whathappened?

HALLO...When's Christmas?

2011-11-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Carving pumpkins is super fun- I admit. But all the rest of the stuff I've grown not so fond of. Call me a 'bah-hum-bug' but I don't like to dress up myself and go beg for candy. I dressed Marcus up as a giraffe and we knocked on two doors but that was it for the 31st. The fun was had when Jordan, Laura, Dave, Jamie and Nathan came over for chili, scones, pumpkins, donuts and cider.
So I am really looking forward to Christmas this year! What do you want for Christmas? I just can't wait to spend quality time with the fam!

X RATED!

2011-10-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

okay not really but i just wanted to warn you.
so lately this little guy can't lie down long enough for me to get his pants on let alone his diaper. oh, and he would rather eat the wipes than let me wipe his bum. he is still at the stage where everything goes in the mouth (other mommies? when does he grow out of this stage?)

regardless of my complaints he still manages to rock my world and he is way more entertaining than tv or youtube or facebook. that is the reason my blogging has tapered off. I'm having too much fun (either that or i'm pulling my hair out cuz he won't go down for a nap!).
latest entertainments include:
1. figuring out how to crawl with a favorite object. he resorts to trying to hold it in his mouth and crawl but it never works because he has to breath heavily and crawl at the same time. MULTITASKING IS HARD!
2. he treats our apartment like an obstacle course- racing from one end of the room to the other and back and around. he wants to try out his standing abilities on every elevated object no matter how tall or small. that means he is sticking his bum in the air while holding on to a flat-on-the-ground book wondering why he's not standing.
3. peek-a-boo is his favorite game. whoever is holding him during this game gets all slapped up for the duration. he just cannot contain his excitement while waiting for you to pop your head up.
4. this one's hilarious! he can wail with is mouth closed! when he is done eating his squash and i mean DONE! he cries with his lips closed. i have yet to get a good picture of this.
5 lastly, i love watching him wrestle with his daddy. this is usually right when juan comes home from work and they are both bursting with excitement to see one another. today was the first time that marcus cried when daddy had to go back to work. not just a whimper-and-forget-about-it cry. he cried for nearly 30 mins while looking at the door.

isn't that sweet?

Too many girls

2011-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

What's happening to the Y chromosome these days? I mean I have always been a proponent for friendly competition between women and men but this is a whole different realm of competition: X vs. Y.
Poor Marcus will wipe this sweet smile off his face when someday soon he realizes that all of the cousins that are his age are girls. With nobody to play cars and shoot bad guys with he will be one sad kid.
There's Maya, Alexis, Emily, Camilla, Linda (chinita), and now my other sister Laura found out she is going to have a girl too! I'm gonna have to have another boy so that he has someone to play with. (I'm not making any announcements here.)

Viva Ecuador

2011-07-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

HEY! I got my new shoes on and suddenly everything is right!

2011-05-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

i love april and may!! and november and december and january and february. why...you ask? cuz april is our wedding anniversary and easter- may is mother's day, november is my birthday, december is christmas, january is my son's birthday, and february is my husbands birthday and valentines day. i like march, june, july, august, september and october too- but lets just talk about april and may right now, okay?
for our anniversary, juan gave me a photo shoot! our friend, leeyen took them at maleakahana beach park and we had so much fun. It was the same day that marcus turned 3 months old too. we love our little bubs- he is such a fun little guy- the joy of our lives.he is getting so big and recently we have had so much fun trying different things to get him to bust a gut. a baby's laugh is the best sound in the world!
I love being a mom and this passed mother's day was officially my first. the greatest gift in the world is of course my little bubba but juan also spoiled me. he made me breakfast in bed and gave me chocolates and a lei. AND....he gave me these sweet new shoes!

Kuhio day at the beach

2011-03-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

It was Bubba's first day at the beach- a beautiful day at one of my favorite beaches in Hawaii, Waimea Bay. We went with our totally awesome friends: Janelle, Kelepi & Janine, and Rebecca & Tyler. We had such a good time riding the waves and listening to the whales under the water. Incredible, yeah? Bubba was such a good sport. He and our friend's baby, Kilipati are really close in age and get this- he's named after an island. Maybe there is an island for Marcus....and...YES! There is! I just looked it up and there is a Marcus Island. Take that Kilipati!! If you don't believe me check this out....anyway....
Whenever we go to waimea we are reminded of just how much we love hawaii and are going to miss it when we leave. If only we could convince our families to move we would stay here forever!
Whadaya say guys?

Time to say goodbye

2011-03-07T16:50:00.001-08:00

to my horse mane. I think this is the longest that my hair has ever been and its thanks to those crazy pregnancy hormones. This is as much as the hubby would let me chop off. She said that she layered it but it doesn't look like it. Does it?
__________________Before____________________________________ After__________________

I'm a long-haired gal- always will be. I don't think I could ever pull off a cute pixie or bob. I don't care if babies pull half my hair out.

one month old already!!

2011-02-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

i can't believe baby marcus is a month old!! its hard to believe because i am still trying to recover from delivering him. -_-
well here are a bunch of pictures of our growing boy. he is such a adorable precious little soul. we are crazy about him. it seems like every morning we are surprised at how different he looks.
despite what you might gather from this picture- he loves to take baths. he just doesn't like how cold it is when he has to get out of the bath.

Our precious baby...

2011-02-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

Marcus Bradley Gomez was born @2:10 am January 22, 2011, 10 lbs. 1 oz., 22 inches @ Moanalua Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. Many people asked me if I was having twins and now I know why... Here is my basketball belly picture right before we went to the hospital. I have a smile on my face because I had a scheduled induction. I was already dilated 4 cm. for over 3 weeks so doc gave us the go ahead to be induced. It was time to speed things up even though I was only 5 days over my due date. Its a good thing we were induced-otherwise- 11 pounds anyone?
This is right before they hooked up the oxytocin- calm before the storm. I was a little scared to be induced but everything went just fine until my contractions were 1 minute apart and very painful. I started to get very tingly in my feet and hands and very light headed. That's when they checked me and I was at a 7 so I had to decide between an epidural or IV. Luckily I chose the epidural otherwise I don't think I would have been able to push my sweet little 10 pounder out.Cone-head baby Marcus. Poor thing was stuck in the birth canal for 2 1/2 hours. We did it Baby! Everyone gasped when the nurse announced "10 pounds and 1 ounce". I couldn't believe it! I started to believe it when the doctor who was stitching me up kept asking the nurse for more and more thread. He wouldn't tell me how many stitches I had. He also wouldn't tell me that they were considering a C-section...he just kept whispering to the nurse the whole time I was pushing. Interesting- I've heard that a lot of women yell at their husbands when they are in labor- well, I yelled at my doctor. No joke. Oh- and Juan kicked the nurse out of the room when she came in to try to move me to another room right after I had fainted. I have a little theory that A LOT of night nurses either hate their shift and take it out on the patients or they aren't good nurses so they have to take the crap shift. I say a lot because my aunty is a night nurse and I am sure she makes the exception.This was our first car ride. Coming home from the hospital. He was a bobble head baby in the back seat of our old clunker. We made it home safely and ever since have been getting to know each other and loving almost every minute of it. Thanks to my mom and Juan's mom we have been able to adjust well. They are both gone now so we are gonna have to figure things out on our own. It is going to be hard to mimic grandma's special touch. We are still very immature, impatient young guns- we have a lot to learn.

Tomorrow could be the big day!

2011-01-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

i've been telling myself that for the past 6 weeks. my doctor tricked me into thinking that i might have baby marcus early by putting me on bed-rest back in the middle of december. i was dilated 2 centimeters then and ever since have been slowly dilating up to a 4 (could be 5-its all subjective) now and 4 days over my due date. i've been stretching, swimming and walking my little bum off in the hopes to kick-start labor but to no avail.
i have made it a point to try to enjoy myself though. i made it through a temple session with mom and juano- to the amazement of all present. i only had to pee once during the session.
on monday, we went to the north shore when we got word of 20 foot waves. we were sitting on the beach and a little girl ran by and said, "mommy, mommy! that lady has a big ball in her shirt." she was utterly confused when i tried to explain to her that it was a baby but i couldn't take it out to prove it. i'll let her own mother explain that one. i tried once to explain it to my nephew nathan after he asked me why i swallowed my baby. haha! kids- so innocent.
so my pregnancy could come to an end and motherhood could begin TOMORROW!! my doctor schedule me to be induced and i have to call at 6 am to make sure there is room for me. i hope we can all sleep tonight. juano is as giddy as a 5 year old at disneyland. and me? i'm excited too... nervous- but i can't wait to meet my new little guy.

NEW JOB!!

2011-01-05T18:39:00.001-08:00

i know i am crazy because i am due in less than two weeks but i got a new job!

NO- not a stay at home mom- although that is my first priority. i am an online instructor for an international English course here at BYU Hawaii. i just got the job this morning- it just kinda fell from the sky into my lap (scoot over baby marcus). i am so excited because i can do everything from home- correct assignments, skype, etc. my students live in mongolia, japan, china, taiwan, and the polynesian islands. AWESOME HUH?! it is such a blessing because i might be able to continue to work for BYU Hawaii after juan graduates and we leave. I can teach from home for the rest of my life (maybe).

Anyway- we will see how it goes- we are just really excited for this perfect fit for me right now.

Thanks, baby marcus, for staying inside longer than i wanted you to- it turned out to be a blessing. you can come anytime after saturday, okay?

CAN'T WAIT

2010-12-29T00:14:00.001-08:00

juano and i went to another appointment today and doc jane checked my cervix again...two weeks ago she checked for the first time and i was 2 centimeters dilated....now i am 3 centimeters!! we are moving along folks!
she suggested that we go for a trial run to the hospital so we did. baby marcus will be born at the Moanalua Hospital in Honolulu which is super nice. we think they just renovated it- the halls are really wide and it is very clean and quiet. we will have a private labor room that is super nice and roomy. so hopefully pics will come soon of that....
our christmas was....okay. to be honest i got bummed out a bit. we both had to work christmas eve...juan got home at 1 am. we went to the beach tho- it was nice to get in the water and feel
weightless. these are our friends janelle and mike. juano and mikey had fun catching some waves- it was fun to watch them. but i'm sorry to say it- this is not how you should spend christmas. period.

we went to the temple last week. it has been so nice now that it is open. i never wrote about the open house and dedication- it was wonderful. President Monson came of course and there was an awesome spirit in Laie the whole time he was here. a storm was suppose to hit but enough prayers must have kept it at bay. the weather was calm and beautiful for the prophet. the temple looks so different inside- it is so beautiful. we live just one block away from the temple- we can almost see it from our bedroom window!! I love it

Maternity

2010-12-09T00:47:00.001-08:00

My friend LeeYen took these shots of me and baby Marcus. I am a lot bigger now at nearly 35 weeks! the end is very close!!

just want to write...

2010-11-26T00:43:00.001-08:00

our computer recently crashed and we are in the process of recovering the pictures so in the meantime...i'm just gonna write...
its thanksgiving day but for me it feels like thanksgiving eve. juan and i had to work today so we convinced our friends to celebrate tomorrow. i just pulled the rolls out of the oven (mom's famous potato rolls) and they look beautiful... a little plump tho- i guess i let them rise to long. i also have the cheese ball in the freezer...ready for its nutty coating- eeee! tomorrow i am going to make spinach artichoke dip and mashed potatoes- creamy. our friends janelle and mike are baking the turkey and stuffing, and their famous green bean casserole. janelle also made some pies. aushra and rene are going to bring a fruit salad, drinks and dulce de leche. it will be quiet a feast!!
baby marcus is doing very well. he likes to disfigure my belly every 20 or 30 minutes in the day...and night. he gets a little rough sometimes- imagine feeling bruised on the inside...i can feel it. i had a doc appointment yesterday and everything is going good- baby's got a 140 heart rate, i've gained another 5 pounds and my pee is still yellow. juan is bummed cuz that means we can't have another ultrasound. ah well...i am very grateful that baby is healthy.
i could complain about a lot of little things but that is only for my hubby to hear...and he takes good care of me. i get a foot massage and back rub almost every night. he picks things up off the floor for me and gets me whatever i ask for. he already has a good relationship with baby...he is the only one that can get him to move on command. baby marcus is shy with everyone else. he definitely recognizes his daddy's voice.
these are the things i am grateful for on this thanksgiving evening. as well as my loving family- tho very far away they are. we are all over the place: england, tennessee, arizona, utah, and hawaii. i miss thanksgivings with them- i love love love love love them to pieces.

