Simple Choices

After a wonderful day of church, I was cooking dinner and for some reason the trash smelt. So I took the bag out set it by the door, smelt the trash can and got out my bleach, I just dont like it when the trash can stinks. I dropped everything and bleached the trash can right then because thanks to my mother I have inherited that trait of doing things right then and not waiting..,Then I go to get out my cookbook so I can make some rolls and I see a Roach, a little nasty. I HATE Cochroaches!! I got the cookbook down saw all this little poop because everyone poops even Roaches. I open the book and theres another ROACH. GAA! By then I was so frustrated.. I was not being a happy person, but I told Ev, I am sorry I am choosing to be frustrated because of the Roaches I just wish they would no longer exist on this earth. They invade my home and are gross nasties. I understand that God has created this insect but I have prayed that he would take the cochroaches and for them to leave my house alone and that they can become extinct to our earth. I was frustrated for about 20 minutes today but it was because I was choosing to be frustrated and let small things frustrate me when they shouldnt have. Moral of the story is you are the boss of what you do and say..so I am no longer frustrated that cochroaches live in Hawaii and no matter how clean my house is they are a fact of my life...At least I have not yet experienced grabbing a huge one out of my purse like my mom in law and screaming like she was dying. Someone always has it worse than you....choose to be happy...

Grandma Quon

I have known Grandma Quon for a little over a year now. I have only known her as who she is now and not what she was like before her brain aneurysm. And when I was dating Ev, I just always felt like she liked me and I love her for making me feel that way. So after spending the day with her yesterday, I wanted to write about her because she is just a very neat person with a very special spirit. My hubby tells me that she was very giving, loving of her grandchildren, but very strict and always made them do their math and reading.(Ev had the chance to spend a lot of time with his Grandparents. He spent time as a toddler while his parents were at work and then in elementary school, he spent most of his after school time there as well) She loved to travel, play cribbage (the game she used to help Ev learn how to count in his head without using his fingers), play mahjong, she enjoyed cooking and baking and made very good food, from what I hear she was pretty much the best! She still is able to do many of the things she enjoys, but because of her brain aneurysm she suffers from slurred speech and extreme muscular distrophy and isnt able to communicate as well. Knowing her now for who she is I think she is a pretty cool Grandma. Everytime we leave from her house or from dinner with her and the fam Ev always says "Bye Gramma, I love you" in this funny loud voice and nuzzles up to her and it just makes her laugh. He is always doing silly things to bug her and she just laughs or she whacks him when he comes near her, like he's being a bug..haha..I remember one time when Ev went to the door to get Grandma and she wasnt answering so he kept ringing to doorbell over and over. Finally she came to the door, opened it, saw that it was Ev and slammed it..haha..good times. Even though I dont live with Grandma Quon or necessarily have to take care of her now, I just think she is a great person and I love that I have a chance to get to know her, maybe not like how Ev or the rest of the fam knows her, but just get a feel for why he loves his Grandma so much.

Saturday is a Special Day!

Yesterday's events consisted of me sleeping in, which is a rarety even for a Saturday, and Ev sleeping in because well, I wasn't up yet, so it must be ok to keep sleeping..We headed into town (Honolulu) and met up with Aunty Chicky, cousin Demi, Mom and Grandma Quon to go to the...

This Festival is basically for vendors and local shops on the island of Oahu and surrounding islands to get publicity and sell their products. It was in the Neil Blaisdell center, which is a huge convention center where many events and productions usually take place, so you know it was a huge event. There were a ton of people walking down each aisle to not get shoved or bummed into was difficult, but not unbearable. We saw some pretty cool products from amazing quilts that were super expensive, but beautiful, to wood work, to foods and spices, and even milk. Most vendors had samples for you to try and it was almost like a ginormous Costco, the food section was a hit. We spent most of the day at the festival and some of the funny events of the day were:

1. Mom had Grandma Quon sit down since we were walking so much, in this concert that was going on. It was just some guy singing Hawaiian songs, I think. After she was safe there, Mom told her to stay there and not get up. We continued on our journey through the maze of vendors and about 15-20 minutes later,Mom had this feeling that she needed to go back and get Grandma and she was also feeling bad for leaving her, so she went back to get her. Well amoungst the crowd on her way back she happened to see GRANDMA just walking on her own. (Wait, wasnt Grandma suppose to stay in her seat??) Well apparently the show had gotten over and everyone got up to leave, so Grandma did too..when she was "getting in trouble" for getting up, she just laughed about it, which is usually her normal response when not listening.

