Gone Fishin'

My mom and I went fishing out in Tabiona... my favorite place on earth! It was a bit chilly but the sun was shining and the river was a flowin'.

We both caught our fair share of sticks...

and I caught one 90% of the way. It fell off of my spinner just as I was pulling it out.

at the end of the day, the only thing we managed to get our hands on was this dead fish. Oh well... it was still fun to be out in that river!

Leaving on a Jet plane

(I love this picture of Lou Lou and I...)

The day finally came and I had to leave beautiful, warm Hawaii. Missy, Jimmy, Madeline and Lucas dropped me off and I had to say goodbye. I sure love them!

(Me and Madeline)

(Missy, Mom, Madeline and Me)

I checked in and my branch met me there to say goodbye once more. I got lots of leis. Mike gave me a ghetto lei and I loved it! It was a piece of yard with 3 bags of candy tied to it... one of them being dark chocolate, which is my favorite. (Thanks Mike!)

(Me and Mike and the Ghetto Lei)

The whole gang was there. We talked, hugged, took pictures....

(Micki, Nikki, Rachel, Osiris, Me, Emi, Shaye, Celeste, Teishsa)

(Bro. Roswell, MIke, Kana, Bryan, John, President Watanabe, Me, Johnathan, David, Ikaika, Isaiah, Gavin)

When it was time to say goodbye, as a Waipahu 4th branch tradition, we sang Aloha Oie. Here are the words to the song:

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali
Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele
E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko
Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:
Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai
Ke hone a`e nei i
Ku`u manawa
`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha
A loko e hana nei

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani
Nâ pua rose o Maunawili
I laila hia`ia nâ manu
Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

My time in Hawaii was amazing! I met so many wonderful people and experienced so many wonderful things! I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to take part of the spirit of Aloha.  I miss you all so very muchly and I will visit again soon!

Last Day at Church

My last Sunday in Hawaii, I had to speak in sacrament meeting. I spoke on my testimony of Relief Society and I talked about how each person has helped that testimony grow. It was a very nice meeting. Nikki also spoke and we sang our song that we practiced (Come Thou Fount). They released me as Relief Society President and called Nikki. Afterward we had a munch n mingle. (Where we eat lots of food and chat).

(Kivette, John, Michelle and Osiris)

(Teisha.. she's sad cause I'm leaving.)

(The RS girls: Nat, Sis. Fenlon, Michelle, Kivette, 

Celeste, Teisha, Rachel, Shaye, Nikki, Emi, Keighley and Osiris)

The old presidency... and the new one.

Good times in the Waipahu 4th branch!!

Madeline Ava

My little Madoo. She's so cute and funny and I miss her oh so much! Here are a few random photos that I wanted to share that show just how silly she is.

I was babysitting and it was nap time. She wanted to watch a movie and she wanted a sippie of milk and a blanket. She sat by me for a while, but then she wanted to lay on top of the coffee table/ chest. So I covered her up and she fell asleep. It was cute.

My mom came to visit right and help out with Lucas and Madeline and she brought an industrial size party bubble maker machine. It was on all the time and Madeline loved it! I love these photos of her playing in them:

and of course, she had to try and eat them...

I came across a disposable camera that I had bought and never used so I gave it to Lou to play with. She had a ball! I'm not sure if Missy has developed the film from it but she took pictures of everything! I love that little girl!

Say cheese Boo!

While Jimmy was on leave from Iraq, we had Madeline's 2nd birthday party. It was a princess party and she had so much fun! Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the little cutie:

I sure miss that little girl! I'm so lucky that I got to go live with Missy, Madeline, Jimmy, Lucas and the puppies. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I'm glad that I got to stay as long as I did. It was a fun-filled year! I miss you guys and love you lots!!

Black and White Party

The weekend before I left Hawaii, our Relief Society had a Black and White Birthday Party. Nikki and I had been talking about having one and thought it would be perfect for celebrating the RS birthday. We had black and white food like oreos and chips and dips and milk. It was fun to hang out with all the girls and be all dressed up.

(Teisha and I)

We played pin the words on the seal where we had to put the wording of the RS seal in the right place. We had 2 teams and I can't remember which one won.

