Hazel's Halloween

Here are some pics of Hazel in her Halloween costume. We celebrated a day early in order to attend my office trick-or-treating that they do every year. We're not going to go real trick-or-treating since Hazel couldn't master the phrase in time. I'm sure she'll be excited to go next year.

Jacob and I sewed her whole costume ourselves, which was easily my biggest sewing project to date. It was a lot of fun, at least for me. Hazel didn't really like her costume until people started handing her candy. Then she got a lot more excited. In case anyone cares, I dressed up as a Sneetch and Jacob dressed up as a beach bum. We're going to spend tonight with some friends, but not in costume.

Frustration

I am in charge of this huge Super Saturday in November based on technology, and it is for parents of youth and youth 12 -18. I had to fight my way through the Stake leaders to get this, and I have had no support, as Jim Rawlings always gone now, looking for a job, and will probably be gone by then. Dad was his counselor, and he has been released and is too busy with his new calling, and the other YM counselor is in Middletown.
Anyways, we had 3 top speakers lined up for the main talks, and now all 3 have cancelled, (well, Br. Dalton says he has to go to London that day, but when he saw my face, he said maybe he can give the talk and take the redeye out).
So here I am, frustrated. I have looked for a guy who could give a technical talk about how to use parental controls on a comp, protect against porn, etc. NO one seems to know or want to give this talk. I have called over 15 people.
I wish I could afford to bring Bret or Prof Knudson or Jake out here!
egh.

Hawaii Update

So first of all, I LOVE Hawaii. Going from having to wear actual socks and shoes everyday and freezing your tail off the matter where you go... to having your feet be able to be free and actually being hot when you walk outside is absolutely phenomenal. It is so gorgeous here and the weather has been perfect beach weather everyday since I have gotten here. So my body is very pleased with this as I've soaked up the sun quite a few times this week. The ocean is breath taking as ever too. I swear, the ocean will always be one of those things that the matter how much you see it, it will still just blow you away. I think it will be very hard to leave this place for good next year. Last time, I knew I was coming back, now it's a different story.

I still am not in our new apartment yet. It looks like I will move in this weekend though. So I am excited... pretty much to the point where I can't sleep at all because all I do is lay there and think about our stuff and every square inch of the new place and where I can put things and how I can make it look nice. This is both fun for me but also a curse. Lol I wish I could just calm down one night and just fall asleep. Oh well. I know I probably won't sleep really well until Jimmy gets home anyways, so why not have fun thinking about things right?

I chose an apartment that is on the 9th floor of an apartment complex. The view is what won me over, as well as well the brand new oven, fridge, dish washer, washer, dryer, sink, cabinets, floors, bathroom, and paint jobs... oh a the granite counter tops. Its pretty small but its definitely pretty. I just hope Jimmy likes it. I am excited because we have a trash chute haha and I think that sounds fun.

We still don't know when Jimmy is getting back. All of the other companies know their exact arrival times and dates except for H&S company which is of course Jimmy's lol. I waited in line with Ashley to find out the times and dates and her husband gets back on my birthday so I was jealous as they said they don't think H&S will get back till alittle bit later. But oh well. I am in good spirits. He is still coming home after all! And we don't have to say any more goodbyes!!!! Usually this is what most people live by... but for us it is a first and I can not even tell you how happy it makes me feel to know that our long separations are over! I feel very blessed and lucky to have all this excitement in my life. It is just going to be the best thing in the world to see Jimmy's face again. =) Even if it is after my bday!

Well that is the news for now. Next time I blog, maybe my husband will be right next to me!!!

Trip to UT Oct '09 - State of My Health

Our annual trip up to UT was great. We headed out Wednesday morning and decided to deliberately take our time and stop more often. We took a route we have never taken before - and that turned out great. The first cool part was taking the 89 Alternative route instead of going through Page. This crosses the Colorado River over the Navajo Bridge, which was so cool to stop and eat lunch and marvel at the beauty. We saw rafters while we were on the bridge and now I really want to do a rafting trip - it was a nice calm river here - so easy for everyone.

We also stopped in Zions National Park. I have wanted to go there for a long time - and it met my expectations. And it was even more pretty with all of the pretty leaves turning colors. We even saw some bighorn sheep. Just outside of Zion's was a small town called Springdale which was awesome: I would love to retire there. So quaint and fun.

