Goodbye June, we won't miss you at all

Last day of June. Can I give thanks for that. 5 weddings with all the showers and parties that come with that, a worship night, a birthday party (that I slept through). And work has picked up and been crazy. June. Done. I love the people that we got to celebrate with but I love that June is ovah!!!

And I'm real sad that my watch broke. Scott is all happy because he calls it my diseased watch...it has splotches of white paint all over it from when I painted the bathroom. But I still loved it. Boo hoo.

Wednesday was our church Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay's worship night entitled "Collision." Tom-Tom asked me to take pictures which made me a little nervous because I'm not comfortable at all with flash photography. Actually, looking at my pics from that night, I still wimped out and didn't use my flash...I just upped my ISO, opened my aperture as wide as possible, and wished for the best. I asked Joy to take pictures too because she has a natural eye for photography. The downside was that you don't really get to enjoy the songs. I had no clue what song they were on, i was just mentally ticking off what group of shots I hadn't done. But it was kind of cool, trying to crawl onto stage without drawing attention...plus, it's not the lowest of stage. And there were other challenges, the sweeping spotlights throwing off my metering, colored lights, and smoke. But it was great learning experience...and it was the most Ralph has ever talked to me...and he says my name without an "h" in the middle. Yes!!

Here's one Joy took that caught me sneaking alongside the back of the stage.



But here's what I was trying to get:

(Randal leading worship)

(Stephen-Sunday Night's Worship Leader)





(Randall-Sunday's 8 am Service Worship Leader)

(Calvin-bass guitarist for Sunday 8 am service)

(Stephen-song composer, keyboardist, and guitarist for Fri 8 pm and Sun 10 am services)



(Hope Chapel Choir)

(Jr High Pastor Frank, humbling himself in worship)

(Whose cute hubby is that-Pastor Scott of Singles and Young Married doing announcements)

Darn it...Leilani called me while I was doing laundrey...I got side-tracked...and I realized that I just ran an empty washer through a whole wash cycle. Oops.

(HB 4 mo)-Mondays are rest for the weary

*Sigh, I feel so much better. May was crazy and June is just as crazy. Scott thinks we took our anti-burnout vacation too early. Yesterday was my day off and it came just as I was about to give up and become a hermit. According to personality tests, I'm a high golden retriever with beaver coming in a close second. I forget the details of each, but my idea of quality time for myself, how I restore myself and recuperate from stress is to BE ALONE. I like to spend calming time BY MYSELF. Of course I don't mean you. You're in the small group that is exempted from that. But I do need quiet time to kind of reset myself. And that hasn't happened in about two weeks, Scott and I have had some social event every day on weekdays and 2 to 3 times on weekends. I actually love going to work because I can just hide in my cubicle and not have to talk if I feel like it. So, my first day off with nothing to do and I reveled in every second of it, swept and mopped floors, loads of laundrey and even mowed 2/3 of the lawn.

And my solitude was only broken by Mike bringing over little miss Haley who turned 4 months old this past week. We don't get much light in our house so I had to use our bedroom since it somewhat faces the afternoon sun. And then I draped a white tablecloth over some pillows to help reflect the light. It actually worked really well and I loved the pictures I got. I actually have too many favorites, I don't know which ones to choose. There's a few where she looks like she's sitting up, but if you put them in succession, they are a slow motion montage of her leaning...leaning...leaning...ope, she's lying down again. I tried to prop her up against an upright pillow until everything started shifting and Scott asked "What is the pillow leaning against?" And the answer was, an empty chair that easily slid over the wooden floor. So, we had to snatch Haley back up before the whole prop slid off the bed.

And the session ended prematurely when I tried to put Haley on her stomach for some airplaning poses. When I tried to pull my hands out from beneath her, I must have scratched her arm with my engagement ring because she started crying and wanted to be held from then on forth. Oh, she had this 2 inch welt, which doesn't sound bad until you realize that her arm is only 2 inches wide, so it stretched across it. I'm a little scared of Liz knocking on my door soon to give me a beat-down. I must defend myself. If you think about it, the person really responsible is Scott. I didn't even want a ring. Why did he have to buy such a hefty ring? And why a diamond? Why the hardest substance known to man? Couldn't he have picked something softer and easier on a baby's skin? I blame Scott. Join me, won't you?

