Saturday is a Special Day!

We had a great adventurous day yesterday! We hiked the most famous volcanic crater in the world called Diamond Head, located on the South-east Coast of O'ahu at the end of Waikiki overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was originally named Laeahi by the ancient Hawaiians. The name meant "brow of the tuna", cool, I guess?

Just some history about Diamond Head:

When the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898, harbor defense became a main responsibility. One of the major defense forts, Fort Ruger, occupied the Diamond Head Crater. A battery of canons was located within the crater providing complete concealment and protection from invading enemies. An observation deck was constructed at the summit in 1910 to provide target sighting and a four level underground complex was built within the walls of the crater as a command post. A 580-foot tunnel was dug through the crater wall to provide easier access to the Fort.The observation deck and underground complex is now abandoned with the advent of radar but evidence of the command post is still present along Diamond Head Trail. The trail is paved the entire way but can be steep in spots. There are two set of stairs, one with 99 steps and the other, 76 steps. There is also a 225-foot unlit tunnel. The hike is classified as easy to moderate in exertion but is certainly worth the breathtaking, unparalleled view of the entire west side of the island, from Waikiki to Koko Head. We had such a fun hike and now I can cross another thing off of my bucket list of things to do before we leave Hawaii. We had some friends join us, Becky and Tyler Waldron. We had such a great time with them. We made it to the top together! The view was for sure breathtaking. I love the color of the water here.And not that we didnt already know this but there are a lot of homes and buildings in Wakiki.On the way down the trail we listened to this gentleman that was probably in his late 40's, try and spit his game on these younger Asian girls. He had two boys with him and was telling this story about some bunny named Floppy and how he found him dead because Floppy ate rat poisoning.haha.it was so funny to listen to him tell this story and then the boys came back over to him and he was like, "Im telling the girls about Floppy, kids you remember Floppy right?" It was so funny..Then he goes on to tell this joke: "What did the river say to the ocean" and the young boy says,"Im a river Im bigger than you ocean." Then the Dad or whoever he was, asks the joke again and the kid says, "I just said it!" Then the Dad said no Im asking these two(meaning the girls). Anyways it was pretty good entertainment.

My cute hubby!

Becky being illegal::She climbed over the railing to check out the other bunker.

Then theres me!

After the hike we headed to Waikiki beach to go Surfing. Now I mentioned Becky and Tyler previously, but I would like to give them an intro.They are recently married,like 1 month, they moved from California so that Tyler could attend BYU-Hawaii. Tyler is actually one of my companions, Kimber (aka Sister Stevens) bro-in-law, so while talking to her one day she mentioned that they were out here. It didnt take long and we got connected and we have had a blast. Tyler and Becky like to surf and since we were going to be in town they brought their surf boards and it was nice to do something new. I have gone surfing (riding on the whitewash with a surfboard::hehe) while in California and Hawaii, but Ev and I dont own boards and we arent very good at it. So it was nice for me to practice something and maybe get better at it. I caught a few waves stood up then fell, but I had so much fun. I stole all the time and Ev didnt get a chance to go since it was nearly dark by the time I came back into shore(such a mean wife, but he wasnt mad he was just happy I had a great time). But theres always next time! All in all we had a blast and we look forward to more fun times with Becky and Tyler.

Becky and Tyler, the cool surfers.

me,paddling in after a good time in the water.

It was neat to be in the water and just chillin on shore as the sun was setting! Ev captured these amazing photos. Way to go!

Tsunami Memorial Service

Samoans gathered for a national day of mourning after 143 people were killed in Samoa and at least 32 people died in the neighboring island American Samoa and then 9 in Tonga, today Friday October 9th,2009. A memorial service was held at a stadium in the capital, to honour the victims. Following the ceremony, 11 unclaimed bodies were buried in a mass grave. The government had initially expected about 100 victims to be buried in the mass grave, but most families have opted for private burials in keeping with the local tradition of laying their dead to rest close to their homes. A search continues for six people still missing.

I cannot imagine having to identify an unknown body with the possibility that it might be one of my loved ones. I pray that I never have to experience that trial. The people of Samoa are a lot stronger than I am.

The result of a natural disaster.

