BUSY DAYS Part 2

JUNE 9. It was Jasmine's big day. Our day started at 4am. I know... I know... I swore to myself after all these things are over - I am going to sleep in everyday for a week until I feel normal again. LOL. Anyway, so we all woke up early and I made Jasmine pretty... at least I tried my best. I am not a pro when it comes to dolling up other people - but duty calls!

She was a beautiful bride. It was an honor for me to be there with her every step of the way as she received her endowment in the house of the Lord. It was an extra special day because it was also Carl and mine's 10th month together. We haven't been to the temple since the Laie temple closed in December, so it was a really good time to be in the temple again. We've been on a very hectic schedule, and that time at the temple indeed gave me a boost of spirituality that I really needed. And after all that we've been doing and will be doing in the next couple of days - I needed a calm day.

After Jasmine and Scott's sealing, we spent the rest of the day preparing for our flight back to Oahu.

We had a quick lunch at Romano's Macaroni and Grill, headed back to the resort, packed our bags, let the newly weds take off to their hotel, took a nap... and when a little strength was regained, Pat and Paul took us to the airport and soon enough, Carl and I were heading back to Honolulu. Our kind friends Aaron and Susan Moore picked us up at the airport and drove us back to Laie. We are so grateful to them for doing us the favor on a very short notice and considering Susan's delicate condition. We are really blessed to have great friends.

JUNE 10. Ckaz and Jamie were so kind, they let us stay with them in their apartment for the rest of our days in Laie. They were also kind enough to have us use their kitchen so I can cook for the wedding reception. They also let us use their car so we can finish our last minute errands. We can not be grateful enough to Ckaz and Jamie. Ckaz helped me with some of the cooking. She had to go to work too... but that's ok, she had already done enough. Sheila helped me cook too... it was really nice of her, considering she was babysitting at the same time. Good thing little Tom took an extra long nap time! Carl, on the other hand, was busy helping with the reception area. I know he was really tired - physically exhausted - and he needed a break. I know Carl wants to go surfing so bad (he almost took a surfing class, but he dropped it when he learned he had to pay some extra fees)... so I asked Jamie if he could take Carl rip some waves before we leave.

Though he was tired too, Jamie took the time off from work to take Carl to the beach to surf. When they came home, I knew Carl was overjoyed - he almost wanted to surf for another hour, but we had to be at Jasmine and Scott's wedding reception.

Jasmine and Scott's reception was good - good food! LOL. It was a bitter sweet moment for our family. It was sort of a farewell for us as well. Jasmine was excited to go to lalala-Land with her groom. But Carl and I were sad to say our goodbyes to our friends in Hawaii. I told myself no crying... but heck, I could not help it. I was really sad. Jamie took pictures of sobbing like a little girl, but I deleted some - I looked really messed up. After the reception, we tried to personally say goodbye to our friends. Some families we missed were the Sparks and the Catahans. We didn't want to disturb Lois because it was already late (it was almost time for her to give birth) and Janette was still in the hospital recovering from her delivery. We were able to say goodbye to the Gellors though - Oh we surely miss their two princesses and of course Wacks' queen, Hannah! LOL. Ckaz and Jamie had to leave for Honolulu that night because they were flying to Kona the next morning, they were going to the temple with our ward. Before we went to bed, April gave Carl and I a good back massage - we were knocked out... and so was everyone.

TO BE CONTINUED...

BUSY DAYS

Now that I finished telling you the drama of our "let's move to California" thing, I guess I'm right about ready to tell you why June 2009 was a particularly busy and crazy month for me and Carl.


First, it was Carl's graduation. Second, it was Jasmine's wedding. Third, it was time to move. Oh heck yeah - I had one whole month to attend to the demands of this thing. No, no, no... all these events had to take place approximately a day and a half apart. And I needed to be on top of things. I am not complaining here, unlike what I have been wrongfully accused of lately (LOL) - I am just telling a story (like how JD tells his daydreams in Scrubs).