At 4 months, Haley has discovered her feet and loves sticking out her tongue.

See what I mean about the tongue?

Watch the slow lean and fall.

Happy Father's Day! whatever

My family can be so frustrating...they're not very helpful. I guess I should have learned that by now but I keep forgetting. I tend to just do things myself and limit what they have to contribute but...even then, they still manage to throw wrenches in the loop. It got to me this past weekend and I was getting so frustrated that i just wanted to cry. I really did have flashbacks to my wedding which made me remember why I got so mad at certain family members.

It bothered me so much that I woke up early for work on Sunday morning and after thinking about it for a while, I called my dad at 7:30. He was in the middle of brushing his teeth but I just stated that I was disappointed in the way he and my siblings had not come through on some things and that I didn't expect them to help, just not make things harder. I ended with "and in the future, you guys need to be more on it." He said ok and I let him get off the phone to finish brushing his teeth.

It took about 3.5 hours before it hit me in the middle of nowhere. Oh, it was Father's Day. Damnit, I felt so bad. I immediately called him...

"Dad: hello

Me (apologetically): Happy Father's Day

Dad: whatever. are you calling to nag again(except replace "nag" with the b-word)?"

Poor poor dad. He said when i called the first time at seven thirty in the morning, he thought to himself 'oh, there's keao the responsible one, always first to remember.'

So, anyway, I owe my dad a big "Happy Father's Day" filled with love. He's been such a great dad. He used to always take us to the beach, probably because it was free. Your birthday? We're going to the beach. It's a holiday? We're going to the beach. One time, he blew up those yellow and blue boats that have the plastic oars and put my baby sister in those flotation frog things and towed her behind with a rope. We paddled in the ocean from our house in Hilo to Richardson's beach, which is like paddling from Magic Island to Kaka'ako and back. He had the lifeguards on the beaches freaking out shrieking on their whistles as he paddled us by. He had us when he was real young. He admits now that he might have endangered our safety with his antics on several occasions. Got to love him.

11 days down (June Worship Video)

I think I sprained the top half of my pointer finger. I have no clue how I did it. But I'm reminded of that Portugee joke. (I'm sorry to all those with Portuguese ancestry, the person in this joke in no way reflects the Portugues people). The one who goes to the doctor and says "it hurts when I poke here...and here...and here...and here...and here...and here." To which the doctor replies "that's because you have a broken finger." I feel the same way...and yet, I feel the odd urging to constantly push on things and then think "ouch, that hurt a little."

I have pics to post but they may have to wait until later today or tomorrow. But I would like to refer to Mike's blog because I like to read his last post "So Close." It always makes me laugh. And now, whenever I see Haley (which was yesterday)...I'm reminded of the two almost-identical men, Mike and Tom.

My new favorite worship song is called "To the ends of the Earth" and I first heard it on youtube.com. Youtube, if you didn't know it, is my poor man's IPOD. I have no mp3 player. Scott tried to rectify that by getting me a $20 generic brand from woot that I promptly broke in no time. So, I can't download iTunes, I don't have much CDs...so if I want to hear a song, I just find it on youtube. Only downfall is I have to go back in every 3 minutes to switch to a new song.

Don't watch the video for this song, the focus goes in and out and drives the eyes crazy. And I think someone singing harmony might be slightly off or maybe it's the girl who goes off. But the piano is great and I love the girl's voice. I think this is a school on the mainland but I swear they look like they could go to HBA or Iolani.

love unfailing overtaking my heart
you take me in,finding peace again.
fear is lost in all you are.

and I would give the worldto tell your story.
'cause I know that you've called me.I know that you've called me...
I've lost myself for goodwithin your promise.
and I wont hide it... I wont hide it

Jesus,I believe in you and I would go,
to the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth
for you, alone are the son of God...
and all the world will seethat you are God...that you are God...

another version. very nice.

