ZZZZZZ......

Thanksgiving pies...SO GLAD 2010's pie orders are officially COMPLETED! Slept after 4am and got to work at 9am. Can we say sleepy?

I'm feeling the LOVE!

What a busy week this is! I had the opportunity to help my little sis Jigz complete a few projects in order to finish off 3 values in her personal progress. Our wards Young Women in Excellence program was on Wednesday and it was her opportunity to showcase the work she did this year. I was happy that I had the chance to work with her. She's such a sweet little lady and I know that if she keeps her feet planted in the right place she'll grow and mature into a gorgeous woman both inside and out. While I'm always happy to help any one of my siblings, I was especially excited to work on these projects with Jigz. It allows time to talk about things that don't necessarily come up in conversation regularly.

For her Individual Worth project she decided she wanted to do a some family history along with an actual family tree. Being the nerd that I am, I jumped at the idea and we started to brainstorm together. I told her I would print out pictures of immediate family so that she could start her tree and then we made a trip to Michael's to get all of the supplies she needed to put it together. We finally had everything and it was time to get started but I had to make sure I pointed out one thing first. I told Jigz that I printed pictures of everyone - siblings, step siblings, her mom, her dad and my mom. I also mentioned that I printed everyone because I wasn't sure who she wanted to use but that I wouldn't take it offensively if she didn't put pictures of "step family" on her family tree because I understand that it's about your bloodline and where you come from. Before I could finish my sentence she interrupted me saying "Ahn I KNEW you were going to say that!". I was surprised at her response and she proceeded "Everyone counts because everyone plays a roll in my life, I'm putting everyone on it". With that said, I let her do her thing and watched as my sweet sister put everyone's pictures on her family tree. There is a delicate balance between trying to keep everyone close and pushing too hard. While I was scared to cross the boundary line with her, Jigz helped me realize that there was no line to begin with.

Here are a few pictures of Jigz hard at work -


As if THAT wasn't enough for one week, Jigz and I got back from the YW in Excellence program last night to a packed house (as usual). I LOVE when everyone is home and happy. I sat at the table and talked with everyone about Jigz and what a great job she did. After a little while I decided to go get things ready for bed. Just as I was leaving the living room, my "Bruh Bruh" Hati came out of his room and handed me this sweet note -
I had to scan it because I wanted to preserve it in his "little kid" handwriting forever! LOL Isn't it sweet? The instant I read it I had to walk away cause I was sure to shed a tear. I'm such a softy! I especially love the part about being glad that we're "sisters"! He's going to be mad at me for posting this if he ever finds his way here one day. ;-) THANK YOU "Bruh Bruh" and Jigz for your sweet examples of love. Somehow, two of my youngest siblings have been able to conquer that delicate balance of treating everyone like "family". Blood or not, we all play an important part in each others lives.

Wordless Wednesday - Then and Now

It's the little things

I am lucky enough to be able to have a "tag team" schedule with my hubby. He works nights and I work during the day. That way, one of us is always on hand with the kids at any given time. It works good for the kids, but sleeping all alone for five out of seven days is kinda lonesome. Not to mention, I'm the biggest scaredy cat! Whatever the case, it works for us (for now) and I'm grateful for that.

Sunday night Siua started to get ready for work around 10. The kids already know the routine so they instantly prepare themselves for their dad to leave. Just a half hour later, he was out the door and on his way.

At around 11:30 I heard someone open the door and turn on the lights. Siua walked in and said there was a scheduling mix up so he got to come home. LOVE IT! Papa happened to be awake (he is such a night owl!) and I caught this sweet candid of him embracing his dad with excitement. Although Siua left just an hour earlier, my papaman was so happy to have his dad back at home when he least expected it. Thank you schedule change!!!

