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....

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!

CARL-SIFE LOVE AFFAIR

I have a busy husband.

ERASE ERASE

I should have said -
I HAVE A VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY BUSY HUSBAND -
Thanks to Students in Free Enterprise more commonly known as SIFE.

Here we go...

A couple of months ago, Carl and his SIFE Team won the regional competition in Honolulu, and because of that they got to represent the school in the SIFE Nationals in Philadelphia. They prepared for two months, memorizing rehearsing and memorizing again and again for this competition. It drove me nuts... Carl was busy with hisn senior classes, with job hunting, with two part time jobs, with me, and with SIFE... come on...Carl only has 1 body and he only got 24 hours a day...




I know I know - i got really jealous with SIFE - because he spent most of his SPARE time on it. But yes - I am also the dutiful wife and i convinced myself everyday that one day, when Carl eventually becomes the CEO of his own company, it could be worse. So there i was, gave Carl the chance to invest his sweat blood and tears to SIFE. To top it all off - I GAVE CARL TO SIFE FOR A WHOLE WEEK and celebrated our 9th monthsary and mother's day alone.




But like i said on my first blog about the Carl-SIFE love affair, in the end it was all worth it.




After Carl's months of preparation and a week of being apart - CARL and his SIFE team made history.

TOP 12 in the whole US - BYUH has never done that before. Awesome!

Maybe I could bear SIFE for a Mistress after all!!!

TURNED THREE (inspired by Shey's seven years)

I love milestones - it gives me a feeling of accomplishment knowing that I've been through things that, at least for me, helped me grow.




I've made my a lot of big steps in my life in the past three years... and i think they are more appropriately called BIG LEAPS OF FAITH.

In 2006, I left the Philippines - families and friends - to attend BYU-Hawaii. I even had to give up the University of the Philippines - the university I've planned to attend all my life. But I guess Heavenly Father has been planning on sending me to His university all this time.

Of course I needed to have a picture here! LOL

I was confident that the Lord will lead to me kind-hearted people - and I was right. Even so, He prepared me to meet this man.

Carl and I - building something special

Throughout my Hawaii adventure, I was indeed blessed to have shared my life with awesome people. Not only were they great friends to me, they were also great source of inspiration and they were amazing examples to me.

Island girls know how to have fun :)

Being a student at BYUH and working at the Polynesian Cultural Center was a big learning experience.

Emerson and I with Abish Pelipel at the Snackshop :)

The Food and Beverage AWESOME Trio :)


The Food and Beverage Admin Staff - we work and play!

A lot of the challenges I had really tested my faith and on many occasions I found myself depending solely on God's grace. The temple was a great source of strength. I grew up in the church and I was raised to work hard so I can attend the temple. Having the temple so close was a tremendous blessing.

At the temple grounds on a Sunday afternoon - can't beat that!

The day I received my Endowment

Exam after exam, I made my way to college graduation. My testimony immensely grew as I realized how weak I was and that the greatest source of wisdom is the Lord. In the end, He paved the way for me to achieve what I have worked hard for.

Senior Paper Presentations are FINALLY OVER!

After all is Said and Done...It's time to move on and grow up!

People came and left, and I stayed in Hawaii. And if there was somebody who I knew was gonna stick with me the longest, I figured it was Carl. So after months of dating, we decided it was time to make the companionship eternal.

Making it OFFICIAL!

THE BIG DAY!!!

The Hawaii adventure continued as Carl and I started our married life here in the islands. The Temple View Apartments community is just awesome. We have the best neighbors and we belong to an amazing ward of faithful saints.

Rain Rellora's Naming and Blessing

With our neighbors Ranjit and Ali the night before they flew back to Fiji

New Years Eve at our teeny weeny studio apartment :)

The past three years were indeed full of fun and adventure. As my island life draws near to its end, I look back and I realize how blessed I have been. I can honestly say I wouldn't have the past three years any other way.

DEAL WITH IT...

For this past week, all I ever heard of was finals. I felt so out of touch because everyone is just rambling and stressing out on something I have already been done and over with. This is Carl's last semester and he's taking his biggest tests (Spring term is technically his last leg, but we could care less for spring...LOL). So anyway, this week for me is a breather. I have a four day work week because in observance of the Holy Week. I got Friday off, the perfect day to stay at home especially on a rainy Hawaiian day!




I am writing this just because I want to have the feeling of being really busy - hahahaha! I mean, I talk about how busy my day has been and yet I don't feel like I've been as busy as the people I know. On top of that - I get a day off on a day everybody is VERY BUSY!




So on my day off (or let me just say LONG WEEKEND) - these are the things I have to deal with...

1. MAIL THESE TAX FORMS

These precious envelopes will bring us money in the next couple of weeks. The deadline is on the 15th so I better mail them out now. Thanks to Jeryl for doing our taxes. Carl and I couldn't do it online because we are non-resident aliens so the appropriate tax forms for our classification are not available online. We had to do it manually - so we owe a lot to Jeryl for doing this for us for FREE!

