I love my husband...

Crazy and all. My co-counselor in the YW presidency emailed me this picture of Vaka this morning to "brighten my day". It was taken when they knew each other at BYU-Hawaii years ago. I think I'll have to dig through our own collection of photos and continue posting these gems so that others can catch a glimpse of what my dear husband used to look like back in his crazy single days!!

Sweet Indulgence

I LOVE pineapple. What is better than pineapple? Pineapple with li hing mui.

Nothing compares to the sweetness of true hawaiian pineapple, but this weekend I settled for buying a decent pineapple at Costco. Last night it finally looked ripe enough to cut into, and so I did. Pretty sure I could have eaten the whole thing on my own, but I was kind enough to leave half for Vaka. For our wedding in Hawaii, I was determined to serve this yummy concoction as a part of the meal at our reception. However, pineapple to feed hundreds of people would typically be quite pricey. Lucky for me, Vaka has family that owns a fruit stand on the north shore and they sold it to us for the wholesale cost they pay to get it from Dole. So serve it we did. Before leaving the reception that night, I made sure to have someone load us up with lots and lots of pineapple along with some otai, and since we didn't eat a whole lot AT the reception, upon arriving at the hotel we sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean and stuffed ourselves with sweetness for a perfect end to a perfect day. Sitting in my apartment in Utah watching CSI while eating it wasn't quite the same experience... but it sufficed. And I will continue to dream of the day when we are back in Hawaii and I can consume all the fresh, juicy pineapple I want!

March is Missionary Month....

Last night, we welcomed home my cousin Amy from her mission. She's been serving in the New Jersey Morristown mission for the last 18 months and was released a week ago but has been showing her family around NJ/NY and yesterday they finally arrived home. It was SO great to see her and I am very excited to spend lots and lots of time with her!!

Today, my brother-in-law Feliha'a is being released from the Oakland California mission. I have never met him since Vaka and I met and started dating shortly after he left, and even though we don't get to see him now, we are excited for him to be home and hope to be able to see him in Hawaii in June. Then before we know it, Vaka's youngest brother Manatau will be flying out to join us for a few days before he enters the MTC on April 29th to prepare to serve in Nicaragua. We love our missionaries!!

Distaste for Daylight Savings

To Whom it May Concern-

Please be advised that I do not like daylight savings. Especially when I am pregnant. I barely function on 10 hours of sleep a night, so just imagine how difficult it is for me to be robbed of a whole hour. I am not sure who is responsible for such an odd thing, especially leaving out Hawaii and Arizona in the whole equation. Have you considered leaving this decision to the general public? I think such a proposal would be a great addition to this year's already confusing and complicated election ballot.

Let me clearly explain how this sad occasion effected my sleep on the night of March 8th. My sweet husband had to awake at 5:00 a.m. to be in Ogden by 7:00 a.m. for military training. Problem 1: We do not have an actual alarm clock in our household, rather we rely on cell phones. Problem 2: Neither of us could remember whether or not our cell phone changed automatically or if we had to manually reset the time. Problem 3: My husband awoke at 4:00 a.m. so that in the event that the clocks did not automatically change, he would not be late. In his stupor of half slumber, he was unable to make out the clock correctly, and said that it did indeed read 4:00, meaning it was actually 5:00, so he would need to shower and get ready for the day. Problem 4: After being unable to fall back asleep for nearly half an hour after he woke me up, I roll out of bed to get a drink of water, and realize that my husband had read the clock wrong and it was actually 3:30, so therefore only 4:30, not 5:30. Problem 5: By this point, neither of us were able to fall back asleep.

As you can see by the evidence provided, this method of changing time creates much more confusion than need exist at such a simple hour of the night. For this reason, I submit an appeal to discontinue daylight savings and let us all simply let the sun run its natural course. If you fail to grant my request, I will be packing my bags and moving to Hawaii so I no longer have to deal with you and your crazy schedule.

Sincerely,
Your tired and cranky constituent

Is this my boyfriend??

That is what I heard this afternoon (along with a lot of laughter in the background) when I answered my phone from a number I didn't recognize. I was sure it was one of my young women, trying to be funny with their friends on their lunch break. I was so confused. Finally I ask the unknown voice who she is and she responds, "It's Amy!" It was my sweet cousin and friend, Amy Lou, who was released just minutes before as a missionary!! Her mom had handed Amy her new cell phone, and had her call the number listed under the name "Amy's boyfriend" in address book. Now you can imagine why we were both quite confused!! Needless to say, it was quite hilarious once it was all figured out, and such a nice surprise. Talking to her made my day!! I have been quite jealous that her family was able to fly out and be with her a whole week before the rest of us do, so talking to her was truly the next best thing. Ames and I have been best buds since we were young, and I have missed her so much these past 18 months!! It was especially hard having her gone to not share in the biggest event in my life this past year - my wedding. I can't wait to have her back and have many more fun times together.

I am, after all, her new boyfriend. :)

(one last big family picture before she left for New Jersey in August 2006)