2. We walked by this vendor who was selling Noni leather products. Noni is a fruit. I saw that there were samples of the fruit leather on the table, so I grabbed it and with no hesitation I put it in my mouth and started sucking. Then I looked back at the sign on the table above the fruit leather I was sampling and it said," Noni Leather a perfect healer for your pet" I got this ugly nasty look on my face and looked at Ev and said "Can I eat this? The sign says its for your pet!" As I am trying to figure out if I just ate animal food and if I was going to die, the guy managing the booth asked us if we had any sore spots, I said my neck. Seeing my disgusted face, Ev grabs the leather out of my mouth quickly and throws it away. WHEW! He prolly saved my life! =) Then while rubbing the cream on my neck, he paused for second, asking,"Did you just get married? Are you on your honeymoon?" answering with a no, we live here, he said,"Oh you just look so happy."I took that as a compliment. Anyways back to the neck..so he rubs this Noni Leather stuff on my neck and then says, "stop smiling I'm going to have to charge for a massage..then winks at Ev" a little awkward..but I kept smiling =) From that vendor, I basically smelt like a bottle of methane and Ev said I looked like I hadn't washed my neck in ages (cuz my hair was sticking to the cream and I had brown flakes all on my neck, I guess thats where the leather name comes from) gross I know...but it did soothe my neck if that matters at all and I am still alive and was able to teach Gospel Doctrine today so the fruit leather I ate wasn't poisonous. haha good to know.

3. We left Grandma again, since we had been at the festival for a while walking around, but this time we left her at this food demo, which is her thing. We handed her three random magazines, told her not to leave and we all left.We finished walking around and came back hoping and praying that she was still there and she was, such a relief! This is how we found her:

She sat there the whole time! What a sport! And because she sat in the demo chairs she got a chance to taste the food that she watched the Chefs make. When the food came, Grandma didnt want to give up the plate that was handed to her and fought with Mom as she tried to pass it down to the rest of the people. She was hungry and she wanted to eat that plate that was given to her at that moment. Shes pretty funny! Well we had a great day just walking around looking at all the different things that people sell to make a living and survive in this tough economy. Here are some pictures from the day:

My husband is so good looking!! He should be a model!

On Friday, August 21st 2009, Hawaii's 50th year as a state was celebrated. A commemorative stamp was made in recognition of Hawaii's statehood. Pretty cool I thought. They were selling the stamps and a keepsake envelope at the festival for those that werent able to make it on Friday. I dont think I have ever seen a California stamp before?? what's up with that?!? Is it because our state was always too poor?? Beats me..

We were so happy that Grandma Quon was able to come with us!! She is such a gem!

Bayfest Hawaii 2009 (Kaneohe, HI)

Last Saturday Ev and I went to Bayfest. It was a huge entertainment event being held at the Marine Corp Base. I kept hearing tv commercials that the Black Eyed Peas were playing LIVE at Bayfest, not that we had tickets, but I thought it was pretty cool that they were actually going to be here in Hawaii, cuz no one really plays here. It was something that sounded like fun to me so I convinced Ev to go and we had a really really great time! Bayfest reminded me alot of the Farmers Fair on the fairgrounds in Perris,CA. Alot of the classic rides, expensive food, games cost a $1 for one ball/dart or $2 for 3 balls/darts..etc We played some games and tried to win...stuffed animals?? Why would we do that? I hate stuffed animals..so really we werent playing the game to win the stuffed animal more or less just playing to win, cuz thats what you do at a fair...spend money you dont have and have a GREAT time!!

Ev really like this game...it was so hard, but so addicting! because everytime we played we would come..SO CLOSE..so then we would try again..Ev was trying to win me this...

After leaving this game because it stole all of our money, we went to the dart balloon game, which I consider the game where "EVERYONES A WINNER", except me, cuz I didnt throw my dart hard enough because I was concentrating so hard on aiming at a balloon that I didnt even make it on the board..can you say spaz?? geez...but Evy WON! He doesnt seem too thrilled...haha...Its a cute little dolphin isnt it?? It recently found a new home with Leah, our 2 year old neighbor..

