Love is in the air

Hey, look at me. I learned how to make some pictures bigger. Only vertical ones though. Yah, for me. I couldn't fall asleep last night after all the excitement of Leena's wedding. And then I had to work today so I'm exhausted. I can't wait until my day off on Tuesday. I'm sad that I missed out on a hike that Scott and friends from church went. Scott took our dog Charlie. He said there was a steep part that Charlie just could not get up. There was another dog there with the group who went up quite easily and then even came back down to bark at Charlie who still could not make it up. So, our hero, Mr. Ron C. carried Charlie up the hill. Oh, what a hero. But a little shameful for the Sunaoka household. Enough is enough. We're buying a stairclimber for Charlie.

Photo 1: the beautiful bride, she's half Indian-Japanese. exotic mix, huh?

Photo 2: My favorite girl, the flower girl. I'm going to miss her, she was so precocious.

PS. The couple had a sand ceremony part. I don't know where they got the idea from. This picture is in it's raw form, untouched. It just came out perfectly.

Their first dance...the CD kept skipping and all I could do was pray and speak in tongues over the possessed CD player. And, if you can picture it, Scott was by himself on the empty lagoon beach with a table on the sand and a cooler of cider for the toasts. He was such a trooper.

Leena and Matt's Wedding 2008

Love is in the air. Today was Matt and Leena's wedding. Leena and I work together and she got engaged not long after I got married so I quickly volunteered to help. After my wedding, I have sympathy for all brides-to-be everywhere. So, if you're getting married soon, hit me up now because I'm pretty sure my sympathy pains are fading and fading fast.

I'm going to keep this short because my lovely sister, when asked if she read my blog, said "'um, some of it. There's just so many words." So she missed the story of our mother, but knew all about the green sweater mention. I think she just skims and looks for her name...or her child.

I have to work early tomorrow and I'm tired since Trang and I, and Scott too, worked really hard today to help Leena with her wedding. But I couldn't resist putting the first two pictures up with more to follow next week.

Congratulations to Matt and Leena!!!

Photo 1: The ringbearer, Lily, put up much resistance to the flower headpiece. She was adorable, they had her practice dry runs of running up and down the aisle.

Photo 2: Probably my fave pic. This was actually during the ceremony. I just happened to turn around and saw this little boy trying to escape. It was great, he was so funny. Later the couple had their toasts out on the beach(we were at Ko Olina/Paradise Cove) and Scott said the boy just threw himself face-down on the sand and looked like he was making snow-angels.

Hilarious...check it out before it expires

Miss Ruthie made me and Scott the most hilarious Christmas E-Card that I have ever received in my life. You need Java to watch it. Hurry and watch it before it expires.

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/bxjWlG2sLuN2phZkcblIIMHS

The three naughty elves on the roof are (left to right) Steve, Jasen, and Kevin

Musings of a Sunday Night

Random thoughts for tonight:

I was on news footage on several channels for a very very tragic event that still makes me cry when I drive by the highway sometimes. There is footage of me dusting a railing for fingerprints and it looks like I'm smiling, which I swear I was not. I got a lot of comments about it and people who offered to pray for me. One sweet woman even brought me flowers and I started to cry again when she hugged me. But then there is the voicemail message from my mother... here is an excerpt

"...I saw you on the news, baby girl. I didn't think it was reason to call considering the circumstances (and yet the call)...

I just wanted to say I love you. I love you. I love you. (oh that's sweet. I really..oh wait, she is still going)...

This might be silly but, I hope you remember to wear sunblock.

You're not the most tan person.

You should wear sunblock...you know, you've had enough experiences with being burned...anyways, I love you..."

click

Sigh, memories of being mocked by my entire family growing up for being little snow white. Apparently, it never ends.

Moment 2: Scott and I were talking about our wedding photos again(by Nely Fok) because he finally showed his mom the pictures. And as we discussed our favorite pictures, Scott says " I really love the pictures of your grandpa and my grandpa." I nodded in agreement. Scott : " I think because there's so much texture in the picture. You know, they're all wrinkly and stuff"

Hee hee, i am so emailing my grandpa with that story.

Photo 1: Sailor Moon

Photo 2: I think this picture is so cute because she looks like she's dwarfed by the chair.

Photo 3: A Montage if you will

PS. I bought her that sweater from Gymboree and I remember telling the saleslady that my sister probably wouldn't like it because it was "haole" clothing. So far, at the past family events, I've seen my Lauren in a filipino-like fuschia and green dress or a bob marley onesie. So, when I returned Lauren I just kept the sweater in my car. I did get a call from my sister demanding to know where it was and she emphatically told me "hello, of course I like haole clothes, i give all my kids haole names." I didn't understand it completely but I will return it promptly.

