Week Not Weak

I apologize for the lack of blogging lately. I have no excuse. I think I don't blog, because (as I most likely have mentioned before) I feel like it needs to be about something exciting! Although, if I really thought about it, I'm sure I could report about something exciting everyday.

This week has been pretty good. Not anything out of the ordinary, but nonetheless, a good week. Wait a minute! I need to blog about this last weekend! DUH!!!

Friday I was working at CPK, but not until 1130am. I got a call from Kapono asking me why I wasn't working. He meant at the DC. I told him where I was going to be working that day, and he said that they were at the center picking up some things they needed. Well, Uncle Doug and Aunty Mele got in earlier that week so I really wanted to see them. I suggested to Kapono that they should have lunch and CPK. :)

About an hour into my shift, I saw a super tall guy and a familiar girl walking in through out revolving door. I did a double-take and realized that is was Nick and Kuulei! I practically ran over, well I basically skipped over, and went to hug them. Then Rouie, Kapono, Aunty Mele, and Uncle Doug came in. It was such a nice little reunion! I hadn't seen Uncle and Aunty since before my mission... about seven years! Longer story short, they had lunch in my section and then we made plans for the next day.

Saturday was Kuulei and Nick's sealing in the Draper temple. It was so beautiful! Nick's family was there and then Kuulei's family and friends. It was the only sealing that I cried in. I haven't been to THAT many, but I've been to a handful and they were for really good friends, but this

one was for my "sister." As I sat there listening to the sealer, and looking at the happy couple, I thought of Kuulei as my sister and how wonderful it will be to see her in the eternities. I longed for it to be my actual sister, Nani, but one day. :)

We all headed over to Price after the sealing and a luncheon at the Harker's. The next day would be Alice's (Kapono's baby girl) blessing. I drove over w/ Emily and Pohai.

Sunday was so fun! We went to church and Alice was blessed. I love going to family wards. Watching and hearing the little kids, precious! After church there was a little party and everyone came over for food. You know how Polynesians do, partied and food! :) It was such a great weekend. Reunited w/ friends and family. Good food, and definitely good times!

Compared to that my week was just good. Monday the girls and I had the day off. We left Kapono's and drove back home. I ended up cleaning up, that often seems to be my therapy, and Emily and Pohai went to IKEA. Tuesday I worked at the center, and that was a really good day. Wednesday was a long day at CPK, but it was busy, so great for me! Thursday I was off and mostly relaxed. Jen, a girl I work w/ at CPK, cut my hair. I did a few errands and then spent some time w/ Emily until Pohai came home from work. Today was a good day at CPK. It was a pretty busy day so another good day for me. Tonight I found out more about my blind date tomorrow night. Oh yeah, I'm going on a blind date tomorrow night! I'm so excited! I've been told that he's a really awesome guy. Tall, nice, witty, funny, talks a lot. What more

could you ask for! Other than the obvious. I'll keep you posted. You'll probably have to wait another week or so before I post anything, knowing me. But you might get lucky and have an update sooner than that. :)

Well my dear stalkers... I hope you had a great week, and I hope your weekend is even greater! Be strong, be happy, and find the joy in your life!

The letter before Z

Have you ever wondered, "why?"

Huh! Of course you have! EVERYONE has! It's impossible for you to say that you have never asked why, w/o lying. There are many different situations upon which this question of "why" has occurred.

That one time when you looked in the mirror and found a flaw w/ the reflection staring back. Whatever it was, I guarantee it wasn't as horrible as you thought.

Or what about the time when something inconceivable, at the time, happened? Looking back at it now, was it really all that inconceivable?

And then there's that time when you were genuinely asking, "why?" The "why" that comes up when you are confused or uncertain and just NEED to know the purpose of the situation. I hope that time of asking was a memorable and impacting moment. An epiphany, if you will. It's the time when you learn something or are eager to learn something, and would stop at almost nothing to find out. I love those moments. Those are the ones I live for... Well, that's what I wish I could honestly write about, but I would be lying. I don't "live" for those moments, but I have decided that I will strive to live that way.

I'm not what you would call "book" smart or even "street" smart. I don't deny that whatsoever. But I'm not uneducated either. The things I don't know and/or understand, I try my best TO know and/or understand. I look forward to those times of learning. I "live" for those moments. The moments of expanding my knowledge a little more... Huh, I guess I do live for those "why" moments after all.

It's interesting how life pans out. You think things will work out one way, but it really ends up flipping a 360 on you and works out in a way you never even dreamed of. Life is weird that way. It's unpredictable and yet so predictable, all at the same time. Think about it. You expect something to turn out one way, but in the back of your mind you're thinking that the rug is going to be pulled out from under you. And it does. You don't see it coming, but you're never surprised when you find yourself flat on your back w/ the wind knocked out of you.

I apologize if my rambling doesn't make any sense, but what I wish to impress upon your mind is that you can't count on life to be easy or routine, but you CAN count on life to work out for the better. Life gives you situations to learn from, and what you take away from that situation is what makes you the person you are, today. Good luck!

Be strong, be happy, and find the happiness in your life!

East to West

Happy new year everybody! I'm still trippin' over the fact that we have now entered 2010! Crazy!

I am packed and mostly ready to head back to Utah. I leave Virginia tomorrow around 12pm and get into Salt Lake City around 630pm. I have a layover in Detroit. I'm pretty excited to get back to life in Utah. I've missed it a lot. Don't get me wrong, I've loved visiting w/ my sister and her family out here, but there's different things that I've missed in Utah. Basically, just all my friends and family are what I'm excited for. I've missed my jobs too, and will be getting right back to them the next day. Phew, it's definitely gonna be a busy week for me!

This last weekend we all went to Washington DC. It was pretty fun! We parked outside of DC and took the Metro in. That was a pretty cool ride. We went past the Arlington Cemetery, among other things. And it was really neat to get a glance at it all.

We went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, the International Spy Museum, and took pictures along the way. We walked a lot, and it was really cold! Lots of wind too, my poor nephews' cheeks were so red by the end of it all. We tried to find the White House, and even had a map of everything. But even though we followed the map, we somehow still couldn't find it. We made it to the Treasury Building but that's it. I bet it was just a little further behind some trees, but we headed back to the Metro station since everyone was freezing and tired.

I've been packing all day, and I have way too much stuff! I came out here w/ way more than I needed, and now that the holidays are over, I'm definitely going back w/ even MORE stuff! :( I even have to leave quite the pile of things, for my sister to send to me later. Although, luckily my sister worked her mad skills and fit more than I could, into my luggage. I could take 3 bags, but I really don't want to pay $180. It'll be way cheaper to just send a box out later. I often wonder where they come up w/ the pricing for baggage. I wish the airlines would go back to up to 2 free! Heck, let us wait by the gate for family too! Oh man, the good old days!

Well, I guess I will let you all get on w/ your hopefully beautiful day/night! Good luck w/ this new year and may all your hopes and dreams come true too! Be strong, be happy, and find the joy in your life!

P.S. The pictures from our DC trip are on my facebook.