The Balloon game I stink at..and Happy Us.

Ride #1 Classic Zipper

Here's a picture of Ev inside the Zipper as we are going up. He is very scrunched in the cage, his legs are too long..This is such a classic ride. I love it! Ev's memories of this ride werent as great. He said when he was younger he didnt like to be twisted and flipped, but his sisters would scare him to death when he was inside the cage..but he enjoyed it this time since I screamed the entire ride, I didnt even think to try and flip it to scare him. Everytime the cage would flip and it felt like I was going to fall out, Ev said I would scream louder, not that I wasnt already screaming loud enouh, but I enjoyed myself even though I screamed the whole time. Meanwhile Ev was laughing, he said my screaming was so funny that his anxiety just turned into laughter.

This was our view of the entire Carnival from the top of the Zipper, almost as good as the Ferris Wheel, minus the boring ride and slow rotation..

Ride #2 Classic Bumper Cars

With my foot pushing as hard as I could on the gas pedal, I was still just puttering along..I was going for Ev the entire time, I mean honestly, its a little weird to be slamming into some total stranger, and then smiling and laughing about it especially when they have kids, so I stuck to searching Ev out and smashing into him..good fun..of course its never long enough, but I had some great 180 action going on... So by this time we have used all of our money on games, food, and ride..amazing how fast $100 goes, there is was in my bank account..now its not in my bank account..We had four tickets left and we mustered up some coins for $2.00 to pay for two more tickets since the ride we wanted to go on cost 3 tickets..we did it..

Ride #3

Up! Up! and away we went. It was a pretty chill ride. At one point while I was flying in the air strapped to metal I said, This is probably what skydiving is like...just alot, lot, lot higher up..oh and minus the free fall..ok, so maybe the wind blowing in my face at a high speed is the only similarity...

We of course had to get Cotton Candy to end our special date. Ev wanted to get the big bag, but I said No, we're going to the dentist on Monday...haha..

We had a great night. There were so many people there. We were so glad we came when we did and left when we did, it was a madhouse because everyone was trying to get to the Black Eyed Peas concert. There was probably a line of cars from the Marine Base entrance that went about 2 miles forward and 2 miles the other way..it wasnt moving..procrastination people...and now people that didnt get into the concert because they were at the end of that 2 mile line want a refund...YAH RIGHT..think again...your bad..next time plan better its not everyday that Black Eyed Peas comes to Hawaii..honestly..Gotta love Bayfest!

Favorite part about that night: I would have to say losing all of our money on the games we played, but seeing how happy and excited Ev got to play them.

Ev's favorite part about that night: the zipper, he said even though he was scared as a child, it brought great excitement this time around.

My Kuuipo

Ev went to the store the other day to get some orange juice because he felt like he was starting to get sick. He called me from the store to see if I needed anything,I asked him to buy one of those rotissere chickens for dinner. So he came home with the chicken, but he also came home with a whole lot of other stuff..

He is just so thoughtful! I am not much of a soda drinker, but I really like cherry 7 up and its always too expensive so I wont buy it, but Ev of course will if I like it. He bought me the cereal Honey bunches of Oats with Cinnamon and Frosted Mini Wheats Maple and brown Sugar because I pretty much like anything with brown sugar or cinnamon not because I needed cereal or because I was out of it, but because Ev will buy it if I like it. I am not a huge fan of Ice cream mostly because it has zero nutritional value and because I hate chocolate and most ice creams have some form of chocolate in them, but we found this ice cream made by Dreyers called Caramel delight. (1/2 the fat so its suppose to be more healthy--hehe--But after the first time we finished the first 1/2 gallon I havent bought anymore, but Ev did because he knows I like it. Now we love movies and in Laie they have these red box movies machines in the grocery store, so Ev rented a movie, even though the title of the movie is Labor Pains (dont worry its not because Im preggo) he said it was a new release =) My Evy is such a sweetheart, I am so spoiled and loved. He is so thoughtful and always works so hard. Even though Ev is in school and works part time and I work full time, he always tries to give to our family as much as he can. He is such a wonderful husband and such a help. He is always finding a way to express how much he loves me and I love him so much more for his efforts. Even though lately I am constantly annoying him about decisions we have to make soon, so we know where well be after graduation, he still is patient with me and is pulling his weight. I love my husband so much. We have been married for almost 8 months now and even though its not a long time, I am even more in love with my husband now than I was when I married him. I love being married to my best friend!

