Something to think about....

I came across something in my email today and w/Christmas approaching, I thought this is something worth sharing. (Yes, I know, I sound like a voice from the grave, but ignore that fact that I hardly post here and just enjoy or better yet, think about what's written below..LOL) Hey, you can even repost this and share it with any of your readers. I think this really is something Americans should be conciously thinking about and doing. So here goes:


Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Oh.... Yes there is!

It is time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the Benjamins on a Chinese-made flat-screen TV? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a gazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US (We the People) , encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we could not imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition!!

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion groups.

-- throw up a post on Craig's List in the Rants and Raves section in your city.

-- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments.
This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?


Indeed...so there you folks. Enjoy and God bless!!

Momma's week, card challenge & stuff

My goodness...can't believe how time flies.

I have been stalking some big time fun craft blogs and have been enjoying all the many creative ideas people have which I've been implementing in some of my card creations. One of those such blogs is The Paper Player. Every week they post up a different challenge with a different theme for anyone to try out and link up to their site. I've been wanting to try my hands at their challenge but it seemed like something always got in the way. Well, it just so happen that this week, I happen to have a card that I created for my card group swap last month and what do you know, it fits into this week's theme, which is Birds, Bees, Flowers, & Trees, so I've decided to enter my card in that challenge.

Here's my card for this week's challenge. This is a Black Magic technique card...a technique I learned on Splitcoaststampers. If any one's interested in how to try this technique out, go here. Totally appropriate card for this occasion, don't you think?

Speaking of which, I made a really cute gift for my mother-in-law. Well, it's kind of a belated Christmas, belated birthday and Mother's Day gift all roll into one. I think I've mentioned before how my MIL loves getting pictures from our family, all she ever asked since we live so far away from her. But instead of just mailing pictures off to her, I always try to find ways to make the pictures a little more creative and so I've been wracking my brains out for how to present our latest family pictures when I saw this tutorial done on Dawn's blog.

This is an Envelope album..all made from card stock, background papers, simply scrapping kits from SU and then some. Cute uh? The next images are what the album looks like once it's opened. I know my MIL will totally flip over this gift of hers.








I used vellum envelopes(five total for five tag pages)for this album. I had so much fun making this album and totally loved it, I almost don't want to give it away.

~~sighs~~

I'll probably make another one for keeps with just the pictures of the kids. Cool thing about this gift is I will actually be able to hand this gift to my MIL in person so I get to see the look on her face when she receives it..she'll be here in a couple of week for my daughter's graduation.

Anyways, in light of Mother's Day coming up, I've been kinda treating myself a bit over the week. Yep, I've actually gone online shopping crazy and ordered a bunch of little fun treats for myself..well, most of the stuff I got are for the family, but still...One of the things I got for myself is this book below...it was written by one of the bloggers I stalk(eheh) and boy is this a wonderful treat. I've already finished reading it and will be writing up a review for it later on.

And I also got myself a new hair cut/do. It was actually a highlight of my day after getting my hair cut to see my kids come home from school, the looks on each of their faces. Unfortunately, I didn't do a before pic..so here's what me in my new do.

(Picture is a little blurry..oh well.)
I think this is the shortest I've had my hair. I just love it so much I couldn't stop feeling it. It's like I've had a ton of weight lifted off my head, it's so light now. And I love that I don't ever have to worry about running a brush or comb through it...no tangles to worry about.

To that end, I wish all you moms, moms to be, grandmas, aunties a wonderful Mother's Day. If anyone deserve to be pampered more is you all you absolutely wonderful moms!! Love and God bless!!

All's Well

I got a couple of phone calls today and yesterday family members with both callers calling to check up on our family, how we're doing in spite of the Tsunami that was headed our way Friday morning from Japan. I deeply want to apologize to these two considerate relatives of ours for not calling them first to avoid worrying them.

Once again, we've been very fortunate that the Tsunami has passed this island almost unscathed. Because our house is in a Tsumani zone, my family had to evacuated once again up to our chapel that was located on higher ground. We spent the night in the church parking lot, with the kids sleeping the car and a little shut eye here and there til we got the ok from Hawaii's governor to move back to our homes.

