The After Party..celebrating a couple things..

So after being stuck inside on a beautiful Saturday when we were suppose to be kayaking in Kailua and Lanikai, we went out to party after everything opened back up in Waikiki. We first headed to the International Marketplace, the place Cynthia learned to bargain or get ripped off.

Notice the hula girl that inspired Cynthia to dance the hula randomly.

My cute hubby and me (1 of 500 million thousand pictures I have of us..hehe)

Cynthia isnt flipping this guy off really, but this was a "street magician" and was supposedly going to take a ring and spin it in the air without using his hands..he was going to use "the force" I guess. Too bad Cynthia saw the string he was using, but she let him fool everyone else. haha good, weird times in Waikiki, but we had to let her experience the streets of Waikiki.

Then we headed to Dave and Busters! Mine and Evs favorite place to partay! We had to celebrate Cynthia's birthday early (12 days early) since she was here in Hawaii.

They brought her cheesecake and we all sang happy birthday.

My addiction, if I had one, would be this coin game. My most favorite game at D&B.

We had a great time with Cynthia here for the week. Hawaii is definitely a place everyone needs to experience, especially the BYU-Hawaii campus, PCC, and temple grounds. Theres definitely a Spirit that you cant miss, and when you leave you will feel the Island Spirit missing.

11:19 AM

It was 3:30 AM when we heard banging on our front door. I shook Evs and said, "someone is at the door." He jumps out of bed, puts on his eyes and is like ,"Who is it?" It was our neighbors the Sandbergs (thanks for the warning guys!) I seriously thought someone died or nailed our car. We were told that because of the earthquake in Chile that a tsunami was headed our way. I tried to grasp this warning at 3:30 am and grab our 72 hour kits and prepare for the worst. We had our friend Cynthia visiting with us and so we had to gather enough food and water for her and well and possibly move to higher ground. Luckily we found out that we weren't in an evacuation area and that we had to hold tight until 11:19 am when the tusnami was to hit the big island the worst then makes its way through the rest of the islands.

A strong earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hits Chile which makes the authorities to issue a tsunami warning in Chile. In Hawaii tsunami warning is also issued. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning at 12:46 a.m. on Feb. 27 Government agencies – county, state and federal – began implementing evacuation plans, safety and security along shorelines, and informing the public of the pace of the storm through the media.The waves generated by the earthquake are almost 10 feet high. According to information the first wave of tsunami will hit at 11:19 am to Hawaii shore.The US Geological survey assessed the magnitude as 8.3 initially. The quake hit at a depth of 36.9 miles of the ocean, 197 miles southwest of the capital, Santiago, at 3:34 a.m. Chile time on Saturday.Vindell Hsu, geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that the waves generated after the quake was very high and it will cause tsunami and he also said that center is waiting for more information about it.Tsunami warning has been issued in Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, and as far as Russia and Japan.

It hit the Chile at 3:34a.m. After the quake people came out of there homes. They were crying and hugging each other. It was dark at the time of earthquake. Many buildings collapsed and phone lines are destroyed.

As the tsunami sirens went off all throughout the island and it became a huge reality to me that they were preparing for the worst since 1960. It was a little scary, but after having everything ready I made sure to call my car insurance to check that I had flood and fire damage on my car, we moved all electronics and items we cared about up as high as we could to save them. I grabbed our important documents and we waited. Since the night before we went to bed at around 1 am, we were exhausted and so we all slept in the same room with the jalousies and door wide open to make sure we heard any commotion. We pretty much slept, ate, ate, slept and watched the news. It was an eery feeling to not know what to expect but I was glad that we were prepared because I wasnt scared for what could happen. One thing Evan and I did talk about though was getting renters insurance. We don't have any huge valuable items here, but we made sure to throw it in the budget for when we move to the mainland in April. The warning was later canceled around 1:40 p.m., with no major surges hitting any of the Hawaiian Islands. Phew! Sigh of relief.

I had a block of legos thrown at my head today. TWICE.It hurt. I had my feet smelt today. It was funny. I love my job.

Dear You know who,

Evs and I were thinking about you today when we heard it said in an inspiring talk, that if you recite the following phrase (or any phrase you want to make up) 10 times in the mirror every morning you will convince yourself that you are this and you will become what it is you want to become. Its all a mental game that Satan plays with you. He wants you to think that you are of less worth than you really are, but we know who is boss, YOU are. You are the one that controls your thoughts. So be the winner of the mental game and just do it. We love you and want you to be happy.

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

I AM A HAPPY CHEERFUL PERSON

(Dedicated to the one who needs it most, you know who you is)

One choice.

First there were TWO..

Then there were THREE..

Still THREE about to head up a hill to the right..

There they went...

AND then there were FOUR.. thank goodness for the FOURTH guy. Where did he come from anyways??