What takes 6 hours to bake and 6 hours to puree?

2010-11-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

why a real pumpkin of course! and don't ask me why but i just HAD to do it! so i did! call it a crazy pregnancy urge/craving- or maybe its because it might be the last time that i will actually have time to do such a thing. so here is the carnage....
so the 'how to' is on my recipe blog (click here). my husband wanted to ring my neck by the time i nearly finished puree-ing all of the pumpkin chunks- i kid you not- it took me 6 hours or more to de-skin it and blend it up. but let me tell you...the pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie have been worth the back ache. i have a pie baking as i type and the aroma alone is worth it. even though i will never do it again (maybe).

we gots a pumpkin!

2010-10-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

yesterday we went to one of the only pumpkin patches in hawaii and whadayaknow- they grow excellent pumpkins on the island. there were hundreds of people there and plenty of 'em to go around. it was a very hard decision but made easier when we found one that balanced on juan's head. TA-DA! isn't it gorgeous?

look how cute the little baby one is too! now, would you say our pumpkin is medium, large or extra large? well procedure is you go pick your pumpkin in the field and then take it over to the tables not to be weighed but priced just by the looks of it. we didn't have a lot of cash so we just hoped that it would be considered a large (large pumpkins were $8-$10). so look closely at this picture:
juan (on the far left) and mike in the middle are both holding up pumpkins of similar girth- are they not? so get this- they both walk up to the table for pricing and they guy says to juan, "ten dollars" and then to mike, "for that one 15 dollars." hahaha! don't they look the same size? then to top it off- i ask "what about for this little one?" and he says "for you its free- cuz your expecting." sorry mikey, pregnant rights are just not in your favor.
my theory is the man was fooled by an optical illusion. put a juan-sized-man next to a large pumpkin and a mike-sized-man next to a pumpkin of the exact size and VIOLA! the pumpkin next to my husband looks smaller and therefore we save a little cash.
all i need now is to figure out other ways to take advantage of this happy happenstance.

found out today...

2010-10-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

that i am anemic.
now what?
oh, that's right. iron pills. yay.
ah well. as long as i can have my 3 giant size cups of crushed ice at work everyday- i'm happy.

cravings

2010-10-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

ahhhh....the wonderful things that make my mouth water...these would have to be the four major ones....
my first craving was chocolate milk. one night- i think it was just as i was getting over my morning sickness- i just HAD to have some chocolate milk. we went to the store and bought the 7 DOLLAR gallon of the dang stuff and i drank it in 2 days (well i drank about 3/4 of it- i couldn't stop juano from helping me)
2ND. when i was in utah as we were driving on the freeway there was a lot of construction going on so there were these massive piles of dirt. I HAD TO HAVE SOME!! the dirt looked so good- i drooled all over myself and yes...i did give into the craving a little...*shame*...i licked a rock. doesn't this look soooooo yummy? i only wish it tasted as good as it looks -_-
my THIRD craving has been ice. the ranch (where i work) has the best crushed ice in the world and i chomp on at least 3 giant sized cups of it a day while i am working. it is so irresistible. I knew it was a full-fledged craving today when i was so excited to get to work- on a monday, mind you- and the first thing i did was go and fill up a cup. it had been a long weekend without crushed ice. we just have the hard cubed kind at home. *GASP* i wish i were in roosevelt right now- the frontier grill has the best crushed ice IN THE WORLD!! wow- you see?
and last but not least and totally out of the ordinary: sour candy. weird. i never liked sour candy before...well maybe when i was a kid- just cuz kids like anything sweet. i might have eaten it but i never really liked it. i bought a bag of these succulent little gummy sours today at work and ate the whole bag in about an hour.
they. are. amazing.

so tell me- is there something irreversibly wrong with me? i know that i am a little iron- deficient and YES, i am taking my prenatals and reading labels to find the most iron packed food i can...
so lets hear it ladies...what was the weirdest thing you craved when you had a baby in the boiler?

Grandpa Mac

2010-10-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

Its about time I write about my grandpa. I have the pictures that I want and I have had the chance to celebrate his life and mourn his loss.
I am so grateful that I was able to go home to funeral of my amazing Grandpa, Joseph Glen McAllister. It was great to reminisce with family and honor his life. He was nearly 95 years old when he died and about to celebrate his 70th wedding anniversary. WOW! that means if i want to live up to him i have to live 67 more years and stay married for another 68 1/2 more years (so i guess that would mean i need to live till I am 96)....anyway....
I love my Grandpa. I have such great memories with him. Look at me on grandpa's wood pile...

this is at grandpa's house in Gunlock, UT. that house was the greatest playground a kid could dream of. grandpa had a big back hard and even a river beyond the yard. he had tons of fruit and nut trees and a ditch to play in when they were irrigating. he spoiled us rotten when we went to visit. we had peaches and cream for breakfast and all the popcorn balls and roasted pinenuts we could ever dream of. this is only the beginning of the memories that i have. i will never forget playing cards with gramps- he was such a tease but always had a sweet smile on his face even though he kicked the crap out of you. i loved it when he would tease grandma until she swore at him and threw her cards down. hearing that sweet chuckle is priceless. Grandpa had a twinkle in his eye- yes a real twinkle that cameras cannot capture.

The funeral was very spiritual. i had the chance to share my memories with the family in the family devotional after the viewing. i shared my experience the night he passed away. i had just talked to mom and she said his condition was really bad. i was about to go to bed but was thinking about him so much i started to cry. my husband put his arm around me and i told him that i wanted my baby (who is in the womb) to meet my amazing grandpa. Juan comforted me with the thought that maybe my grandpa is holding our baby right now. i would not doubt it. in his funeral slide show there were many pictures of grandpa holding babies. i cried every time i saw one. i hope all my future children get to meet my grandpa before they come into our lives. it was so great to celebrate his life and know that he is not suffering anymore. he is 25 again and handsome as a devil!

Almost our whole family came together to attend the funeral. Sarah's family and my husband were the only ones who couldn't make it. Its thanks to grandpa that we have the family that we do. His legacy will live on through my kids and many generations. I love you grandpa!!

Our baby boy likes hiking...

2010-09-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

while baby keeps kicking, dancing, and tumbling in my rumbly i keep trying to be active and healthy as I can be. on saturday we did one of our favorite nature walks above the beaches of the windward side of oahu. yes, i live in hawaii but it only feels like it on the weekends when we get to go play and act like tourists. this hike is called hau'ula loop and meanders through a pine forest and up on a ridge with spectacular views yet it takes less than an hour. it was a beautiful day and it felt so good to rise above the heat and feel the cool hawaiian breeze.
oh...and baby liked it...at least the snacks that we ate.
on the way back down we saw a family with young kids. the daddy was sporting a baby backpack...i can't wait to hit the hills with my baby on my back (or front). so now you know what i will be asking for christmas :)

of course we ended the day with a cool dip in the big pool. it feels so good to be weightless ;)

baby's way of communicating

2010-08-23T22:58:00.001-07:00

I started feeling movement a few weeks ago and it has been awesome. It's the coolest feeling. Yesterday, Juan got up to my stomach and started talking to baby. I hadn't felt any movement for a while but when he was talking right next to my belly she/he started moving. So he started asking, "Kick twice if you are a girl and once for a boy." nothing. so he tried,"kick mommy if you want your name to be Juan Carlos." nothing. Well, they always say that no answer IS and answer so we know now that baby doesn't want his daddy's name.
Whenever I put my pants on, if they are too tight baby kicks in the exact spot that the pants are as if to say, "Get that off me!!" I guess we will see if baby is the type that kicks off her clothes kinda like my sister, Sarah. One day she went outside without a shirt and my dad stopped her. When he scolded her she asked him, "Why can't girls run around with their shirts off like boys?"
We went to a concert on Friday and it was really loud. Juan was worried that we were sitting too close and it was too loud for baby but I didn't feel any movement. We got up and moved further away and that is when baby started kicking and moving around as if to say, "Hey! I was listening to that!" like a teenager.
Oh, and finally, I know baby likes dark chocolate cuz I get a lot of somersaults and kicks when I have a piece...just for the record.

ULTRASOUND IS TOMORROW!! HOPE BABY IS NOT CROSSING THE LEGS!

14 weeks!!

2010-07-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

so...I should be entering that blessed second trimester and I hope I am not getting overly optimistic but....I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!
I even did yoga today! Yay for yoga! do any of you have any pregnancy exercise tips? I do a lot of walking and occasional water aerobics workouts but I would really like to get into yoga and pilates. I'm taking suggestions now.
Lately, I have been feeling round ligament pain which is a doosy at times. I am getting used to it though- it really scared me at first. I guess that is what pregnancy is all about. You have this crazy symptom and your like "WHAT THE HECK!" and then you just gradually learn to live with it.
We are so excited to have our first baby. We learned a lot from our first miscarriage and were so grateful for that experience. We matured a lot and this time around we cherish every moment of my belly growing and doctors appointments and thinking about what we are going to name him/her. I know it sounds weird but I am grateful that I don't always feel awesome too cuz I know that I am doing it for a good cause. Its easy to say now when I don't feel as sick as I have felt.
Well...14 weeks and counting!

Dear Parasite,

2010-06-25T21:20:00.001-07:00

I mean, I mean....
Dear Baby inside me,
I think your great. I mean, its great that you are soon going to be a part of our lives, I mean, you are going to change our lives. You are changing my life already.
...anyway. I guess you like to burp a lot because when you burp your little fetus burp, it slowly ascends to my esophagus where it stays for hours. I look forward to being able to breath after your little burps come out.
Is it true you don't like greasy or spicy food? Well, even if you don't, you didn't have to set my heart on fire because I fed you tonkatsu yesterday. I promise I won't feed you any greasy food again.
Oh, and what about the 7-dollar Kellogs Total that the doctor suggested I feed you that is loaded with vitamins and all the good stuff that you need? Why did you force it out of me like that? huh? You need to get your vitamins.
Speaking of vitamins- is one big pink pill really too much for you too handle. I guess so- it must be hard to handle a pill that is half your size. Sorry, I asked.
I guess I need to end on some good notes. I want to thank you. Thank you for enduring. Thank you for hanging on for 30 minutes for the next meal- don't worry, I will keep 'em coming. Thank you for not getting sick when I ate raw fish- I know I wasn't supposed to. Thank you for sticking your arm out and flexing your muscle for us during the ultra sound. Daddy and I are proud of our strong little psuedo-baby.
Thank you for doing all the exercise for the both of us. You are working so hard to grow fingers and toes, and elbows, and eyebrows, and earlobes that I don't have to exercise. Its nice to be able to sleep while you are working.
I can't wait to meet you someday.
Take care, I love you,
your future mama

i've missed you....