Tom-Grace wedding-another day of hope

Before I start, let me please redirect you to Scott's blog for the funniest video we have so far of my niece, Lauren. Scott explains how Lauren associates our presence with her mom leaving and us taking from home and shows her reaction when she first sees us in her house. I can't get enough of it. I keep watching it over and over again.

On June 7th, 2008, I helped our friends, Tom and Grace in their wedding day events. Tom works at the church with my husband, Scott, and we really got to know Grace when she came on a Japan mission trip with us a few years ago. I like to think I helped them out a lot and I was prepared for the usual wedding details...but we did have a problem with the heat...and the guests who didn't start arriving until the ceremony was schedule to start. It definitely got chaotic and I was running back and forth and the poor bridemaids were huddled in the van when I started just shooting them one by one down the aisle. I caught them off-guard, poor things, although, they just went with it...Jen told me today that there was this crowd of people just standing in the aisle and she kind of had to shoo them to the sides as she processed down the aisle. But they reacted beautifully and went with it and it was beautiful. Once it started, you kind of forgot about the heat.

Uncle Norman, father of the bride, made this beautiful trellis that hung over the couple. It was the first time that the wedding officiant, Pastor Carl, was also one of the groomsmen. So, he would step out of his line, perform the wedding, and then meld right back in with the rest of the groomsmen. I had a list of the 3 ringbearers and 3 flowergirls with a description of each one, but I left that behind and only had their names. So I just referred to them as "come here flowergirl" or "get in line little ringbearer." It was real cute when the reception was ending and one of the little boys almost bowled me over with a hug saying 'bye auntie" and I could only respond with "bye bye ringbearer." And the other highlight for me, was the bread roll I picked out at Foodland for their communion. It was the only one I could find at 8 in the morning, or they could have a communion donut (Jen suggested a communion bagel). It wasn't until after the couple's communion when I was cleaning up and discovered that the roll was in fact, an-pan, which meant it was actually filled with bean paste. It got quite a laugh from the aunties all around me who pulled out their camera. Darn it, I didn't take a picture of it.

(Video) Pump It

Still no pictures to post...it's another week before the twinnies turn a month and 2 weeks until Haley turns 4 months. Speaking of which, Mike and Scott called me when I was walking to my car after work...turns out, Mike and baby Haley stopped by our house. So, I raced home and got to play with Haley. By "play," I mean, I got there just as she started getting real grumpy and ready for a nap. Thankfully, Mike showed me the surefire way to get her to sleep, invert her to a horizontal position and insert binky. Funny, Scott is rather similar sans binky. So, I held her while she fell asleep and we watched Law and Order together. *sigh* missed nursery this past weekend so I'm glad I managed to get my baby fix in for the week.

Today may be your Tuesday but it is my Friday...I have my days off and some vacation days scheduled and Scott and I are taking a little vacation, a trip to exotic Waikiki. It's our anniversary two months early...I just have vacation time scheduled and nothing to do so we are taking advantage. Plus, May was a tough month and we need some down time. I am soo sooo soo excited for our little get-a-away.

I'm trying to go through old videotapes and log them. It's kind of silly since each tape has like 16 various clips from different years and random stuff. You know, like 20 seconds of me taping the inside of my livingroom and etc. It's kind of hard to log and organize. I also found that I am a good photographer but a sucky videographer. I found the following clip from our 1006 mission trip to Sapporo, Japan and it was so funny but I know I didn't do it justice. We were at Odori Park in Japan and I was taping this group of drummers to show my friend, Kapono, when I got a rare glimpse of the infamous "kangaroo dance."

PS. Saw "Ironman" last night. So confused. Held captive in a cave with welding equipment and all the rockets and weapons. Why wouldn't you just build a big cannon and shoot your way out...but, no, a flying rocket suit instantly comes to mind.

YouTube.com, here I come

First, let me say that Chayne is all good. She's over her fever and back at home. And I'm back to working days...so if you feel tempted to call me at 2 am...don't, cause I'll be sleeping blissfully.

One thing that did keep me occupied on midnight shift was youtube.com and now I'm learning to put videos on the web. So, here is my first youtube video ever. I had to make sure it was under 2 minutes because that is Scott's personal limitation.