Evs and I had a neat experience yesterday, Saturday 20 FEB 2010. (Ok maybe it was just neat for me to watch as I followed behind with my hazards on..) So this is how it went down we had just finished doing our taxes and then eating at Chili's and we were heading to Ewa Beach for Evs internship at Campbell High School. We saw this car with their hazard lights on, broken down. They wave us to pass them and as we are about to pass them we stop and say," Hey you need help?" The guy in the car was like, "Yea." So we stopped where we were in the far right lane, put our haz lights on and ran over to help this guy and gal push their car out of the middle lane. They pushed it right in front of ours and then we all decided we needed to move it on the next street because it was going to be blocking one lane still. So Evs helped him keep pushing and I run back to get our car so its not blocking a lane and I follow them. Meanwhile we were at the stoplight and all of a sudden I see guy number 3 come running from the car behind me. I was feeling better for Evs and the other guy since they were going to have to push the car up a steep hill soon (apparently the other guy wasn't that strong though and wasn't helping too much, but its the thought that counts right? of course it is!) So as the three of the guys try to plow up the hill, out of nowhere BIG guy number 4 comes around to finish off the deal and helps them get the car up the hill. (Dear BIG GUY NUMBER 4, THANK YOU! whoever you are and wherever you came from, my husband was working very very hard and might have busted a gut pushing the car up that hill with those two other dudes). Needless to say we were in the right place at the right time. Because we chose to stop and take a second to help someone in need, a domino effect happened and two others partook of service that day as well. Its amazing how one choice we make can create so much good. It was surely a feel good day yesterday. We love to serve! There are always opportunities to serve, its a matter of looking around and taking a second to step outside of your zone to reach out and see what you can do. Serving isnt about getting recognized; its about doing because you would hope someone would help you if you were in need.

Flat Stanley

Our nephew, Kai Uda, had a project for his class to do, which was to send Flat Stanley somewhere for an "adventure". He sent Flat Stanley to Hawaii! Yay! We were happy to have Flat Stanley visit with us for a little bit and show him some of the sights. While I was working at the Hickam Air Force Base, Flat Stanley went with Evan and Dad Stubbs onto Base to see all of the historical sights it offered because of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, on Dec 7th 1941. Flat Stanley enjoyed that learning experience. Then Evs and I took Flat Stanley to the beach to see what the waves were like and we buried him in the sand for fun. Then we took him to see more historical sights, the King Kamehameha Statue and the Iolani Palace.

Thank you Kai for sending Flat Stanley to spend some time with us, we hope he had a great trip!

Only in a Hawaii Walmart...

Would there be a Gecko running around instead of a mouse.

Valentines Day 2010

The last week or so, I been asking Evs,"Will you be my Valentine?" and his response was always," I dont know, we'll see.." So to start off today, my hunny woke up, turned to me and said," Will you be my Valentine?" I smiled of course and said," Yes!" We were able to have a great morning by team teaching in Sunday School at church. We came home, I got the salsa and chips ready and Evs picked a "special" movie, Enchanted. I always love that cute movie and I loved spending time with my sweet husband. I was in charge of dinner and Evs was in charge of dessert. I made some chicken with a Balsamic Garlic oil baste, a side of broccoli, and chicken rice. It was nice to be together at our little table enjoy us a special meal and watch us some Amazing Race!

DIN-DIN

Evs working hard on his V-day dessert.

Dessert in the process...

The finished product..mmm..mmm..good! It seriously turned out so amazing. I am so proud of my hunny for trying a new recipe and being such a great cook!

Happy Valentines Day! I know that we dont just have ONE day in the entire year that we have the chance to show our love to those we love, we should always extend our love to those around us. I am glad that this day didn't feel much different than any other day with my sweetie, but we just made it a lil bit extra special, since it was a "holiday" and all. I love you Evs!

Gung Hei Fat Choy!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Saturday fun!

Ev and and I had a great Saturday. I worked in the morning and then we went to the Kaiser Permanente Sports, Health & Fitness Expo walked around and looked at all of the booths that represented some form of your health whether it be foot reflexology, your spine/posture, your Aura, massage therapy, what you eat, and exercise/fitness testing and more. We went to one booth where you actually take fake food and make a plate of food and they tell you if you have all your food groups and whether its a good plate. I suppose as Exercise Science majors we would know what is good to eat so of course we did a great job plating our food.

After the Expo Evs, Mom Stubbs and I headed to meet Aunty Chicky, Demi, and Grandma for a Valentines dinner. We had good food and great conversation. Its always fun to be close to family.

We headed to Milano Freezer for some delish gelato.

I really enjoyed the day! There is nothing more that I love or that I would rather do than spend time with my cute hunny.Happy pre-Valentines Day!