We arrived in Provo later that evening and enjoyed seeing the Jacobs and their families. I chuckled when my brother came in with a full on beard. Thursday we played some tennis which was fun. I love playing tennis and it was fun to play with Tevia and the Jacobs (and Millie). Cari made a great meal for us that night and we stayed up talking.

Friday I played tennis with the boys and then we met up with our friends Rob and Anna and their family for lunch. It was great to see them and we had a lot of fun. We ordered some food from an old fav restaurant - which wasn't as good as I remembered. J Wall showed off his cool entertainment system which includes a subwoofer which literally shakes the apartments. Saturday we got ready for the game. I was able to go to the legacy tent with Jake thanks to Cari giving me her wristband. This was cool as you could eat in a large tent before the game and watch ESPN, etc. It was fun, though I didn't eat much. I did like the white chocolate fountain with bananas though! The game was fun - at least being there with the boys and Tevia. The game ITSELF was not that fun. We got killed by TCU. They were the better team and deserved the win. BYU is at a crossroads which I can blog about another time.

After the game we had dinner with Elder Mark Bullock from my mission and his wife Emily. It had been nearly 10 years since I last saw them. It was so fun to see them and talk. They looked the same! We had some brazilian food to bring some saudades of the zionland. We hoped to plan a trip to Brazil together in 2011. I had a lot of fun.

Sunday we drove back. I am glad that is done. I wish the trip could have been longer. We always love going up there. It always makes me want to move up there.

------------------

We recently had a free health check at our office where they measured cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. My results came back great.

My blood pressure is quite low (good low), my cholesterol is normal (176), my body fat was normal (though higher than I'd like), my glucose was good and overall they said I was very healthy. This was good to hear as when I had returned from Hong Kong my doctor had mentioned my cholesterol was a little high and had even suggested some drugs. I refused and told him if it really was high then I would credit it to poor eating and lack of exercise in HK. I told him that in a few months I'm sure I would be back to normal. I was right. And he is no longer my doctor.

Things I love in the fall

The fall in NY! Gorgeous color, leaves falling, sun shining, pumpkins on steps and porches, and colorful mums all over front yards. I have been lucky enough to get to drive around a lot these last few weeks, and boy, it has been beautiful!
Friday my old and dear friend Olivia and I are walking the rail bridge across the Hudson, then Friday night we are taking them to sit at the window of River Station and look out over the NY hills as we eat and chat.
I have enough candy for an army for next week, and we will only get about 25 kids. I always make special pumpkin cookies for the neighbor kids. They love to stop over.
Our Stake Conference is on Halloween, and the leaders were nice enough to move all the meetings up, so even the adult meeting will be over by 5. That is way cool! I like to be home on Halloween and watch some scary movie and give out treats. And, of course, have pizza!

October, so far...

I haven't been around much, but so much has happened in October already. Conference was great. My favorite talk was Holland's talk on the Book of Mormon. Powerful, true, and touching. Loved it.

I enjoyed a nice trip to London with my wife. She has blogged much about the trip - at least from her perspective. For me, I have been there a couple of times already (once just two months ago), so it was fun to see her excitement. The business side went well as I met with a new client from Saudi Arabia. They were very friendly and fun to work with. Who knows if this opportunity to live in London will come to fruition, but for me it was fun to be able to take Tevia there and look at homes. Though we didn't see a lot of homes we liked, there were a couple that we would have loved to move into immediately. My favorite was a three level home with the first level having a sitting/reception room, a very large (unusual in london) kitchen, a conservatory and then a small garden in the back with grass and a small detached room/office where I could work from home or have people stay in the summer or store the kids. =) The second floor had a very quaint master bedroom and another small bedroom. The third floor was very cool with a large bedroom and bathroom and a tiny loft area you could only access through a tiny door in the bathroom where kids could sit and read and play make believe. I absolutely loved it. It was in Twickenham - the mecca of rugby.

Tonight I bought and played Wii Fit Plus. I already love it. Several things I have noticed so far that I love about it:

- I can set my own routines and not have to wait between each set. In other words I can choose several routines and it goes through them automatically without stopping, etc. Keeps the heart pounding and makes the workouts go faster.
- Lists the calories you burn!
- Has fun new activities. I tried a new martial arts one tonight which was fun and the kids loved.

