Sweet November

It's hard to imagine that the entire month is over! It was so BUSY! Just nuts! But I'm sure that's what added to the fleeting feeling of November 2010. I picked up a 2nd job at Old Navy as part of one of my "Always wanted to try that" things. Let's just say it's a lot harder than it looks! I'm only on the roster until the end of the holiday season so I'm going to ride it out until then.

The early weeks were jam packed with YW in Excellence for Jigz and Audrey's birthday planning. Then came this years Thanksgiving pie sales and the actual Thanksgiving holiday. Whew! Now that it's reflection time, I'm pretty proud of everyone for the way things came together at EVERY event! As with most things, not one person could do it alone. I wish I could've blogged about each event individually. But since I couldn't, I'll lay it all out right here. LOL To spare you a weeks worth of reading, I'll give you more pictures than descriptions. :-)

First things first - YW in Excellence

This is one of the value display tables. They all looked so nice!Some of the girlsJigz family tree chartHer actual TreeThe pot for her "tree" it was nice!
I enjoyed the program and I'm sure it was a boost to get the girls working on their personal progress.

That very weekend was Audrey's party. What a "SWEET" get together that was! I'll spare you all of the millions of pictures because you can view them on FB. But here are just a few so you get the overall idea. I LOVED the theme and thanks to sissy Salomay and good company from Tasha and Sia (who were working on the candy decorations) the cake ended up looking pretty good! Of course it was a team effort lead by Audrey's mama Tasha to get everything up and ready so kudos to all the sissy's who worked together to make it happen for our Audrey Love.

Lollipop and Gumdrop centerpiecesAudrey's "Sweet Factory" Candy TableAudrey and her Mama TashaGumball Machine FavorsBirthday Cake

Then came the pie making for the Elders and their pie sale. It was some work! Thank goodness the boys were actually really helpful! Maybe a little more than I expected. LOL Eric and Hola came to help so with 4 guys total we were able to get all 90 pies cooked in just under 20 hours. We started Tuesday morning at 10am and topped our last pie at 4:30am. They're some GOOFBALLS! But what do you expect with that many dorky guys? LOL I'll add a few extra pics here because they asked me not to upload to FB. LOL They raised over $700!!! Not bad!

Prepping banana cream pieOnly GUYS would think to do an egg shotGROSS!Peach Cobbler before bakingBanana CreamAll wrapped and ready to go!Cook that puddingChocolate, Coconut and Banana CreamEven Luvie HelpedAssembly Line Time!Their very first pickups! Thanks Ni and Kalo!!!Cool guys got me a gift to show their appreciation! Sweet right? Well Osi is the one who actually got it before heading over the day they delivered all their pies. It was lipgloss and a cute bag - they know me too well!

After all that baking came the random shots. LOL They were such dorks BUT it helped to keep things lively at 4am.

Hola doing the pose that he says girls do all the time. LOL
They're re-enacting a pose we did with the girls like 10 years ago.CHEEZY!!Osi showing off his apronPeace signs and pucker lipsEric showing off his heart.I joined the fun every once in a whileHola scaring the turtle pie LOLMarky Bo is a cool guy What time is it?!?!What are you guys teaching my baby!?!?!

And FINALLY it was Thanksgiving day! Original plans to combine with the entire Unga clan fell through because of just how DEEP everyone is. So instead of a HUGE thanksgiving we had our regular BIG one with the tradition of lighting xmas lights after dinner. Food was good, company was good and sleep was the BEST! LOL Nia and her little family came by too but we didn't get any fliccs! Here are a couple Thanksgiving day shots no descriptions needed.:-)

Overall this November was jam packed with FUN! I enjoyed every minute of it and most importantly I'm THANKFUL for those who make life exciting and worth all of the struggles that come. I couldn't imagine things any other way.

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!