Time Flies

Holy cow! I was looking back on pictures and realized that I graduated from high school just over 10 years ago!!! Crazy how quickly time flies! One picture in particular caught my eye. It was a year after I graduated and the same year my parents divorced.
It's really kinda sad when I think about how much was going on at that time. Now that I mention it, this may have been the LAST picture taken with my dad and all us kids. We've gotten together, but there is always someone missing or there's no camera to capture the rare moment.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not "down and out" because of it. At this point I can't even imagine what it was that caused my parents to be drawn to one another. They are polar opposites. Now that I am an adult, I am glad that they took their own separate paths.

It was hard at the time but we're all better because of it. I am the oldest of my siblings and the one who probably remembers the most. From what I can remember, they've never been as happy as they are today. Happiness is ultimately what I want for all of the people that I love.

I just can't believe how quickly it feels like things changed! It all just feels so normal now and thinking about what used to be seems unordinary. It's crazy how things work out sometimes especially when you don't even realize what is good for you.

You have GOT to try this!

Last night at mutual one of our YW girls, Isa Fakatoumafi did a health spa presentation. It was a project for her personal progress and she did an amazing job. I learned so many new tips! I'll post a few of the tips I learned at the end of this post but there was one in particular I'd like to elaborate on - the coconut oil hand scrub. It is AWESOME! My favorite scrub EVER! Don't take that lightly, I'm a beauty product junky. I've wasted my precious bucks on products that are marketed towards women (like me) who like to find the "the next best thing". I'm ashamed to say that I often roll my eyes and turn away from holistic and "all natural" home remedies with the thought that if it was THAT good someone would have "bottled it up" and put it on the market ages ago. I was wrong.

The coconut scrub did wonders! My hands are still soft, smooth and hydrated. I was delighted to hear that you could use the scrub anywhere you'd like (lol @ the thoughts that came up after that tidbit), other than your face that is. So you can be THAT smooth all over! I didn't even mention the best part - it's less than $10 to make a huge jar full. The ingredients are easy to find and if you you're lucky you might already have them at home. The srub is simply made of equal parts sugar and coconut oil. Yup, that's it! Just take a small amount and rub it all over your hands the way you would if you were giving them a good wash. After about 15-20 seconds, rinse them in water thoroughly. The coconut oil we used was purchased at Whole Foods. I'll get pictures and post them as soon as I can.

Here are the other tips I learned-
Teeth whitening - rub strawberries on your teeth for a few minutes as often as you can. The juice from the strawberries will help to whiten your teeth naturally.

Face Mask - a blend of oatmeal, honey, and plain yogurt on your face for 10 minutes will help tone your skin and keep it hydrated.

Blackheads - use a piece of tomato to rub over the areas where you commonly find blackheads. The acid in the tomato helps to keep your pours clean. If you follow with a slice of pineapple it'll double the effect. Once you've rubbed it all over, follow with a plain yogurt rub. Just put plain yogurt on your face like you would if you were using lotion. It helps to stop the acid (from the tomato and pineapple) from hurting your face and provides a "cooling" effect.

There is so much more that I can't recall but in short, I enjoyed it! I loved hearing the tips. It was even more exciting that one of our girls was presenting. I would for sure do it again and I hope you all try too! Enjoy!

Is it really here already???

It's that time of year again. The time that I wait for all year long. Then just as soon as it approaches, I wish I had another month or two to prepare. It's "The Holidays" for 2010.

I have a true passion for baking and cooking. I absolutely LOVE the idea of taking a few things that look like this -

And turning them into something that looks like this -

Yes, I'm the dork who takes pics of the food I made. Heck, I put all that effort into it and it only lasts a couple hours!


All of the baking that comes with this season is one of the things that I look forward to. It ranks pretty high on my "What I love most about the holidays" list. While I enjoy doing it all year round, there's something about the holidays that makes it extra special. People don't think twice about being given special treats. I'm a big fan of random acts of service. This season is the ONLY TIME that those acts aren't questioned by the person on the receiving end. In short, I.LOVE.IT.

