happy happy day!!

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

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

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

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

v-day patrol

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'

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

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...