Rediscovering Paradise

Living in Hawai'i is awesome! Why? Because the weather is great - 98% of the time. Yup 98%...because once in a while we get really bad hurricanes (yeah, like that one last December). But considering the sun, the surf (yeah like I surf LOL) and the sea... who wouldn't want to live in Hawai'i?!?






So anyway, Carl and I decided we would "rediscover" this paradise. Since we might move somewhere else in the next 5 months, and we know that we would terribly miss this island paradise... we would try to tour the island as much as we can.

First stop - somewhere close to home. Nope not Hukilau, Temple, nor Malaekehana - but somewhere between Laie and Hauula. It's actually at Louie and Richard's apartment's backyard. Now you've got to remember that in Hawai'i, backyards are not "yards" all the time - most of the time they're beach shores! And so there we went to Louie and Richard's apartment's back-shore...wink* The day was clear and the water was amazing... and the view was awesome. I haven't been swimming for a couple of months now because of so many reasons, and Carl and I were so excited we knew I needed to wear my swimsuit (thanks GAP! wink*) and he was convinced it was a good time for "beachy" pictures!

HIRED! Carl moves on and gets a new job...

Carl, as some might know, is a computer guy. Well, back in the day his definition of this would be something like being hooked with computer role-playing-games (RPGs) and being a mainstay at the nearest internet cafe. But not now... After his mission, he came to BYU-Hawaii to pursue a BS degree majoring in Information Systems - and that degree is more or less 5 months away! YAHOOOOO!!!!!!

Carl has been working as a Network Support Representative with the BYU-H IT department. He liked it a lot and he was so fond of his work mates...So for about 1 year or so, he worked with cool IT people and installed and fixed cables, went into ceilings, and all those IT stuff they do...and I know he had fun doing those...Carl is a very outgoing guy and with that job he had, they went everywhere on campus and would even go to town to buy supplies.

Here's a couple of Carl's pictures at work as a Network Support Representative. From left to right is Carl with his "tools," Carl at work fixing cables, Carl's boss Jamie Haiola, and Carl's workmate Sam working on a port.

Carl, however, doesn't work with cables anymore. Yup - he's moved to a different department doing something different and using his computer skills in a different way. He is now working as the Webmaster for BYU-H School of Business, Computing, and Government. He misses all his workmates, since now all he sees aside from the PC monitor are the faculty members - and oh yes before I forget, he's being utilized as a tech-support guy too! LOL.


He's been on the job for about 3 weeks now and I think he's getting into it. He's learning a different "language" now and I let him be when he starts staring at our computer for long hours (I stare on the TV screen while he does that!).


To see what Carl does for work now, visit http://www.bus.byuh.edu/. He's been updating a couple of stuff on the website lately... In the mean time, I'll be updating you! wink*

MY GIRLS

Coming to Hawai'i gave me the opportunity to be a big sister to two awesome young women. I have grown to love them so much and in fact, I sort of transformed to a "mom" to them. Both of them call me "INAY," the Filipino word for mother. I don't exactly remember how it all began, but I know the bond that I have with these girls will always be special... and now that they've left Hawai'i to return to our homeland for a great cause, I just miss them so much and how I wish they would feel my love for them across the miles...Maricar and Liahona are both in the Philippines and they will be there for at least 18 months or so.

Here's a picture of me with my girls during my wedding!

CanCan (Maricar) was called to serve to the Philippines Cebu Mission. She has already reported to the Philippines Missionary Training Center on January 17, 2009. I am really excited for her... I was able to be there during her endowment at the Laie Hawaii Temple on her 21st birthday. It was really a special day! CanCan is my cooking buddy...she is a wonderful person in the kitchen - and in everything else that she does! She knows how to cook up the right ingredients and she'd come up with something delicious - and with that as her talent, I know many hearts will be delighted with her very own "home-cooked" testimony. Knowing CanCan, I know many souls will be filled!

This is me with CanCan on my wedding day..

Liah (Liahona) was called to serve to the Philippines Olongapo Mission. She will be reporting to the Philippines Missionary Training Center in February. I am really happy for Liah and I know that she will be an amazing intrument of the Lord in spreading the gospel. She is a very sweet young lady and she has so much kindness in her. She is a very talented girl - sings and dances and all that stuff! I know that Liah will touch many hearts with her well choreographed testimony...

