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!