Birthday Balloons frm the Valentine's Intern

This is me, after rushing to drop off my Nursery projects at President's apartment, Mahie at my Parent's, my husband at work...and then sprinting back to my house and slamming face first into my LOCKED FRONT DOOR. thank you james for letting my stress explode! no key, no husband, just an out of breath pissed off wife walking back to the housing office to ask for a spare. i guess i needed that KA-TOOSH because the entire day i was trying to do one thing after another. 

I jumped out of bed, thought it would be sweet to surprise Crystal (James' sister-in-law) with some Happy Birthday Balloons & doughnuts. I get back and see the birthday girl wondering around the TVA parking lot, and was confused (there went the surprise)....anyways it was White Glove Saturday, and for some reason our RA showed up SUPER early, like 8am early when she usually pops in around 10am. Everyone was scrambling to make our house look presentable, she later returned and we passed! Without even bringing the comet out to scrub!

Next on the list: the Copy Center in the library. I had signs to make for our Nursery door, they look awesome by the way...and another Nursery Leader even wanted to borrow them, NOPE GET YOUR OWN!

And then now back to the round of drop-offs and 20 minutes to figure out my bad hair day and oily complexion. It was PCC's Valentine's Day dinner & concert special, and I was assigned to host the two groups performing that night: Natalie Ai Kamauu and her VERY talented 'Ohana....and Kapena. 

I got a lot of compliments on my dress....thank you to my Mother-in-Law who got me TWO while in Samoa for Christmas break. It's one of a kind & custom made, SORRY Ladies! My Mother-in-Law got taste!!

It was awesome listening to the Kamauu's warm up and basically have their own family jam sesh in the green room. The one thing I noticed was the immense love and closeness Natalie and her husband shared. They'd sing and laugh, you could just tell how much they were in love by the way they looked at eachother. Ok, so maybe it made me want to be home with my husband, but they really filled the room with their wonderful spirit and talent. 

I sat their in the green room listening to her sing a favorite mele of mine, "Ke Aloha", and felt so proud to be Hawaiian and also LDS. I've always loved Hawaiian music, thanks to my Dad. I also saw that it was sweet that her daughter started to practice her hula number, that her parents had just told her she was going to do, haha. Been there girl! Also, how wonderful to know that we have very talented LDS members in our Hawaiian Community. Natalie shared with me that one of the reasons why they had been running late, was because she was preparing her primary lesson for the next morning about the fall of Adam and Eve. She's not only gorgeous and sweet, but hilarious and REAL. I felt like I was talking story with one of my bubbly Auntie's and not even working at all. Her kids were also funny, and kept calling her Rihanna since she recently dyed her hair a shade of red. Lol, she was soo excited to see the promotional banner with her face on it and even more excited when PCC let her have it.

I also was able to meet Kapena, crazy when you match the voice to the face and personality. Tonu, the other intern was so happy to get a picture with him. I had to leave shortly after escorting Natalie and her husband to the stage, thanked them for this opportunity to meet them first hand, complimented Natalie's heels and accessories (glammed out! even her nails had jewels) said my aloha...and off to my baby & hubby I ran so that we could drive out to town.

The return to CHEESE CAKE FACTORY for Crystal's Birthday! Love my sister-in-law she's been so much fun these past few weeks! Especially tag-teaming to punk James into driving us EVERYWHERE. If you think I was a shopaholic, think again, Crystal beats me any day, and she got style! We love you Criss!!!

Safe House: and a Target rush for Nursery's Sake!

After my 7:30a.m. Samoan test, we headed off to Target in Halawa. Love Target. We bought some shoesies for Mahie's toesies. They have a better selection than Walmart. I was able to pick up a bunch of supplies that our Nursery was missing, which included: EVERYTHING! I'm enjoying my calling very much. Can't wait for Sunday, since it'll be my rotation from the Primary Presidency to be there with the Nursery leaders. Snacks, crayons, hand sanitizer, colored construction paper.....purchased with love.

It was then time for Denzel! Safe House is a total must see! I'm glad we got to do something that suited the interests of my husband, considering he has been surrounded by girls & shopping for the past two weeks. All Mahie wants to do in the theater is either stand and clap her hands, or crawl! So glad that the a.c. and darkness eventually knocks her out.

Busy day tomorrow!
xo

Japan Nom! Nom!

Loooooooong sleep-in = Recovery Thursday. When we all finally escaped our drowsy state, I went to work & everyone else mingled around doing their own thing. And while at work in my little cubicle of non-stop phone calls and mouse clicking....appeared tiny little boxes, and boxes of sweetly wrapped chocolates from Japan. I didn't want to ruin the packaging! Some of the bosses in Marketing when on a business trip and brought us back tons of goodies. Just what I needed! A sugar rush to boost my mood, energy and extreme love for chocolate. My favorite were the chocolate covered almonds.

