grateful for 8 years

november third (yeeeah, about 3 weeks ago...and?!) marked eight years since brandon and i were married & sealed for time and all eternity in the laie, hawaii temple.  although we've had our ups and downs, i gotta say...i feel like this year was probably the easiest since we've been married.  i recall hearing from others that the first year of marriage is the hardest, but it seems like it took a bit longer than a year for us to finally find our niche.

and so today's thankful thursday is for this amazing man.  i'm grateful for the trials that we've had to challenge us, to help us grow together, and to learn more about love and life.  i am eternally grateful and truly blessed to call him mine.  happy 8th anniversary to my best friend, the love of my life, and my eternal companion.

late father's day post

there are times when I forget how truly lucky and blessed I am.  and then father's day rolls around - and i realize how many "father-type" role models that I've been given.  it's true that my biological father passed away many years ago.  and there's not a day that goes by that i don't miss him, wish he was here to play with my children, or wonder what he's doing now...but when it's father's day, i remember how much our Heavenly Father loves me.  because i feel that i have not only one, but FOUR fathers and one hubby who is an AMAZING father.

 

after my father passed away, my grandfather became like a father to me.  i actually grew up in the same house as him and so he helped to raise me and my brothers before he passed away in 2009.  my mom remarried in 2004.  my stepfather is a man that has stepped in to be there for my mom and our family, and to endlessly grant the playful requests from all 12 of the grandchildren that stop by the house almost every day.  my father-in-law is one of the sweetest, most humble & patient men.  he helps to care for our children while Brandon and i go to work every day.  and i'm grateful that i can count on him to rescue us (and our broken van!) when we really need him.



 

"the place to take the true measure of a man is not in the darkest place, nor the amen corner, not in the cornfield, but by his own fireside.  there he lays aside his mask, and you will find if he is an imp or an angel, cur or king, hero or humbug.  i care not what the world says of him: whether it crowns him king or pelts him with bad eggs.  i care not a copper what his reputation or religion may be.  if his babies dread his homecoming, and his better half swallows her heart every time she asks for a five-dollar bill he is a fraud of the first water, even though he prays morning and night until he is black in the face....but if his children rush to the front door to meet him and love's sunshine illuminates the face of his wife every time she hears his footfall, you can take it for granted that he is pure.  for his home is a heaven.  i can forgive much in that fellow mortal who would rather make men swear than women weep; who would rather have the hate of the whole world than the contempt of his wife; who would rather call anger to the eyes of a king than fear to the face of a child." 

-W. C. Brann from Elbert Hubbard's scrapbook

my mother shared this quote with me when i was single, hoping that i'd find a man that would not only be a suitable eternal companion, but also a wonderful father to our future children...and i think that i found a pretty swell guy that fits the bill!

 

so this past Sunday i woke up early...i knew that he wouldn't want much since we're trying to cut back on most expenses, so i reverted to the old standby: breakfast in bed.  i made for him bacon and eggs, whole wheat pancakes (from scratch), and POG.  yummm...he got so full that he fell right back asleep for a nap before getting ready for church.  mission - accomplished. =)

 

 



happy father's day to the man whose children rush to the front door to meet him, the man that illuminates my face with love's sunshine every time i hear his footfall.  i'm so grateful that i got a good one, for sure.



grateful for birthday action

this past Saturday was my birthday.  and I gotta say, it was a good one.  I've been blessed with a birthday that usually lands on or around memorial day each year.  and that means that i'll get a holiday/extra day to get spoiled!  heehee!

 

so on Saturday we started the day off with a little stop at the beach...

 

even though hukilau isn't the prettiest nor the cleanest beach around, it's still home to me.  I can literally cross the street and be walking on the sand.

 

 

we only had about 45 minutes to spend there, but i wanted the kids to be able to enjoy a  little time outside before dropping them off at my in-laws...because Brandon & I were off to Waikiki for a catamaran ride!

