claim to their vehicles considering I'm the youngest. LOL.

6. Its Saturday night...where are you now? Depends who I'm with. If with friends...movies. Family...home.

7. It is Saturday night...where were you then? Grounded and stuck at home.

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? Photo Poly working on my photography skills. LOL.

9. What kind of job do you do now? Kavaroots #1 Acai Bowl maker...LOL.

10. Were you a party animal? Only for 1/2 the year. LOL. I was grounded for the other 1/2.

11. Were you considered a flirt? Hahahaha...no.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No. Funny thing though...I did audition for the choir, after much nagging from one of my friends, and I got DENIED! Ahahahahahaha.

13. Were you a nerd? Nope

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? No.

15. Can you sing the fight song? Ummm....I don't think we had a fight song.

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? My ceramics teacher cause he was so chill. Sad thing though...I totally forgot his name. Hahahaha.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? With whoever. I can't really remember which of my friends had the same lunch period as me.

18. What was your school's full name? Kamehameha Schools

19. When did you graduate? 2001

20. What was your school mascot? Warriors

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Yes! Senior year was probably the ONLY year I actually ENJOYED going to school. I would probably do a few things differently though.

22. Did you have fun at Prom? I sure did! My date was the best ever! A bunch of my friends from Kahuku came too, and that made it just as memorable.

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? No...I don't even know where he is now. Hahahaha. I don't really keep in touch with too many people from my high school.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Probably not.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? As I mentioned in 23..not really. Because the student body consisted of kids from all over the island, I don't really see too many of my classmates. And if I do...I usually try to avoid the ones I don't really like. Hahahaha.

26. School Colors? Blue and white.

I tag whoever wants to take that trip down memory lane. *sigh*

You Give...You Get...

So, here's how this game works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!

I totally copied this off of my friend Vaueli's blog, and I though this would be such a fun game. Considering I love to give, but haven't really been doing it lately. Can't wait to see who comments first! Or at all. Hahahahahaha.

P90X...love or hate?

It's official. I've jumped on the P90X bandwagon. After much hesitation, I started the workouts yesterday, and boy am I paying for it right now. My body is in so much pain. Well...more so my ARMS are in so much pain. After doing a gajillion push ups, I'm surprised that my arms are still attached to my body. It hurts just to drink water! Ugh! But...I'm determined to keep going. My brothers started last summer and were able to see some pretty good results. So, we'll see how this goes. Tony Horton will be my best friend and worst enemy the next couple of months.

Blessed

I feel so blessed. This was an amazing sabbath. The talks. The lessons. Amazing.

Crazy Kid!

This past weekend was spent relaxing in Waikiki at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Waikiki retreats usually call for much relaxation and every meal being eaten at some restaurant..which usually results in us being broke afterwards. Anyhoo, while waiting for our food at said restaurants, one of my sisters kids always seems to find a way to entertain us. So'i was this years nominee. Check out the poppin' and lockin' action. LOL.

The Rules:

1. Go to your Documents/ Pictures
2. Go to you 6th Folder (if get)
3. Go to your 6th Picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 people to do the same
6. Here we go...

Ahahahahaha. Ok....if you look carefully, you'll see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, and this is supposed to be a picture of me kissing it. BUT, I didn't see that long white cloud...so it looks like something else. Use your imagination.

Anyhoo....this pic was in my "Old School Memories" file. This was one of the best summers ever! Summer of 2005. Visited 5 states and 6 cities in 5 weeks: California (San Francisco and L.A.), Nevada (Las Vegas), Washington (Seattle), and Utah (Salt Lake and Provo). This was soooooo much fun. I went to the Bay to attend one of my besties (Umi) graduation from Stanford. Went to L.A. to celebrate that graduation by going to Disneyland and Six Flags! Woo Hoo!!!! Las Vegas to visit another bestie (Bubs). Back to L.A. for Bubsie's family reunion. Seattle to visit some other friends and family. Provo and Salt Lake for another besties (Vaueli) wedding. Looking at this picture makes me wonder where the rest of these pix are at? I hope I didn't lose it cause some great memories were made there.

This was so much fun. So...I tag:

ANYONE and EVERYONE!!!

Update on 'My So-Called Life'

Ok...so I'm done with that dreaded review paper! Woo Hoo!!! Now four more to go! Eeeeh!

Anyhoo...I just wanted to post a little update on my life. Nothing too exciting, but definitely some changes have occurred. I'm happy to say that I'm still working hard on my resolutions. Yup...its the second month of the year and I'm proud to say that I've maintained 2 out of 4 of my resolutions.

So far, I have refrained from watching rated-R movies. You will not believe how hard of a task this has been for me thus far. As soon as I posted my resolutions, I discovered two AMAZING movies ready for release in theaters...Gran Torino, and Slumdog Millionaire! Satan...i HATE you!!! Thank goodness for this new found self control. Sorry Greg...I'm sticking to this one for the year. So 'Clean Flicks' will be my new best friend.

Daily prayers and scripture study have been going pretty good as well. Reading three pages a day have definitely made a difference with my day. I have a greater love for the Book of Mormon each time I read. There are so many things that I've learned, or been reminded of since I began. It always amazes me how well the Lord knows me and how He knows what I need to hear with each day.

I've mentioned before to my friends that this was definitely going to be a year of change for myself. Last August I moved out of my ward boundary, placing me in the Laie 10th singles ward. I only started attending this ward this year. At first it was a bit difficult for me because it was something that I wasn't used to, even though I already knew most of the people there. But the spirit there is exactly what I need. I've recently been called as the Relief Society secretary!!! Can you believe that?! Totally not what I expected, but I'm definitely grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to serve and better acquaint myself with this group of amazing sisters!

My work outs have been ok, I guess. I started off really good by working out every morning, and being conscious of what I was eating. I make sure that I drink a lot of water throughout the day, and try not to eat after 7. This week however has been the worst! I find myself more tired, and less motivated to do ANYTHING! Ugh! So, today I'm going to start working out with a few friends of mine. I think that is what I need the most. Moral support. Its hard to go workout when you're going by yourself.

As for school, its going ok so far. We are already 1/3 through the semester! That's so fast. This new schedule is definitely throwing me off. I already have two major term papers due in less than 2 weeks! It kinda sucks because the classes seem rushed and I feel like I'm not learning as much as I should from my teachers. However, this has forced me to utilize study groups! That is something that I've never really done before. Again, stepping out of my comfort zone.

So this year has changed me all right. Sometimes to the point where I don't even recognize myself anymore. I rarely go out and socialize anymore. I guess you could say....I'm growing up.

Semantics shmantics!!!!

Ugh!!!!! I am currently sitting in the library waiting for inspiration to come, unfortunately, to no avail has it arrived yet. This brings me to blogging. The only place where I can let me words flow freely from that thing I call my mind. I have a review paper due in approximately 2 1/2 hours, and have roughly two paragraphs laid out on the page. One page single spaced is all that is required, so why is it so difficult you ask??? Because the article I'm supposed to be reviewing makes no sense to me at all!!! So what do I do when I've encountered a writer's block?! Photo shoot! Thank you Mr. Mac for creating the greatest thing ever known to man.....the macbook! Here's a visual expression of my feelings towards this effin article!!!

"What the heezy is this?"

"Oh! I think I got it.....NOT!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Grrrr.....I don't get it!!!"

"This article stinks!"

So there you go folks. The writing process for me. I skipped three classes to get to this point. How productive. Well, at least I got some blogging done right?!