Date Day 09-09-09

September 09, 2009 marked the last day of my very last final for my very last Communication class.  I just had a seven page paper about the future of organizations to hand in that day at 9:50am then I was free!!!

Anyways, it just so happened that it was also Mavericks day off from both the Kualoa Ranch and the PCC so basically from the time that I got out of my class till wenever...we were both free!!!

Oww...lemme start the story from a different place...On Monday, we have finally found a great car that meets our budget.  After a very obsessive few days checking and checking craigslist over and over again, Maverick came across a royal blue 96 Ford Taurus that looked pretty good in pictures.  So he did his thing.  Called and arranged a time to meet and...lo and behold...'

MEET RAMESIS!!!

Maverick named it Ramesis because the guy who sold it to him was Egyptian.  So hes a pretty good looking car and he runs great too!  And he is also is my birthday present!!! nways, we decided to test him out and get to know him better on the 9th of the 9th 2009. 

Here's what happened:

First we went to this place.

This is Malaekehana Beach Park or otherwise known as Castles.  At first I didnt want to go all the way to the North Shore because I didnt want to have any temptations to spend money.  Castle is about a 5 min drive so we just laid out for a while until we got so hot and bored so we decided that we do want to go to the North Shore after all. 

On the way there we stopped at the Kahuka Farm fruit stands and bought some of these.

 And yes, they are the green ones.  I love love LOVE super sour green mangoes! Maverick doesnt understand but he still buys it for me...and even if he hates hates HATES the smell of bagoong (which is what i eat it with - a filipino type of shrimp paste thing).

And then made our way to Halei'wa.  For those of you who have never been in Oahu, driving to the North Shore is great!  Hawaii is just beautiful and that drive is full of amazing sights!  Also, its round bout the time that the surf is starting to come back up so the waves are looking great!

We ate at Kua'aina Burgers and I got an avocado burger which looks like this.

 and it was as yummy as it looked! Maverick got the bacon burger which is pretty much the same but with a bacon instead of an avocado.

Then we stopped at some beach (I think it was genegators) to watch some of this

 But the surf was smaller by this time and the sun was blazing hot so we left after a few minutes.

Sorry bout my photos but as shocking as it seems, I forgot to bring my camera that day.  So I had to pull these out from google.

Now, for some baby news...IT has been moving sooooo much!!! Maverick is getting frustrated with me because I try and make him feel IT but I guess ITS movement is still too light for him to feel anything...but last night, I was sitting all slouched on the sofa and IT started moving.  So I watched my tummy and I could see it moving...or more like twitching...hehehe...I just thought that it was cool coz now I am seeing more proofs that this baby is well and truly getting bigger and stronger...not that the growing belly is not proof enough...

Anyways, dats all from me for now...Hope everyone is doing great!

ALOHAZ!!!

Leadership Learned from COMM353

COMM353 which is also known as Organizational Communication is the last communication class that I needed to fulfill my education requirement at BYU-Hawaii.  It also happens to be a class that the hardest communication teacher on campus.  I actually started this blog entry while I was in class but never finished it.  So I thought I better finish it.  Anyways, here is just a small part of what we learn about at International Cultural Studies students.

"When a man in the beginning of his life is ignorant or everything, he has no scruples, finds no obstacles, no inhibitions.  But after a while he starts to learn, and becomes timid, cautious, and begins to feel something choking in his mind, which prevents him form going ahead as he used to before he had any learning.  Learning is needed, but the point is not to become its slave.  You must be its master so that you can use it when you want it.  The ultimate goal of discipline in all arts where leaning gained is learning lost."

UPDATES...UPDATES...UPDATES

So the end of the first ever BYUH First Term is coming to an end.  This also means that I am 1 class and 1 seven page paper away from my very last communication class EVER!!! I am pretty excited especially for the one week off that we have till Fall Semester.  Then not so excited to tackle Spanish 301 once again...

Anyways, I have started a new job.  I now work at the Campus News Center which is also called the Ke Alaka'i.  We publish a magazine issue of campus news, community, sports and all sorts of other fun stuff every 2 weeks during the terms and every week during the semesters.  My job is pretty much page layout/graphic designer/photographer/podcaster.  Or whatever else they want me to do.  Ive been involved with two issues so far, which has been a lot of fun.  I really enjoy it coz playing around on InDesign, FinalCut Pro and Photoshop are a lot of fun for me.  For those who dont know what Ke Alaka'i is about you can visit our website at http://kealakai.byuh.edu.