Great timing as I have gained 4 pounds over the past 2 weeks.

digital savvy grandma

In prep for this big Stake youth event I am in charge of in November, I have decided to walk the walk so I can know what I am talking about by experience.
I have joined Twitter, Facebook, and can now text.
I will probably stop the first 2 once the event is over.
I am experimenting with them.
The minute I opened Twitter, I got 3 'single' ladies asking for young men to 'hit them up'. I blocked them.
I don't get the Twitter thing, so if one of you out there can sign up and then tell me what the heck we are supposed to actually do on it, that would be helpful. lol.
Glad you walls are back in town and safe and sound.

my mom

My mom had an anxiety attack last week, and also fell. She was put on additional medication, and then yesterday, she had another worse anxiety attack. She is weak, and has been told to get 2 weeks of solid bedrest, with no visitors or phone calls.
I have called her everyday, and her voice is weak and sad. She only talks for a few seconds, and doesn't remember that I even called. It is sad to hear her like this, and not be able to just go there and make her more comfortable and happy. She has asked my sister and I not to come. We are worried about the quality of care she can get from just Milan. Michael and Marsha will monitor things, and bring in some meals.
Milan's family is in touch and also worried. Michael says she has not been this weak since her stroke. She can not walk on her own, and has lost her appetite.

I find it interesting that just yesterday I was feeling so strong and happy and motivated to be a better person, and inspired about life. Today, I feel that now the Lord is testing me on what I learned this weekend.
I am lucky I don't drink, because I do see how people become addicted to things. After a few phone calls tonight from family, I immediately turned to m&m's, even though I knew I was emotionally eating. It is a good thing that I don't have a lot of stress in my life, or I would weigh 300 lbs. lol
Jacob and Cari, send pics of Hazel to cheer me and make me smile!
It is harder than I thought to watch my mom waste away.

Professional Year

Last week I received an email from the education administration which was about my "professional year" for the 2010 school year. It was a brief preview of some of the responsibilities we would have as students and attached was a form to be filled out with certain information and to be signed to promise to keep all the rules, like not missing even one day due to any other excuse than illness or of strict emergency lol. Anyways, at the very top it says congratulations and welcome to your professional year of BYU-Hawaii's education program.

I was surprised at how good this email made me feel. I almost actually started to cry. Next year I will receive my degree and will be able to be an actual teacher! Not a helper or an assistant but to finally have my own class and so much more. This has been my dream since I was a little girl and it is so exciting to be able to fulfill a life long dream! Since I can remember I have loved and had such a strong admiration for children. I do not find them annoying, unintellectual, and difficult, like most people in society. I honestly have never ceased to see them as the most incredible and inspiring people in the world. And I am so blessed to be able to achieve this dream of mine and have the opportunity to teach children as a professional teacher on a daily basis. Because I have also grown up with a love and passion for teaching. I love to watch a child when they finally get something or to know that I made a difference in their life. Teaching is seriously without a doubt the BEST job on earth! =) Even if the money kinda sucks.... So I am so stoked for next year and to be able to do my student teaching and finish up the last couple of strings to graduating.

I am so grateful that the Lord has led me on a path where my education is possible. Its pretty cool how it all worked out.

Malik can ride a bike

No pics, no video...yet. But tonight I took Malik out (with Enok happily following us) and was able to get Malik to ride his bike without training wheels. Next we'll practice starting and stopping (though he already is pretty good at stopping).

avatar

So I just watched Avatar, I think the first one, Boy in the Ice. Maybe I need to see a few more episodes to understand all of your interest in it?

Mom and Baby with ducks

Its not in the video, but earlier Hazel ambushed a family of resting ducks and they barely moved in time. The mother ran away and all 8 of her babies followed her quickly in a straight line. Now I know they normally do that but I had never seen such a large family do it so perfect like the cartoons. It made me laugh and then Hazel almost fell in the pond.



CARI IS PREGNANT

Meh, RSS feeds won't hide it:-( But most with feeds already know anyway.

The first fat joke? Or a cheaper rate?

Catching Fire - Rock Climbing

I finished Catching Fire. And since Kathy posted a while ago, I thought I would just do a new post and not make everyone read the comments. Plus most of you probably (maybe I'm wrong about this) read this via RSS so don't see most of the comments anyway. But maybe that is just me since I am a geek and rarely visit anyone's actual site.