Late nite at PCC

Living on North Shore we are totally blessed with more of the tropical side of the island of Oahu. We get more of the rain and its a lot greener and on this side versus town which has lots of buildings and is busy busy, we basically live in da country. Keep the country country they say here. The downside to having all the real beauty and being so close to the water is that there is not much as far as stores goes. We have a small shopping center about a mile or less with a grocery store, bank, couple food places, hardware store and the Laie theaters just reopened a couple weeks ago, just about everything a person needs for survival I assume. We also have one of the main tourist attractions on the island, the Polynesian Cultural Center. We live like a hop skip and a jump away, we can even hear them practicing and doing their shows throughout the day, its pretty cool. Recently, PCC changed their night show to be completely different from what it used to be (they have had the same night show for a long time now).So this past Wednesday, it was a FREE preview for the entire community. We love FREE and have been trying to find things to do together that dont cost alot of money, since there is so much beauty here for us to enjoy and benefits to having a local ID. Since a hurricane was suppose to hit us Tuesday/Wednesday we received a lot of rain, but that did not stop the whole community.

The name of the new night show is:

This show is described as:

"A LEGEND THAT LIVES IN EVERY ISLAND CULTURE, EVERY VILLAGE, EVERY HOME". The grand opening was tonite August 14th, 2009.

We had such a great time! It was such a neat depiction of the islands and very well done. BYU-Hawaii is such an amazing place to be. There is a such a Spirit that dwells here that you dont feel very many other places a Spirit of the islands, of the people. The show started at 9:30 and we got home at 11:30 ready to hit the sack! I woke up Thursday morning and went to pour some cereal and I saw this:

After chasing this gecko around my sink for what seemed like forever, I finally caught him with the measuring cup!

Saturday is a Special Day!

We had so much planned for Saturday, but got a late start, I guess thats how we do it here in Hawaii, just get going whenever you get going, no time constraints...But the things were were able to get to were so much fun. We had to take Ev's iphone to the apple store and they just opened a new Lego store in the Ala Moana shopping center, so Ev made a request to stop there. Look at these pictures below! My husband looks like a kid in a candy store. I wish I could have video taped him experiencing the first ever Lego store in Hawaii!! He was in heaven and it made me happy that he was so happy and zealous! If we actually had the time to play with the legos he would have loved to just sit in the store and just build things. It was a pretty cool store I have to admit. The things that were made with legos is creativity at its best.

He is so adorable! And so much fun to be around!

A surfer dude on a wave

Sushi and chopsticks

This was our favorite display. It is of the buses in Hawaii. These are exactly what they look like!

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We spent the second half of our day at Hanauma Bay! We went snorkeling and saw some huge fish and colorful fish. I actually saw the state fish for the first time. I practice saying its name often. It is called the Humahumanukunukuapua'a. Practice it a few times its pretty catchy. The water was clear and blue blue!! One funny thing that happened while we were in the water was..wait let me brief you first..so Hawaii is a touristy place. Many people from all over the world come here. Now how to identify a tourist from a local is by their swimwear, mostly for men only. This may be a very stereotypical comment but its so true! Now at the beaches here you see most locals in boardshorts, now when you see someone going by in a speedo or booty shorts excentuating their gender you know its a tourist. Back to before I briefed you. Ev and I were just snorkling along and Ev decides hes going to go underwater to go underneath another snorkler. As he does that the other snorkler, a "tourist"I'll have you know, just stays right where he was, so as Ev comes back up to the top he looks up right into the "tourists" junk...awkward...I was laughing so hard Ev could even hear me underwater...close call..haha good times. We enjoyed a great day at one of the most beautiful beaches and nature preserves on the island. The history of the preserve and the geology of its formation was pretty cool too. The word hana means “bay.” The word uma has several meanings, one being “curved.” One translation of Hanauma is therefore “curved bay".

Humahumanukunukuapua'a

We had a great Saturday!!