2010-06-01T17:50:00.001-07:00

its been way to long since i posted something....so here's to catching up.....
We celebrated our 1st anniversary on April 18th!! We did a few fun things. I work at a ranch and juano has never been on any tours so I took him on the best tour that we offer- the two-hour ATV ride!!

we also went to kailua beach for a little kayaking...

and finally to town (aka- Honolulu) we stayed in a hotel for one night and went out to eat, to the aquarium and window shopping.

It was a lot of fun and nice to go and feel like we were on vacation for a little while. I love my sweetheart, Juano. He treats me like a queen! We have had a lot of great experiences our first year of marriage. We've had our ups and downs and we have come a long way. I love learning and growing with him and look forward to many more amazing years together! Te quiero, mi amor!

Castles

2010-04-01T00:39:00.000-07:00

Riding waves at Castles has been awesome lately...

Juano's Birthday...

2010-03-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

did happen...a month ago. that doesn't mean i can't blog about it.
so, it was kind of an ironic/pathetic day to be totally honest. we had made plans with friends to play volleyball but they flaked on us the night before leaving us with no plans. so we went up to turtle bay anyway to see if some random volleyballers were there.
no luck.
so we went to juano's favorite beach- Castles- to try to body board. but it was too flat for waves on that 20th day of february.
poop.
so we went home and just chilled. juano's family called him and my family called him with birthday wishes and i made a lasagna dinner complete with garlic bread and salad (and of course birthday cake- prom cake).
juano was a little disappointed about how his day turned out but i had a little surprise for him after dinner. a bunch of our friends stood at our window at precisely the time we finished our last bites. they belted out happy birthday through the window as juan shyly answered the door. we dragged him out of the house blind folded and handed him a stick.
PIŇATA!
we had a fun time taking turns whacking away at this cute little soccer ball.

Our friends from left to right: Jackeline, Jackeline Jr., David and Arielle Westman, Asala, Aissa, Baby Rayden, Yuka, Mike Parker (in front with the stick), me, juano, Miles Smith, Amber and Jason Poulter, Aushra and Rene Ledesma.

TSUNAMI

2010-03-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

we survived a false alarm.
Saturday morning at 4 am-loud knock at the door. our elders quorum leader.
-_- sleep -_-
6 am- the sirens go off.
-_- sleep -_-
8 am- gather stuff together and prepare for the arrival of 3 feet of water in the house.
-_- sleep -_-
10 am- pack our stuff out of the house and climb the hill behind the temple.
-_- sleep -_-
12 pm- get word that all is well and pack our stuff back to the apartment.
-_- sleep -_-

it was quite an uneventful event. in the end we realized how much it would suck if we had to spend 3 days on that hill with our limited 72 hour kit. so lets just hope and pray that there won't be a next time and our lives will remain uneventful.

a whale of a whale watching time!

2010-02-03T23:26:00.000-08:00

we went whale-watching this passed weekend up at kaena point. this is an aerial photo of the point (north-west tip of the island of oahu).

i love this hike...especially on a cloudy day. we encountered a bit of mud but made the most of it. can you see the airborne mud in juano's pic?

brynn and nate- do you remember this hike? i took you guys on it...around sunset...i hope you still don't hate me for that...

(first pic) allow me to introduce you to our good friends, Janelle and Mike. they were married around the same time that juan and i were and live just 4 doors down from us in the temple view apts. we get together often to play settlers of catan and have potlucks.
(next pic) now this is a hard one- guess who's legs belong to who.
(last two) the views were amazing out at the point. we saw a bunch of albatross birds too- you know, like the one from the rescuers- juan thought one was going to take his head off when it flew over us. i was just nervous that he would drop a giant crap on us.
well needless to say- we made it out minorly sunburndt and uncrapped-upon. oh- i am almost forgetting the reason for this post. here it is....

okay...fixed it...now i can post away!!

2010-02-02T23:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!! and boy did january fly by....
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coming soon....our hike to kaena point and witnessing whales breech...

I made gingerbread- I MADE GINGERBREAD!!!

2009-12-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

just look at me! another post!!
i worked harder this weekend then i ever do in a 40 hour week- my feet even ached after all of this. but it was worth it! we made gingerbread houses with 8 of our friends and we made the gingerbread ourselves (janelle, amanda and i)!!! the recipes that we looked up on the internet all gave a level of difficulty and guess what it was for making gingerbread?- DIFFICULT- and that it was to be sure. but we tackled it. isn't it grand??
look at that!! we made it!!
we actually ended up making more gingerbread than we needed and used up all the molasses in it. i would have to say that the batch we made with a little bit of honey was far better than the one with a full cup of molasses- note to self. we mixed up the dough on saturday and then let it set in the fridge overnight (you really only need to leave it in for 2 hours). then on sunday we pulled it out and rolled it out on the back of a cookie sheet. we had to make a lot of houses so it was tricky cutting them all out and making sure they were the right size but thanks to amanda we got the pattern just perfect. this is definitely a task that cannot be done solo- we worked as a team. then all of our husbands got to do the fun part of making the houses with all of the colorful candy. but i am jumping the gun... ----matching game- which wife belongs to which husband???----...before we made the gingerbread houses we had a nice potluck dinner. i made the infamous pomegranate salad and we had enchiladas and baked chicken (amanda i still need that recipe- yogurt and ritz- who'd a thunk?), and potato salad- i love aissa because she doesn't put yucky onions in her salad, and rolls and....other stuff. so we ate all the good food and then had a great time putting these lovely houses together. I can't believe that it worked! and our house is still standing two days later!! the candy canes are melting because of the humidity but my goodness! it worked. look at that masterpiece!! can you see where we have picked off of it?
i taught juano how to do this... so so so much fun!! i love these guys!!

Forget about the rest of our trip way back in SEPTEMBER!!

2009-12-07T23:58:00.001-08:00

...its nearly christmas....so it is time to move on!!
recent haps....
Hallowing came and went like ichabod crane on a horse. laura sent us those classic scary stories to listen to while admiring our masterpiece of a pumpkin. we got so scared listening to 'em that we had to cut them short. it took too long to get to sleep- we had to hold each other and just when we were about to dose off one random light turned on in the house. we felt like a ghost was roaming around and didn't want the lights out. SCARY!! we prayed and were able to get to sleep.

My birth day followed halloween and juano planned a surprise party with a bunch of our friends. he got me good. we went to play volleyball and he skipped out early telling me that he had to do some homework...i should have known but i didn't have a clue. he had already invited a bunch of our peeps over and they waited patiently for me to finish playing. i didn't want to leave so i made them wait. it was fun to come home and find a bunch of people celebrating my day. it was fun- i love our ward.

the day after my birthday i found out that we had a miscarriage (oh yeah- we were pregnant for a little while). i had a D+C a few days after and have recovered well. to make things a little easier on my emotions we put a cute little christmas tree up and lights in our living room. i have had the tree up for about a month already and i love it. isn't it cute?
we are going to utah for christmas!! we leave in 15 days!! i can't wait to go home- i don't know what i would do if i couldn't be with my family for the holidays!! it will juano's and my first christmas together married!! this picture was taken last year around this time right after we were engaged.

Day 2 of our Big Island trip

2009-10-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

after pealing ourselves off of the church sidewalk we dressed quickly in the car and walked the few steps to the temple. no one noticed us walk away from the church with our sleeping gear so we acted like everything was normal. we enjoyed another session and also doing a bunch of sealings afterward in the tiny temple.
as soon as we got out of the temple we all felt ready to start our next adventure. we stormed the pantry at safeway and hit the road. juano drove as i stuffed turkey and peperjack cheese sandwiches and flaming cheetos down his throat. it was kind of a lengthy drive but well worth it- we were headed for the south point and THE GREEN SAND BEACH!!
this was one of the highlights of our trip- we walked the windy walk to the fabulous green bay and swam our little hearts out in the beautiful water. this is juano's favorite picture of him catching a wave. it was really hard to leave but we were betting to bum a ride back so we ran to the top of the hill before some of the other swimmers hoping they would see us walking and have pity on us. a cute couple with a load of southern hospitality stopped for us. we all piled in the back of their rented jeep. what a ride. we thought we might roll over or worse a couple of times. we did it DAVE style.
after we brushed ourselves off and got comfortable in the car. we jetted over to the lava flow to see if we could get there before sunset. we didn't make it but got to see the glow of the lava flow for our last little adventure of the day. afterwards we went to the Hanza's-our big island friends for a warm bed on the rainy side of the island.

Day 1 of our Kona trip

2009-09-23T02:15:00.001-07:00

its about time i tell you about our trip to Kona. The temple has been closed here in Laie for about 8 months now so we haven't been to the temple since we got married. so time was way over due and the opportunity arose to fly to big island for a temple trip. tickets were 25 bucks each way! you can't get any better than that!! So we flew into Kona early friday morning and went straight to the temple. We did baptisms and confirmations which was pretty sweet because we were able to do the work for Juano's Grandma.
After that we went snorkeling. we asked a guy how the snorkeling was in that area and he said it was excellent. What he didn't tell us was that its a rough and rocky entrance and exit from the water. We chose the boat dock route of entry and just after a few minutes Juano cut his foot. I was pretty determined to check out the reef there and being the stubborn person that i am i practically forced him to keep swimming. we swam around for a while chased a turtle and got a few good underwater pictures. then it was time to get out. the waves were crashing pretty hard against the rocks and there were a lot of sea urchin in the rocks. for those of you who don't know- sea urchin are poisonous and have quite a sting. one of our friends pointed out a 'good spot' for him to climb up out of the crashing waves. inevitably juano was pushed and pulled by the waves which caused him to grab on tight right in a sea urchins nest. so now not only did he have a chunk out of his toe but also about 20 sea urchin spines in his palm.
while juano did minor surgery on himself- plucking out the spines, i paced around trying to figure out what to do with myself and felt completely responsible....
the torture didn't end there....
we found a beach park after searching for 45 minutes and showered and got ready to go back to the temple. we went to a session and after we got out we had to figure out where we were going to sleep. hotels in Kona are ridiculous so we ruled that out. we had already check online to see if there were any camp grounds. nada. we had heard that the beach parks were dangerous. we told the temple president after our session that we didn't have a place to stay...that didn't click.
so... our only option was the chapel next to the temple. we slept on the grass.....until the sprinklers came on at 2 in the morning. then we moved to the sidewalk. at least we had an air mattress. the Chisms had only a single sleeping bag. it was a night to remember.

Sayonara Ruka chan!!

2009-08-14T20:40:00.001-07:00

yesterday, we said goodbye to our little 10-day-daughter from japan. It was great fun to have her come and stay with us. we went ice skating and to the waterpark and of course the beach. She is from Aichi-ken somewhere near nagoya and she is only 11 years old. we could believe that a girl her age could leave her parents and come to live with perfect strangers in hawaii. she came with her classmates and english teacher. i taught three english lessons to the little group (3 boys and 2 girls) and it made me fall in love with teaching again. i love to teach japanese kids english because i know exactly what they are saying but still speak to them in english -har har har! (that is supposed to be the sound of an evil laugh). Yumeno was another girl that came with the group and the two of them became really good friends. they hung out a lot together which was fine because we are friends with yumeno's host couple- Arturo and Kirsten.
It was fun to play the mama and papa with her. she obeyed our every command just like a good little girl. and she loved my cooking!! that made me feel good. the only thing that juano really knows how to say in japanese is 'kokoro' which means heart so whenever he said it the girls giggled. they also told me that they prefer darker skinned boys over white kids. i stake my claim on juano. they were so much fun. a lot better at smiling for the camera under the water than me. HEY! i have to protect my contacts and i can't hold my breath!!

I GOT STUNG....