(Mom, Osiris, Me, Keighely)

After our games and such we went inside to practice our song that we would be singing in church that Sunday. (We sang Come Thou Fount)

(Me, Shaye, Emi, Osiris Nikki

Keighley, Celeste, Teisha and Rachel)

Then we all went outside and SURPRISE! The little tricksters planned a surprise going away party for me. I had no idea! I walked outside to all the guys in the branch holding up a bon voyage sign and doing kicks. It was quite funny.

(The Guys)

(Jonathan, Elder, Isaiah, David, Kana, Me, Bryan, President Watanabe, Ikaika

Elder, Mike, Kawika, Richard)

(The RS Presidency: Emi, Me, Keighley and Nikki)

The whole gang

President and Ikaika sporting the Bro. Roswell look

They even got me a cake! Thanks guys, you rock!! It was the sneakiest and best surprise party ever!

Projects

As many of you know, I love to make things. I love to create cool stuff. Well, I looked at my old dresser,  and thought it looked a little plain, so I fancied it up a bit.

Here is the before:

I love the black, but doesn't it look like it needs something? So I went to my favorite craft store, Roberts, bought some scrapbook paper, a sponge brush and some Modge Podge and went to town. I spent a total of $10 and it looks completely different! I still need to add the hardware, but I am loving how it looks!! Here is the after:

P.S.

I will get working on updated the rest of my stuff on here... moving and job hunting can keep one pretty busy! So stay tuned for new posts will soon be here!

Inspiration and Education

As many of you know, I love photography! I also love graphic design. I've been trying to teach myself as much as possible in photoshop to enhance my killer skills. I recently stumbled upon Photoshop Hero and I have had a lot of fun experimenting! I recently found this on his website:

I thought it would be cute in Lucas' baby room so I created my own and added a bit of my own flair with the distressed look. I also added his name in there and did a few other modifications.

I love that I can find websites like this and they are willing to teach me things. I think I could spend hours each day just learning from others. Thank you PS Hero!

Has it been that long already?

So, I was back tracking and looking at some of my old posts. And I came across a post that I swear wasn't very long ago. It was entitled my two year plan. I talked about finishing school and graduating, finding a job, moving to Hawaii and finding a job there, and then came the "after that who knows?" Well, I'm there now. So who knows??? Please tell me if you do, because I haven't got a clue. The only thing I do know is I am suppose to go back to Utah. But then what?

Behold the Power of Vinegar

So, I learned something new today. Vinegar does it all. I was reading on one of my favorite blogs called Be a Homemaker and she had switched over to using vinegar as a cleaning agent because it is safe and it works. She also gave a link to this nifty website called Vinegar Works Wonders it has all sorts of ways you can use vinegar to clean. Some of them I already knew because, well my mom taught me (she is so smart) but some of them were news to me.  One I tried and it worked really well!! I have had a clogged shower drain for a while now, and I have tried everything I could think of to unclog it. I read on this site that you can pour 1 cup of white vinegar and a handful of baking soda down your drain let it bubble and rinse with warm water and tada! So I tried it and tada!! It worked!! I may need to repeat the process a couple of times but it is a quick, cheap and productive way to unclog that drain!!

Other things I have learned about vinegar from my mom:

She would have us wash our hair in vinegar when we were little because we went swimming all the time and the chlorine would fry our hair and actually turn it green. The vinegar cleared that right up! I read on be a homemaker that if you mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar with your shampoo you will have healthier hair and scalp!

My mom would also make us use vinegar when we got sunburned. Either we would mist it on with a spray bottle to relieve the pain and reduce peeling or we would pour it onto a cool wet cloth and just have it sit on there.

My mom also swears by vinegar mixed with honey when you are sick. Apple cider vinegar to be exact. I think it tastes disgusting, but it works!  I have also tried 2 Tbsp honey mixed with 1-2 Tsp lemon juice in a mug full of hot water. It clears up sore throats right away and reduces cold time. Try it, it works!

My mom would also have us use vinegar to wash windows. It leaves it clean and streak free.

Wondering where to buy industrial sizes of vinegar? You guessed it! COSTCO!

So there is my vinegar is pretty amazing stuff and my mom is even more amazing blog post. ENJOY!

P.S. Does the fact that I am so excited about cleaning with vinegar that I am dedicating a post to it make me sound domesticated? he he I never in a million years thought that I would dedicate a whole post to vinegar.