Happy New Years!!!

Hi, I'm Lauren, I like to lick my pillow and eat cheerios off the ground. = )

I'm not kidding about the licking pillow thing. I showed this nifty little trick to Scott and Lisa S. I put Lauren in her carseat and told them to "watch this." Lauren is just sitting there with her big brown eyes staring at us staring at her. Then I plop her little Elmo pillow in her lap and in 0.35 seconds, she leans forward, sticks out her tongue and licks away. And she won't stop until she falls asleep or you take her out of the car seat. She's weird that way.

Hmmmm, this if my first New Year's that I don't have a list of Resolutions all ready to go. I'll have to think about it. It has been a super busy 2008 and I'm already $10,000 dollars in the hole. We were sitting out in the church courtyard at the end of the Sunday 8 am church service. I was trying to eat my breakfast before I had to report to a children's church meeting. I handed Scott my dirty napkin and he said he could throw it in the trash can...the trash can was about 30 feet away. Um, there's no chance in the world. Plus, it's a little napkin, my mind was working furiously trying to weigh the laws of physics with the force needed to propel that napkin through strong headwinds. Ooooh, I see easy money.

I told him, "I'll take that bet and I'll give you 100 to 1 odds"

Scott: "Okay, I'll bet you five dollars."

Me: "I'll bet you five dollars!!! Wait, I want $100 dollars, I just want to bet so that I get $100 dollars WHEN you lose."

Scott: That means I get ten thousand dollars if I make it.

Me: Whatever! Deal

Then he threw it and it was like slow motion. Time slowed down. I remember turning my head and then having this weird fear that he was going to palm the napkin and try to outsmart me so I just stared at his hand. But everyone around me started cheering and they said...they SAID he made it. I didn't believe them and I ran over and saw a napkin in the trash can but, heck, hello, I'm sure there are plenty of used napkins already in the trash can. But I guess I have to believe. Everyone vouched for Scott...he is a pastor and we did happen to be at church with God-fearing people. I don't know...I still don't want to accept that he actually made it and I didn't even get to see it. $10,000...we're working out an installment plan.

Hey you all!!! Welcome to 2008!!!

Sugarbowl Ain't So Sweet

The Sugarbowl and the SuperDome:

I went to a few Boston College games but they were so long ago, I can't remember them. So this was like a new experience for me. We all sat together(except my parents who had nicer seats) with the McWilliams boys and Uncle Augie behind the field goal. I bought posterboards from Walgreens pharmacy and made signs in our hotel room. Like:

Bulldogs Can't Stop Hawaii (B.C.S. Hawaii)- but it turns out they could and they did

Hawaiian Recipe: Bulldogs + Sugar + Shoyu = Adobo (Scott's idea, it was a big hit with the fans, I had to hold it up for a couple of minutes so people in our section could take pictures of it) Turns out we ate something alright, but it wasn't the opposite team.

Imua, e na koa. We Believe. (Go forward Warriors)= And we did believe, but they didn't move forward so much as they moved backwards.

It was a depressing game but I still thought it was fun anyways. The stadium was huge and amazing. The noise was deafening. I guess it was good that we had nothing to cheer for after the first quarter because I was certain I was going to lose my voice before the game even began. And we waved our ti leaves like there was no tomorrow. Some people had the whole ti leaf plant going in their hands. There was one sad moment in the third quarter when Colt Brennan was on the offensive drive and we were screaming at the top of our lungs. Some lady came up to our group and asked us to sit down. She was wearing our team colors so it was confusing. And Brennan is still playing so we were still trying to cheer and look at the field but she kept pestering "eh, can you guys sit down or what?" We were a little distracted by the game but then she pulled out the "sheesh, where's the aloha, we cannot see." I was ready for snap but it was my pastor husband, who was wearing earphones so he did not realize how loud he was, who yelled back "we're standing cause we're fans!!! why dont' you stand?" Still, after a few more plays, the drive ended miserably and we sat down for the rest of the game.

I must say Georgia fans were very cool. They're very loud and intense, but they're not hurling trash or water bottles at us(flashback to Aloha Stadium). They didn't rub in the whooping and so, I give them props. But still, "go LSU!!"

Photo 1: Some fans have pom-poms, some fans have towels. We're earth-friendly with our ti leaves.

Photo 2: Me and my UH-crazed hubby, Scott. What the heck is that wrapped around my hand?

Photo 3: Mike, me, and Scott. Mikey was counting to three and I tried to finish my yawn by "2." Didn't I tell you that no one(namely my parents) wouldn't let me sleep my much desired 13 hours.

