Earth Hour, Laie

I spent Earth Hour with Anna and the girls. They were playing Uno by candles and a kittie flashlight (that meows!) when I got there.

Earth Hour with flash . . .
Earth Hour without . . .
We went walking around the neighborhood and ended up spending the last 10 minutes of the hour chatting with the Tueller family on Anna's block.

Tueller's house with flash . .
Without . . .
You get the picture (literally)

This is a Tueller tween schooling me about the camera using (wasting) energy. A die hard among us. Love it.

We didn't see anyone else out at the townhouses but when I got home, Tevita said that there were quite a few apartments honoring the hour.

Sweet Celeste with the kittie flashlight. This hour generated a kind of excitement in our family that was not unlike "a holiday" as Celeste described it. Some of the enthusiasm for us was probably the walking, talking, and snacking on milanos but most of it can be attributed to some meaningful discussions we had about our Planet during that time and it seemed that we were proud to be a part of a cause that was greater than ourselves. After the hour, we were still talking and energized about it.

Little known fact we learned from his parents tonight is that in Tonga, they did an hour a night for a month last year! This act was a statement to waste less and take care of our earth. Awesome and can't wait until next year.

Farewell to Keith and Judy Roberts

Keith Roberts is one amazing man. He has been the Vice President of Academics for BYUH for about 9 years. He was LOVED by many many faculty, staff, and other community members and now he's leaving. Many a Pacific Islander student attribute their graduation from BYUH to his tireless effort to fulfill David O. McKay's prophecy. He is a great great man.

So after finding out he was leaving us, it was no wonder that so many people wanted to throw him a going away party. According to what I had heard, the only invitation he accepted was from the Marshall Islands students.

The party was happy, sad, touching, and heartwarming.

Gobbs of food
Gobbs of gifts
and Gobbs of fun
and some shop talk, no doubt
Tevita and I have always had warm feelings and great admiration for Keith and Judy. We heard him speak at a conference at BYUH in 2000 where he was refreshingly impressive and then we loved interviewing with Keith before Tevita was offered the position. Judy has been equally wonderful, insightful, clever, and kind. They are a great loss to our university and the laie community. We will miss them terribly.

THANK YOU KEITH AND JUDY. WE LOVE YOU!

A Gentle Reminder

March 29, 2008 from 8-9 p.m.




If you want to formally sign up like we did, please do. Otherwise, fun to honor the hour and help save the planet by turning off all electricity during this time.

Triggered Memories

Analog In Digital is a blog I visit regularly. I can always count on some fun retro stuff from this author of things hip sans trendy.

Her latest post was fun to watch (just click and see) because it rendered me helpless to memories of my 80's youth. Make fun of the 80's all you want but we ruled! We were diverse (one could listen to VanHalen and Flock of Seagulls on the same cassette tape), we had the dance moves (just do motions that matched the lyrics to the song), and we were oh so open minded (guys wore mascara!).

Although Jenny (author of analog in digital) denied having loved Pete Burns from Dead or Alive, I think she secretly did. Well, maybe not. But reading her post reminded me of folks I did once love (both in the 80's and the 90's) and now cringe at the thought of having ever spent cold hard cash on CDs, concert tickets, t-shirts, and yes, bumper stickers (which I placed strategically on my boom box).

Take a listen to some of the cheese:

A NEW FUN BLOG!

My friends from Holladay Photo found THE BEST blog!! You must must go to Stuff White People Like. It is hilarious and so true! Reminds me of TOO many people I know! And yes, my half-white self identifies with some of the "stuff". (ie. all things Apple, Film Festivals, Awareness, and David Sedaris!).

Ashanti Nirvana

I have this habit. It developed at a very young age out of my love of music. It was a way I could sing along to a favorite song and enjoy the tune when I didn't quite understand what the artist was saying. This habit helped my brain make nonsense out of all things sensible; kind of fun, quirky, and cute actually. Dr. Seuss made a fine living doing such things. But as I've grown into adulthood, I've realized that I revert (or regress) back to this habit out of disinterest, ignorance, or just pure laziness. A bit concerning I concede.

Basically, the habit is that if I don't know the words to a song or how to pronounce something, I'll make up what I think is a suitable substitute in place of such unpronounceable or unknown words.

The other day, my friend Patria and I were at Foodland. We just left our yoga class and began discussing Ashanti Nirvana.

Ashanti Nirvana is the name of a system of yoga, you see. Strange? Well, that's because I'm the only one that knows the system by this name. Forgetting that Patria was not aware of this, I referred to it as Ashanti and stopped short realizing that I had just outed my habit to her. Because I said it in context, she knew exactly what I meant. I'm sure I had an expression of complete shame because that's what I was feeling in that moment. After all, I had just aired my absolute ignorant practice of not taking the time to learn words or phrases that are different from the dominant imperialistic familiarity of my first language! Oh and also, factor in the laziness and the disinterested in learning piece and you've got the concerning habit rearing its ugly head. BUT like the true pal she is, she sensed my shame and said, "That's awesome."