The burial of unknown bodies, by the size of this casket you can see that it is a child. I am grateful that this child is with our Heavenly Father and that He has embraced that little angel with open arms and that that child is safe and watching above.

I see these struggles that these people are having to endure and I wonder what am I suppose to learn from this tragic event? What am I suppose to learn? This is a question I have been pondering and I wonder maybe the Lord is warning me to always be prepared. The people of Samoa did not have a warning, but I feel that I am to heed the warning that they werent given. I dont know if the earthquakes are over and the natural disasters are stopped for now, but while I live on this island I can only be prepared for such occasions. This weekend it is mine and Evans goal to get our 72 kits ready. We have some stuff, but I really feel that even if nothing is going to happen that the Lord is testing my obedience. I really feel that I can be faithful in the most simple way by just being prepared. And so, as tomorrow approaches, we hope to be successful and accomplish our goal of being prepared, obedient, and faithful.

Tsunami WATCH #2 canceled!

Another 8.0 earthquake happened near Vanuatu, Fiji. We were once again on a Tsunami watch, it didnt escalate to a warning just a "watch", then 30 minutes later it was canceled. The nice thing is that I had no idea we were even on Tsunami watch until I turned on the radio and I heard,"Tsunami watch canceled!" Im not sure whether its better to know there is a possibility for a tsunami and wait and prepare and maybe freak out a little bit or never know and hear about it later. Glad that we were saved once again, sad that another group of peeps had to suffer the effects of yet another earthquake. And I thought California was the earthquake state..lately it seems to be the South Pacific.

Visitors!

I loved my mission! I loved the people, the members, the adventure, everything about a mission is amazing! I served in only 4 areas my WHOLE mission whereas Evan had ALOT, granted he did serve 6 more months than I did, so that makes a little difference. Anyways I served in my greeny area, THE DALLES, OREGON for 4 1/2 months; then KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON for 4 1/2 months; then ELLENSBURG,WASHINGTON for 6 months; then finally VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON for 3 months. I met so many good people. Talked to so many people. And of course bore my testimony to everyone (accepting and non-accepting). One thing about a mission though that makes the difference is the members. When you have good members to go out with you and when you have members willing to do anything to help. I had great members in my mission. A couple weeks ago I had a chance to meet up with a family from my second area. The McCulloughs were coming out to Hawaii again to watch their daughter Lauran play soccer for BYU-Hawaii. Lauran is going on her second year here and when I was on my mission she was still in high school. I remember she was about to go back into soccer season and hadn't been working out. Me being a soccer player, scolded her with kindness of course, and told her she had better get working. Its her senior year and shes gotta be on her game. I told Lauran to come running with us in the mornings. Yes I was a missionary dedicated to my morning exercise time. She showed up at our apartment at 6:30 am and got running. It wasnt super intense or anything, but for her to get up, get ready and drive to our apartment for a 20-30 min run, it was awesome. Lauran used to come lessons with us too. It was a fun experience to see her having to make decisions about college and sports like I had to. Anyways, anytime we were in the McCulloughs area they would always feed us or give us a snack, or give us the 411 on their neighbors. We worked in their neighborhood some weeks, but the McCulloughs were always happy to help. Linda McCullough also went out with us too and we always had a great time, even if we werent able to get into anyones home or our appointments fell through, she was a good sport and tried to help us find people to visit. My last night in the area, they took Sister Noel and I to dinner and it was sad to have to say goodbye. Well, the McCullough's have kid #2 here.Their son Trent. I picked him up at the airport and help get him settled in since he didnt have his Mum to help him =) James and Linda came a few weeks ago and we watched the soccer game with them and then had dinner with them that Sunday. We played games and it was a whole different feeling being around them this time, since now I am married and not a missionary. I now keep an eye on her kiddies while shes away! Thank you McCulloughs for the fun time!

Last Saturday was a Special Day!