2009-08-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

by a portuguese man of war.
which one of these do you think it was?
well if you used deductive reasoning and knowing that i am in hawaii and not i
n portugal you would guess the blue bubble above. i have lived in hawaii for about 3 years now and have always wondered what it felt like to be stung by one of this seemingly insignificant little guys- well my experience yesterday ended all my wondering.juano and i come to this beach often to go boogie boarding. we had just gotten tired of playing in the waves with the boards and started to play in the sand when the attack of the portuguese man of war occured. we thought we were really clever to make a little pool out of sand in which the water would spill into when the waves climbed up the beach. our little pool turned into a blue bubble trap. after one of the waves had subsided i felt something on the side of my leg between the two of us and thinking it was a stick or piece of ocean i started to grab for it. that is when i felt the sting. on my leg and my fingers. juano luckily didn't get stung because his shorts were protecting him. i wasn't so lucky. it hurt so bad!! a guy walking by noticed me writhing in pain and by the look on his face i could tell he had some experience with the little buggers. he said that it would be really painful for 20 minutes. well in my case it was over an hour. but i recovered. the sting didn't completely wear off for about 6 hours. i was surprised that such a little thing could could do that. reading up on it we discovered that you could even die from them...probably 1 in 100 million though- but still!!
just a day at the beach... (mountains anyone?)

THANKS BRYNN!!

2009-06-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

we got our pictures from brynn this week and i just want to show you my favorites....there are many many more than this....

my new job

2009-05-21T23:09:00.001-07:00

I started work a few weeks ago at Kualoa Ranch just a 20 minute drive from home in laie. check out this picture of the 4,000 acres of the working cattle ranch and tourist attraction. the thing I love about this place is the owners won't sell any of the land to developers, even though they have been offered millions for small pieces of it. they want to preserve the land and have actually found some plant species on the land that were considered extinct. It is an amazing part of the island in which many hollywood blockbusters have been filmed as well as the notorious TV series Lost.
anyway, so I work at the information desk in the visitors center. I just answer questions about tours and the surrounding area and check in guests and keep a big smile on my face everyday. I love my job so far! I get to use my japanese and play little tricks on the unassuming Japanese tourists. today a family came in and one of them spoke really good English so he was asking me questions and then translating for his family. they would ask him questions in japanese and then he asked me in english. When we finished up and they decided which tour to take the sister asked him where the restrooms were and I quickly replied in perfect japanese, "toire wa achira ni arimasu yo!" she just glanced at me with an incredulous look and turned to the direction of the toilet. nobody expects japanese to come out of a haole girl...hahaha!

Honeymoon time...oh yeah!!

2009-05-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Kauai
we arrived early saturday morning on the green island and headed north, destination NA PALI. we were in no rush- it was our honeymoon after all- so we stopped in hanalei at a fun little farmers market for some fresh, locally grown papaya and bananas. then we grabbed lunch and took it to this sweet secluded beach and pile of rocks. while we were eating we discovered that there was a blow hole right next to us (a blow hole is formed by waves slaming against the rocks and creating a cave like formation allowing the water to enter and blow out of a hole in the top).

the view was breathtaking in every direction from the time we jumped in our car until we got to ke'e beach and the end of the road. we strapped on our shoes and headed up the mountain right next to the beach. it was such a fun hike and a breathtaking view nearly every step of the way to hanakapi'ai beach. we enjoyed every minute of it.
the coast is basically straight cliffs and ocean. the waves crash against the rocks below where you hike and the views are spectacular of the blue blue ocean and majestic mountains. it was a perfect day to do the na pali coast and we were grateful that we did it our first day because the rest of the time that we were there it was voggy (volcanic fog=vog).
this sign kind of scared us of swimming in the ocean at the beach so we played it safe and kept our upper bodies out of the water. it was a strong current. after our first day of adventure exploring we checked into our hotel that we had booked on orbitz.com. it was the cheapest on we found and for good reason. we went to the front desk and felt like we were going back in time a few decades- retro carpet and dusty flower centerpieces. they checked us into our room overlooking the pool instead of the parking lot- they got us really excited for that. we were so tired we just wanted to crash so we grabbed our bags and found our room. we couldn't believe when we entered our room they had put us in a room with two twin beds. ha ha ha ha ha!! we laughed so hard...didn't we tell them this was our honeymoon? needless to say we got a different room not much nicer than the first and decided to check out and find something else- maybe splurge a little. the next day we went to a waterfall that had a rope swing above the falls. it was a blast swinging from it (check out the video).

we also checked out some other waterfalls and beaches but we knew we needed to find a different hotel so we spent a lot of time calling places for rates. we gave up on calling after a few answering machines- no one answers the phone on kauai. we asked our waitress for some tips on a good hotel to stay at. she told us not to go to po'ipu because that is a really expensive, touristy spot. so we went against her advice and headed to po'ipu. we went to the most expensive looking hotel we saw first and went in to try to negotiate a deal. they had kama'aina rates (for locals) and luckily because i have a hawaiian ID they gave us a sweet deal. i went online today to see what our room usually goes for (299.99 before taxes) and we only paid 156.76 total!! it was well worth it too. we had a beach front room with a balcony and the beach and jacuzzi were awesome! this is a picture of jauno (scared to get in the cold water-oooh) and our room is up on the left. it felt so much more like a honeymoon, there on the beach. we went to a local diner and got dinner and the most amazing cheesecake. i'll never forget that cheesecake...that we ate with a coffee straw. we also got free virgin drinks cuz we told them we were on our honeymoon. oh, snap.
okay, wow... this is long. the next day we went to waiamea and my camera died. i got water in it...boo. it was voggy anyway but beautiful. i am relying on jordans picts that he will take in june when he and dad go to kauai.
so we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our honeymoon...even the hotel kerfuffle.

gracias, domo arigato, thank you, obrigado, merci, danke schön

2009-05-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

i am in the process of writing thank you cards to everyone and i am overwhelmed by the thought of the generosity of all of you...our loved ones. i am sure i don't even know everything that you did to help make our wedding amazing. i am so grateful. wow! we are so spoiled. I don't know how i can ever thank everyone. ah, well...one card at a time...

APRIL 27th ALREADY???

2009-04-27T13:15:00.001-07:00

the last few weeks seemed like a 20 second dream. it all went by so fast but is such a great memory...i need to write about all of it so i don't forget.
brynn, my cousin took some pictures on my wedding day and i am so glad because we not only had a great time doing it but the pictures were awesome...
the sealing was incredible. we had a packed room full of all the people that love us and that is what made it so special. i was so happy just to look around and see all of their faces especially my sisters whose sealings i missed. i was so excited i got out of my dressing room before juano! doesn't a bride usually take hours to make her hair and make-up perfect? not me i wanted to get on with the show. this is going to sound lame but the fact that my hair turned out so well was a huge blessing. i didn't practice doing it at all. i just woke up at 5:30 in the morning and started to curl and it worked out just fine- it stayed the whole day. i was proud of myself. even though i vow to never spend 3 hours on my hair again...
aren't my baby girls adorable. they had so much fun chasing me around and tugging on my dress. i can't wait to see all the other pictures. brynn, nate, lance, lindsay, juano and i all went up to the dixie rock for more pictures that i think turned out awesome. the sky was so blue and their wasn't a cloud in the sky. it had been raining all week so we were so grateful to be sweating on our wedding day. everything was perfect at the temple that saturday morning april 18th.

home in 21- married in 29

2009-03-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

i've neglected to write in my blog for far too long. planning a wedding and doing my student teaching, and taking 15 credits, and working is no excuse!!
so- here we are. 3 weeks and i will be back in utah and counting down on my fingers to the day of my wedding.
the plans are coming along. you should get your invitation soon. there will be plenty of good eats at the reception.
juano and i are excited to be moving into TVA- that's temple view apartments. right by the temple and minutes from campus- it will become our first one-bedroom-apartment-home.
i graduate in june and juano will have at least 3 more semesters here at BYUH after that. we both love it here so it will be a great place to start out.
without being totally cheesy can i just say that i am super happy and i am marrying the most amazing guy in the world. i never thought things would get this good for me!

Its about time...

2009-01-24T02:03:00.000-08:00

I write in this jewel. It has been nearly 3 months since I last wrote. Sorry ya'll!!
well lets hear it for the updates....YAAAAAAY!
Christmas was here about 2 months ago...did ya'll hear about it? Yeah, it came and went like- WHOA! I spent about a month at home and Juano came to 'meet the parents'...and stitch. Here we are talking a walk with the dog and dad...of course he is behind the camera. It was good times with the fam and I think everyone pretty much adores Uncle Wall-e, TioJuano, Tiajuana, etc.
While I was home I also had a Bridal Shower with family and friends. Thanks Brynley, Laura and Mom for organizing it and making it so fun. I was glad I got to see everyone. I missed a few of you tho :( sorry.
So now I am looking forward to April 18th. Mom has been working like a dog to get things ready for the reception and what not. I say who needs a wedding when you can just get married? ....
jokes.
I guess we gotta all party like its 1969 or something.
I feel bad that I haven't been posting especially in this exciting time of my life. I will look through my recent pictures and try to post more. Hope you still love me!

just call him the SHREDDER!!

2008-12-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

you know those cartoons we used to watch as kids where the beaver tears through a forest shredding every tree in sight? i guess the perfect example is the beaver on lady and the tramp. do you remember? he shreds through the tree in seconds with wood chips flying in every direction....
now you are wondering why in the humf i am talking about this. well, juano is just such a shredder. when it comes to eating and if he is hungry enough- man does he shred! i was blown away by how he could shred. we had one of those massive foot-long subs from the grocery store and i had a 1/4 of it and juano took care of the rest. there were bread remnants all over the table, floor, chair....his hair...the guy across the room. i guess you don't have any control over where the bread crumbs fly when you are concentrating so hard on filling your empty stomache. just thought i would warn you to not get in juano's way when he is hungry!

ENGAGED!!!

2008-11-30T16:51:00.000-08:00

yes, that's right! i am engaged to Juan Carlos Gomez!! He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him last night in front of the Laie Temple and I said YES!! i know most of you have never met him so you are just gonna have to take my word for it- he is an incredible person. i can't wait for you all to meet him.
we are planning to get married in the St. George Temple in April 2009. we haven't picked an exact date yet so be patient with us.
it feels so different to actually be engaged- i didn't expect it to feel like this. I love it! today in church i got so excited to share my news in the 'good news minute' my little heart almost jumped out of my chest (maybe that was because there were so many flippin anouncements that she almost forgot to even do good news minute!). most of the people we have told so far have been pretty surprised at the news which surprised me. i guess it is not as obvious as i thought.
i love you, mi amor, and i can't wait to be sealed to you for time and all eternity!!

squat summit

2008-11-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

despite the incessant rain and our inclinations to just stay home and be lazy we hit the trails on this lovely aloha friday. we knew that it was going to be super muddy but we went anyway. or i should say, i dragged juano up the slippery trail kicking and complaining. needless to say the mosquitoes and flies were in abundance but i turned to juan after almost slipping on my arse and said positively, 'look at the bright side of things- we'll have the whole trail to ourselves!'
and we did. its a good thing too because i had to take care of some business on the top of the mountain. and i don't mean a little tinkle. i had to full out squat for 15 minutes. oh, how embarrassing. you see- i ate a bad potato for lunch that decided to hit me pretty hard just as soon as we reached the summit. GOOD JOB! so i had to tell juano to wait on the trail for me to go take care of it. I grabbed a handful of leaves and found a good spot to squat.
i will spare you the unnecessary gory details and just show you the picture of the laughter that was the means of my defense mechanism for the embarrassment. ironically this picture looks like i am taking a squat right there in the middle of the trail. to bad you all don't get to see that much of me.

elbow to the face!!