We got evacuated to the designated area around midnite and was there til around nine thirty the next morning. I am really grateful that our house is still standing and that we are not homeless right now. My heart and prayer go out to all those Japanese people. Anyways, we are all safe, Hawaii still looking as beautiful as she always does.

To all of our family and friends on the mainland USA and in Micronesia, All's well...thank you for the calls, your prayers and concerns. We love and miss you all bunches!!!☺

Love♥ always,

A Family 3-Week Challenge

On March 1st(of this year, of course), I put our whole family under a challenge that should last for three weeks. Because challenge is on a time limit, I really shouldn't be on here but I just thought I needed to record this for future reference.

What's this challenge?

The challenge is that the whole family stay off the TV, X-box and computer for three weeks. So for three whole weeks, no one is allowed to watch TV, play on the X-box or computer. Harsh? Hmmmmm...that's what the kids were whining about when I first announced the challenge. Oh you should hear all the moaning and complaining. My 16 year old son practically blurted out that his life is literally over.

The challenge was supposed to help my boys, especially to do better in school and in Chris' case, for him to get out the house and do more outdoor activities.

And no, it is not harsh at all if you think about it. There are actually exceptions to this challenge. The kids can use the computer for school purposes, I can still use the computer for other things, as long as no one is playing nonsense games on here or just wasting time away on the computer, therefore all networking sites are restricted from anyone. The TV watching is limited to only family night if someone has a movie they want to play for the family as part of their FHE lesson...same goes for the X-box.

The first week was kinda tough...I have to literally turn off our Internet if I was out of the house and the kids are home(is it bad that I'm implying I didn't trust my kids? because I didn't...my kids had a way of doing just the opposite of what I tell them to do.) So here we are in our second week and I have to say it's a lot easier than the first. The kids have found other more creative ways to entertain themselves, the computer is actually being used for more useful purposes other than games and incessant online chatting. Our TV has been quiet for over a week now. Can you anyone say "blissful PEACE"?

Seriously, it's so totally quiet and more pleasant now than I've ever remembered my house to be. Our weekday afternoons and evenings are not as chaotic and noisy as they used to be. I can actually talk to my kids in the living room from my kitchen without raising my voice a few octave above normal to be heard above the loud sound of the TV. I think my kids have finally consented to comply since they figure it's three weeks and the sooner they participate without problem, the faster the days would fly by and the sooner the challenge will be over. I wonder how they'd react if they found out that I seriously love this quiet atmosphere that this challenge has brought to our home and I am contemplating making it a permanent thing, well at least the TV watching part though.


What is the purpose of this challenge? someone may be wondering...

Mainly, I just want to show my kids that we don't need to depend on these electronic gadgets for everything and I also want to show them that there's a whole world of fun/possibilities outside of this technical/electronic that they seem to think their world revolves around. And for my boys, especially who are so fixated on the virtual world that their school work is suffering because they are not doing their homework, that technology is not created only for just games, that using the computer(Internet) for school purposes is actually fun if you take the time to really see it for what it can do and actually done something worthwhile, productive and useful and come away with a feeling of accomplishment.

Hopefully by the end of this challenge, the kids will see what I am trying to accomplish with them. Like I said, the atmosphere in our house right now is so much better and more peaceful than before.

My Home Sweet Home

I have been feeling homesick for my home land so as always, I surfed the net and found this video. My face literally lit up with joy and pride...someone has actually taken the time out to feature my home island, so of course I just have to share it anyone who read this blog.

I'm sure this brings out the adventurous and surf spirits in all of us. ☺ So, enjoy!!



Doesn't that just makes you want to hop on the next flight out in search of this unknown place? LOL (BTW, they misspelled the name of my island...it's Pohnpei not Pohnpie and that town in the video is where I was born and raised.)

With that in mind, have a great weekend!!

♥ always,

"Look how far we've come my baby"

Twenty years ago today, my hub and I said our "I do's" and so today I dedicate this whole post to him. I even created my first play list on here in honor of our day. The song on my play list truly expresses how I feel about my relationship with my hub.