We are big kids but we love to play games! Dave and Busters is our favorite date nite! We love to eat dinner(super good food) and play games and win tickets. We have over 13,000 tickets accumulated so far. We all know that anytime you cash in tickets for an item, you could have easily just bought the item and it probably would have been cheaper, but oh well that takes the fun out of it. Ev usually gets discounts emails like buy $10 of play and get $10 free. We always have a lot of fun when we go and sad when all of our chips/token run out because thats our cue to head out until next time! We went to Dave and Busters alot while we were dating, my bachelorette party was there, and we continue to always go back. I like to call it a BIG KID Chucke Cheese. We had a great Date nite at D&B!!

Evy Da Builder

( This picture was taken at Home Depot trip #2, camera sitting on top of sponge rocks as a tripod)

There isnt much space in Hawaii to have your own full blown garden, unless you have a lot to yourself and space on the lot to plant. Most lots in Hawaii have 2 or even 3 homes on them which means a lot of peeps in and a lot of peeps out, but some do manage to have their own space. My in-laws live in Honolulu and its a busy place, not really a place for "space" of your own as there are lots of buildings and people build houses sometimes on lots wedged in between two other houses, its very odd, but I assume its like trying to find a place to park in a crowded space, if you can parallel park and barely fit in without hitting car A and B then you are good to go. Anyhoo, after talking to his Mom one day, Ev came away with the idea to build a square foot garden for his Mom. She has a perfect space on her porch where it will do great. We had previously made a Home Depot run and bought all the supplies, but when we went to build it that night the guy cut them off and we weren't able to build it that night. So after three weeks where we finally had some time we went back to Home Depot and got the wood all figured out. We decided to take it back to our house and Ev would build it there. So last Sunday morning, Ev said he was "doing service" for his mom so it was okay to build this on Sunday =) He took everything outside and I thought the drill was going to be super loud, but it wasn't any louder than my vacuum. Ev did a good job. He didnt take very long yet his building skills were saweet. I got to help too, mostly because the bottom board had to be pushed out so that it lined up with the other boards and I wasnt strong enough to push it out. There is always a great feeling of accomplishment when you complete a project. We tend to sit and criticize what is wrong with it and then take pride that we actually built something and its stable, looks good and will function as its suppose to. I think my mo-in-law Lolly will love it. Ev loves his Mum and would do anything for her this is just something fun that he took an interest in and decided to follow through. Now that I have my own personal builder, I have already thought of a few things that when we get more settled somewhere more long term he can build for me. While Ev was building this box, our neighbors little boy Uli, who had learned how to walk recently, was all over checking out the new things he hasnt seen or played with before. He decided he wanted to see what we were doing and of course he needed to touch everything. He thought everything Evan was doing was neato and that the screws were for eating..j/k we didnt let him eat a screw.He also thought Ev was building him a bed or possibly a box to play in or maybe a sand box..whatever he was thinking he and his saggy diaper were enjoying the newly built square foot garden. Great job Ev!

Ev "the builder" and Uli his "sidekick"

He is such a sweet little boi

Christmas in October say what??

Honestly?!? Its already almost that time again? I love Christmas time but I just cant believe that Stores (Macy's) is already setting up for, I guess expecting someone to buy something?? Not sure..Maybe its their way of advertising..It not even Halloween yet..but oh well, I just thought it was kinda random thats all. Never to early to start getting people into the holiday spirit thats for sure!

Samoa Disaster Update..Phillipines too.

I record these natural disasters as a memory for me and my posterity--

Death toll 169 as of today::

-138 Samoa

-31 American Samoa

"Words written by reporters from Hawaii that flew to Samoa,"The village of Leone was hit really hard. Driving through at night was a sobering. Houses are swept off their foundations, or completely destroyed. People closest to the water lost everything that was in their homes, nothing can be salvaged. Their primary concern was to save their loved ones, and they didn't have time to collect valuables between the time of the earthquake and tsunami. There was no time to officially warn them of the hazard. Cars, vans and trucks were tossed around like toys. Public works employees were down in Leone helping to clean up this morning. That was a good thing to see, but the devastation and loss is very real. We've spoken to people who tried to save others and weren't successful. Others were.The interview that stands out in my mind from this morning was with a man who saved 4 people from the wave. He got slammed into a pillar while trying to save his wife, breaking three ribs. Two elderly ladies were swept near him as well, all three of them were hanging onto him as the wave washed through. He got them to safety and soon thereafter a 12 year old girl was swept near him as well. He saved her too. Stories of everyday heroes. And, stories of heart-breaking loss. One man told us his auntie was driving her truck when the wave came through in Pagopago, her truck filled with water and she drowned. The people here have experienced terrible losses. This is a very sad time. "