This year I'm doing something a little bit different. Instead of just selling my holiday pies (something I started doing last year after people told me that they felt bad about asking me to make them a pie or two) this year I'm helping my little brother Marky Bo and my cousin George with their mission prep. I'm going to be 100% honest, I'm sure they could get all of the necessities without the help of my pies. I also know that because of the choice they made to go on a mission, they are going to have to sacrifice a lot of the things they WANT. I think that they deserve to do what they want too! After all, they made the choice to give up two years of their life in service of the lord. What better reason than that to reward someone? So this years pie profits go to assist those two in making the best of the few months they have here at home. If that means splurging on the comfy church shoes instead of buying the pair on sale, so be it. Whatever the case, I'm happy to help!

Below you'll find the details for this years pie sale. I've posted them on FB but in an effort to chronicle the most accurate information on this online journal of mine, I'm going to post them here too.

Pies are $12 each and if you buy 3 I'll throw in one free banana or coconut cream!

Here is the list you can choose from-

Pumpkin
Turtle Banana Cream
Chocolate Cream
Pecan
Peach Cobbler
Caramel Apple

HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone! Wishing you all the very best always. Let us not forget the real reason for the season. We're off to a good start, let the good times roll!

"Real" Family

Last Thursday was my sissy Salome's 25th birthday! Talk about feeling old!!! Try being the oldest of a huge group of kids and having a YOUNGER sibling turn 25. Brutal. LOL But aside from that, I couldn't have been more happy to have a celebration in honor of one of my FAVORITE people. Salomaayy (I have a nickname for EVERYONE!) is my "older sissy", sissy. We're both the oldest child of our groups of siblings and because of that we share a bond in the desire to provide the BEST we can for our younger brothers and sisters.

After enjoying dinner with my sisters, I began to think about how truly amazing all of my siblings are. Each one of them has such a huge impact on what I do and how I choose to live my life. It is because of them that I strive to be a good example. Over the years I've come to know each one individually and because of that I love them each genuinely. Half/step/whole it doesn't mean a thing to me. The feeling may not be mutual, that doesn't even matter to me. I have 14 siblings total and I can honestly say that I hold them all in the same high regard. They are my brothers and sisters and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Yes, I am aware

"Do you really spend all of that time writing on your blog even though no one really reads it?"

I've been asked that a few times since I "unveiled" this blog. I like the idea of "writing" my own personal thoughts in a place that is easily accessible both now and in the future. What I like even more is the fact that I can treat this like my very own journal. Since a lot of Facebook "friends" are sometimes people I haven't seen in years, I like the fact that I can express myself freely without having to worry about "flooding" anyone's home page or offending people unintentionally because they don't understand my humor.

So the answer is YES! I'm 100% aware of the fact that I have just a few followers (Hi guys!). I can genuinely say that I have love and admiration for each and every one of them. You can't say that about all your FB friends can you? ;-)

Gratitude

I've blogged about my little brother Marky Bo and how he is going to leave for the MTC in February. What I haven't mentioned is that my cousin Osi Tupou'ata (George) is also going to leave for the MTC just a week after Mark. He has been called to serve in Brazil. For the past month Osi and Mark have been prepping together while also helping each other to stay on the "straight and narrow" until February. I imagine it's a pretty hard thing for a 19 or 20 year old guy to do. Thank goodness they have each other!

Since they've been riding around and taking care of their daily "errands" they also have the exciting task of dropping me off and picking me up from work every day. It's during these sometimes 40-50 minute rides that we have the chance to talk about all of the things they are dealing with while preparing to leave home for two years. Often times they are making mental lists of things they need to buy or do. Yesterday they decided to create a "bucket list" of things they want to experience before they leave home. When I can, I try to help them cross things off of those lists. Every once in a while it's a serious conversation about what is going to be expected of them and how much hard work it's going to be.