 

it was such a relaxing and carefree experience out on the water.  since we are living in paradise, i really want to take advantage of doing something new, something different, and being outside as much as possible.  otherwise, why do we bother living in one of the most beautiful places on earth?  thankfully, websites like living social allow us to do a lot more adventurous activities at a much more affordable rate.

after our 90 minute tradewind sailing experience, we walked about a half mile down the Waikiki strip to cheesecake factory!  one of my favorite places to grind... plus, it was only lunchtime, so we got a table without waiting.  auuuuriiiiiite!

 

 

then we headed home...we missed our babies too much!  we wanted to celebrate with them too, so we picked them up and went straight to angel's ice cream for a little treat.  but nahe must've had a full day, because she knocked out during the 5 minute ride back to laie!

sometimes i think that the world may be a happier (but possibly less productive) place if we had 3 day weekends a lot more often.  Monday gets such a bad rap, but it's not Monday's fault - it can't help it!  but honestly once Sunday rolls around, it feels like the weekend is practically done!  3 day weekends fill me with joy...it makes life so much more pleasurable.  lol!  okay, seriously though, I love a Sunday where I know the next day is a free day...

because this is the kind of day that I imagine...and I so love making it a reality.

seeing that it was Memorial Day - we took the time to visit my dad's grave after the beach.  i know that i need to be a better daughter and work on beautifying his grave and visiting more often.  my brother, marcus, and his family are such great examples to me and the rest of my brothers.  i'm sure nue is the thoughtful one that always remembers to get tons of flower pots for all of our beloved, because they came out with about 10-12 of them ready to plant and place on all our family member's graves that day.

little royal nikora, next to grandpa royal nikora's headstone.

 

silly siblings (karly, making trouble to her sis, azure)...i love these kids!!

 

after the graveyard, Brandon & I went out to dinner - for my birthday dinner - duh!  then we ended a great day at the movies.  it was a beautifully spent birthday 3 day weekend - exactly what I wanted.

 

who can complain when this is home?

so i'm grateful - for my beautiful island home.  i'm grateful for a husband that cares for me and truly spoils me on special days.  i'm thankful that i have the opportunity to get out and experience fun-filled activities and to enjoy life to the fullest.

my kind of mother's day

I realize that this is a tad late for a Mother's Day post, but I didn't want to forget how special this day was for me...

woke up to pink tulips and breakfast in bed...french toast, spam, and scrambled eggs!  I didn't even know that Brandon knew how to make french toast!  what a sandbagger.  I assume that he's been reserving those amazing culinary skills for a really special day...like our 7th mother's day together.  fascinating.

 

 

then ahonui gave me a card that he made...

 

I honestly think that these little homemade creations are the most meaningful, special, and heartfelt gifts that you could get.  it was actually the first time I got something from him where he understood what he was doing, what it was for, was mostly legible, and didn't have stick figures performing disturbing acts of violence.  thank you, son!  I will treasure it always.

 

 

then we went to church, and nahe made a beautiful little lollipop flower pot in nursery.  but apparently, she made it for herself - on mother's day.  because she clutched the pot close to her chest and refused to give it up when i asked her if she made it for me.  rejected!!  she's two years old...I guess I can let this one slide.

 

after church i was gifted yet AGAIN with a little nappy nap.  and my day was complete with happiness.

 

i think the following illustration (courtesy of a random FB post) accurately describes what a mom really wants on a day off.  and i gotta say that this past mother's day not only made me feel truly loved, but also like i'm not doing such a bad job as a mother to my little family.  could not ask for more.