It makes me sad to see the suffering of the families of those that were lost and lost their homes. I remember when our house caught fire April 8th, 1998. Even though I wasn't there when the fire happened I saw the aftermath. The burn smell is familiar and the fear of losing family are feelings still so real. I remember after moving back into our newly remodeled and rebuilt home I used to think, "if a fire were to ever happen again what would I take, what would be the most important thing to grab??"I watched the news about the disaster relief groups recovering children from a school. I saw the images of the people surrounding the recovered body wrapped in a sarong.The fear and sorrow in their faces is indescribable. The thoughts that went through my mind were,"most of those people are probably wondering if that was their child. What a scary feeling. To wonder where your lost child is in all the mess of the disaster." I am not a mum yet, but I am an auntie and a sister and a daughter and a wifey and I truly cant grasp the feelings that they must be feeling, but I can imagine losing someone I love very dearly.

Phillipines suffer from typhoon fengshen. Miserable, terrible, horrible, unexplainable flooding; such a disaster.

Death toll: 1100 and counting

I dont know too much about this natural disaster, all I know is the photos I have seen. They are very saddening. Water is at unimaginable heights. People drowning. No homes.

I pray that their faith will be waxed strong, that their sadness might be lessened, and that they might find joy or relief in small things.

In the morning I wake up..

"In the morning I wake up, I dont put on my makeup, but I say a little prayer for you...

Forever, and ever, you'll stay in my heart, and I will love you
Forever, and ever, we never will part, oh how I love you
Together, forever, that's how it should be

Living without you Would only mean heartbreak for me..."

I love my husband! I woke up this morning after he left for his 7am class and the computer was already turned on for me for work and there was such a cute thoughtful note opened in a word document that said,

"MORNING BABE!!!!!!!!!!"

The smallest things just make me smile! Its a good day!

Tsunami WARNING canceled!

Everyday Ev and I have a usual routine. We watch the show "Price is Right" at 10 am. While I am loading something for work, I will come in with Ev and we play against each other to see who would "win'" as if we are really on the show. We enjoy bidding on the showcase showdown to see just how close we get.Its just something we have fun doing everyday; But something we dont do everyday is wake up to the news report saying that American Samoa had an 8.3 magnitude earthquake then hearing you (Hawaii) is being warned about a Tsunami. . I'm thinking in my head, Tsunami=BIG WAVE. Wait I live less than a half a mile from the Ocean...CRAP! No wonder why 72 hour kits are important! I wouldn't say too much ran through my mind, I'm not sure why, but I wasn't too worried about us in Hawaii. Very sad for the people in Samoa and my heart goes out to them and their current situation. This earthquake triggers tsunami which threatens Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand. Now that I think about it, I didnt think much of it. I just went about the rest of my day. We were told we would see effects of a Tsunami at about 1:11pm, luckily around noon the WARNING was called off and we were just told to stay out of the water from Noon until 7:30 pm because there were some smaller effects, unusual current changes and sea level changes etc as an effect of the Earthquake in American Samoa. There were 14 earthquakes(aftershocks) after the main big one with the magnitude of about 4.5. As of 10pm Tuesday night 29 September there were 90 people declared dead. President Barrack Obama has declared American Samoa a disaster area. Some estimates said the tsunami waves reached twenty-feet. The surge came fast.By the time they got the first warning the first waves had hit already, destroying homes. Later, my brother Josh called me and we were talking about what had happened and he said,"where would you go?" I looked at Ev and said," Where would we go?!?" Ev simply said,"to higher ground, to the mountains." This reminded me of the talk given by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, in November 2005, after the tsunami that hit off the coast of Indonesia. This talk is titled "Journey to Higher Ground". I cant help but make the connection of yet another natural disaster to the Gospel, not that the Gospel has anything to do with the cause of the natural disaster, but as an outsider looking in I see how applicable the truths of Elder Wirthlin's talk become a reality, yet his words were written over 4 years ago. The people of American Samoa had no warning. By the time the first warning was given the first 20 ft wave had already hit and people had died. Much like our lives, there is often No Flashing Warning Light when "large waves/ripples in the current" and things are going to happen, when sadness or sorrow will occur, when death becomes an ugly reality, or even when lifes plans dont happen as we wish they would because bad things happen to good people its a fact. Unfortunately these things happen, but Journey to Higher Ground. Elder Wirthlin states,"We are faced with a choice. We can trust in our own strength, or we can journey to higher ground and come unto Christ." I appreciate very much the advice to Journey to Higher Ground because we all need to find refuge whether we wake up and theres a Tsunami warning or when life just stinks. There is only one way to get away from the stank of life and its to plow through it making your way to higher ground everyday leaving the bad and trying to take in the good along the way. I'm thinking I am grateful that we didn't actually have a Tsunami hit Hawaii but its taught me many things about being prepared and the importance of 72 hour kits and a whole lot of FAITH! I pray for the people of American Samoa that their faith can be strengthened, that their strength can be amplified and that together they can build each other up!