It was a Facebook wall post from Osi yesterday that made me start to think about gratitude. He left a simple message that spoke volumes to me. His post read -

"Just wanted to take time out of my busy schedule to thank you big mama for everything that you've been doing for me I really appreciate it and I know I don't say thank you all the time so here's me sayin' it for all the ones I missed! THANKS ANE! Love ya thanks again."

While it was SUPER nice, it wasn't the actual message that struck a cord with me. It was the fact that I really didn't think I had done anything extraordinary for him. After thinking about it I realized that not only was he thanking me for all the little random things that I did for him over the past couple of weeks, he was thanking me because he knows that I would do anything I can to help him. It's easy to thank someone for small things. Actually, It's easy to thank ANYONE for small things! But you've reached a new level of gratitude for someone when you feel as if you are deeply grateful for having him/her in your life for more than just the tangible things they have to offer.

There are so many people who I am truly grateful for. And like Osi mentioned, I don't thank any of them enough. I've learned that I need to make a more conscious effort to try and show my gratitude to those who I have been blessed to know and love. So THANK YOU Osi for your positive spirit and unwavering dedication to what you know is right. I couldn't be more grateful for the sacrifice from you and all of my brothers who are working in the mission field or preparing to go. I'm even more grateful for the example you are all setting for my boys and our younger cousins.

3 more months to knock out the Pre-mission bucket list!!! Let's see if y'all can make it happen! Just don't forget # 3. ;-)

Busy Sunday!

I should title this "Busy Weekend" instead! I had such a busy Halloween weekend! First off, you'll notice in the post before this one that Luvie and I attended the Youth Dance on Friday. What I didn't mention was that it was on the same night as our ward primary party. I was so torn and a little bummed when I realized I wouldn't be taking my kids to their party this year. It was the first time ever! Thank goodness for FAMILY cause my boys were able to go to the party with my mom while Luvie and I went to the dance. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked of my boys in their costumes this year, but I'm sure I'll track at least one down soon.

Saturday I spent the day prepping for Sunday's primary program, helping Salomay bake cupcakes for her team party, making leis, doing makeup for the YSA dance (luckily I only ended up doing Tate's after SIX people asked, whew!) and getting everything together for trick or treating. I knew Sunday was going to be hectic and I wanted to eliminate any unnecessary stress.

THANK GOODNESS Siua and I took care of getting things ready the night before. Sunday morning wasn't as hard as it could've been. We did manage to forget the boys ties but that was a minor detail and I just had to let it go. All of the boys did such a good job! Everyone said their little line perfectly with no tears or hesitation. Papa and Joshy sang their song together too! Joshy actually sang louder than I thought since he's my shy one. It couldn't have been any cuter. The entire primary did such an amazing job. Siua's brother Ivan came to watch along with my cousins Isi, Osi and Pesi. So nice of them!

Here are a ton of pictures from Sunday


















Right after church Mark took Osi to Oakland to turn in his acceptance letter for his LDS mission to Brazil. They drove right back to San Mateo afterward and came with Ini and Laura too. Pesi and I had been trying to take a nap since we got home from church but once they walked in we knew that wasn't gonna happen. LOL We ended up heading out to Target to look for ideas for Ini and Laura. They wanted to dress up but didn't want to buy anything too pricey. They found some cute boys underwear and decided they would be super heroes. It turned out kinda cute!

By the time we got back from Target it was time to get ready to head out. Nia's family came along with some of her siblings and they dressed as the whole Yo Gabba Gabba crew. She made all of the costumes herself and they were so cute!!! They were definitely a big hit while trick or treating. I didn't expect to be that DEEP but we had a good time! The kids always like going in a huge group with friends and family so it was perfect for them. We went to the Beresford area in San Mateo and it was cool! We probably should have gone earlier to avoid the huge crowd but it was still a ton of fun. I'd heard they went all out around there but I wasn't expecting the haunted houses to be so scary! I'm a wuss and always ilifia tevolo so I wasn't surprised at how scared I was. At one point Papa even told me that I made him more scared. Maybe I'll just wait for them to come out of the haunted houses next year. LOL