And then I came home to be with my Mahie. Who, by the way, is standing all by herself....and she doesn't know what to do with it, haha. She is becoming a wild one. I love that when she hears a beat, she sits up and starts to rock back and forth on her bottom. It's soooo funny & cute...her head bounces along too, I need to record her sometime. 

Mommy's home, on Thursdays we're out laying on the soft cool grass, kicking our legs into the twirling breeze and pointing up to the fluffy clouds above.

The Vow: Our 1st Premiere Going Experience

So tonight I got to hug Channing Tatum, snap a few pics and he told me he was glad that I came to his premiere! lol, I WISH! Anyways, he's still ranked lower than Johnny Depp & Paul Walker....AND OF COURSE my husband! So it was ok that I got just a poster souvenir of him, haha.  (that an old lady handed me) I facebook-ed that my coolest boss ever, Larie, gave me a voucher to redeem two free tickets to The Vow premiere. She had mentioned that I needed to go early since the tickets were first come, first serve, and that they may pass out more vouchers. I invited my sister-in-law Crystal and we got there around 3:30pm (7:30pm showing) in hope of finding another voucher for Missy (Crystal's friend). There was no one, no line, even the movie workers hardly knew anything about the premiere....we were like, is this movie even good? lol. We decided to kill time at Alamoana: Victoria's Secret & Sephora. We returned back at 5:00 and there was a line! They had four sectioned off, and we were able to make it into the middle of the second line. 

We learned that no additional vouchers were to be handed out, and that you could only be invited to come (not able to buy a ticket at the window). So as we decided to just pack up and leave, I guess all the old ladies surrounding us heard our sad story and BOOM! 5 hands extended towards us offering free vouchers. These older women, were not only the majority of the movie goers or first ones in line....but called themselves Premier Regulars. They are always sent premiere vouchers to different movies, and so they print the voucher, take it to kinko's and make about 50 copies for all their friends & family lol. No seriously, one lady unzipped her bag and showed us her stash. They broke it down to us about when they come (4-ish), what they pack (camping chairs, cards, blanket), and what to eat/sneek in. I asked, "Don't they do bag checks?" And one Grandma was like , "They TRY take my Panda's from me, this is my lunch tomorrow!" They know their stuff, and told us what to expect tonight....and now that I think about it, everything they said DID happen. An hour before the showing, the movie staff came out and started collecting vouchers/handing out tickets. The tickets ran out by the beginning of the 3rd line, we were so lucky. So many people, especially girls, were bummed out. I called Kiana to join us, since we had an extra ticket and she made it right when we were walking in. We got in line at 4, they handed out tickets at 6, and let us in at 7pm.

It was pretty cool since they had a radio vj inside giving away prizes, and they had some cute little gifts in the cup holders. We brought some Panda's in, and the lady was right, they didn't do any bag searches. However, they did freak us out on how serious they were about NO RECORDING. Everyone had to turn off their cell phones, and if we even brought them out to check a text message or whatever, we'd get kicked out. No lie, they had security men in suits walking around with nigh tvision goggles, it was pretty crazy lol. So the movie review? I give it a 4 out of 5. Everything was perfect, even Channing's acting skills....until the ending just blacked out, eh. You already know it's a happy ending, BUT STILL! Anyways, I never knew it was based on a true story. Very sad & cute. Now you know to never make out in your car....AT A RED LIGHT, WITH NO SEAT BELT ON! 1) if you're single CURFEW or 2) If you're married, save it for your bedroom!!

We went to Dave&Buster's after to unwind, but more for dessert. It was seriously a true chick flick night. Plus it was fun to hang out with my Husband's sister and my brother's girlfriend....they are hilarious! Will I ever go to another early premiere? Maybe not, lol, I hate lines....

Kiana's Mom!

We had Sunday dinner up on the grand hills of BEAUTIFUL Kalihi, haha, or more like a perfect place to look out from at all the beautiful lights at night. Tonight wasn't much, as it was a simply family get together....but we all finally were able to meet Kiana's Mom (Kaulu Amaral) visiting from Kona. Now I can see where Kiana gets her sweet spirit, gorgeous looks and style from. I was also very excited to meet her Mom ever since I found out that she was the model in one of my FAVORITE paintings by Herb Kane:

I've LOVED this photo since I was a little girl and it describes all of my passion and love for hula. Graceful hands, a REAL smile, love for your culture, long wavy hair, fragrant haku and maile lei, very classy....and that GORGEOUS holoku & train!!!