Journeying to Higher Ground

Life is meant to be lived. -Eleanor Roosevelt

I am really about living life and letting the wind blow my hair to a complete disaster--for the most part. Two days ago in the afternoon I happened to be heading to the post office. I was grateful I left when I did and got stuck behind this guy pedaling away because he just looked like he was having the time of his life. First, he was smiling away as he pedaled, kinda like how I smile away when I play soccer. Second, he was just in cruise mode. He didn't have anywhere to be he was just enjoying the day. I love that. I think "cruise mode" is a must! Especially in the world today when we can often get caught up in day to day things that we easily forget to take a breather and enjoy. After this happy man snapped out of lala land and realized he was holding up a line of cars down Hale La'a (seemed like I was following him for 5 minutes) he stopped in the round about and waved all the cars to go passed him.

I gave him a shaka shaka and smiled at him. Oh joy the things that amuse me! Good day!

Saturday is a Special Day!

Ev and I keep pretty busy, but we decided since school just started, for Ev, that Saturday was a designated lounge day. We hung out all morning til we headed to the soccer games for the BYU-Hawaii Men's and Women's soccer. During the midst of all the hoots and hollers for the players and yelling and name calling at the referee for bizarre or should I say RIDICULOUS calls, I turned to my right and found myself very amused by one little girl. Not going to lie, I could be considered a Cr-e-e-per for taking this picture, very nonchalantly with Ev's iphone I might add, of this little girl treating her little brother like a little doll. But not even kidding! It was probably the sweetest thing I had seen on Saturday. If you look closely she is even reading her little brother a book, not like he's even listening, while watching the game. I hope that my "someday" kids are that loving and kind. I learned from watching and being so amused by this little girl and her baby brother that:

1. i can be a little more gentle and a little more kind.

2. i can see others as a young child sees them.

3. i can find greater appreciation for the small things.

4. i can use my time to be more helpful.

5. i can find more ways to serve others.

6. i can find more ways to express my love for my siblings, even though I am so far away.

7. i should run around more often with no slippers or shoes.

There are so many small and simple things to see around us; if we just take the time to see them and recognize the goodness, we will be more appreciative and our day will be that much better!

Beautiful Sights to see

Evan ready to go to school (First day of second to last semester!!) Beautiful sight! Cant you see his excitement?!? Such a cutie with his backpack and dimples! It was raining yesterday or more or less pouring, so he got to take the car to school too! A whole 1/4 mile drive to keep him dry. But he came home in between classes and I was happy he was having a great day!

A beautiful sunset behind the mountains

A beautiful mix of colors filling the sky of Hawaii.

A little old man, in a little car, with a duck in the front seat!

Maybe this ones not so beautiful but hecka funny!