So the "real" (isn't real relative anyway? . . . and wasn't that last question a complete contradiction of the rant I just completed? ) name of the system is

Ashtanga Vinyasa

Fabulous, isn't it?


The following are lines of songs I used to sing before I knew what the artist was really saying. Can you guess any of them?

1. "Pukana pi na"

2. "You can mima pe hel hel, mima pel"

3. "You've got to rin a wild hunt"


Answers:
1. "Who Can It Be Now?" by Men At Work

2. "You Can Ring My Bell" by 70's one hit wonder Anita Ward ("You can ring my be e el, ring my bell")

3. "You get the limo out front" first line of the Hannah Montana show tune


Now that's awesome.

Visitors!

Tevita's parents came to visit us from Logan. They are loving this weather!
Ti took them to Waikiki yesterday and they did some shopping.
They had fun but it's a long long drive from Laie to Waikiki so they were pretty exhausted when they got back (aren't we all!). I think they'll stick around Laie for the rest of the time they're visiting. Ti's mom wanted to get a mu'umu'u but couldn't find one she liked that was in standards.

With these super concerning styles, it's no wonder she came back empty handed

Some up and coming Pasifik designer needs to make their designs more accessible on the web so I can find and post them. These mu'umu'us are too much. Wait, the first two are nice for a solo dancer but none are fit to wear daily, formally, or as even Hawaiian couture.

A New Hobby for Celeste

Celeste just learned how to use my camera. We went exploring in her backyard for things she could take pictures of. Here are a couple of things that caught her 6 yr. old eye. She took these photos unassisted.

Honolulu Symphony

The Honolulu Symphony came to Laie as part of an outreach/fundraising effort. Camille is a member of the Ko'olauloa Children's Choir and was able to sing with the visiting Symphony.

It was a great performance. Don't you just love the quality of my photo. . .

Camille is the tiny little head to the above/left of the symbols (if you can even make those out). Cracks me up out bad this photo is. Wish I could get my hands on a better one. But they did sound like little angels and Celeste got to try the violin and cello at the "instrument petting zoo", she decided she wants to play the violin now. They both participate in the local choirs and I'm so glad because neither have great genes in the music arena, hopefully they'll start a new family talent.

Chemical Free Dyed Eggs

I'm not a craft person, but I do love pretty things. . . and these eggs are so pretty!!! The dye is produce (yes, as in veggies from the market).

www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com is the boss of all blogs. I read it daily. It will give you a link to the site that teaches you how to do these fabulous eggs.

A New Obsession

Cupcakes.

I have no desire to take this obsession to the level of participation. . . but I am starting to love all things cupcake. . . at least the decorating of them.




I found a blog with some beautifully decorated cupcakes but can't find it anymore!
These designs are from www.cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com
Go visit and see the see crazy cupcakes out there and the colorful people that make them~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEVITA!!

Can you imagine having a birthday where you've already accomplished the goals you set years ago? I can't! But Tevita is having this experience today on his birthday! So so happy for him!

He's 38 yrs. old today. Here are 38 things I LOVE LOVE LOVE about him.

1. He's compassionate
2. He's sensitive
3. He's happy when I'm happy
4. He promotes self love at every opportunity
5. He reminds me to forgive myself
6. He doesn't do gossip
7. He always always has time for his family (me)
8. He inspires others (including me) to be their best selves
9. He looks for ways to extend the case for love
10. He's non-judgemental
11. His love is unconditional
12. He works very very very hard
13. He chooses integrity
14. He speaks in a respectful tone, even when the situation would justify otherwise
15. He keeps his promises
16. He's humble
17. He listens . . . to anyone, actually
18. He's patient, oh so patient
19. He's loyal
20. He's forgiving
21. He prays
22. He reads his scriptures
23. He completely gets me . . . and loves me anyway!!
24. He appreciates little gestures
25. He is slow to anger
26. He anticipates my needs (oh so nice.)
27. He's open minded
28. He's a Democrat (ok, for those of you who knew me during my single years knew that political affiliation was a "deal breaker". . . and Tevita teases me to no end about that)!
29. He honors his priesthood (for my non-Mormon friends, check me later about that).
30. He's honest
31. He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt
32. He likes 99% of the people he meets
33. He doesn't put energy into negativity
34. He's hot (ok, i can see him getting totally embarrassed by that!)
35. He's driven
36. He's Christlike
37. He smiles
38. He's mine forever

Thanks Sweetie for being the greatest friend a gal could ask for.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEVITA!!

International Women's Day

I've been crazy busy this weekend. No time to blog but wanted to honor International Women's Day which was March 8, 2008.


"Celebrated on 8 March, International Women's Day (IWD) is the global day connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential. IWD celebrates the collective power of women past, present and future." (IWD website)

Here are some photos of women young and older from around the globe. We must remember the power we have to change (and save) the world!