2008-11-11T19:31:00.001-08:00

i used to just blog about funny random things that happened to me...i need to get back in the habit...juano and i went to the PCC night show last night and we were just like a normal couple- holding hands and enjoying the entertainment when juano decides to put his arm around me. i guess i was sitting a little too tall at the time and he wound up and clocked me with his elbow right in the face.
good!
i just started laughing but he, feeling idiotic, smacked his fist to his forehead (i love it when he does that- it only happens when he does something stupid....so it happens a lot- tee hee, jokes). he apologized profusely but all i could do was laugh about it...what else can you do?

laugh it up!

2008-11-11T18:52:00.001-08:00

it is the international business conference here at BYUH, which is kinda like education week at BYU and mom's gonna be jealous because i just listened to Barbara Barrington Jones talk about laughter. it made me think of all the people in my life that have done me the good service of making me laugh. sarah, thank you for making me giggle when we snuck butter stuff into our bedroom and guiltily ate the revolting stuff (i only ate it with you cuz i wanted you to like me). jordan, thank you for making me laugh when i had water/milk in my mouth causing me to spew it all over my front at the dinner table. marylu, thank you for making me laugh after the seriousness of you chasing sarah around with a knife died down. laura, thank you for making me laugh when you do that tongue clicking thing in the space between your bottom front teeth and lower lip...or do you pull your lower lip over your bottom front teeth and...oh, nevermind! ...annie, thank you for making me laugh everytime i get excited about some crazy idea i have that you take literally and start blowing things out of proportion (remember the phone i wanted that had speakers and the internet and everything else imaginable?). Larry, thank you for making me laugh when you clench your teeth and pull your face in all sorts of hideous shapes, contours, and convulsions. dad, thank you for making me laugh everytime i get on the phone and you say "baby? is that you?"mom, thank you for making me laugh when you get upset and slap me after i beat you at cards.

Happy Birthday to me!!

2008-11-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

Surprise!! I feel like such a spoiled girl...
my birthday started saturday and didn't end until monday. i guess that's what you get when your birthday falls on a dreaded monday. it started with a package from mom- she is the greatest!! she sent me my favorite- granola- i need to learn how to make it myself because it is a constant request. i also got cards from jordy and daddy and mommy- thanks guys then, that night the girls (keekee, hayley, kat, and asako) took me out to dinner to haleiwa eats where they serve up the best thai food this side of...
then sunday rolled around and everyone was being so nice to me. i got to talk to the fam via skype and they all met juano! bless his heart- he was so nervous his little hands were sweating and he was hanging on to my elbow for dear life. it was quite the experience. thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!!
then juano needed a walk so he coaxed me out of the house and we walked toward the temple (the hotspot for sunday strollers). as we were walking we happened upon a blanket with food laid out on it and a balloon. 'what's this?' i asked satirically. everything was covered in tinfoil so i couldn't tell what juano had made for me. i opened it up and you'd never guess but it was a pan of sushi!! and fruit, and apple juice, and chocolate covered mac nuts, and every good thing. he made me sushi and he doesn't even like raw fish or sushi that much. wow- what a guy! look at all that beautiful sushi and juano rolled all of it all by himself (well asako taught him how to do it- but still!). it was an awesome surprise. we had a lovely little picnic near the temple- it was a very memorable birthday.
and it didn't end there...monday-my actual birthday-i got lei'd! asako gave me the most beautiful sweet smelling lei ever. white ginger. it smells like heaven. i wore it all day and just drank it in. then i put it by my bedside and breathed it in all night long the whole week. it was beautiful.
why is everyone so nice to me?

...and he likes to dance.....

2008-10-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

we went to the fall ball this past weekend and had a grand old time. yeah, you like the smile on my face- i look like i am about to pop! it was fun to dress up even though i didn't wear the dress that i had initially planned on wearing...juano was too casually dressed for me to wear a prom dress -_-
that's all right i was a lot more comfortable in this little number. it was a good time.

In a word....

2008-10-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

An Award!
Here are the rules:
I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.
Here are the questions:

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? library
3. Your hair color? orange
4. Your mother? compassionate
5. Your father? day-dreaming
6. Your favorite thing? pillow
7. Your dream last night? rainbows
8. Your dream/goal? eternity
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? volleyball
11. Your fear? isolation
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
13. Where were you last night? FHE
14. What you're not? humble
15. One of your wish-list items? kitchenaide
16. Where you grew up? roosevelt
17. The last thing you did? assist
18. What are you wearing? jeans
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? nonexistant
21. Your computer? viao
22. Your mood? nostalgic
23. Missing someone? kate
24. Your car? bicycle
25. Something you're not wearing? ring
26. Favorite store? honolua
27. Your summer? humid
28. Love someone? heaps
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today

Sarah
Brynn
Shelbot
G
Casey
Munkhtur
Shellie

let the fighting begin!

2008-10-14T15:10:00.001-07:00

this is a little video of a game Juano and I made up while we were eating pie one night. the rules are Juano gets to stick his arm in my way while we both try to eat the most pie. So every time one of us got some pie on the fork the other would scrap it off before successful entry into the pie hole. As you can see Juano was the victor (he pouts if he doesn't win so I compromise). We ate 3 pieces of pie in this way which means I had one and he had 2. Now you all know why I am so skinny! Ha ha ha!!

what's the point?

2008-10-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

well...in hawaii there are a lot....of points. laie point, kaena point, spear-fishing point...pointing tourists...a-point-ments... oh, stop.
this past saturday we made a point to go to kaena point. while we were there we had the oppurtunity to point at this... a monk seal!
brynn and nate- this is what i wanted to show you on that death march through the dark when you were asking, "what's the point?" i am sorry you never got to see it. maybe next june....
dats right...i graduate on JUNE 6TH!! come one come all! you are all invited to it!! just let me know if you are coming.
back to my story...these monk seals are pretty fun to watch especially when they get angry at curious humans. one of the kids in my ward who thought it would be fun to share the cool pool with the more territorial seal, got chased off and snorted at. it scared the snot out of him and he scrambled for higher ground. the sadistic side of me wished the seal would have got him. the activitees committee chairperson side of me was glad we avoided a liability. can you see him sunbathing there on the left? not the kid in the ward! the seal! pretty sweet. juano and i on the left...awe.
juano took a video and got the seal sneezing...i should load that... funny... he jumped when it sneezed and shook the camera. look out!

JUANO!...not guano...

2008-09-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

so...most of you know already that i am dating someone...yeah, yeah... yada, yada. so here is the story...
we met appropriately on the volleyball court...at turtle bay on the north shore. since we both love volleyball our interest in one another was piqued. we played the little flirt game that young kids these days are playing, but mostly didn't say much to each other on the court- a little hand slap here and a good job there. so after a hot day in the sand and sun we went our separate ways wondering if we might chance a second meeting. he left with his other latina (mind you) friends and i left with my friend, frankie. frankie was hungry so we decided to go to ted's bakery up the road. when we got there i knew in my heart it was providence because HE was there! but i was too nervous to say hi or get his attention. he was sitting at a table eating a burger and chatting. so i just walked in the sandwich shop. i ordered my food at the counter and stepped aside by the table with the condiments. then, lo and behold but who walks in? it was HIM! he walked right up next to me and grabbed a few napkins from the counter and was about to leave when words came out of my mouth- "HEY!...uh....howzit?" he looked up at me with a puzzled look *pause* and then he spoke, "do i know you?"
DAAH!
hard to recover after that but i just played it off with self-deprecating rebuttal, "uh, we played volleyball together once....today." *pause* it clicked for him when i put my sunglasses back on my face but i was still slighted by his negligance. we chatted for a bit and then he said he had to go cuz his ride was waiting... darnit.
luckily i did see him again...the next day (small town). and he got my number and we have been practically inseprable since. so i started calling him guano (pronounced wa-no) but come to find out that means cow crap in spanish. he was too nice to say anything...i guess he was just happy that i was calling him somthing at all. now i call him juano which is pronounced with a breath at the beginning- kinda like how you would say 'who' or 'how'....hwa-no. got it? good.

bathroom humor

2008-08-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

TAIWAN HAS TURNED ME INTO A POTTY MOUTH! and i mean literally. this restaurant adds new meaning to the phrase. it is called modern toilet and can only be found in taiwan. it was so ironic, yesterday, i got a random forwarded email from my friend robyn. it just had a bunch of pictures of people eating out of miniature toilets and urinals. i was showing some of the people that i work with and misha, my supervisor told me that she knows where that restaurant is here in tainan. i was like..."you mean it is here?!" yes, of course. i got super excited...to eat out of a toilet...and made her take me there, even tho she was disgusted about the whole idea. i try to load more pictures on this blog and it doesn't work...anyway we had a lot of fun playing around with our food in the urinals and toilets. my dish was served in a tub so i wasn't that grossed out. it was fun. oh, mom, i bought you a toilet magnet for the fridge- i will send it to you...

ONE WEEK LEFT!!

2008-08-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

its monday and i only have one week left in taiwan...aaaahh!! i am definitely going to miss it here. for my last week of teaching i am at a very small school called Nanke and i love my students already. mondays are usually total junk for me...i'm sick, i have 24 new pairs of eyes gawking at me and asking me for my msn, did i say i am sick...my throat is killing me! i think it is from the exhaust of the scooters and the constant switch from unbearable heat to cold, cold air conditioners. what am i doing complaining about air conditioning? it is going to be hard to leave after this week because i really love my class. the students are really smart and they work hard. I LOVE TAIWAN!!

things I am still not used to after 3 weeks in Taiwan.

2008-07-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

10. Squatters. i've missed, i've toppled, i've cramped and i've held it until a western toilet can be found.
9. Happy Singing Trucks. these garbage collecting or ice cream selling trucks have just gotta go. they come around right by my window at the most inopportune times.
8. coagulated duck blood. need i say more? (see picture: coagulated duck blood next to tofu)
7. my host dad teaching me how to use a spoon
6. my host dad teaching me how to use an umbrella
5. my host dad teaching me how to say 'thank you' in chinese. (uh... i say it all the time but he still insists on teaching me. i am not as stupid as i look!)
4. my host dad telling me when to take a shower, wake up, and go to the bathroom.
3. walking in the streets when cars and scooters are whizzing by- narrowly taking my feet out from under me.
2. the smell of stinky tofu.
1. no flushing of toilet paper. (every public restroom smells like pee and poo cuz the trash cans are full of crap, literally.)this is my class from this past week. I love these girls!! I teach at Hung Ren High School.

i...em....shingle. YES! YES! i em shingle! ha ha ha!

2008-07-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

i met my new host family and don't get me wrong they are fabulous! they treat me like a queen. they won't let me pay for anything. our first evening together they took me to the most expensive restaurant in Chayi. we had the King of fish which my host dad said is the most expensive fish and world famous. he said it was $10US per square inch. pshaw! he had also been drinking...
so this is the set up...9 couples and little old me. my host mom and dad wanted me to meet ALL their friends. little did i know that all of the men were VERY eager to meet me. we all gathered in two adjacent rooms- all the women in one and the men in the other. there was one person there that could speak semi-decent English who sat by me. it was a good thing because she became my translator when all the men got drunk and hit on me. i kid you not. they all came into the womens dining room beer glasses in hand to drink to my health and tell me that they are single. and all of this right in front of their wives. it was such a fun party. i just sat there and smiled while they all took their turns.

i went home a little unimpressed with everything but believe me- it has been a lot better since. their daughter came back from her trip to japan and i can cruise with her now. she speaks really good english and it is so nice. my host dad still insists on teaching me how to use a spoon and treats me like i am 5. he tells me every five minutes what building they live in and that i can take a shower five times a day if i want. love it.