Oh the JOYS...of date night

Last night I wanted to take Ev out on a date. So I thought of all these things that we could do after he got back from work and then soon realized most things were closed at 5pm when he got off. SO I went on to plan B. Ev has been reading the Twilight series, and he borrowed the first two books from a friend but didnt have the last two. So since every items cost increases when you ship it to Hawaii, I couldnt get it from the mainland. I didnt want to pay full price for them. I decided to try and find the Twilight series on Craigslist. So I emailed a few people in hopes that they would email me back with their contact info by 5pm, that was my plan B, I didnt have a plan C so I was rooting for Plan B. Well I got an email back! So we headed down to town and I was getting car sick from not eating much all day and felt like throwing up so we stopped for a traditional "Binner" (breakfast for dinner, MY FAVORITE, at Ihop) After Binner we headed to meet the girl that I was buying the Twilight series from. It was night and she was standing outside, we pulled to the side of the road by her apartment, she had the bag of books and I had the cash, totally drug deal style..we swapped I made sure it was all there and good condition, then we drove off..kinda odd transaction, but whatev I got the whole series for $30 bucks..the last two books being hardcover..pretty much such a great deal. After we did our business with the Twilight junkie we decided to go do random shopping (def:(v) going into fun stores and looking at random things your not going to buy) We started at Longs Drug store (huge cool people store here in Hawaii, whereas in the mainland its just a lame store). We looked at all these funny cards that talk when you open them and man we were laughing so hard at these cards I wish someone took a picture of us, and I wish I would have taken a picture of Ev because he laughed hysterically at some of them..who would have thought, date night in the greeting card section of Longs Drugs store..good times ya..Our next adventure was to head to Barnes and Noble to look for GRE study books for Ev so he can prepare to take the test for graduate school. We just sat on the floor, chit chatted and flipped through the different options to buy the best one for our money..oh so many decisions there are..then everytime Ev saw the SAT books he would say, I didnt even study for that, I gave him da stink eye and said,"yaya some of us arent so fortunate (I took it three times and never got..well I wont say...but even close to what he got and I studied-sooo glad I married a smart guy!) who would have thought, date night on the floor of Barnes and Noble chit chatting. We left that store and got on the road at 9ish to be home by 10pm. It was a good night..nothing better than a great date night with the hubby. I love that guy!
P.S. He just switched jobs. He loves his new job working in the athletic training room. He enjoys it so much. He just enjoys being around anything having to do with sports..gotta love that about my sweet hubby.
Doesnt he look excited ?!?!?

My cute hubby in his work clothes. So professional looking, ya?

Unexpected Utah Trip

Warning: This is a very long blog post with a detailed account of 4 days of my life it may come off very boring, but hey what the heck..here i go..

On Saturday July 25^th I received a text message from my Mom that Larry LaDue, A very close friend of the family had passed away. Larry was like another Grandpa to me. Growing up in Nuevo, He and Shirley lived about a mile away from my parents home. When I was old enough, I used to water their plants while they were gone on vacation. I remember Larry helping work on my 66' Mustang with my Dad and I tuning it up. The last time I saw Larry and Shirley was on my wedding day. They drove from Utah on their 50^th wedding anniversary (Dec 26^th) to be at my special day. They loved me and my family that much, what a sacrifice. Larry was 72 years old and passed away of a heart attack on the evening of July 24^th. My heart was immediately sad for Shirley and the family for their loss. Death is a tough thing. It really is. Having the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life gives great comfort knowing of the after life and that eternal families exist and that the covenants made in this life carry to the next, but then again knowing these precious truths does not make death any easier to cope with. After finding out about Larry, I couldnt help but feel sadness in my heart. I was told when the funeral would be and immediately started looking for plane tickets to Salt Lake City, UT. I wasn’t finding anything affordable, more like extremely outrageous. Evan had woken up earlier when I first found out the news, he hugged me then he fell back asleep. Ev woke up and after talking it over with him and asking what I should do, Ev said for me to just use our Hawaiian miles that we had saved up for our trip to Utah in October for Conference.(Neither of us have ever been to Conference and wanted to go to our mission reunions as well, we actually waited for some reason unknown to me or Ev) It was a blessing that we didnt already book our tickets to Utah because I was able to book my ticket for the funeral. Ev was just starting school and unable to leave so it was just me going. I am grateful to my husband for supporting me during this time and allowing there to be a change in plans and work something out so that I was able to attend the funeral which all my siblings attended. I left Hawaii Tuesday night at 10:15 pm and arrived in Las Vegas, NV Wednesday morning at 7 AM where the temperature was already 90 degrees..yuck. I had pre-arranged with my sister-in law Nicole to kick it with her, Tyler and the boys, while I waited for Josh to pass through Vegas to pick me up to head to Utah. So my brother-in law picked me up at the airport and we went back to their house to chill. The flight was wretched. I got about 2 hours of sleep because I just cannot sleep on a plane unless I am laying down. But anyways I survived the long ride. I went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay with Nic, Tyler, Brad and Jake. We had such a good time. I was so glad that I got a chance to spend time with them, they are so fun and I love them so much. Thanks for such a fun day guys!