The things we think we know, but dont really know

Evan has been preparing to apply for graduate school. He has really stepped it up and taken on large loads of classes these next two semesters, which include all of his prerequisite classes and classes he needs to graduate. I am so proud of him, I really am and I know I put a alot of pressure on him to get good grades and do well, but I do it because I love him and I know that he can excel in so many things. Well as I was looking over some of the pre-requisites on Saturday, I realized that he was missing one class in his schedule. So I told Ev, "you may have to take another class, in fact, I am almost positive you have to." He says,"Ok.." In my head Im thinking "ok?" thats it..thats all I get? I guess I was expecting a different answer. I was more or less expecting him to get up and solve the problem right then and there. But instead he said, "ok" because he would take care of it on Monday. I know this sounds anal retentive or obessive compulsive but for some reason in my family when we have an idea or thought (ie: the floor needs to be vacuumed) we have a hard time letting the thought pass until we complete the task. I think there has to be some kind of disorder for that (Michelle--you're the Psychology Master?any ideas?). Anyways, even though Ev said he would take care of the stuff with his classes I worried. I worried that it all wouldnt fit in and that things wouldnt go how we planned..etc then I get myself all worked up and feel like I need to go exercise or take a nap to clear my mind. I am a super worry wart-even as chill and calm and easy going as I am sometimes I think I am crazy. I really have always understood the principle of faith and the power that comes with believing that everything will just work itself out, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that when we turn our life to them and receive guidance through prayer that we really will be guided and directed as we make choices. But sometimes I drive myself crazy when I cant control the situtation. Going back to the story about Ev's classes. I wanted an immediate resolution. I wanted the classes to be added and everything situated so that I knew what to work on next and that it would all work out. I learned I had to wait.

As I prepared for church yesterday I watched a BYU devotional by Cecil Samuelson titled, "Our Future." In his talk there were a few principles I found extraordinary. It was like I was hearing them for the first time in my life.

1. Ray Evans composed- Doris Day sang it too- this is the chorus:

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be.

Cecil Samuelson states," There is significant truth in the notion that much of what happens to us is not in our control or is it always expected, but the things of greatest ultimate importance to us are largely in our control and are within the scope of our agency. There are the unfair occurances like cancer or other selfish acts, natural disasters, doing everything right just happen to be in the wrong place..Life is not fair or equal.Things rarely turn out how we would like, predict or desire--Life is full of great surprises both happy and sad."

2. Things we have control of that are of the greatest importance:

-RELATIONSHIPS:

Starting with our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ-know and always remember that we are his children.

Our families: Dont forget them. Love & Honor themeven in their imperfections and deficiencies. Love others.

Self: Be honest with yourself. Including your failings, mistakes and deficiencies. Remember who you are. You wont have success in any other relationships if you dont have a healthy sense of who you are.

-COVENANTS:

Keeping them is arduous and demanding but you will be blessed for enduring. Make and keep covenants

-COMMITMENTS: Now & future

Make your work your own and fulfil your responsibilities.

Elder Samuelson adds his own verse to Que Sera Sera:

Now that I've grown older the futures more clear to me, Some things I cant predict or control, but I can become what I need to be.

After my happenings on Saturday of wanting to make things work instead of just letting them work as they are suppose to, after we did all we could, I am more appreciative of a patient husband that understands this and loves me even though "when I have to vacuum the floor, it cant wait, I have to vacuum the floor". I learned more about myself than anything and was really reprimanded by the Lord through Elder Samuelson's talk, but it was good because it was exactly what I needed to hear. So I say to a lesson needed to be learned:

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera What will be, will be.

Labor Day activities

Got up this morning and had a mini-olympic games with my ward, BYU-Hawaii 6th ward..played a lot of relay games and Evan and I were the 3-legged race champs..we dominated..we sprinted forwards and backwards..GREAT TEAMWORK! must have something to do with the Lord's instructions" cleave unto your spouse and non else.."Played some soccer, ate some rice, mac salad and Ono chicken that had been marinated for about 13 hours and then barbequed..it was delish. There is something about the way people in Hawaii cook chicken, it is just so good compared to the mainland. Fun day we spent together and with the ward.

The bucket list continues I have crossed off quite a few things since we usually spend our special day, Saturday, doing some activity around the island. I took a lesson to learn how to Stand up Paddleboard. It was pretty much the best thing ever. If I could afford a paddle board (they range from $800 up) So its looking like I wont be purchasing one anytime soon..sigh..maybe someday...But for now I will live in the moment. I SUP (stand up paddled) for an hour. It was such a great work out! One of my favorite ways to exercise now for sure! I feel like I caught on pretty well, but I was doing any performance paddling just crusing around. My instructor was nice enough to let Ev try it for a few minutes just to see what it was like and he seemed to like it and did good to. Nice afternoon we spent in Kailua.