Taiwanese hospitality

2008-06-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Why am I surprised that people in Taiwan are so nice and accommodating. They treat us like we are celebrities. Yesterday we explored the city that we live in, Tainan. It used to be the capital of Taiwan and has a lot of old temples and historical sites. We inevitably lost our way a few times but luckily we have a girl with us that speaks mandarin and very fluently. She went into a pharmacy to ask directions and got talking with the lady there. After a few minutes of talking with them about where we are from and what we are doing she offered to give us a ride to the night market. Her husband ran outside and pulled his car around to the front to pick us up. All five of us squeezed in and he drove us down. Just some random guy who knew us for 5 minutes! It was incredible. Then when we were finished with wandering around night market we tried to figure out how to get back to the train station when a taxi cab driver told us that public transportation didn’t run that late. He offered to give us a ride there even though he could be ticketed for cramming 5 people in his car. So we squished in his cab and jetted to the station only to find out that the bus we wanted to catch didn’t run that late on Sundays. Li, the girl who is fluent in mandarin talked to a different bus driver who told us that his route ran close to our destination and suggested that we take his bus. So we hopped aboard with faint hearts and tired feet, it was 10:30 by then and we had been walking all day. When we got about 2 kilometers from our home base he let us out but told us that he would finish his route and swing by again to pick us up. So we waited there on the street for about twenty minutes thinking he would just bring his bus back around. No, he came back with his car to pick us up. He was so nice! He finished his shift and then on his own time and own gas picked us up to take us safely home. Wow! People here are incredible.

So we had a pretty adventurous day finding our way around the city wandering on old temple grounds. We had the most delicious shaved ice with mangos, kiwi, guava, bananas….and also a yummy skewer lunch of pork, mushrooms and fishy things. It was super good and so cheap. Night market was the most exciting part of the day. It is like a massive swap meet with crowds and crowds of people pushing and shoving there way around booths that are selling anything from watches to food to t-shirts. I found a sushi booth and got 6 pieces of sushi for $1.80. I can’t even get 2 pieces of sushi for that much in the US!! Everything was so cheap at night markets, we will be going a there a lot. They have them every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. So fun!

We had a pretty adventurous day running around orienting ourselves with the city. So far I love Taiwan because it is so much like my second home of Japan only cheaper.

most incredible thing i have ever seen in my life...

2008-06-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

...was this! no, i didn't find this video on youtube...I TOOK IT MYSELF!

words cannot be found for how amazing it was.............wow!We actually swam with dolphins!! In the wild!! At one time there were at least 50 around us. They swim really close together and there is rarely one swimming solo and the ones that did were the biggest of the group...maybe the males protecting the group. They are such incredible creatures. There was a little baby hiding under the tail of his mother and occasionally he would swim circles around her to test out his acrobatics. It was so adorable. We saw them jump out of the water from below. They have to get a good running start before they jump-its incredible to watch. One of them was showing off big time and jumping 6 feet out of the watter spinning like a crazy person...er...dophin. He was really good at it. I wish I could have gotten it on video. We are definitely going out again...this is one of my favorite pictures. I can't believe I took it! Pure luck- the picture at least. The whole experience was a definite blessing. But it came with a price...we were exhausted after chasing the dolphins around. It was even pointless to do so because we only saw them when they came to us. They were kind enough to grace us with their presence. Dolphins have got to be the most friendly loving creatures in the world!!Those of you coming to my graduation in June next year can count on doing this...maybe more than once. It has to be the most incredible experience. And it is free!! The best things in life are free...blessings from our Heavenly Father. His existence is more real to me now...how could I doubt...we are gonna go again next week. GOD LIVES!!

talla than ka'ala

2008-06-16T21:55:00.001-07:00

This is from the the top of Mount Ka'ala, the highest point on Oahu. This picture really doesn't do it justice though. It was gorgeous up there. We could see the North Shore, West side and all the way to Honolulu from the top. It was pretty amazing.These are the ridges that lead out to Ka'ena point the northwest tip of the island.
Hard to tell in this picture but it is Honolulu in the far distance and Mililani down there in the valley.
It was such a perfect day. This is the view we saw for most of the hike. North Shore. Amazing
Angry Aaron. We had to climb up with the help of ropes for most of the hike. It was pretty intense.
But definitely worth all 11 miles and 2,500 ft elevation gain. I love climbing mountains!

bean blowout beach bbq

2008-05-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

don't ask me why i didn't take picture of this bloggable experience. i know i should have...it was unforgettable.
a group of friends and i went on a little excursion to a west side beach. i had made tinfoil dinners for everyone and also grabbed an oversized can-o-beans that had been sitting in my cupboard for far too long. we found the most perfect beach that was far away from lights and city- the stars were incredible. we made a fire and spread the coals out. I threw my tinfoil dinners on the coals and also the can of beans. I forgot about the beans and watched the dinners- there were ten of them and i wanted to make sure they all got the same amount of heat so we could all eat at the same time. a friend, alan, noticed that the foil was bulging on one of the dinners and mentioned something about it popping. i assured him that i didn't wrap them too tight so as to let air escape.
just then, an explosion! what the heck!!!
we all jumped away from the fire- some of us brushing off the ashes, embers, and... something else. it was wet. it burned. it blistered. and as we grappled for sand to douse our burning flesh we all wondered, "what the deuce was that?"
well....it was beans, of course.
to our utter dismay and perturbation, the can had exploded sending spatters of beans and juice all over us. when we assessed the damages we discovered we all were not as hurt as we could have been. we couldn't find the can anywhere. something hit one of the girls, shenley, and we wondered if it was the can and looked all around where she was sitting, but nothing. finally, as we broadened our search one of the guys found the can at least 20 feet away from the fire. we could only assume that it must have shot up and away in the air, narrowly missing all of us gathered closely around the fire. we were definitely protected...despite my stupidity.
my attempt at genocide via bean-bomb was foiled. dah!
we all walked away with small blisters and bean-sized burns in our clothing. alan had about 5 good-sized holes in his board shorts. i counted my blisters today...10. one of them is a pretty little pink heart-shaped bulge on my pinky finger.
next time, we are gonna hide in the bushes, with goggles and cameras rolling to see exactly what happens to a can under intense heat and pressure. we all missed it the first time. that is the only problem with stories such as these. there is hardly ever proof of the fiasco.

we cooked 'im and ate 'im and had the best dinner ever!

2008-05-20T14:33:00.001-07:00

I invited some friends over and we cooked up the octopus (finally). When I boiled it i was surprised how much it curled up as you can see in the above photo. And it changed color from gray to purple- the water also turned purple. It looked like kool-aid and i had to restrain myself from drinking it.
Here is the Japanese way of making Octopus. It is called takoyaki. It is basically an egg, flour, and water batter with green onion, octopus, and pickled ginger. We add cheese to it for the American palate.
This is the Samoan way of preparing octopus- with coconut milk, onion and octopus just heated on the stove and put over rice. YUM! It was divine! I am hooked!

killa!!

2008-04-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

...dat's what I am. a bona fide killer. we went spearfishing and i killed an octopus...*gasp*

I feel no personal shame or guilt about this. But I must keep it a
secret or I will lose my job on security grounds.
...thank you...
my friends kawika, christy, and hayley were my accomplices.
kawika provided the get-away car as well as the weapons. he was
the one who turned him inside out and kild 'im too. he, also, was
the one who speared him. in fact he did everything. so i didn't
kill nothin, nohow. it was great fun, not to say that i take pleasure
in the brutal demise of innocent creatures but....

you go ahead and make your own judgments. my girl, hayleyfighting back. his grip on the spear actually helped kawika catch him.

christy's initial reaction. shock. it was a big'un.

don't be fooled by the innocent look. this is a face of a killer!

redefining sushi.

tall'n ballin

2008-04-07T00:35:00.001-07:00

this is me before the winter ball. we went to town (honolulu) and had dinner at a sushi restaurant and then boarded the star of honolulu yacht.yeah- i know i am tall and i should not be allowed to wear 3 inch heals but hey- i was still shorter than my date...
who is 6'2" and ended up being my cane by the end of the night because look what i discovered...
I got taken by the lady that sold me these shoes...she had me believe that my right foot is significantly bigger than my left when really it was the shoes that were the problem. The left was a rightful 9 and the right was an 81/2. i can't take them back because i wore them and the label was ripped off. here's hoping that my right foot shrinks...
in the mean time...i am a monster around my japanese friends and most people for that matter. but i still like the shoes.

genki sushi

2008-04-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

We went to this sushi restaurant in Honolulu and it is just like the ones in Japan! I loved it! they put the sushi on little color coated plates that are different prices and send them down the conveyor belt for you to grab. well we got the bright idea to send my digital camera down the belt and passed all the other customers. it was pretty hilarious.

you caught me!!

2008-04-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

going places...

2008-04-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

I am moving to TAIWAN for the summer!! call me crazy- well i am! i applied for this summer english teaching program called world passport on a whim. it was super easy to apply and before i knew it i had an interview and today i found out that they want me to come over and teach with them. they are going to pay for my plane ticket and give me a weekly stipend for food and i will stay with a host family who will feed me and take care of me (*cross my fingers*)- i am sure i will be well taken care of. it will be quite an adventure. i am scared to death!!

engaged!!

2008-04-01T23:34:00.001-07:00

please allow me to introduce you to my fiance. his name is Munkhtur Enkhbold. here we are in a couple of pictures- i will post more later. he is from mongolia and i met him through my good friend mana. he is living in utah now so all of the fam can meet him before the wedding. mom- i will call you later with his phone number. anyway...i am so happy!! he is the sweetest guy!

one...two...three...JUMP!

2008-03-11T02:05:00.001-07:00

the cost of putting yourself out there is....

2008-03-11T01:31:00.000-07:00

rejection.

yeah, i tried it.

I told a guy that i like him and...

he said he wishes he were back on his mission.

i guess that is what i get for going for the young guns.

but what can i do? there are only young fish in the BYUH sea.

maybe i should just snorkel these waters and fish later-look but don't touch.

grandma shimmy with her latest toter

2008-03-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

you can call me grandma but don't call me pregnant...

2008-03-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

today started off good for me which is a rarity. i usually wallow in self-pity and lament the fact that the morning has once again arrived and i must drag my sorry butt out of bed and scurry off to class. but we are not talking about every other day of the week- we are talking about today....
can i just say- someone got their beauty sleep- and it was me. i looked good and i knew it...and my roommates knew it....and mark chiba in the library noticed it....but the guy at the grocery store...didn't.
i was standing in line to buy my temaki sushi roll and hint-of-lime tostitos when a familiar voice behind me starts busting up. it was gideon, a "good friend" of mine (yeah, right).
"Ho, sis, i taut you was a grandma standin' dea wit dat white sweata an da kine."
yeah, that's right. from behind i look like some grandma!
i blame the latest fashion trends. it seems that long flowy shirts that are comfortable and modest (unsexy or pregnant-looking in male vernacular) kindle comments such as these.
i called him a jerk and walked out of the store all the while laughing at the whole ridiculous scene. why should i take offense to an affront given by someone who's wardrobe consists of "dressy" board shorts, casual board shorts, surfing board shorts, t-shirts and slippers.
oh, and i kid you not about the 'dressy' board shorts. most hawaiians think you are going to the opera or something if you are wearing a nice pair of jeans.

happy happy day!!

2008-03-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

today is the 4th day of spring...or so my daddy would say. i talked to him on Sunday and he told me that he went for a walk in the winter wonderland that continues to pervade Utah. He said he saw a few blades of grass- EVIDENCE! -that spring is here just in time for his birthday. green is such a blessed gift after so much white. for your birthday gift i will pray for more green to come your way or for you to come its way (rumor has it, there are plans of mom and dad spending their 40th wedding anniversary here, in Hawaii, with me!!).