Though the book didn't change my life like it did my sister, it was intriguing and made me think a lot. And that is what I love about these books. I still like the first book (Hunger Games) better, but this was a good follow up and had plenty of twists and turns and gut-wrenching scenes. Picture me sitting outside at the picnic tables at my work with tears pouring out below the bottom of my sunglasses. I'm sure many people must have thought I was weird. I have to say that no books since Harry Potter have kept me so intrigued and interested in what is going to happen next. I definitely would recommend this book.

The last two weeks have been fun with the Young Men. Two weeks ago we did baptisms at the temple. It was fun. This last week we went rock climbing at a rock gym. I was surprised to find the gym completely empty, so it we had it to ourselves. This made it even more fun. I was also surprised to see that I still can climb rocks pretty good (or fake rocks). I was a little worried my finger that went backwards last month would give me issues, but it didn't act up too much. I hope to head back there with Tevia on a date in the next few weeks.

food for thought- admiration

Admiration Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell

Who are the people you most admire, and why? Some admire those who have acquired worldly success, wealth, athletic prowess, prestige, or celebrity. Others look up to those who made a difference in the world or in someone’s life, those who have inspired others to be their best or carry on despite hardship and disappointment. Either way, we all—whether we realize it or not—admire someone. So consider for a moment, what makes a person worthy of your admiration?

Almost daily, popular figures emerge on the world’s stage, attract attention for a moment, and then, almost as quickly as they appeared, fade into distant memory. But fame is not admiration; prominence is not a measure of respect. True admiration lasts longer; it’s not fleeting and is never forgotten.

Noted rabbi Abraham Heschel once said: “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”1 Very often, the clever get attention, while the kind, the compassionate, the good-hearted are sometimes set aside, forgotten in our rush for the flashy. But the years have a way of putting popularity and prestige in perspective. Acclaim and accomplishments tend to fade over time, but kindness endures. In the end, we reserve our deepest admiration for those who treated others with love, because it’s love that binds hearts together.
Meanwhile, celebrities come and go, flashing across the sky like an occasional comet; but true heroes are as consistent as the rising sun and as timeless as the sparkling stars. And while kind people may not get the headlines or show up on the evening news, they are the people we remember with fondness, even long after they’re gone. They are the people who deserve our admiration.

As I listen to the reasons why Kathy loves the book, Catching Fire; I was thinking about the characters in the book that we like, and why.
Then I came upon this above quote.
I loved it!
Who do you admire?

favorite season

Ah! It is here! My favorite season, or time of year, since it is not exactly fall yet. I love from September to December! I love the cool nights, sweater weather, sunny days, fall colors appearing in all the stores, apple picking, etc.
I love getting ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!
Missing you all, mom

Veal Parmesan

So I finally decided to attempt Veal Parmesan. Result, it turned out fantastic:-) I was so imprressed with my creation I even bothered to Plate it for lunch... haha!

Catching Fire

This book has changed my life. That's all I have to say.

Trip to Michigan

After 32 hours of driving, we have returned to our home sweet home. We had fun, and I love being around my family. I may blog more, but here are some pics.

On the way home; BYU wins!

So I am sitting in the Hong Kong airport. Had everything gone as planned I would be about 1/4 of the way home. But when I arrived at the airport this morning I discovered my flight was canceled.

It was during this time that BYU was playing Oklahoma. So I was following the end of the game on my blackberry. I think this was a good thing as it distracted me from being annoyed. So as they searched for alternative routes to PHX I watched play by play as my heart pounded and floods of emotions went through me. Excitement when they took the lead. Fear as Okl marched down the field. And jubilation when they missed the FG. People looked at me like I was crazy as I fist-pumped and smiled and tears nearly came to my eyes.

How wonderful for Max Hall and coach Bronco. It amazes me how much sports can affect me. Even now as I think of it I nearly tear up in joy.

In the meantime I got a flight on Cathay to LAX and won't arrive in PHX until 7 or 8. 7 hours aftermy scheduled time. That sux. But I'll take a BYU win over OU anyday! So I leave HK again having spent time with great friends, eaten way too much (good!) food and enjoyed my time here. But I am ready to go home. :)