Starting out on my knees to get a feel for paddling and balancing.

Graduated from my knees after a few minutes to my feet.

Just cruising around..

Stand up Paddling in Action

Saturday is a Special Day!

Ev and I were kinda whatever bout what we wanted to do Saturday. Evan wants to build his Mom a square foot garden so he had drawn up plans for those and we planned to get those supplies whenever we got into town. I was going to go SUP (stand up paddle boarding) but decided to move that activity to Monday. We drove into town (Honolulu) and decided to stop by The Byodo-In Temple at the Valley of the Temples. What is this? Well this temple was est June 7th, 1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. The Byodo-In Temple (translates "temple of equality"-not to discriminate) was built entirely without nails. It is a scale replica of a temple at Uji Japan that was constructed over 900 years ago. The temple is built to represent the mythical phoenix, its wings upheld by pillars of stone. Folklore tells of the phoenix arising from the ahses to reflect the promises of hope and renewal. There was also a golden Budda unique to the entire world because it is thought to be the largestfigure carved since ancient times. I wanted to check it out because it seemed like a neat place to go. It was indeed very peaceful. The grounds were beautiful. There wasnt too much to see except for the temple itself, the bell, and the giant Koi fish, but we had a relaxing time just walking around looking at the architecture, and the beauty of the replica temple. We also made a trip to Home depot to get supplies to make a square foot garden. I remember going with my dad to home depot so many times, it was never a fun store for me, I was always like how boring. I think my dad's car was on auto pilot it had been there so many times, to every home depot. The only thing I remember liking about home depot was the light section. It was just "pretty" to me growing up. Just walking into Home Depot reminds me of my Dad, the smell of the wood and the plumbing section. I like it now that I am older. There are so many things you can design. I love looking at the pre-made kitchens and I have started to put money away as a form of wishful thinking so that someday I can have a cool kitchen. So after Ev and I got all the wood and supplies we needed, I got to go to the light department it was my favorite part of the trip to home depot. We spent some time with the parentals and had a good evening. When we were almost home, we started to play this game where the next song that came on the radio we had to see who knew more of the actual lyrics instead of ," hmm yaya..etc" we so often place our own words or just sing the chorus, it was hilarious. We were laughing so hard. It was a fun game and one I think we will keep playing. We had a great day in town together and our fun game just added to our laughter and fun.

Could I ask for a better hubby?? NAW!

Evan is almost done with his term. He is taking two classes and one of them is art. Even though he really didnt want to take the class, I think its a perfect way for him to work out all that perfectionist in him and a good way for him to pay attention to detail and of course learn art. One of the coolest projects I thought he did was to take a bar of soap and then to carve something out of it. I gave him many ideas before he left for class and when he came home he had come up with his own, A bed! How fun! What a great idea for sure! I personally would have a hard time completing this project because well I have a soap smelling issue. I love the smell of soap any kind. Laundry soap is the ultimate, I could sit there forever just smelling it. I know for sure that is probably one of the weirdest things, but what do I do..its just part of me. When I used to work at the grocery store I could not go down the soap aisle because I would just want to smell all of the soaps..haha..anyways..I think Evan did such a great job!! Look at all the detail on this bed, he even put flowers on the bedspread, pretty cute, mostly because they were easy to carve. I was really proud of him. And he is doing so great on all his drawings and quizzes too. Good job Hunny!