Here's a picture of me and Liah on my wedding day...

And so you have met my girls... I really miss them a lot. By the way, these girls kept the "mission thing" a secret, at least from me, their INAY. So I never knew about it until CanCan got her call. I sort of knew Liah wanted to go, but she never told me until she turned in her application papers. I was thinking how I'd get back on these two - how about not telling them I am expecting a baby - LOL maybe not. I'm not expecting yet anyway.... :)

Maybe I'll write to them out of the blue - that still counts as a surprise right? Hmmm... And maybe you can write to my girls too! To CanCan and Liah - Share the love my dear "daughters"!

My Pen and I - My Journey Back to Writing

Back in the day, I wanted to be a journalist. Yup - I wanted to make a career out of writing things that people might care about. In grade school, I was one of the youngest correspondents in our school paper. In high school, I wrote my first editorial during my sophomore year - my first year with the school paper. Eventually, I became the editor-in-chief during my senior year. I must say i love to write. On some days, I have thought of maybe authoring a book someday...and until now, I still think of a book signing opportunity.

Anyway, i must admit i have become an academic writer for the past 3 years.

ACADEMIC WRITER - somebody who writes for the sole purpose of meeting academic requirements; someone who stays up late just to finish a thesis proposal; a person who writes, proofreads, and re-writes a paper just so it meets a professor's expectations.

I guess the last time I wrote without thinking about what a professor would think about it was before I came to Hawaii. I wrote on my journal every night - and even stay up late to write an entry. My journals were very detailed, I must say - that if you ever had the chance to steal it and read it you would literally know my being!




I don't know how it happened but I just realized one day that I have forgotten to use my pen to express my being. I was writing short blogs once in a while, probably to convince myself that I am still that same person who loves to write her heart out. In fact my last blog entry was made 35 days before bidding my bachelorette days goodbye. But somewhere in me, I felt like I have abandoned my pen.

This blog is a tribute to my good friend Shey Samson Bybee. If i hadn't fallen in love with her blog, I wouldn't probably go back to writing - seriously. Shey is right - this is really making me happy!

So maybe one of these days, I'll start on a book or something...I'll see you at my book signing! wink*

Our First 5 Months - Looking Back

First things first! So I know this is very very late - but hey, better late than never (saved me a lot of times)!

Carl and I got married on the 9th of August, 2008 - the day before my 22nd birthday. We are forever grateful for all the people who helped us both in preparing ourselves to be ready for married life and for preparing our big day itself. After two years of dating, we're finally a married couple and it has been great - no more curfews, and the best thing is we go home to the same place now!

We live in the BYUH married student housing compound, aka TVA. We have a neat little studio, very convenient and just the perfect nest for the two of us. Our first five months had been amazing - new lifestyle, new schedule, new friends, new ward, new activities. It surprises us though that in the middle of experiencing a lot of new things, we still feel like we're fishes swimming in water - being married feels so natural to us, like we've been married forever!

I was a housewife for the most of our first month. It's both good and bad. Good because I had the chance to take care of Carl's needs and all my time is for the two of us. Bad because finances were tough. With only Carl working, it was a lot of belt tightening for us. With the blessings of our friends and our awesome sister Jasmine, we pulled it through until i started working in September. When my most awaited OPT card came in the mail - we were both relieved. I started working before September ended. My work downtown in Honolulu was stressful. Waking up at 4am is not just my thing, but Carl helped me through my early morning struggles. I am not a morning person, so waking up this early really drove me nuts. But at the same time, having a paying job helped us a lot - i mean a lot! Before the holiday season kicked off, our savings came back to life and a lot of our worries faded - literally!

Weekends became more precious all of sudden. Its our only time to unwind and spend quality time with each other...

(i know this blog is already long! but im trying to cover five months here ok?! wink*)

As i was saying, we made sure weekends were spent wisely! LOL... one weekend in October, we went on a date and spent our day touring Honolulu Zoo and had lunch at Bubba Gump!!!

Come November, we were all geared up for the Holidays! This was our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as a married couple and we were so excited. 

So there you go...our first five months. There's been a lot of things we've been blessed with...and we are excited about 2009. So looking back to our 2008, we know there's still a lot of great things to look forward to!