 

grateful for my valentine

valentine's day holds a special place in my heart.  no pun intended.  why, you ask?  well, since you asked...this will take you there!

i love this man.

while i can't say that we have incredibly romantic valentine days as much as the first one we shared, i can say with a surety that with each passing year it comes around with a lot more love.  every february i would hint to brandon that i'd appreciate (not want, not need, not "you must do this, or else" - just... appreciate.  lol) the whole commercialized v-day sha-bang.  i'd add to these hints with "because it's our special day!" to build on the importance of flowers, balloons, etc.  he'd usually follow through on my requests with special deliveries to my office, so that i could relish in the covetous glances from female co-workers and incoming students.  i'm so mature, i know.

but this year i grew up.  i told him, "no need anything this year."  and i actually really meant it.  we're not entirely poor, but we're not exactly loaded either.  since the money that he spends on "sweet nothings" comes out of a joint account - i'm pretty much paying for the lovely-smelling ginger leis myself.  i guess it took me 8 years to figure out that those dollars could be better spent elsewhere.  i'm so bright.  needless to say, brandon was elated and relieved to be freed from the shackles of vday creativity.

however - this morning i woke up to the sounds of clanking in the kitchen.  brandon usually makes cereal or oatmeal for ahonui before the boy heads off to school.  but this morning was different.  i know pouring milk into a bowl didn't require that much noise.  a few minutes later, as i'm laying in bed, here comes brandon with two plates: scrambled eggs with diced onions and pocho (portuguese) sausage, and pancakes!  breakfast!  in bed!!!  simple, sweet, and saving money...the best way to melt my heart.

i used to pride myself on the similar characteristics i felt that i share with my late father: a patient, positive, laid-back, and good-natured attitude. no, not egotistical one bit, thank you very much. seriously though, i thought that i would rate pretty decent in sticky situations with a cool head and slow to anger demeanor.  lately though, i'm finding that my fuse has gotten a lot shorter, i'm reaching my boiling point a lot quicker, my limits are narrower, i'm maxxed out of patience, i have a low tolerance for stupid, to be quite honest.  and it makes me sad...because it feels so unlike me to behave as such.

so late lastnight, as we left angel's ice cream shop after celebrating vday as a family, i almost hit two oblivious college kids crossing the street during my green light and their red hand.  i got so frustrated, that i screamed and displayed some unladylike obscenities because they were casually strolling across instead of scurrying along like they should have been.  as we continued on the road, brandon started quietly singing "i love to seeee the teeeemple...".  and i couldn't help but laugh, calm down, and take a deep breath.

i'm grateful that my better half can keep me in check, and bring me to a better place.  i love that he loves me despite my shortcomings, and that he can be patient with others when i'm running low on the stuff.  there's a dixie chicks song that i listen to when my day gets a little crazy.  i'd like to think that the lyrics describe what brandon does for me so often...and for that, i'm grateful.

"And I come to find a refuge in the

Easy silence that you make for me
It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me
And the peaceful quiet you create for me
And the way you keep the world at bay for me"

love you, bran.

i love to see the temple

despite ahonui's classic crooked smile, this is my favorite picture of my family yet.  partly because i think i look pretty darn good, mostly because it has my favorite people in it, but also because it has a very special building behind us. 

today is thursday.  and since i missed the entire 2012 year, i also missed the month of november and the thanksgiving holiday.  i will make an attempt at "thankful thursdays" to help me to get back into the groove of blogging more often.  so today, i am expressing my gratitude, for the temple, obviously.

today is also brandon's day off, and we are going to ward temple night for our weekly date.  don't judge me, but i haven't been to the temple to do an actual session since...umm, sadly i can't remember.  i'm thinking it was in the vicinity of 2006.  so i'm looking at tonight's session as a big step in the right direction for brandon and myself, and my family.  i am excited and nervous.  because in a way, it feels like the first time for me again.

i am grateful for this opportunity.  i am thankful for the close proximity of this beautiful blessing in our community.  i'm glad that i don't need to travel for hours and on airplanes to get there, that i can simply walk down the street if i wanted.  i'm so happy that brandon will be there with me tonight.  and i'm eternally grateful that the temple allows us to be together forever.

a laid back sixth

bran and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Thursday, November 3rd. unfortunately, both of us had to work that day...which means that we get to see each other for just a little over an hour total before I'm unconscious for the night. yes, sad face I know.

