if you're going to san francisco...

...meet me there!

on saturday night, i'll be heading to frisco for a federal aid training workshop all by my lonesome. if our little family had a lot more disposable income, i would bring brandon and ahonui with me for a little adventure in a new city. but now that ahonui is over 2 years old, we would have to pay full price for him to fly. brandon and i have already talked about it, and we reluctantly decided that we would save that money in order to have a real vacation where all three of us could enjoy each other's company the entire time we are away.

i'm trying to focus on the positive things of the trip:

• i will be better trained for my work responsibilities, which, in turn will help me to be more effective in my job
• i'll be staying in a very nice hotel
• i can go sightseeing or shopping after the trainings every day
• i have an awesome meals per diem of $64 a day

but my heartstrings are pulled much stronger in the other direction when i think of the downsides...

• i'll be away from my family and missing them for a whole week
• i won't be able see brandon or ahonui the entire week
• and i'll be all alone, by myself, without my family - for a whole WEEK!!

now this won't be the first time that i've been away from my boys. a few months after brandon and i were married, i went to utah to see mary, one of my best friends, get married in the mount timpanogos temple. when brandon dropped me off at the airport, i cried all the way to the gate (while talking to him on my cell phone, no less). it was our first time apart, but i went with a few of my friends and stayed with my cousins, darren & kaloi nawahine, so i was always with people i loved and felt close to.

then about two years ago, i had financial aid training at boise state. it was extremely difficult to leave my hubs and little five month old baby, yes, but i was staying with my aunty norma and uncle henry nawahine (again - yes, the nawahines are so hospitable to me) only an hour away from boise. i didn't feel quite disconnected from family because more than half of the entire nawahine clan was there to keep me company and help to forget about the distance from my home. also, my aunty norma made a scrumptious breakfast for me every morning and a delicious dinner for me at night. it honestly felt like my mother was taking care of me every day while i was away from brandon and ahonui.

since i won't have the luxury of family or friends nearby when i go off to a hotel in san fran, i think it will be that much harder to be away.

so, if any of you have lived or spent some time in this great metropolis, any pointers or tips you can provide will be much appreciated. i can't avoid missing my family during that week, but perhaps by checking out the hot spots or hidden gems while i'm away might help the time away to be a little more bearable.

baby, it's cold outside

okay, maybe not as cold as you folks in the mainland - but it's cold for hawaii, alright. this past weekend it has been clear blue skies with temps in the low 70s during the day, and low 60s in the evening. utterly PERFECT weather, in my opinion. ahonui is able to still wear only his diaper in the daytime, and then we bundle him up nice & cozy in his thermal pjs at night. since he's generally a sweaty baby, he sleeps very comfortably in this chillier climate.


on saturday, ahonui and i went to costco & walmart and i was able to drive with the windows down. not only was it a gas-saver, but i could enjoy hawaii's natural beauty without the sticky humidity getting to me. just lovely. i also noticed that the beaches were emptier than usual because the waves were huge.

not the best shot, i know, but i was driving in traffic with my phone for a camera.

i know this weather won't last long, so i'll appreciate it for as long as we have it. soon we'll be back in the mid-80s, but who am i to complain? i'm in hawaii for goodness sake! i'll definitely take 80s instead of 30s.

girls night in

it isn't very often that all of us kahuku c/o '99 girls come together simply because we are all usually so far away from each other. since miki was home for the holidays, and hazel has finally moved back to the islands, malia was so generous and kind to invite everyone over for some grindz. who would've thought malia was an AWESOME grill-master?!





uila, miki, keaka, hazel, malia, and i had a great time cooking, catching up, eating, and playing a fun new game of left, right center.

malia grilled some steaks, chicken, and hot dogs. we also had two potato salads, a mexican seven layer dip, rice, corn on the cobs, dinner rolls, and some of the best brownies i've ever had! everything was so yummy.

i just hope that we'll make the 'girls night in' thing a regular event! who said you need to go out to have a good time? good food and good friends are always the best combination.

hau'oli la hanau, birthday boy

happy 2nd birthday to ahonui today...

i don't have much (actually, i don't have ANYTHING) planned for today. he woke up this morning looking like this:



so i'm thinking that after the past few day's events, he would probably prefer to just chill out at home...or would that just be me?

our new year's eve celebration was chock full of fireworks. my in-laws kept ahonui while i attempted to clean our apartment after i got off of work. but a bunch of our neighbors were having loud block parties just outside of my front yard so it was hard for me to focus on scrubbing & washing. i ended up wanting to be near my family so i made a quick visit to my mom's and then went to hang out in kahuku with the kahaialiis.

my in-laws got the guitar hero world tour set for christmas so everyone was gathered in the living room by the time i got there. when the boys went outside to get some fireworks/firecrackers business done, i was given my chance to show off my (not so great) skills on the guitar and drums. i had so much fun on the instruments that i almost forgot that i had to pick up brandon at pcc!

it ended up to be a smoky, sparkly, partly rainy, and very loud new years celebration. but i'm thankful that we can still experience these kinds of celebrations before hawaii state law decides to ban all the fun.

yesterday we had an early morning start, heading to kapolei so we could finally submit brandon's hawaiian homestead application. the appointment to get this done has been on my long-term to do list forEeEVERRRR, so you can imagine my relief knowing that i could finally cross it off. on the flip side, we were informed that "the list" we were just put on could have more than 9,000 names on it. yowza! oh well, at least i can now hold on to the hope that in ten years or so we could have our own brand new, air-conditioned home an hour away from my real home. nice...

after some shopping errands at costco and walmart, we headed back to the country. brandon had to go in to work, while ahonui & i went to hazel's baby amelia (who was a week early!) shower. it was wonderful to "ooh" and "aah" over hazel's precious gift and also to get back in touch with my kahuku class of '99 homegirls.

after the shower, ahonui & i surprised brandon at work...and ended up watching the entire night show! i have to admit that with the changes to the beginning and the ending of the show, as well as not having any dancer friends to watch, it just wasn't the same as it used to be. but i do always appreciate brandon performing...no matter where it is.

so, i think ahonui as well as myself, would enjoy a little downtime. besides, he's already had his share of birthday parties. namely, the one on national television. i think a little cold stone cake will suffice.

six hundred dollars looks like this...

...after a new years celebration. but my husband was a happy camper that night. happy 2009!