Here is a birthday hug for you, daddy! i miss you so much!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday eating turkey, stuffing, and pie!! I can't wait to see you in the fall! i wuv you!

love, baby

pavement pebble pizza

2008-03-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

this is how terrible i am...
I rode my bike up to the bike rack strategically located in front of the pizza hut and locked it and made my way to the post office at the end of Laie shopping center. i dropped my letters into the slot and walked back to my bike. A young lady carrying 6 boxes of pizza walked out from the restaurant and as she walked passed me the redolent smell wafted to my olfactory nerves and struck an undeniable craving. I.... NEED....PIZZA!-my little heart screamed. I impulsively walked into the pizza hut and ordered the biggest pizza they had to offer. The lady told me it would be a 15 minute wait- just enough time to go to foodland and get.....more.....food. My 5 minute trip to drop off outgoing mail was now turning into a full out shopping trip.
And that it did. never - ever go shopping on an empty stomach. in 15 minutes i found myself returning to the pizza hut with 4 bulging plastic bags worth of who knows what- don't ask it was on sale!
the lady brought me my pizza with a smile and asked if their was anything she could get. I asked if she could put the over-sized pizza box in a plastic sack. she pointed to the sacks that they had and said, "oh, we do- but they are not big enough for the new yorker pizza box, sorry."
Oh thats okay, i will just put it on my handle bars with all my other groceries- no problem....yeah.
as i was trying to juggle the groceries and the pizza on my bike the box slipped and i barely caught it with a few fingers. but my grip was on the end opposite from the opening. so a bunch of slices of pizza fell out on the pavement. crap! i looked around to see if any one saw and then quickly put them back in the box and rode off.
as i was riding home i rode past the boys house just across the street from our house and i had a fabulous idea. maybe they would like some pizza. so i invited them over for some. i situated the pizza slices that had fallen on the ground closest to them- but they took other unscathed pieces. dangit.
Alas, another one of the boys came over and he graciously took a piece that had fallen on the ground. i am so glad i didn't have to waste any food. i know i can always count on my male counterparts to eat food that has been tainted. Jessie's mom was right, they are like dogs in so many ways.

beach baby

2008-02-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

who needs to see a real turtle when you can create him in the sand! I guess if you need a girl you could resort to this method as well.
it was a good presidents day....

pretty in pink

2008-02-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

check out what I am gonna make for my little old self tomorrow...

v-day patrol

2008-02-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

I have a few good guy friends who all have either girlfriends or wives. So this whole week in anticipation of today's holiday I have been counseling with them about their gift to their girl. should I give her a teddy bear or chocolate or just or rose or......I am starting to feel like the v-day patrol. It is kinda fun to vicariously get into the excitement of such a silly holiday that has all the men grumbling.
For me? it is just another day, another piece of chocolate. that is the lovin I get these days and it is quite fulfilling I must say. I tell my cohorts that I am having an affair with food these days and it is sustaining my emotional needs. You think I'm joking don't you. Well, I'm not. Lately, I have been having way to much fun trying out new recipes and making up interesting concoctions (one failed miserably-dang artichokes). Last night it was Gyudon (a different kind of teriyaki than I typically make) and I made oreo cheesecake last week-yum! I found a new recipe of cheesecake that I want to try- a Japanese friend of mine gave me a piece that I literally slobbered all over. OH! I eat a little bit of homemade humus almost every single day- that says somethin for my humus making skills(it's pretty darn good)!
So, I would have to say the the relationship is going pretty well thus far. I am just enjoying finding new recipes and trying them out and sharing them with roommates. OOOH! They are going to love my bran muffins!

'This is going to sound terrible'

2008-02-10T17:19:00.001-08:00

I had an amazing date last night.

Yes, thats right. I.....had.....a date!!

His name is Denzil and he is from Fiji. As gorgeous if not more gorgeous than the Denzel. ( look at those eyes!) He is super friendly and very musically talented- we went to an open mic night thing and he and some of the other guys in our group took over the whole thing and showed everyone up with their own renditions of "When you say nothin at all" (Allison Kraus) and "I wanna go home" (Michael Buble). Anyway, he is basically amazing and the sweetest guy ever- I mean I am just thoroughly impressed with this guy.
Except for one thing....

He has a girlfriend.

Yes, that was a period after that last sentence...

He has a girlfriend PERIOD!

Okay, all of you who are thoroughly confused- raise your hand... My hand is in the air too.

So what? I went on a date with a taken man AND I had a good time- whats the big deal?

Okay- I am sorry- I am just having way too much fun with this. I will tell you what happened- that is the name of my blog right? here it goes...

Yesterday morning I went to a beach clean-up service activity. It was really awesome- there were like 300 people there and we really made Malekahana beach look amazing. I ran into some friends and while we were chatting it up after the clean-up one of them turned to me (Denzil) and said, "This is going to sound terrible but... its my friends birthday party tonight and we are all going to dinner and my girlfriend (pause for effect) can't go so I was wondering if you would like to go?"

Uh.....

I honestly didn't know how to respond so I made up some lame excuse and told him to call me later on that day to see if I still had it open. I left the activity and walked the beach deep in thought. Why shouldn't I go? There is no obligation. No second date. A free meal....so I talked myself into it.

And I had a great time. It felt so good to go on a super relaxed date and Denzil really helped me not hate men. There really are some great guys out there- isn't that super funny that I would say that after going out with a guy that already has a girlfriend? go figure.

Ryan & Sayuri

2008-02-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

My co-worker and friend, Ryan was one of the reasons I came back to Hawaii early from Christmas break. He got married in the Laie Temple and I was one of the very few who attended the sealing. Their pictures are posted in the internet now and if you would like to see them just click on Ryan & Sayuri under 'my peeps' on the right hand side of my blog. There are some beautiful pictures of the temple (I went there today- love it!!) and also Laie Point where I had my accident (69 stitches). Anyway, Ryan and I are in a lot of classes together because we are both TESOL majors and he is planning on living in Japan for a good part of his life because his wife is Japanese and he is going to be an english teacher. We will probably meet up in Japan one day! He is a sweet guy- served his mission in LA- Cambodian speaking- his wife served at Temple Square. She is amazing!!

Happily ever after does happen...

hope?

2008-01-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

i know you all think i am great and all but please allow me to burst your bubble.

yesterday, i was handed an opportunity to make a good first impression on a genuinely nice, normal, tall, good-looking guy and what did i do? talk about my repulsive eating habits and bowel movements while he was eating beans and rice at our burrito fest.

let's face reality.

the nice ones are too nice.

the geeks are too smart.

the peter priesthoods have sworn to celibacy.

the completely normal guys have already graduated from single wards.

the jocks are too obsessed with themselves.

the rage machines are... rage machines.

the rm's are only interested in talking about their mission adventures.

and the girls who act too much like themselves scare everyone away...

if they are me, that is.

hopeless

call me cursed

2008-01-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

i think me and the girls are cursed here in the potluck house, laie, hi. tonight kat and kiki my house mate and roommate, respectively, went out to a movie tonight and another dog appeared on the scene. i must disclose more details to complete the story.
recently, kat made an internet friend. yes, red flags already. he is a byuh alumni and seemed normal until he sent her a random package with- would you have guessed?- socks in it. she just brushed that off as weird but then few weeks later he left a note for her at her workplace saying 'to kat from john'. he then showed up to formally meet her for the first time, mind you, he lives on the mainland- in utah somewhere- so he flew out to hawaii for whatever reason- to stalk my kat, apparently. so he asked her to go to an mxpx concert with him that night and she didn't feel good about it and nicely turned the offer down. he pushed it a little but let her off with 'okay, i will take you to dinner tomorrow then.' when tomorrow rolls around (today) she still didn't feel good about it and told him she was just going to go to a movie with her roommate. that was a big mistake because he showed up at the movie and sat by her. during the movie he tried to make his move. she didn't know what to do so she just sat there stiff. after the movie he tried to give them a ride home but they turned him down, insisting that they could walk home. he pushed the matter but when they started to walk away he got all angry and slammed the door and drove off. as they were walking they noticed that he had circled the parking lot. they were both so nervous and scared about the whole thing that they didn't come straight home for fear that he would follow them and therefore find out where we live.

WHAT IS IT WITH THESE CREEPY, FANATICAL PIGS!

chalklet

2008-01-23T00:52:00.000-08:00

ingredients for a chocoholic:
1 almond snickers bar
1 piece of Romanian chocolate
2 chocolate creme puffs
chocolate ice cream cone
5 thin mints (girl scout cookies)
1 chocolate cookie with chocolate icing
1 twix

You all think I am kidding when I say I consumed all of the above in just one day. Someone should shoot me between the eyes....or send me more thin mints (when does girl scout cookie season begin?)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade

2008-01-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

I actually celebrated this holiday with a big bright smile on my face and a miss america wave. Yes, I marched in a parade. No, I am not black. But I AM a promoter of peace and that was the only qualification to march in the parade. We walked about 7 miles from Ala Moana Beach Park to Kapiolani Beach Park near Waikiki. It was a beautiful day and everyone was so nice to us- we even met the district representative of our area (Laie). She specifically sought us out and kissed us all on the cheek and took a picture. My cheeks were sore from smiling and my legs are cramped up from all the walking. It was a great way to honor the infamous promoter of peace, Martin Luther King Jr.

I am resolute

2008-01-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

yes, i made a few new year's resolutions and it is going pretty good so far. i have only verbalized my thoughts so i thought i would make them a little more concrete by posting them on the internet. now you can bug me about keeping up on them throughout the whole year. i am determined to get at least to febuary with most of them:

Number One

memorize a verse of scripture every week. i have passed off two already to kat and i just need to do this weeks today. i do this every sunday- so far there have been three sundays- i should have over 50 by the end of the year.

Number Two

learn new recipes and even invent some of my own. this is where i get totally awesome!! thanks to mom and her gift of the magic bullet i am in press-no stress cooking heaven!! i have learned to make pesto, fetticini alfredo and humus. just the other day i experimented a little and made shrimp chowder. it was good but i thought i could have done better. my roommate liked it. tonight i made ebi mayo o-nigiri. japanese-food enthusiasts would appreciate that one!

and Number Three

eat less chocolate.

Speech Lab

2008-01-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

i started up work again at the speech lab this week and yesterday confirmed the reason why i sit in that office waiting for no one to come in day in and day out. a horde of students poured in yesterday and through them i got to travel to vietnam, taiwan, kiribati, china, and japan. i often forget how awesome it is to associate with students from all over the world. when jordan came to visit he reminded me of that- my ward is full of diversity. malaysia, austria, mexico, japan, australia, new zealand, hong kong, figi, tonga are just a few of the places that the faces are from in my ward alone. the student body at BYUH represents 70 different countries all over the world and for my job- i get to talk to them one-on-one.