My darling Kev, 20 years....WOW!! I still can't believe we've made it this far. Did you know we would make it to this point? I guess you must've an inkling because you were, if I can honestly say this, was the rock in our marriage. We have so much ups and downs and have been through hell and back. There were days where I feel like just throwing in the towel and just forget about all this business of marriage but you were the sturdy one. You seem to have seen and believe in the bigger picture so you were constantly aiming for that.




Yes honey, you have been the glue that held our marriage together. It has been really rough and yes, we've put each other through the hoop and I know it has been one tough ride for you. But even though it had been tough, it has also been the best experience for me. We've come a long way and have truly grow up together and learned a lot from each other. Being married to you has taught me to put others before me. And you have set a great example of what a selfless person truly is.


Look what we've created together!!! This is the fruit of our love and commitment to each other. I am really thankful that you are part of my life and because of our commitment to each other, we've been able to bring into this world seven of the most beautiful and choice spirits here on earth to raise as ours.

Our life together has truly been blessed and fruitful. You and our kids are truly my pride and joy.

So, now that we've conquered the first twenty years of our life together, I am looking forward to the next 20 years...I'm sure it will not be easy but I know it will be without a doubt something to cherish as I've cherished all these years.


With that mind...let me just say

Happy Anniversary Honey!! I ♥ you more today than I did the day we got married!!

Love always,

Sickness and Card, oh my....

Our house has been boggled down with sickness. Two weeks ago my son, Jonathan, came down with sore throat and fever and I kept him home from school for three days. Then just as he was getting better, I came down with the sore throat, fever, ache everywhere and had to spent practically a four day weekend in bed. Most frustrating thing about the sore throat was that eventhough it was painful and inflamed, the doctor said there was nothing wrong with my throat. I took a throat culture and when the results came in three days, it was negative, no strep which was a good thing. My throat was hurting for seven days and I was told that I was congested so therefore I was given some congestion medication. As the pain was easing up, the incessant cough started...I practically spent a whole week coughing non-stop. It was ok during the day, but when nighttime fell, it was torture. I think I only have a total of 48 hours of sleep in one week so I spent most of my days, walking around the house like a zombie...nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing got done around here. I was sleep deprived.

While I was still feeling sick, my little girl Kaitlin was sick also, her fever was constantly on a roller coaster ride. Along with that, she was vomitting all over the place and running in and out of our bathroom, she had diarrhea..poor thing. Just as we were getting better, both Joey and Daniel came down with the same thing. Three days after they got better, my hub came inherited everything else everyone has had for past week or so. Gosh, it felt like a never ending cycle. As I'm sitting here writing, my Kaitlin is coughing, she's moved on to coughing while my daughter Stephanie is in here room with the same thing we've had so far. She's been sick all weekend so she's been sleeping most of the time. Oh yeah, for some reason, the sore throat has affected the taste buds of anyone who has contracted it. I think I literally went on a four day fast during the time I had sore throat. I was literally shaking on the fourth day that I decided to make some chicken soup and slurp on the broth. It did the job.

There are still two members of our household who haven't gotten sick for far and I pray they don't get sick too. Seeing how misery seems to love company, they probably might come down with something over the weekend. My son Chris announced last night during FHE that this Friday he's taking a girl to the school dance so I cross my finger he doesn't get sick by then. It's so cute, it is going to be his first official date..awwww.

So yeah, that's what's been happening in our household right now. I'll be glad when everything gets back to normal again.

On a brighter note, being sick sometimes has its advantages. Being sick frees up a person from his/her usual chores or duties for the time being, yet said sick person can still enjoy or do something fun for a change. So that's what I did, I took advantages of my break and play with papers..our card group had our meet last week so I made some cards. I wasn't able to take picture of the card I made for our swap but I made a card for a challenge that I participate every week and had my daughter take picture of it. It's actually going to be my valentine's day card for my hub. So here it is:

I know, that's a lot of red. And it looks simple enough. I love this image..it's become my signature image when it comes to my hub and I. I like using this image when I make a card for my hub...when we were dating, we were poor poor students so most of our dates were either at the beach or ended at the beach.