but we had a plan. or rather we had a "plan A". we decided that I would try to keep the kids awake until he was pau hana so we could have a mini-celebration of what we now call a "family birthday" since that really is what an anniversary is...the birth date of our family - right?

so as the night went on, Brandon was still at night show, and nahe was getting fussy. despite my attempts to keep her from falling asleep, I know full well that you can't stop a tired baby from knocking out without some serious repercussions. so off to bed the little princess went, which means we had to move on to plan B.

brandon called me when he got offstage to check if the kids were still awake.  after letting him know that nahe fell asleep, we were both hesitant to do anything outside of the house.  honestly, i think that we were all tired and didn't want to leave one of our babies behind.  luckily - mom to the rescue!  she came to see baby and offered to listen to the baby monitor while brandon, ahonui and myself celebrated with plan B.

plan B (which was pretty much plan A minus the baby girl) included a quick trip to angel's ice cream with all of us sharing a banana split type creation.  between bites, ahonui took the above pic of his parents who are still very much in love.  and although nahe wasn't with us that night, i'm quite sure we consumed enough yumminess to make up for the lack of our toddler.


and so after many failed attempts at "plan As" through these past 6 years, i'm still looking forward to spending forever with my eternal companion.  here's to many more "family birthdays"!

it's been a while...

...a long while, i know. i would like to say that a lot has happened since the last post, but that's not quite the case. life has been zooming by lately and our little one doesn't seem so little anymore. he is officially potty trained, we can pretty much decipher what he's saying, and finally - he is now able to keep himself busy & safe most of the time without constant supervision. woohoo!

so here's what we've been up to since the last time...
we had too much fun this past halloween. brandon requested off from work about 5 months prior to october 31st, so pcc had no room to hold him back from his fatherly duties on halloween night this year. i bought ahonui's halloween costume ("super why" - for those of you that don't know, he's a storybook-reading-superhero that somehow saves the day via changing classic well known stories. sassy.) from amazon probably back in july or august because he was very much into the cartoon way back when. of course as i should have known, his attention quickly turned to the 'ol "toy story" phenomenon and so by october his obsession with woody & buzz lightyear would've really appreciated a halloween costume as such. it's a good thing he's only two years old and seemed grateful for the cheesy superhero costume we had waiting for him.

brandon & i celebrated our 4th anniversary on november 3rd. i didn't realize it when we planned our wedding date, but i've grown to really favor the timing of our anniversary each year. it's right after halloween, and a few weeks before thanksgiving...which is pretty much the beginning of the holiday season. it feels like so much joy and excitement happens around this time of the year and so i've gotta say that i'm quite thrilled that the celebration of our love for each other is included during this special time every year. anyway, in observation of our love day, we went window shopping at windward mall and then ate a scrumptious dinner at ala moana's macaroni grill - our favorite! as always, we end up talking about ahonui almost the whole time we are on date nights and we were missing him so much that we felt it necessary that we surprise him with an anniversary gift as well. this little guy scored a fully loaded buzz lightyear action figure which prompted quite a bit 'o squeals of delight upon the opening of the toy. happy anniversary to ahonui!

now that i finish work at 2pm-ish, my list of things to do each day doesn't seem quite so overwhelming. and despite my long list of daily chores that i create for myself, somehow...someway...when i put ahonui down for a nap, i often end up putting MYSELF down for a nap as well. totally counter-productive for my list.


so i think that's about it for now. mostly because i'm falling asleep as i type...and also because ahonui is throwing things at the tv - just for kicks.

turning of that new leaf

i know...it's been over a month. i could say that i've been so busy, but that would be a lie. because honestly, i have been quite the opposite -- and i LOVE IT!!! my days have been filled, that's definitely true. but i'm not stressed to the point that i want to pull my hair out each and every day. and that's a good thing, right?

i began working only 30 hours a week on august 31st which has impacted our family in several ways...