As for baby news, I am now 19 weeks and still havent had any morning sickness and food cravings.  I am feeling more and more pregnant each day though and I really cant deny this bump that is protruding out of the tummy area anymore (and the chest).  We will be having our next ultrasound scan on my 24th birthday which will be a great present since we also get to find out the sex of the baby on this day!  Maverick, of coarse, is decided that it is a boy.  So I give you permission to tease and taunt him if it turns out to be a girl.  The baby is getting stronger now and I am for certain that I feel its little kicks and punches now.  I dont really know when it started coz there were a number of times that i think i felt it but it might be a muscle spasm or just gas.

Anyways, heres the latest scan which was taken at 17 weeks...its a side view of the baby and you can sorta see the spine that is connected to the head...SORTA...its on our fridge right now and being held by those magnets...

Till next time...ALOHAZ!!!

Feeling Prego!

So....I am now on my 17th week of pregnancy and it really has been quite an easy 17 weeks.  I havent felt like ive been pregnant since I havent gotten any 'hard' pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness and such.  And ive considered myself lucky so far.

BUT...I think my luck is starting to wear off.  These past couple of days I have felt more pregnant than ever, and look like it too.  I dunno why it just all of a sudden start but I honestly woke up two days ago feeling soooo pregnant...

I guess this is the start of a long road of having a baby growing inside of me.  It has been much anticipated and we are really excited to see what is in store for us.  163 days to go!!!

Hitch Hikin

YEAH!!! dats right! I hitch hiked today with my other pregnant friend and our husbands...

who says pregnant people cant have adventure...hehehe...

NO CAR!!!

First of all, our car (that we named Samson) got towed off of our parking lot by BYUH Security when we were in New Zealand.  Samson is a 1989 Jeep Cherokee that Maverick bought about April of last year for $400.  The main purpose for Samson (besides transportation), was to be his house during Winter and Spring sem so that he can save his rent money for a ticket to New Zealand.  Ok now everyone go...aaaaaaawwwwwwww...

Anyways, Samson was only expected to be alive for the period dat Maverick was homeless.  But he was such a strong GREAT car that he was still going strong until he got towed away.  Oh and he was towed away because the safety check and registration was expired and we didnt have a BYUH parking permit for him.  So I guess we cant really argue about them having no right to tow it away.  Also, it will cost us a lot more that what we paid for him to get him out of the car pound.  So we are just letting him go...which is very sadddd...specially for Maverick.

So this is the day that Maverick got Samson

We miss Samson! coz now we have to walk everywhere, and Maverick has to take the bus with all those interesting people to work.  And it takes twice as long to get anywhere in the bus.  And to have that independence to get out of Laie.  And be able to go to the grocery store without having to worry about how to take all the grocery home.  And its just a lot better to have a car, specially in Laie.

The point of this blog is...to always look on the bright side of life...

Since we dont have a car to go to our different destination, as I said, Maverick and I HAVE to walk everywhere around town.  Its been kind off interesting coz we get in really really good conversations while we are walking.  So its kind off a good way to spend quality time together.  And its actually been really fun.  Plus, were exercising without even knowing it. 

We lost a big necessity in our life, but, the replacement is actually not that bad...

We are in a lookout for a new car though...Just coz life is SSSSOOOOO much easier!

6 Weeks Summary

SOOOO...ive been pretty lazy with updating lately...Althought there is A LOT of things to update on...but in any case, we are now back in Hawaii and the heat here is sooooo TIRING!!!!

Anyways, we were in New Zealand from June 12 till July 28 which actually turned out to be a pretty long vacation.  So long that we ended up being a little bored at times (specially since we live in the North Shore of Auckland where there really isnt anything to do if you're watching your budget).  Regardless, we had a lot of fun times with family and friends.  It always feels different when I am in the house that I grew up in living with my family.  I know Maverick will disagree that NZ isnt really 'my home' anymore since we have our own house in Hawaii.  But I say 'home' is where your heart is, and my heart is also in my parents house.  A person can have 2 homes, right?