The next image is the surprise part. Everyone who knows me, especially when it comes to card making, knows I love 3-D or pop up cards. I would say I am obsessed with pop-up card. The picture you see above, that was what the card looks like laid flat. If you look closely, you will see that there's a little indented area where you pull on it and once you pull it, viola!!

It pops up and stands on its own. And of course, there's a greeting that was revealed. I wish I can say that this is all my idea but no...some other very clever and creative person came up with the idea. Like I said, there's a challenge that I participate in each week...the coordinators come up with a technique, give us the instruction on it and then challenge us to create one. I don't usually do all of them. I usually like to tackle the 3-Ds or pop up ones and the complicated the technique the better...as far as I'm concerned.

So there you have it folks. Hope you all are having a good week and that you're all healthy.

God bless and ♥ always,

Friday Funny

A man in Scotland calls his son in London the day before Christmas Eve and says, "I hate to ruin your day but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough".

"Dad, what are you talking about?'" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer", the father says. "We're sick of each other and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Leeds and tell her".

Frantically, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, “Like hell they're getting divorced!", she shouts. "I'll take care of this!!"

She calls Scotland immediately and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Done! They're coming for Christmas and they're paying their own way."

This was sent from a friend, and I couldnt resist sharing as well. ☺ Hopefully whoever is reading this finds the humor in it...I couldn't stop laughing when I read it.

(When I read this to my kids, they told me not to use this on them when they move away from home, they will not fall for it.)

Later,

Just Rambling again

I've been thinking about resolutions since this is a new year and all. Seems like that is the thing to do, the new year comes and everyone is writing up a new resolution. So I thought about writing up one for myself on here but then I got to thinking....

Does anyone actually accomplish any of the items they listed on their resolution? It seems I never seem to accomplish or even touch half of what I listed on my resolution. Seriously, I get so excited about the new year and I start imagining all the new things I'd like to do, for example, new talents I want to develop, or a bad habit I want to get rid of or new good habit I want to work on, blah blah blah.

See, every year, I put on my list, read my scriptures more faithfully, get at least thirty minutes of some sort of exercise workout into my daily routine, lay off the caffeine, again, blah blah blah...then come at the end of the year, I usually notice I've only done part of my list.

The first of this month, our family got together and toasted our last bottle cider to everything each of wish for the new year and then we gathered around in a circle and knelt in prayer. Usually when we do a prayer in circle like that, it means that someone would start the prayer, say something, then squeezed the hand of the person on their right and that person added something to the prayer and then squeezed the hand of the person next to them, so on and on til we get to the last person and that person say what she/he wants to say and then close out the prayer. The kids were very thoughtful in their part of the prayer, they each pray for each other, extended family member, parents and friends.

When it came for my turn...know what I prayed for? Only thought that stuck in my mind...P.A.T.I.E.N.C.E., yep, I prayed for Patience. So I've decided that will be my number one goal for this year. I will learn to have more patience. I have noticed that the older I get, the less patient I become. You would think that someone who has kids and are constantly around kids would be the most patient person in the world, but no, not me. I get impatient with my kids, my hubby, friends, even strangers. I seem to have little patience any little thing, even traffic light especially when I'm dropping my kids off to school, or when my kids are not moving fast enough in the morning to get ready for school...or if I tell one of the kids to do something and they seem to be moving too slow for my taste.

So yeah, Patience is definitely my resolution for this year. I figure if I focus on this one aspect of my life and actually master it, I just might be able to accomplish some of the other things I've been trying to accomplish for years, who knows. Maybe, just maybe, if I've become more patience, I might be able to get some of my mental list of things to accomplish for this year crossed off too...I think.

What about you? Do you write a resolution each year and do you actually accomplish what you listed? I would love to read what you have.