2. HANG THESE LAUNDRY IN THE CLOSET

Actually, this laundry basket is the other half of the clean laundry. I categorize our clothes based on their purpose - private vs. public. These are the public ones. Actually, these have been washed on Saturday. I am a procrastinator at times, and laundry stuff is one of my favorite victims. But I don't have any reason to put off this tasking any longer - because tomorrow is another laundry day.

3. SEPARATE THESE!
[WHITES] [{PRIVATE} {(TOPS) (BOTTOMS)}] [{LINENS} {TOWELS}]

Yes, I am very particular about this. Carl and I have argued about my system of doing laundry a couple of times already. I got this system from my mom and dad. Growing up, our kitchen's floor would covered with dirty clothes on laundry day - arranged in sets (just like above). I became accustomed to doing the same thing. Its challenging to keep up to that though because of the cost of doing laundry here - so i try my very best to limit our laundry to three wash loads (max of 5 loads), and just hang the heavy fabric clothes to air dry whenever possible.

4. PUT THE CATERING IMPLEMENTS BACK TO STORAGE

Last Saturday, I took care of preparing for the Filipino club's refreshments during their closing socials. Thanks to all those who came over to help. Jonald you were an awesome president. Edward, Aprilon, Andrew, Janet, Richard, Ayi, Jemar, Jasmine - you guys were great helpers! Most of all, thanks to Carl for his undying support to my passion - cooking and serving people! HAPPINESS. But yeah - these things really do have to go back to storage!

CATERING 101 with my HAPPY HELPERS - 'Til next catering event!

5. CLEAN-UP AND ORGANIZE THE FRIDGE

Because i love to cook, there's always left over in the fridge. Sometimes, i can't even keep up with what's on the fridge - LOL! HAHAHA. That doesnt necessarily mean though that we have lots of food. Its just that I always cook. So this fridge of ours needs some clean-up: unload the left-overs, trash out the wilted stuff, organize what's inside, and remind myself what stuff should be consumed as soon as possible!

6. BILLS BILLS BILLS AND BILLS AGAIN

Back in the day, i check my mailbox at least once a month. Now, almost every othe rday i have to check our mailbox because whether i like or not, some company out there is sending us something. At least twice a month, thanks to our jobs, we get blessings from the mailbox. But most of the time, we get bills. When we get them, I review the bills, then I pass them to Carl. Then he takes care of 'em.

7. MEMORIES OF WINTER SEMESTER

These things need spring cleaning too. Most of these are Carl's - because he's the student! But I get my hand on them because - I am more deliberate on letting go of paper products that are already useless. Hehehehehe. I should have taken a picture of all the paper i trashed out of this pile.

8. REALITY CHECK

Last but not the least - in fact this is the hardest thing i have to deal with - these jeans that I can't use because I don't fit on them no more! I have gained pounds since we got married. I've been trying to lose pounds for 2 months now. I consider losing five pounds succesful considering I am not a work-out fan and I don't have much free time for tennis matches nowadays - though I know I can lose more if I can only burn my calories faster. I have been cutting on rice, eating either a sandwich or a green salad for lunch, and drinking more water. I feel a little bit lighter but certainly not smaller yet. And these jeans are proof that I need to work harder - because after losing five pounds, i still don't fit on them.

Whew! I felt really busy!

JV and CKAZ COOKS THAI FOOD.....TADAH!

Every Fast Sunday, our ward gathers together on a Sunday afternoon for a potluck to break the fast. For April's break-the-fast, our potluck's theme was Thai food. Exciting?! IT WAS!!!






All week I had been thinking of cooking green curry. On Saturday night, Ckaz told me she was planning on making spring rolls. I told her I haven't made up my mind yet up to that point. Before I went to bed that night, I searched for a Thai dessert recipe. I didn't know exactly what came up to me but I just had the feeling that nobody would bring a Thai dessert. Actually, I had a hunch that people will just bake cakes of all sorts for dessert (and of course Sis. Sibley will bring tons of rolls!!!). So I decided I will prepare a Thai dessert - but what dessert? I left that decision for the following morning...






If thinking about food while fasting is a big transgression - I had a big repenting to do last Sunday! LOL! After church meetings were over and Elizabeth and I did our visiting teaching with Ckaz and Lindsey, I finally decided I will make Sticky Riceballs in Coconut Milk (Boa Loy). It is sort of similar to Philippines' Bilo-Bilo - but they cook it differently. I asked Ckaz if she had made her spring rolls already - she said not yet - so I suggested we prepare the Boa Loy together. I have rice flour in my pantry and she had coconut milk in hers - WE WERE MEANT TO BE!

Ckaz made the sticky rice balls!

I prepped the coconut milk mixture!

CKAZ and JV in the kitchen :)
Click here for complete recipe

WE WERE AWESOME!!!!!