My Tonga 2007

Traveling to Tonga with Tevita was something we had wanted to do for years. Since this conference came up, it became the perfect opportunity with such perfect timing to go to this perfect island with my perfect husband.


While Tevita had a conference to attend, I was happy to just see where he was born and raised. This was the main reason for my wanting to go.

This is Tevita's house. It's a little older than he is and its where him and his eight siblings were raised. It's right downtown in Nukualofa. The market, banks, cafes', and bakeries were a block away. Ti and I had a lot of fun cruising the hood.

I loved the little footprint he made in the concrete when his family built an addition to the house. Super super cute.

This is his backyard. . . well, about half of it, actually. His family has a huge piece of land. But the part I loved was all the fruit trees and vines! They have banana trees, mango trees, avocado trees, and watermelon vines. How fun as a child to be able to run and play, pick and eat a banana and then continue on the with task of causing childlike mischief! In contrast, my summers were full of eating dorritos in front of the TV while watching soap operas. aaaahhh . . . the life of a latch key kid in Vegas. Good times.

So on to the greatest invention on the planet:
This is going to sound a bit nuts. But seriously, this water tank was one of many awesome things about Tonga. Built in the backyard, it "catches" and then filters rain water. The vai melie (sweet water) is pumped into the house where we got to shower in it. Ok, no joke, THE BEST SHOWER EVER. I never ever knew a shower could be energizing the way this clean yummy water was! My skin and hair never felt cleaner actually.

This was my very favorite part of being in Tonga. This tree is Tevita's tree. It grew out of his pito that was planted there almost 38 years ago. His siblings are planted around him . Can you believe how tall and beautiful it is? I loved it then and looking at it now makes me so happy that he was born.

Hawaii Democratic Caucuses!

I am so far behind in blogging. But truly, I'm exhausted (still) from the caucuses. They were held on Feb. 19, 2008.

I was there 90 minutes before they were supposed to start and I'm glad I was early because the line, like the Iraq war, did not have a foreseeable end.
This photo was taken after I had voted. The line was only getting longer!

The last caucus in 2004 had a state wide showing of 4500 people. Our precinct had four residents in attendance. This year the Hawaii caucus had about 38,000 people statewide with about 150 from our precinct.
So since I was the second one to get to our precinct table, I was recruited to help. It was an absolute blast!!

Confession #1: I still have PTSD issues from the election of 2000. See, I take great pride in the fact that Election Day is always on my birthday, November 7th. So the corruption, I mean confusion, of that election tainted not only my faith in the electoral process but also my milestone 30th birthday. I was living with staunch Republicans who were livid with Clinton, I was in love with a dude who I wasn't sure loved me back (turns out he did and ended up being my husband, but that's not the point!), and my professional life was completely unfulfilling. . . It was a wildly depressing birthday for me.

So my PTSD kicked in when I found myself being crazy anal (highly unusual for me) about every person getting the opportunity to vote and that their vote was being counted in an organized fashion. Ok, for realz, now that I've been on the other end of the voting polls, I know how EASY it is to rig an election. So this surge of retentiveness, unlike the one in Iraq, was really for the benefit of Americans and our sacred process of choosing the next leader of the free world.

Lecture over. Oh, and did you catch the not-so-veiled attempts to send the message that the war must end?

Otherwise, to be involved in the process was quite exciting and healing for me! It was awesome through and through, actually. I think I've found my lot in life. Voting police. . .er . . . Polling police? . . . maybe Precinct Police? I don't know but I know that I'm so into this now.
A picture I took before it got PACKED and I got completely overwhelmed. aaaahh . . . good times.

I have no earthly idea who this lady is. But I knew that she was way too bourgie to be from our district (who wears rouge around here?). Turns out, I was right! She told me that she's from San Fransisco representin' Obama and here make sure the process goes smoothly and to answer any questions. Totally didn't think to ask her name but she was nice and I think she's going to be a famous political face one day. So remember, you saw her here first!!!
Debbie Hartman. Long time political science professor. She's awesome. She ran the whole caucus for the District 47. She was announcing to all of us that even though caucusing was suppose to finish at 7:30, we were staying open until every person got to vote. (We ended up staying open until about 9:00).
We ran out of attendance rolls and ballots! Here are some ballots I made for voters. Super fancy. We are County 2, Dist. 47, Precinct 1.

And the winners from our precinct were:

Clinton: 33
Obama: 117

Obama won our whole District as well. . . by a landslide, I might add.

Confession #2: I've changed my mind (well, kind of) to Hilary. I did vote for Obama during the caucuses but in recent days, I'm feeling like I want to see a really bright awesome woman in that office. Tevita is such an Obama supporter so he has been teasing me the last couple of days about my "shaky testimony". I love how we banter about politics. We rarely disagree politically with each other so it's been fun. But I really do want Hilary to be President!!

Oh, and by the way, I am the new Vice President of our Precinct!!! I'm going to the Hawaii State Convention!! Yessss!! And there is a strong possibility that I can go to Denver in August!!! OH YESSSS!!!