Cold in the hot and dirty south

New Orleans was amazing. My ever-faithful UH crazed hubby, Scott, vowed to follow his team wherever they went. So it was off to New Orleans for the Sugarbowl. Now, I thought Louisiana was so far south that it would be nice and toasty and it was, as long, as you didn't leave the warm confines of a thick down blanket in the comfort of your heated hotel room. Don't let the sun shining in the first picture fool you, it warmed up the daylight hours to a measly 34 degrees.

We stayed in the hotel with my parents-in-law(who were intent on using every minute of every day and would keep us out well past our bedtime) and Mike(the ghetto hawaiian boy who used the hotel bathroom handtowel as a scarf for the whole trip) who shared our suite with us. He insists that Scott was snoring so loudly the first night that the people next door to our hotel room were knocking on the walls. I wouldn't know, I was off in lala land. We also met up with friends from church, the McWilliam men and Mikey for the game and pre-game festivities.

I was very adventurous, I did try a taste of: Beignets(french doughnuts that are like malasadas without powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar), gumbo, jumbalaya with alligator sausage, and etoufee(tastes like portuguese bean stew). I was very proud of myself. I even tried an oyster...but, I was right, I still don't like oysters.

We went to see two plantations, one a working plantation called Laura Plantation. It was not as extravagant, it was more a working businessmen. But because of the unique law in new orleans at the time because of the french influence, it was run by women for over 70 years. The women who led the tour had a southern accent, spoke french, and talked about the "americans" as if they were still a new thing in New Orleans. It was great. Reminded me a lot of home. It was sad to see the slave houses in the back but it definitely made history seem a lot more real and present. the original owner had 27 slaves and she had a list of them, their qualities and their prices...such as " so and so works in the field and is hard-working." We had to laugh at one description, it said that "So-and-so is a lunatic." I wonder if that was just personal bias.

The next plantation we went to was called Oak alley and that one had majestic magnolia trees and sprawling lawns that are what you imagine when you imagine Tara. The tour guides were these young teenage girls in ridiculous hoop skirts. Scott snapped a picture before the tour guide admonished him that pictures weren't allowed inside the house.

We ended our trip with a visit to the Audobon Aquarium which I was told of by two Orleans girls on the airplane. It was absolutely amazing. I got to touch stingrays and a baby nurse shark. Mike and Scott keep telling everyone that they touched a shark...they just leave out the two first words. And I saw two sea otters, jellyfish, an albino alligator...oh, the list is endless. They had to kick us out of there....literally, out the side door/employee's exit.

Photo 1: Walking down Bourbon Street in the late afternoon.

Photo 2: The porch at Laura plantation in Louisiana
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Benji's 30th Birthday Party!!!

Happy New Years from Fruh-reezing New Orleans. I always thought the dirty south was hot hot hot. It is giving boston a run for it's money. All those t-shirts I brought are sitting in my suitcase....it is freezing out there. It is still a great trip, despite the humuliation that Georgia brought us in the Sugarbowl, I still think it was worth the trip. It was the coolest experience to fly on a plane and land in airports in Texas and Arizona and recognize green-shirted Hawaiians wandering around the airport. It was like our own spiritual journey to Mecca. The Georgia fans have been absolutely gracious and I just wish I had more UH stuff to wear. Those Georgia fans have logos on everything, we're talking Georgia hats, scarfs, gloves, and shoes, socks. They

are crazy Georgia everything. I'll blog about it later. Today we went with Leilani to look at two plantations and learn about their history, it was very interesting.

These pics are from Leilani's boyfriend, Benji's 30th surprise birthday party. Leilani was worried about people drinking and driving with all the traffic accidents happening lately. So someone brought a portable breathalyzer machine. It had a handheld machine with a package of disposable plastic moutthpieces. We advised Leilani to be very stingy with letting benji play around with it so they wouldn't use up and waste all the mouthpieces. Turns out, there was no need to worry about that. She tried it once and then left her mouthpiece on and told Benji to try it. He did...and got so excited about this new toy that he ran off and everyone at the party was crowding around sharing it, trying to beat each others alcohol reading. Then we got really worried when Kahekili, Chrystie and Matt's 9 year old boy, ran over to the crowd. No...noo....

...Kahekili...don't put that in yo.....aw, too late. Matt just shrugged his shoulders and said "we'll just brush his teeth as soon as we get home." Maybe all the alcohol from everyone else will kill any germs. The centerpiece of the party was the cake...a huge affair of chocolate in the shape of the Aloha stadium. Leilani had it made by a bakery called Cake Lava in Kailua. Scott and I brought it in the back of our Saturn vue and it was a stressful ride but it made it to the dock, and Benji's dad, took it across in the back of the boat.

Photo 1: Someone's slipper by the shore

Photo 2: Angela, Benji's niece, and her friend playing in the hammock

Photo 3: Tracy's daughter posing by the amazing aloha stadium cake.