Sometimes I feel..

well..SELFISH. Today I woke up with the sun peering through my window with a slight breeze. I go out and about today and the sun is shining and the temperature is 81 degrees. The beach looks amazing! Water is a little chilly, but heck you get used to it after a few minutes. I do feel SELFISH to be living in this beautiful place.

Meanwhile, Washington DC is having a blizzard. The temperature is 25 degrees and you are not advised to drive on the roads because they are so icy. Its a terrible way to live. Why would people subject themselves to living in such a COLD place? I mean honestly..beats me. I will enjoy my sun as much as I can savor these last few months and then envy my family that gets to continue living here without us.

TOP TWO REASONS I WANT MY OWN WASHER N' DRYER:

1. So that my clothes dont smell like someone elses stank!

2. So that I dont end up with random vegetables in my clothes that some kiddo hid in their pants because they didn't want to eat them..(particularly peas and carrots--no thank you)

The Spirit speaks

I prayed and gave thanks for the things I am most grateful for in my life at this time. I didnt ask for anything, I simply thanked Heavenly Father for blessing me so immensely. I then said Amen in His Name, Jesus Christ. I laid down and felt good ready for bed. Then this thought came to my mind. "Exercise and Autism" I didnt know what it meant..it was pretty random, but I tried to go back to sleep and I couldnt sleep, hence why I am up writing this now. I opened up the computer and searched "exercise with autism" and came across great results.

One of the most under-utilized yet effective treatments for autistic individuals is exercise. Obviously, exercise is important for everyone especially for those with autism. Several research studies have shown that vigorous or strenuous exercise is often associated with decreases in stereotypic (self-stimulatory) behaviors, hyperactivity, aggression, self-injury, and destructiveness.

Now knowing that I didnt get into grad school like I had planned, I have been seeking for direction. I just really didnt know what I was suppose to be doing now. I felt like I know I got my degree for a reason and went on listing and researching all the options that I had with my degree, Exercise Science. My job is working with children with autism and I just really love it! To see one of my kiddos read or one of my kiddos speak a sentence on his own that he didnt mimic is precious to me! I love it! I cant say that getting hangers, nerf guns, train blocks chucked at my head and getting socked is my favorite part, but it is indeed part of the job and when those kiddos are happy to see me I will be even more grateful for my job! Its neat, nothing that I have ever done before. So I am not sure at this point what direction my career/education path is headed, but I can tell you that I am willing to listen to when the Spirit speaks and know that its something I need to hear.

That Husband of Mine...

He never ceases to amaze me. Before he left for class this morning at 7:30 am, he covered me with another blanket. I felt this extra warmth. WHY? because he is the sweetest person in my life and saw that the wind chill was really getting to me and apparently I looked cold and honestly I was cold. I was wearing a sweater and flannel bottoms too. Its been pretty chilly lately, for Hawaii I might add, I might just die if I lived anywhere else besides Hawaii right now and that place was colder than 60 degrees. I love my sweet husband of mine! Thanks babe!

What is our character made up of?

We need to be a whole person not just a part time person.

There are those that:

MAKE THINGS HAPPEN

There are those that:

LET THINGS HAPPEN

And there are those that say,

"HEY, WHAT HAPPENED?"

It is only by DOING that we learn.

notes from a talk in church.

Tru Wuv

The talks/lesson in church today were about marriage. Now in a singles ward, everyone would have rolled their eyes, started to look around, giggling, and trying to feel "inspired" as to who their "tru wuv" in the room could be..or the awkward feeling of sitting next to a guy friend and hoping that he wasnt thinking that you were the "one,the tru wuv". But in a boring married ward, theirs no worries about any of those feelings, the talks were directed on how we can work on strengthening our marriage to become One with God. I find that being married a WHOLE YEAR(holla), I am certainly no expert at being married, but I am grateful for the things that have helped Evan and me on our amazing adventure (refer to Year One blog post).

Heres a few additional Secrets to a Happy Marriage that we learned about today that could be helpful when applied:

1. Praying each day for the strength of your marriage (i love the word strength, its not often we pray particularily for the "strength" of our marriage, but more so other things.)

2. Find unique ways to express love at unexpected moments. (random ways that cost no money.)

3. Setting goals together and then presenting them to Heavenly Father for His approval.

4. Recognize that when emotions are high and logic is low--postpone making big decisions.

We are a COVENANT COUPLE, not just a married couple.(thanks for the words of wisdom Uncle Georges Bonnett)

Yahoo!

He got it! Evs got an interview for Grad school! We are super excited. He is going t fly out to California most likely March 2nd and his interview is March 3rd. We are praying hard and going into the interview knowing that whatever the outcome is, its what is meant to be! I am so excited and proud of my hubby. He has worked hard and working to finish the semester strong. We can only hope for the best!! Love that man of mine to pieces! Good Luck Evy!