JUNE 6. So, Carl's graduation - most of it was his business. I just had to make sure he had his cap and gown and that his white shirt, red power tie, and slacks from Barbara Jones were ready... and that I have informed all our friends that Carl would really appreciate a lei, and of course that I had made a crimson and gold yarn lei as well, and that if a couple of friends forget a lei for Carl, i have enough to cover for those so that my dear husband doesn't feel sad on his glory day - all of which I have accomplished with flying colors. And yes, I did not forget to charge the batteries for my camera and I was right in time for the processional so I got to see Carl enter the CAC. I ran from TVA to CAC in my 2" heels so I could put Carl's balloons in Scott's car so Scott can go back to the CAC and not miss Jasmine's entrance. Come on, give the dutiful wife a break.


Anyway, after graduation, we drove to Waipahu for a good meal at Max's (of course!) and to pick up some more stuff for the next main event of the season - the Wedding. We picked up groceries, a couple of shipping boxes, Jasmine's flowers and the likes, and yes a couple more goodies the Canlas siblings wanted to send their families in Manila. All of this we had to fit in Scott's rental car, which by the way, still has all of his luggage in the trunk. Use your imagination now dear friends - the car was packed and the drive was about an hour and forty-five minutes. We were darn tired.While doing all these, I was mentally picturing how I was gonna make sure that our apartment was ready for check-out the next day. I think I forgot to eat dinner. Yes we forgot to eat dinner. It was a blessing when Sam and Nate dropped by the house to pick-up some furniture I was giving away... and they offered to take Carl to McDonalds Drive Thru so we can have something to eat. Bless their hearts. And of course, I was able to vent my stress to Sam... and this was while I continued to pack our bags and boxes. And April and Apple were there too, finishing up the wrap-the-Lumpia-for-Jasmine's reception-job.




JUNE 7. Happy Sabbath. Carl and I decided we were gonna miss church that day. I signed up for a 5pm check out for Pete's sake and I still haven't finished cleaning the kitchen. I was desperate and I was super tired. The packing felt like it was never gonna end. Sheila and Jeremia dropped by on their way to church - but they ended up missing church too so they could help us finish up. Thank you Lord for awesome friends. And because we were awesome friends as well, we couldn't say no when Wacks and Hannah invited us to Charlee's naming and blessing. Their sacrament meeting starts at 2pm. We decided to go. After our part on Charlee's big moment, we ran back to our still crazy apartment and continued cleaning and packing at the same time. We were checked out from our apartment at around 9pm. Vaega was so nice he didn't look around that much. I guess when he came in and smelled the scent of PineSol, he was quite convinced we did our job well. We really did though. I was super tired.




Then it was time to move to Ckaz and Jamie's apartment. They were so kind to share their space with us until Jasmine's wedding was over. They even gladly took us to the airport for our 5:30 am inter-island flight to Kona the following morning. But before we retired that night, I finished Jasmine's wedding bouquet. I did quite an awesome job for a first time - LOL! Let's just say I did it for the love.



JUNE 8. We almost missed our inter-island flight to Kona. I guess we were so tired the day before it was so hard to get up at 3am. But yeah, we did catch our flight, I tried to sleep on the plane, but the 40 minute flight was too short to catch up on sleep. Scott and his dad, Paul, picked us up from the airport and we headed to the resort they were staying in. We kind of hoped they'll let us rest for a while, but Scott's mom Pat had me and Jasmine up and running to do last minute errands for the wedding. The errands never ended... it lasted til around 8 at night - most of it was spent searching for the perfect bolero for Jasmine's tube wedding gown which came with a not so modest topper. I guess Carl and I were able to nap in between though and we took a quick dip at the pool to relax, and to calm my nerves.

TO BE CONTINUED....

On Moving... and Moving On

I suck at moving on... i always make sure that give myself time to emotionally say good bye to things i have learned to love... sometimes, i get stuck - like i get scared of living a life without those i have become emotionally attached to. I hate goodbyes... i just hate them...

But as my good friend Angela Buenafe told me before i left Baguio City, "there are such things as necessary absences..." Sometimes, or maybe, a lot of times, we just have to let go, leave, and carry on...