On Tuesday I went to the dentist to get two fillings done on the same tooth. I hate the dentist with a passion and ya they fix your smile and mouth so you can eat..ya ya blah blah..but I just dread hearing the little whistler tool they use and then the bumpy one that sounds like they are driving a race car in my mouth over my teeth, but too bad for me I have bad teeth (thank you daddy Matthew) even though I take good care of them, its genetic. Anyways for the past couple days since the dentist, my mouth has hurt 1. from holding my mouth open for so long and spreading it so wide 2. because of course its going to hurt they drilled my whole tooth out. So after work I have been just laying down for a "short nap" and I end up sleeping for 3 + hours. So yesterday because I slept so late I didnt get to do my run because it started getting dark outside and Ev doesnt like me running in the dark. So I decided to do my exercise on the amazing Wii Active instead, but I hadnt exactly gotten anything ready for dinner yet, I had just pulled out some chicken and was defrosting it. Evan had come home about the time I was starting to work out and he asked if I had anything planned, I told him what I had and what we could make, and he said, " just work out, Ill take care of it." And he did! Ev is always a helper when it comes to dinner or doing things around the house, but he just took over and let me have my exercise time because he knows how much I love it. Soo what was the result??? Well here it is:

Seasoned Shredded Chicken on Rice, with a hint of creamy brown gravy and white corn on the cob, garnished with romaine lettuce.

The dinner was fabulous but more than that I love my husband for being so wonderful!! I truly married my best friend and eternal companion!

Food for thought..

The last two sundays have been filled with richness. Our Sacrament talks were very entertaining and lively, yet spiritual uplifting and constructive. Two Sundays ago was 4th Sunday, High Council speakers, now usually we all tend to say "its 4th Sunday..great..old men speakers.." (no disrespect intended of course) Well our 4th Sunday speakers were great. Few things that stood out to me was the story of a "Wendy"a BYU graduate and daughter of a mission president from Utah and very successful family.When she was 25 years old she approached her parents and told them that she had decided that she did not believe what she had been taught her whole life and she didnt know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and all the rest that was to be believed. She told her parents it was nothing that they had done wrong for they had given her every chance to know the gospel principles. What was taught about this experience of a family that had done everything right in raising up their child was that Wendy never worked to have the Spirit in her life. She had a good family that was faithful that invited the Spirit, she went to BYU, but she never knew what it was really like to feel the Spirit because it was too infrequent in her life. We were invited that if we dont feel the Spirit often enough in our lives that we need to work for it. The 4 steps we were given to avoid feeling a "Wendy": 1. read often especially the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon (the most correct book on earth..a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts..) 2. ponder what we read-dont rush through your feelings 3. after reading & pondering record your feelings 4. share your experiences so that we are reminded of our feelings and experiences. These four steps seem redundant, but do we do them?? Do we allow ourselves to feel the Spirit and do we recognize when we do?

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Yesterday in church, we had a great talk as well. The topic was "iF oNe CaN dO iT, aLl CaN dO iT". If you think about it, its kinda a false statement yet true. If one can make a million dollars, then all can make a million dollars (havent seen that..) If one can play a guitar, then all can play the guitar(so not true, still working on it). but the idea behind it is eventually there is a possibility that what one can do all can accomplish. This topic went in the direction of obedience. A joke about a special horse was told and it goes something like this.. There was a man and he was looking for a horse. he went horse shopping to find the perfect horse.Soon, he came to a farm. He asked the farmer if he had a special horse for sale. The farmer said yes, but warned: "Sir, this is no ordinary horse. You have to say "praise the Lord" to make it go, and "Amen" to make it stop". The man said "Oh, that's easy. So he jumped on the horse and said "Praise the Lord!" and the horse took off down the road. He then said "Amen" and the horse stopped. He wanted to see if he could make the horse go faster so he said " Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord" and the horse went faster and faster and took off straight for a cliff. As the horse approached the cliff the man forgot what to say to get the horse to stop so he said a prayer and at the end of the prayer, of course, he said "Amen". Screech!! The horse stopped right at the edge of the cliff! The man looked down and sees all of the thousands of feet down that he had almost fallen into... and to give thanks to God, he yelled out "Praise the Lord!!!

So the whole moral of this story to me is that there were only two things the man had to remember to control the horse, but he got so caught up in the events (life) and the fun of riding fast and that he forgot. Obedience is a simple commandment. We fail more often than we hope, but much like the man its easy to get back on track if we want. I think I would tweek the statement from the beginning a little bit and say what one can do, eventually all can do. In time we each learn lifes lessons and what one doesnt learn today, they hopefully will learn in a few days or a few months or a few years. Just some food for thought.