So we took it easy the first couple of weeks, but events started to pick up after a while.  Specially right before our 6 month later wedding reception.  I think its going to be kinda boring to read it all so im gonna tell my story with pictures, as they are more exciting.  

 

This is us arriving at New Zealand...I love that carving entrance thing at the airport

 

Minigolfing in Albany...notice how I was is full winter gear with a jumper, long pants and boots and Maverick has his shorts and slippers on...

Just chillin at Takapuna beach with Rangitoto Island barely showing behind my head

I was a little confused how I was to get in that tiny box to use the toilet at my doctors office.

Picked up my unaccompanied minor cousins from Australia at the airport with their 'jail tags'

  

My best friends Marje and Jam threw me a Spice Girls themed bridal party.  It was soooo much fun hanging out with the girls and enjoying some really good junk foods.

  

Got my hair trimmed...

 

  

Fed the TOO friendly birds at Pupuke Lake

 

Released our inner creativity at Paint the Earth and spent quality time painting ceramics

 

This is what I (and Maverick helped out a bit) came up with.  It still looks chalky coz it hasnt been fired yet.  After it got fired it was all glossy and cool.

2 more cousins (and their parents) came the day before the reception from the Philippines.  This was us at Takapuna Beach with Rangitoto Island in the background.

This is us setting up the reception the night before

This is the finished product...took us a while to get it done but we did it

 

The chaos before we headed over to the photoshot. 

  

Taking pictures at the Auckland Museum.  The pics turned out great! ill post some on facebook because its easier that way coz theyre pretty big resolution.

 

This is us after the reception...TIRED!!! but it was soooo much FUN!!!!!

  

The next day we drove about 3 hours south of Auckland to Taupo and we stayed there for 3 day. My cousins from the Philippines bungy jumped which was so cool! I gotta admit that I was kinda jealous, but gotta make sacrifices for the lizard incubating in my tummy.  We did a few more activities including the famous Taupo Lake hole-in-one, where we could win up to $5000 if you get the hole-in-one which is located in the middle of the lake.  No luck though...

  
We went to see snow at Mt. Ruapehu and walked around Rotorua after.  As you can see, we like those jumping pics

  

Maverick and I went to this animal park place where they had a lion sanctuary on one side then kind off a feeding part on the other side.  It was cool coz they had all sorts of animals like deer, sheep, pigs, ducks, wombats, wallabies, possums, fishes and others.

Before the Australia cousins left, we went to town so they can ride the Sky Screamer...which is basically a slingshot...I rode it about 3 years ago and it was soooo scary...but it was fun watching them.

After getting the flu and being put on quarantine for 3 days, we drove to Kerikeri which was about 3 hours north of Auckland and we stayed there for 1 week with a bunch of family friends.

 Eating fish and chips at the famous Mangonui shop

 

We went to the northern most tip on New Zealand which is called Cape Reinga.

  And the huge sand dunes

 Went fishing at a wharf in Russell, where I call all the fish that we took home for dinner that night.

 Visited Tane Mahuta.  A 250 year old Kauri Tree.

AND MANY MANY MORE!!!

 We also took a family picture with shirts from the Philippines with fun saying written in the front.

So that was just a summary of our 6 weeks vacation in New Zealand...It was a lot a lot of fun but we sure are glad to be back in Hawaii.

Ow and here is a picture of our smiling baby...you cant really tell that much on this picture but on the real film you can tell that its smiling...hehehe...they look so comfy though dont they...

Meet Baby Mitton

A few people already knew but we kept it a secret for a while...but i think that it is finally time to show him or her off...

This was our first ultra sound scan and it was super exciting!  Maverick and I got to hear its heartbeat which was crazy!!! and we saw it move alot...it got a bit shy when the doctor was recording since it wouldnt move...until the very end when it wiggled a little and waved goodbye.  Its still pretty surreal that there is a baby growing inside of me because i havent gotten any pregnancy symptoms.  no morning sickness, no cravings, no vomiting or anything (and im hoping it stays that way).  ive just been needing to eat and eat and eat, which is great coz im in New Zealand right now.  In other words, freeloading from the parentals.  

So right now I am 11 weeks pregnant and lovin it!