Kiana's Mom is VERY well-known in the hula community, travels everywhere & is always asked to perform for important events, like they fly her in that's how beautiful a dancer she is!

Here she's showing us one of her recent photo shoots for a magazine in Japan. She's very easy to talk to and be around.....she's one of those local people I like being around because they remind me (just by their aloha and demeanor) how proud I am to be Hawaiian. 

And it's funny that her granddaughter is named "Mahie" too. Now Ike & Kiana hurry up & get married so you can have two nieces named Mahie :)

Karate Kick!

Pooh Party

After a looooong sleep in for all the girl's in the house, we got ready just in time to attend Malachi's 1st Birthday Party. Falon did such a good job decorating EVERYTHING with a Winnie the Pooh theme.

The food was soo good too. People were making plates to take home and still there was a lot leftover. It's funny how most of the people I attend class with, friends I catch up with (like at the birthday)...are either Samoan or connected to Samoa in some way, lol. What happened to my Hawaiians? I need to get back in touch with some Wahine's and Kane's soon. I've even had a few older Samoan women ask me if I'm Samoan-Chinese (Oh no, no). However, I am proud that I'm able to understand certain phrases/words in a Samoan conversation...not that I'm eaves dropping, just practicing :) Anyways, cute party. I think Mahie really wanted to get into those inflatable jumpers.

After a long nap, guess who was calling me out of slumber land??? MR. BIKE PATH (lol, sounds kinda creepy) I only stopped twice! That's a huge improvement for me. Slowly I'm relearning a constant pace that I (and my lungs) feel comfortable with. I left at 6pm and got back to my parent's house to walk Mahie home in her stroller by 6:45pm, a HUGE time difference than the last time I ran the path for my jogging class. I've also noticed that listening to music really helps me to not stop. It takes my mind off of ME DYING, lol........i hate running when i just start to head out, but then i get so happy once i finish and am glad i got over my laziness. The only time I'm ever proud of being sweaty. My favorite part of a run: the home stretch...you're dying the most, but your pace increases because your finish line is RIGHT THERE!

....and then you get home feeling all healthy and a little closer to a Victoria's Secret body.....and your husband says he wants to order Papa Ole's for dinner.....and you say, OK!!! lol, another date with Mr. Bike Path!

Oh, FishEye Friday!

Friday felt like boom, boom, boom, BOOM! one thing after another, after another! My sister-in-law Crystal and her best friend Missy flew in from Australia for holiday. We stayed up pretty late talking story the night before, and of course, I woke up 5 minutes before my 7:30a.m. Samoan class. Good thing its just a one-minute sprint down the sidewalk to the School of Ed. building. Then during class my boss calls and I end up one-minute sprinting back to my TVA apartment to change and rush to work. I was pretty impressed with my "grab-whatevers-close-to-me-and-hopefully-it-looks-professional" outfit. That friday morning we had three schools scheduled for our Polynesian Explorer Junior Guide Program, that allows schools to come in early before PCC opens and go to the village presentations. I was sort of nervous (and half awake) since it was my first time by myself overseeing that the schools came on time, etc. Thankfully it went well and I got to meet some of the teachers I had been in contact with over the phone and by email. I recently downloaded a fish-eye app, so as I walked around watching the children enjoying their activities, I snapped a couple memories:

When I got home, Crystal heard there was a surf competition at Pipeline. Our afternoon was free, so we  packed up Mahie & forced James to be our driver. We stopped at Ted's to order some grinds. And just a side note, it's so annoying when people think you're a tourist JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T dress like a beach bum! Just because your hat says Billabong, your tank RVCA, and your watch Nixon and sand on your barefeet....ugh, don't mean I, "THEE Local & HAAAAWAIIAN" gotta look like you! So get the hell out of the way and go shower! :) Bytheway, I say "hell" a lot because I married a Kiwi and its normal to say HELL, HELL, HELL in New Zealand. Anyways, Ted's you still make the best pies...so we drove over and Auweh! No more surf contest, lol. I was like, hello the person that said there was a competition doesn't even go beach! why did we listen to her! lol. Well we did enjoy 'Ehukai. I forgot how beautiful it was since I never make an effort to come out this way. Mahie loved crawling in the sand, and the lifeguards allowed us to climb on top of all their rescue stuff to take silly pictures. James just sat in the shade & played bejeweled lol.