Jake and Brad

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Josh, Britt, and Rubi picked me up on their way through Vegas. We headed to Utah and we had such a good drive. We talked, laughed and had a good time. Josh’s farts stunk so bad though, I’m thinking I could have gone without those =) We made it to Utah and went to dinner with the rest of the family that arrived in Utah that same day, My parents drove up with Jenn and Corey Wednesday, Jess flew in from Portland to Salt Lake City, and Tony, Michelle and the girls picked her up since they were already in Utah for a family reunion. It was nice to see my family again despite the circumstances we had a great time visiting with each other, driving with my mom while she ran over curbs and parked with her huge car between two other cars when there were 10 other available parking spaces =)good times... We attended the viewing, funeral and memorial on Thursday and it was very touching. To feel of the deep Spirit that was comforting those in need of comfort. There were so many wonderful things said about Larry. How much he “fixed things that were broken” whether it was one of his four girls hearts, a broken car, bad news, anything he could do. Larry was a quiet guy, but he had a BIG heart. No matter what our family needed we could always call upon Larry. After attending the funeral and bawling my eyes out for the loss of such a well loved man, I began to think how precious life should be to each one of us. I grew up understanding that people are born and eventually they will die… No one wants to lose the ones they love. It’s a fact of life that becomes a very hard reality to face. Being with my family, all together, was a sight that I hope to eventually see in the after life. I love my family so much. No matter what our flaws are as a family, we are who we are and I couldn’t ask for a better, more loving, supportive family. Together Forever because that’s what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about. It gives us the greater understanding of life after death. I hope I can always be kind to my family members, always express my love for them, especially my husband and best friend. I love my family so much and my heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to Shirley LaDue as she endures this great trial. May she endure it with great comfort, may she endure it with great peace, and may she endure it knowing how much she is loved.

Got to go to dinner with cousin Benji too!! Now that was a funny dinner...

I headed back to Las Vegas with my parents and Corey and Jenn. They dropped me off in Henderson at one of my mission companion’s house, Sister Jecia Hutchinson. We were re-united after two years! We actually went and cleaned the Las Vegas Nevada temple together, which was pretty awesome. We were the only ones dressed in skirts and I loved how everyone thought we were Sister Missionaries on our mission haha good times. It had to have been the neatest thing to walk around the Lord’s house talking about our mission and the funny memories we had and the people we invited to come unto Christ. We got a chance to catch up and I already miss that girl. Thanks Jecia!! 1-4-3

I left Las Vegas at 2:45 AM and arrived in Hawaii at 5:45 AM. My wonderful hubby picked me up and took me to breakfast at Liliha Bakery. Thanks Evy! Love you so much! You are the best person in the world for me!! After being in four states Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah in two days it was an exhausting trip both physically and spiritually. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to support the LaDue family. One of the greatest lesson’s I learned on this trip was the way to fix things that are broken are through love, kindness, and effort. That when we sacrifice we in turn receive more than ever expected. Death often comes so unexpectedly, but the most important thing to remember is that it has to happen in order for the rest of God's plan to proceed. There is no right way to deal with death, no way to fully understand it as we go through the pain and loss of our loved ones and really no way to make it okay in your life or bring that person back, we will all eventually pass onto the next life and it will all make sense when we experience even greater joy than we have ever experienced as we are reunited eternally.