• i finish work at 2pm every day so i get way more time with my little buddy. some days we spend the afternoon at the beach...

• other days when he goes down for his nap, i get to clean our apartment more thoroughly. i also have him keep me company when i go to walmart & costco during the week instead of fighting crowds on busy saturdays.
• brandon & i have more time for date nights. we also don't have to come home so late at night because we can leave earlier! it's oh so awesome to spend that alone time with my love. even a trip to foodland together is exciting to me. we take turns going on that blood pressure tester near the pharmacy and we compare results...hey, it's free!

• for those of you that know me well, it has always been a challenge for me to be "on time" going anywhere...especially work. yes, it's embarrassing. but i must be a great employee if they've kept me this long without meeting a minimum expectation of being prompt every day. ha!! ANYWAY, i am proud to say that i've finally programmed my body to wake up earlier to be at work on time! what an accomplishment, aye? lol.
• i make conscious decisions of what i eat and put into my body every day. not a diet, but a healthy lifestyle change. i've been doing well for the past month or so, and i am slowly losing weight. i do realize that in order to drop pounds faster, i've got to do more physical activity. and that's what mondays are for...goal starting.
• with 10 less hours that i'm getting paid for each week, our budget was cut drastically. a lot more careful spending, and cutting out things that were simply unnecessary.

so i suppose you could say that our lives have been simplified and we are now focusing on the more important things in life. priorities have been altered, disposable income has decreased, family time has increased, and my tan has definitely improved. life is good.

haaaaaa: breath of life

watched the new night show at pcc for a third time last week.

i know only from a musician's wife's point of view that many, many long days & nights and strenuous hours have been put into the long-awaited production. so i may be a tad biased when i say that the new show is awesome. i've heard mixed reviews, and it's always helpful to hear other's critiques.

i'm just happy that i've got my husband home by 9pm instead of 2 in the morning. months and months of seeing my spouse for just a few minutes a day was just not cutting it.

any other opinions from those who have seen it? good, bad, whatevah - let's hear it!

a hot date

i had a hot date on friday night - with two hot guys!

we went to dinner at windward mall's ruby tuesday's and then took ahonui to his first big screen movie to see disney pixar's 'up'. highly recommended (don't wanna ruin the story for those of you who haven't seen it yet)!

so since ahonui is so in love with 'ratatouille' and 'finding nemo' we just HAD to take advantage of a brand new pixar film in theaters. it would've been awesome to get to experience the 3D version, but i figured the little man wouldn't be able to keep those 3D glasses on for long. it was just adorable to watch his reactions and to hear him laugh with the rest of the audience throughout the movie. makes me anxious to take him to disneyland one day...

a big-time bonus: two year olds get in free!!

makahiki ekolu

three years ago today brandon & i were married and sealed in the laie, hawaii temple.

we really treated ourselves this past weekend in waikiki. even though it was only two days of a vacation, i don't think i've been that relaxed in a loooong, long time. we spent our days getting our money's worth from the hotel room (get your mind right...) - watching tv, sleeping, and surfing the web. i slept and slept and slept...and sure enjoyed our humongous plasma flat screen tv from the bed. we spent our nights eating out in nearby restaurants like cheesecake factory, charthouse (which i loved, but brandon did not due to the small portions), and mac 24-7 (a cute, hip restaurant conveniently located in our very own lobby that served the most enormous pancakes i've ever seen!). we also planned on going to the movies, but we were so clever to figure out that our in-room movies were cheaper (and waaay easier to get to)! so we were able to catch up on a few flicks AND save money at the same time in the comfort of our hotel room. we are so economical.

i know it may sound strange, but honestly, all i wanted to do was just lay around and do nothing. i didn't want to have to think about which one-way waikiki street we couldn't drive down, or which expensive polynesian show (that we most likely have already seen) to catch, or how much money i couldn't spend on a coach bag. those things were not on my agenda, and i'm so happy that brandon concurred with my lazy request.

it was a wonderful way to celebrate three wonderful years together.