I thought leaving Hawaii would be easier - because I have told myself countless times that I have already accomplished what I was sent to Hawaii for. I have convinced myself that I need a new environment and that the Hawaii adventure is over. I have rehearsed those thoughts in my mind over and over until I felt comfortable with leaving the islands.

But it wasn't easy.

Anyone who has made a major relocation in their life will agree that moving is INDEED EXHAUSTING.

Carl and I felt mentally drained as we thought about choosing the best date to check-out of the apartment, the best day to leave the island, the cheapest flight, the most convenient airline, who to temporarily stay with, the best way to ship things, which stuff are to be kept and which are to be tossed, and most of all how to financially survive the big move. We had to think about all these on top of Carl's equally important goal he had to focus on - graduation.


A wise friend of ours told us that the process of our move will test our relationship in many aspects. I guess it really did.


I am a control-freak - i don't want to use the word perfectionist because though i hate flawed plans, I prefer to think that it is a matter of checking all loop holes before pushing through. Carl is a planner too. However, it seemed to me like he wasn't doing what was supposed to be in the plan. I become agitated by his simplest deviation from "our" plan. It felt frustrating because I didn't want to go through things all over again and go back to square one. But then at the end of the day, I realize how hard it would have been for Carl to accommodate all my preferences while trying his best to make this move easier.


I admit though that I had broken down a lot of times. I cried and yelled at myself while packing and thinking about other things all at the same time. Everything was happening in front of me and I, the great control freak, was losing control. Carl's graduation, Jasmine's wedding, the big move - happening one after the other. I don't know if I missed something while we were planning for this... but I guess somewhere along the way, I forgot to pause and think. There I was - drained and exhausted.


On the brighter side, moving taught me valuable lessons of love and friendship. Love for the things that made me happy while I was on the island, love for the people who have accepted me for who I am, and love for the place that showed me what I really wanted. Kissing my blender and Carl's guitar goodbye were few of my emotional moments (yes, it sounds dramatic - but hey, these things meant a lot to me... especially Carl's guitar)... few of those that I was really caught off guard, moments that I thought I wouldn't have to go through because I have prepared myself for this.

kissing Niobe bye-bye

had to say bye-bye to Shawn and Lindsey, our super neighbors

gotta let go of Carl's guitar

this whole crying thing wasn't just me...

I tried not to cry on our last day on the island. Because yes, there are no real goodbyes so to speak - only "see you later"s. But because I am a drama queen, oh yes, I did cry.

these are just some of the people that makes leaving really hard

Indeed moving was a big challenge. Leaving things and people behind and moving on to find what's out there for Carl and I. I was scared - this was more scarier for me than it was to come to Hawaii. Carl tried his best to get the fear get the hell out of me...you bet he did. Some days, I thought I'd go nuts.


But... well here I am... still have my sanity intact... and yes, I kind of survived the move. I still get that scared feeling once in a while and it goes to my head sometimes i feel crazy - but Carl is here - and he keeps me moving on, and believing that there is something for us here in California.

THE JUNE THAT WAS...

Perfect title for a come back, huh?

Oh yeah!

Blame it on the got-to-sell-our-stuff hey days, which needless to say, had us saying bye bye to our dutiful desktop for a couple bucks that would help us start moving on... Oh yes - I needed Carl to promise me I had to tell the world we were going to do the big move to California before I get deprived of a computer. So, if you might have noticed, the last thing you've heard about us was - exactly that!




We made our move to California a couple of days after Carl shook hands with Pres. Wheelwright at the CAC - also known as GRADUATION.







And here we are now - one month after Carl's glamorous cap and gown day in Hawaii. Aloha California!!!





With our dear sister Kathleya and her husband Ricky's help - BLESS THEIR HEARTS - Carl and I were able to make the transition. We now live in Lakewood, a city in Los Angeles county. The place is pretty cool - and our apartment is really awesome, especially because we now have a bedroom (yahoo!) - though i still miss our cute little studio back in the TVA.

So what actually happened from the time we announced our big move up til the time you are now able to read this blog article?... its a long story - and I won't try to fit it in one long boreeeeeeng essay... so hang in there -

because I SURVIVED THE MOVE TO TELL!