....we didn't even go swimming, but we all knocked out for a couple of hours after. Poor James went straight to work (love you!) and the rest of us girls got our beauty nap on. However, it was just what we needed to regenerate our energy for our Ladies Night! I'm so blessed to be in a marriage where my Husband lets me enjoy nights out with friends. But I think he felt a little MORE comfortable since his own sister was with me, haha, AND I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT :) Off to Waikiki we left, just a bunch of us planning some fun: 1st stop Cheesecake, where we each devoured what our hearts desired and promised to go running the next day, lol. It was so fun talking & laughing. I love all of my Sister-in-Laws, especially Crystal since she was the first I met when James and I dated, and she's closer to my age and we therefore share/know of the same friends. We then walked around shops down the strip, stopped at the ATM and then hit up The Shack, as an early birthday night out for Crys. Too bad there were no bands playing that night. Yes, this Mommy went out and boogied!(Do I smell HATERS?) We had fun! I think Crys broke a few drunken hearts that night, haha, especially with her gorgeous hair-do and outfit. 

I came home, snuggled next to my husband and fell asleep(full face of makeup) telling him what we ended up doing in Waikiki. No one can understand the relationship James and I share, I love him! What an eventful UNPLANNED Friday.

tonights ramble

Woohoo! for the past three weeks I've been running early in the morning Monday, Wednesday, Friday! This week....I can proudly, YES IM VERY PROUD, that I've gone everyday! I've been totally out of shape since I gave birth. I would exercise here & there...but not really since the weight was just falling off by itself. But then it finally stopped...and I realized it was all me & the gym now. However I had no desire to work out. UNTIL I came back from Christmas break and decided I wanted to get my body in shape before having OR EVEN THINKING about baby#2. 

At the end of my pregnancy with Mahie, my sugar levels went out of control and I developed a case of Gestational Diabetes. It was an emotional roller coaster at first, but the Kapiolani Nutritionist would say that it wasn't my fault at all, but that the baby was causing the GD, and I had the choice to be in control of it, or let it control me. So I embraced the condition that I thought was a plague, and realized what a blessing it was! I learned REAL nutrition, the importance of what foods break down into sugars, how our society eats sooooo unhealthy, how certain places you think are "healthy" are NOT, that we should eat not only 3 meals a day but also two snacks in between to keep sugar levels regulated, that greens should be the most on a plate, then meat, then little or no starches at all. I became a pro at portion sizes. I became aware that you NEED to exercise or be physically active at least 20minutes everyday....that if a person's sugar levels were high, a walk down the road and back brought things back to normal. I saw food differently, I respected my body more and I cared for the health of my husband and my parents.

After I had Mahie, I threw all that knowledge out Castle hospital's window & sent James to get me some ribs from Ruby Tuesday.....but I'm back in the Portions & Carbs & Exercise Game. And it's been going good, I concentrate more at work, I allow myself a little sugar treat here & there...because hey, we still need to enjoy life, and I've slowly been picking up my pace/distance while I run. It's still hard, but my endurance is getting better. I went from stopping all the time & cursing under my breath (yes i did) to surprising myself that I ran without stopping and smiling at strangers on the road with me. LOL. I want my strength back that I had before pregnancy. And I know it will slowly come back. I'm proud of myself for now even though I still finish a little later than half of my jogging class. (I think, only if they met me in high school, I'd run circles around them! lol) I also love that I have influenced James to get back into running. I run in the early morning WHEN ITS DARK, and he takes the nights WHEN ITS DARK! lol. 

I don't starve myself, that would never be a possibility for me. I LOVE FOOD Anorexic & bulimic people out there, YOU'RE FRICKIN STUPID! I've always been an eater, ever since my parents said, "You can't leave the table until you finish everything on your plate". Now it's curving my appetite around healthier choices! & yes, I still eat chocolate when it's offered...like tonight when my Sister-in-law flew in from Australia and had a bag of chocolate flakes...mmMmmm!

So tonight, felt good! I was running alongside my handsome husband, and then I went straight to the Tahitian Club Practice for Culture Night. My legs are pretty much on fire, especially the arches on my feet....but it was fun. I miss dancing. I think James may be joining the Samoan Club, I hope he does! Well, James & I never made goals this year....but things will pop up and we'll say, "Let's do this...." and we've been accomplishing more things this way than past years with lists of goals. We know what we need to do, we don't need a scribbled paper to accomplish them, or a blog post to announce them....but ourselves helping , reminding, and encouraging the other. It's just kept between US and its more meaningful that way. We've always been like this....displaying only a little but keeping A LOT just to US. Well...WE SUCK AT RUNNING, but we're doing it...BEEN doing it! I love my husband and that's a perfect thing to end with :)

Time to kaele!