Soap Opera

2008-01-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

Okay... I think things have died down enough for me to post this eagerly awaited story for all my peeps who are curious. This is a story that will be told for years to come...

dec 10
christmas love and cheer was in the air when wooden-u-like-to-know (my ex) surprises us with an early christmas gift. Because he frequented our apartment in those days he felt obligated to offer a gift for all of us living in the house. he presented a very large christmas bag (i have to admit i liked the bag better than the gift) and we opened it together.

drum role......

dora the explorer bathtime fun soap paints. (hmm, nice)

we all thanked him while thoughts of re-gifting entered our minds. what the heck are grown women going to do with bath soap paints...

new years day 2008
i received an unexpected email from wooden-you-like-to-know informing me of his 'spiritual journey' and discovery of the fact that he does not love me and never did, at that. he explained that while we seemed perfectly compatible and our relationship was very strong and healthy he only loved me in his head and not in his heart. apparently he had felt this way for who knows how long and was putting off telling me until the time seemed right- maybe after we got engaged- that would have been a good time too. he ended the email with a compliment, that i am perfect- just not for him, and counciled me to have faith that i will someday find 'the one'.

midnight
i called him and of course he didn't answer his phone so i left a message: "will you please call me back- we should talk about this. you owe me an explanation- i don't understand what is going on and if you have the tiniest bit of decency you'll call me back and explain yourself."
nothing. i called again. and again. and again. finally there was no dial-tone and it went straight to his voicemail signifying that he turned his phone off.

the next morning
after enduring a sleepless night of anguished sobs and sorrow, and trying to gain rational thought about the whole thing i sat down to reply to his email. as soon as my fingertips hit the keys, venomous words erupted on the monitor screen. two pages later i clicked send and went about my day of quiet pondering and lethargy.

late that night
i returned home from a long day of- despite the feelings of rejection- fun with my brother in waipio valley on the big island. needless to say it was a great place to spend such a hard emotional day. i sat down to check my email and sure enough out of the courtesy of his good heart, wooden-you-like-to-know had sent me another email this time explaining in more concrete terms why we would not be able to work out our relationship. yes, you guessed it, he met a girl. fell in love. and he is positive without a doubt that this girl is the one.

ouch.

i suppose it should make me feel good to know that i was the girl who helped him know what he ...didn't...want.

2 a.m. sat, jan 12
while all were a-snooze and tucked warm in their beds the girls and I were wrapping up our man-hater party and preparing for some fun. what kind of fun you ask?

bathtime fun.

bathtime-soap-paint-on-his-CAR fun.

a driver, a photographer, an accomplice and i drove to the north shore to the spot of the crime scene and wrote some nice messages with white bar soap and then splatter painted with red, blue, yellow, and green. the deed took about 10 minutes. oh, i almost forgot the best part- we left a sweater i had in my possession wrapped up in the dora the explorer soap paint packaging with a note written on it that read: dear ____ , thank you so much of the dora the explorer bathtime fun soap paints!! it is the best christmas gift a girl like me could ever hope for! YAY!

11:00 a.m. sat, jan 12

knock. knock. knock.

"HELLO! ANYONE HOME!!"

i froze. i was sitting on my bed surfing the net while my roommate, the only other person in the house, resumed her position on the pot out of fear for the angry voice we cooperatively evaded. he called out again. for 10 seconds i quietly endured the sound of his gait circling the house and my own heart pounding. i summoned enough courage to peek out the window through the curtains only to see him still out in front of the house talking to his brother and circling his shiny, newly rinsed car.

11:05 a.m.
'another phone ring, another booblay sings...in paris or rome, i wanna go home'.
i let it ring.
'pin-pon', a voicemail.
i dialed my voicemail. a raging voice i have never heard before says, "OKAY, YOU NEED TO CALL ME BACK RIGHT NOW OR IT IS GOING TO GET REALLY UGLY WITH THE COPS!!"
no way, dude. i would rather talk to a friendly officer of the law than a raging maniac.

11:10
my roommate kat was inconspicuously walking toward the library when a sparkling clean car almost ran here over and called to her to get in the car. hesitating, but without protest, she jumped in the car.
"WHERE IS AMY! GET HER ON THE PHONE RIGHT NOW! I'M GONNA CALL THE COPS!! I KNOW YOU WERE IN ON THIS! WHERE IS SHE! CALL HER!"
"dude, chill out. i don't have my phone on me right now."
"I KNOW SHE PUT YOU AND JESSE UP TO THIS!"
"no, actually it was my idea."
as he proceeded to unleash his rage on the undeserving kat his brother sat out of view trying to hold back a chuckle at the whole ridiculous scene. somehow kat got away with the last words from wooden-you-like-to-know being "I'M CALLING THE COPS!"

11:20 a.m.
without knowing what transpired between him and kat (remember she didn't have her phone on her) i sat in my room with my roommate questioning me about what was going on. she just moved in so i apologized for dragging her into this. we locked our door and i asked her to continue checking out the window in case his car pulled up again.
it did.
we both froze.
with hearts racing we hid near the windows out of sight.
he called into the house again and as he stomped around the house and near our window i reached for my phone to turn off the ringtone. close one. but he didn't call me.

11:45 a.m.
by now my roommate and i are thoroughly freaked out and just praying his rage and determination doesn't find me wishing i hadn't been so stupid to test it in the first place.
we hear a car pulling into the driveway. i made her peek out and she confirmed that it was a cop car. a huge sigh of relief swept over me and i unlocked the door and went out into the living room. he took his sweet time but finally came to the door. i opened it before he had a chance to knock.
"come in officer."
"are you expecting me?" he asked, surprised.
"yes, did [wooden-you-like-to-know] contact you?"
"yes, are you [shimmybaby]?"
(sorry, to protect my identity, i must conceal even my own name)
"yes would you like to come in?"
he looked at me conspicuously and then said he needed to go and get some papers and police report forms and for me to get out my ID.
he read me my rights before i told him what had happened and calmly filled out a police report. during the interview he got a report from another officer that confirmed that no damage had been done to the car except a dent on the front bumper that wooden-you-know had claimed was not there the previous day. so the nice officer asked me if i had kicked the car or hit it with something in which i confidently denied. i promised him that my intentions were not to do any property damage and the whole thing was just a prank. childish though it may be, it was all done in retaliation to his neglectful rejection.
he chuckled, stopped himself and then berrated me with "this is not right- you should not have done what you did... but it is really funny."
amen.
we had a good talk and he advised me on get a restraining order if i felt there was need. after assuring me that the case would not go anywhere unless there were any proof that i had made the dent in the bumper, he asked if i had any more questions. i did.
"do you mind taking a picture with me?"
he gave me a sideways look and laughed, "you're kidding."
"for scrapbook purposes," i made an excuse.
he kindly posed for a picture and said his goodbyes. dang i wish i would have got his number because i knew i would never see him again.

BUT THE STORY DID NOT END THERE.....

6:30 p.m.
while the roomies and i were cleaning the kitchen and living room (we had cleaning inspections that day) two men walked up to the door and knocked. i looked over from the open refrigerator door and as my heart started to race i rolled my eyes back to my rag and cleaning up of the gunk caked on the interior of the freezer. a voice i couldn't face exclaimed, "ALRIGHT, WE NEED TO TALK!"
all i could think to say was, "as you can see i am a little busy right now."
but that didn't stop him from tearing into me. and get this, as he is yelling at me- he has the gall to say he wants to get a restraining order on ME. who needs the restraining order? geez!
after he accused me of kicking his car and losing my mind he left with the classic line, "I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"
my rebuttal: "i feel the same way asshole!"

I only wish closure could be as sweet for all the rest of the women in the world. MEN ARE PIGS!

Shimmy's gonna talk to the nice officer...

2008-01-12T14:20:00.001-08:00

This nice gentleman came by today and we had a good chat. He laughed at my story and now I have closure. It feels so good to be gratified like this. Super cute, huh??

Dear Ryan,

2008-01-12T09:58:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much for the Dora the Explorer Bathtime fun paints! It's the best gift a girl like me could ever hope for!! YAY!!Dr. Evil and I had the time of our lives! We had so much fun we emptied all the bottles just 15 minutes after opening them. Soap painting has never been this fun! Yay!!

heaven

2008-01-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

yes, we made it to heaven...and back. it was quite a trip...through mud, dogs, bamboo, fences, fallen trees.....such is life.

Life goes on...

2008-01-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a crazy, crazy day. It was the first day of classes and the last day of Jordy's trip. He was here visiting for 13 days- I am sure it will seem like a dream for him because he returned to snowy, cold Utah. His last days here were so hot and sunny. It was so nice to have him come- but good for him to leave. No offense Jordy, but you wore me out!! We crammed all of what took me nearly a year of living in Hawaii into a short two weeks. WOW, I tell you what, wow!
I haven't been able to write about all of our adventures but I will try to write more as stories pop in my head. For now my head is cluttered with questions about what's next. I am glad I am going to have a really fun semester- I am excited about all of my classes (I better hold my tongue - I still have one I haven't been to yet). I am taking Tesol and Linguistics classes and Japanese Lit.
I just want to thank you all for your emails and love- I am really feeling it even across the miles. It is going to take sometime to get over what happened. A bishop once told me that it is like grieving the death of someone- when you share so much of your life with a person and you love them and then lose them you have to give yourself time to recover.
The girls and I are also going to have a drinking party this weekend. We are going to get IBC sodas and for every swig we are going to say something we dislike about men in general or specific guys and we are going to play angry girl music and when everyone is asleep we are going to have bathtime fun.... (more about that later)

Big Island Adventure

2008-01-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Wow!!!! What a trip!

I hate men...

2008-01-06T01:51:00.001-08:00

get this. i got dumped. turns out my boyfriend 'fell in love' with someone over the christmas break. she is apparently the woman of his dreams and they are going to live happily ever after.
wow.
i guess someone forgot about me. thank goodness he had the courtesy to tell me via email. what a cowardly putz. all men are pigs.
if you would like to dispute that arguement...be my guest...
that's what i thought.

i want some manoa!

2007-12-31T09:31:00.000-08:00

I made it back to my hawaii home and a little puppy dog by the name of jordybug followed me. so i took him to see the turtles...

and the albatros... and we traversed the rainforest to take a peek at this beauty...

but all the puppy dog could do to thank me was say, "i want some manoa, i want some manoa, i want some manoa!!"

so i guess i gotta give him more...

snow pants made for two

2007-12-24T18:25:00.000-08:00

starhead and sweetbottom

2007-12-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

Almost all of us: Dave, Sarah, Laura, Jordan (sweetbottom), Mom, Amy, Marylu, Dad, and Anne.
It was great to go to the temple as a family- it felt like heaven!!

sweet jumps

2007-12-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

this used to be my playground....

we call it the 'new park' because when we were growing up they built a bigger and better park on the edge of town so the park we usually went to received the name 'the old park' and only the old school kids went to play there. the new park had sand courts and a big hill and.....it was a mile away from home. it was still fun to go there and roll down the hill in the summers and sled down it in winters. takes me back....

gingerbread house front porch

2007-12-21T16:04:00.000-08:00

I helped Ashtyn and Chayse create a gingerbread house yesterday and Ashtyn had a novel idea that in all my years of making gingerbread houses, I had never thought of...

I was the designated icing lady, methodically doing my job of applying the icing in the appropriate places when I noticed the door was placed in the center, high off the ground on the front face of the house. I instinctively moved it down to the bottom and center of the graham cracker- in it's traditional place. Ashtyn calmly protested by handing me the 'steps'. I admit at first I did not understand but shortly realized that she wanted me to make a front porch for our gingerbread house. cleva, cleva.

call me 'shawty'

2007-12-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

They might be giants. This is the recently engaged, Shellie and Brian. The will be tying the knot around March 14th and honeymooning to, you guessed it, my hometown of Hawaii. I am planning to bunk them up on my couch, although now I think of it- my couch isn't 6 feet 9 inches long! Brian, you'd better find alternate lodging. sorry, dude.

Left to right: Ben (this is the guy all my friends seemed to have a serious problem with- he clashed with Casey, Faith and Patrick- don't worry guys you'll probably never be forced to bear his presence again.), Yuri, Justin, Emily, Casey, Faith, Doug, Gina, Me, Brynley, and Nate. The next picture is Casey, doing us all a favor, trying to strangle Ben
I can't remember what we were laughing about here but I'm sure it was good. Casey was giving me a hard time every time I said anything tinged with connotations to Hawaii- sombody's bitter- but she cuddled up to me in an expression of forgiveness and acceptance. I practically forced Patrick to my party and into this picture. It has been ages since we cruised together. (oh, they all gave me crap about that expression too. To cruise: def. to go or move along in an unhurried or unconcerned fashion. If you were up with the times you would know that cruise has replaced chill.