Anyways, today is Cub Scout Den meeting. I will be having at least four nine-year old over at my house this afternoon and I'm going to try my hand at some simple wood working activity. This should be interesting. Did I ever mention that I am actually loving being a den mom?(well, they don't call it that anymore...it's Den Leader, now). I do..it's actually more fun than I thought it would be. These nine-year olds are such fun to work with, no whining, complaining and they are so NOT picky when it comes to activities.

♥ always,

Wordless Wednesday

♥ Always,

Post-It-Note Tuesday

♥ always,

Merry Christmas to you from me...

I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For my post today I want to share some of my most favorite Christmas songs. Hope you all have a great Christmas.

































♥♥♥ Always,

Wordless Wednesday

Love,

It's Aloha Friday, no work til Monday...

Oh wait, I'm a stay at home mom so I guess that doesn't apply to me since basically Saturday is my busiest working day..LOL.

~~~~~~sighs~~~~~~

Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids. As of today, they are officially on their Christmas vacation. Does anyone know what that means? Besides the noise and the constant refereeing that I have to do?! My favorite of all things when the kids are on school break.....I get to sleep in. No more getting up at five or five thirty-ish to drive kids to seminary and then hauling more kids off to school an hour or so later. I love me some sleep and haven't been able to enjoy some serious slumbering because of the early morning schedule my high school kids keep.

So today, I actually slept til ten thirty without anyone knocking on my door, jumping on my bed or calling my name to wake me up. I tell ya, it's heaven. And of course the kids were so happy to get a break from school, they practically laze around all morning doing, practically nothing, ok cross that, they were doing whatever their little hearts desire. And I get to sit around too after I woke up and just enjoy the slow and laziness of the day...no appointment to rush off to, no commitment to keep, Nada, zip, zilch.

I took my final yesterday so you could say I'm officially on a school break too...although since there was only one class I was taking, it didn't feel like much. And last night, our ward had a Christmas party. It was called a night in Bethlehem..we had to dress up in Biblical times and started off the evening with the Primary kids doing a skid of the Savior's birth. We were told in advance to bring canned goods to give to the Bishop, in turn, he and his helpers give us a bag of coins(those fake candy coins) that we can use in the market place to buy food and other merchandise. I tell ya, the activities committee did such a beautiful, it actually felt like you were in Jerusalem peddling goods or bargaining for goods. They even had a live nativity scene set up in the Primary room for anyone to go and have their pictures taken. (Kaitlin fell asleep and my boys each took off on different directions to enjoy the night, we didn't have our pictures taken. And I also forgot to take my camera with me...bummer!) I actually like the set up...there was no Santa in sight, which I think it's very fitting since this party was taken place in a place of worship. I'm glad that someone actually thought to plan a Christmas party where the main focus is on the Savior...not that I have anything against Santa, mind you.

Oh yeah, my daughter Jenn went to Sadie Hawkins and it was so cute she asked this cute boy to be her date. She actually put time, money and effort into this dance. You wanna know how she asked the guy to be her date? She got a shirt, wrote on the front "wash me" and on the back she wrote "Sadie's?". And then she wrote a bunch of girls' name with washable markers and she wrote her name with a permanent marker. And then she had some random person gave the shirt to the boy she wanted to be her date. You see how that worked right? When the boy washed the shirt...all the washable ink disappeared except for her name. He responded by texting one of Jenn's friend that "yes" he will go to Sadie's with her.

Jenn then went out and bought two red t-shirts(red is the boy's favorite color) and have their names written in blue(blue's Jenn's favorite color) on the shirts. So they went to the dance in matching t-shirts in their favorite colors combined. Now, you wanna see what her date looks like?

Don't they look cute together? Yeah, I think so too and I'm not just saying that cuz she's my daughter...LOL. Yep, while we were traveling the road to Bethlehem last night and bargaining for goods in Jerusalem, my daughter was hanging out and dancing her little feet off with some cutie..ahahah. Makes me all the more excited to see how her prom would pan out.

Now, I'm off to plan out a fun night with my hub. It's our date night and Steph's taken all the three little kids with her so I am free to go out and enjoy being with my hub. Hope you are all enjoying the season. Have a great weekend!! ☺

Love,

Post-It-Note Tuesday