SURVIVOR SAMOA!

So I'm not a huge fan of this show, though I do like to watch it on occassion. It has been confirmed that the next season of SURVIVOR will be filmed this summer in SAMOA! I don't know if it's just me, but I find that dang exciting!!!

Like with anything else Samoan or Polynesian related I will definitely be watching this season just to get glimspes of "home".


Just thought I'd put that out there if you didn't already know!

rootin' for the underdog

We are pleasantly surprised that Kris is a finalist. He is definitely the underdog given the judges remarks and their whole worship of Adam, but we are hopeful that America will pull through. Me and mom voted for Kris 4 times Tuesday night and I think our votes might have made the difference (although there were more than a million votes separarting the top 2) we are still convinced! So for all you skeptics out there...don't think your vote doesn't count because it does!!! ( yes, i know this is lame, but come on...it's American Idol!!)

TO VOTE FOR KRIS CALL 1-866-LUV-KRIS

OR

TEXT YOUR VOTE TO 8675309

If you attempt to call or text to the above #'s you are seriously lamer than I am and have no idea that I made this whole thing up myself. Texting messaging rates and sevice charges may apply. Remember to dial 1-866 and not 1-800. Get a life. Tata for now.

Disclaimer: I am not hating on Adam by any means, I still think that his version of "tracks of my tears" is still the best performance of the season by anyone, but I really like Kris's performances in the past week and I think I would be more likely to buy a Kris album over an Adam album. Just me. (I'd still buy a Matt album if he ever made one)

Sick Mother's Day Weekend

I woke up early Friday morning with the intent to go to the temple with my friend Peggy from work. I was really disappointed when my alarm went off and I could barely swallow because my throat hurt so bad. I sadly had to cancel our temple trip. I slept until about 12:30 that afternoon. I thought my luck was starting to change when April passed without a sinus infection or my allergies acting up. It was too good to be true. With the weather changing it was inevitable that I would get my yearly sinus infection.

Despite all that, Anthony still took me out for dinner and a movie on Saturday. We finally checked out the Joy Luck Restaurant down the street from our house. I think it was okay. I couldn't taste any of it besides knowing what dishes were sweet and which ones were spicy. It was kind of sad actually because anyone that knows me knows that ...I LOVE FOOD!!

We watched "Wolverine" and it was okay. I think Fua's rating of a 4 out of 10 was about right. The action I would have rated a little higher, but It was a little different than what I expected. I thought it was good though. My favorite part was when he jumped in to the waterfall....uh huh!

I got some roses and a cute new purse from fashion bug. I took mom and Sulu shopping for shoes. After church, we ended the weekend with dinner at Sizzler. (Mani tried to give me a guilt trip by saying...dining out on Sunday?...really? are you trying to be agelu since you moved to Missouri....just "sdop it", as Sina would say)

Despite the grogginess, the weekend was "sick" in all definitions of the word.

BLOGGING FOR SINA . . .

Up until late last year, I had been avoiding the whole blog world. I 've never been good at writing in journals and things of this sort, so I thought it would be the same way with blogging. I've found though, that I really enjoy it. Especially on days at work when I have lots of time to kill, I can write a thing or two.

I often wonder what people are thinking when they write a blog. For me, I think about Sina. I think - "wow, I should really write about this so that Sina can read it in a few years and know about things like: when we bought our first christmas tree or when grandma came to visit or when we went to Frisco. Hopefully, if the internet is around for the rest of our lives, she'll have much more to read about.

She'll also know that her mommy and daddy were once kids too and she'll be able to laught at the silly things we did - at least she'll know about MY childhood ( I like to reminisce about the good old days). Hopefully Anthony will jump on here and write something for her every now and then. Anyway, just thought I'd take this chance to leave a message for Sina . . .

When you read this, just know that your mom and dad love you so much. You are 2 yrs and 7 months old today. You probably won't read this for another 3 or 4 years, but when you do just know that you are the most loved little girl in the world . You're mom is an innate cheez ball and your dad is the silliest, most lovable guy in the world. He cries when he watches you sleep and smiles when say things like "daddy...go weenee?" (that means swing at the playground). You are talking and saying more words now that when you say something new like ..."ooh, awesome!" or "hello, how are you?" when you imitate me or your aunty sulu, we crack up laughing and are just amazed by how smart you are.

You love to play with other kids and will willingly give up your ice cream cone when another little kid wants it (almost every time). You love to dance and you know almost every Barney song ever made. You love your cousins Koleka and Heiress and Alo too. You rarely see Nora and Veni, but you love them too.

Your grandma loves you (and secretly favors you), probably because she raised you since you came home that first day from the hospital. You were only 2 days old and you drank a whole 4 oz. bottle...you're still amazing! :) You are growing up too fast and although you are not quite potty trained yet, you know the function of a toilet and you like to pretend your using it just to flush the water down.

As you grow up, you might think your mom is a stickler and outwardly I might not show much emotion, but just know that you are the biggest blessing in my life. I knew when I first saw you that you were meant to be ours. You are stuck with me and your daddy for eternity - hows that? So when you're a teenager and you think you want cooler parents, just know that you're stuck with us.....for life, and the next!

I hope you enjoy reading these blogs, posts, messages, whatever you want to call them. They are for you. Hopefully, they'll give you a little bit of insight to your folks and to how much you are loved!

I love San Francisco

Last weekend we took a road trip up to San Francisco. Me, Anthony, Sina, and Mom braved the trek through the Lake Powell forest and survived the 12 hr trip each way. On our way there, we got stuck in a blizzard/snow storm in the mountains. That was probably one of the scariest things I've ever been through. Good thing I was driving because I would have been freaking out as a back seat driver.

My cousin Nu'u got married to her long time boyfriend and we were fortunate to celebrate with them. The last time we were in San Francisco was back in 2006 when we visited Stockton for another *uh hum* wedding. That was when Mani and Becky lived in Stockton and we saw them often. We rarely see them now since they moved to Missouri.

This trip around, Nephi and his family drove up from San Diego and met us in the city. We stayed at the Sheraton four seasons right near the airport. We all crammed in to one room - it was awesome! Just like old times. We arrived there friday morning and then headed over to Caeser Chavez to meet with the old folks so we could take our si'i. We planned on going to fisherman's warf afterward, which is a long time tradition for our family whenever we are in Frisco, but as Samoan traditions go - you can never put a time frame as to when they will end. We didn't get out of there until almost 10. So we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night with the intent of waking early Saturday. So we got up as early as we possibly could - 11am. haha...some things never change. After the showers and the screams to get the kids ready, we finally made it out the door.

We parked in our usual spot right in front of the clam chowder stands. We started at the chocolate shop where we all shared a huge rocky road candy apple!! Yeah - how many Samoans does it take to eat a candy apple? - that day it was 3 Samoans and a Mexican. We took Sina and Alo in to the infamous Rainforest cafe where Sina freaked out at the mechanical elephants and gorillas. Now, if we want her to listen, all we have to say is "the elephant is coming" and she comes running. Who knows how long that will work. Sina and Alo had a blast playing together. Luckily, Alo will have a playmate soon as Irais is due with their 2nd baby in December. Sina will have to hold out a little longer!

We finally made it over to the chowder stands where we downed fresh fish n' chips and clam chowder bread bowls. SO GOOD! We only stayed about an hour and a half because the wedding started at 3 that day. The fisherman's wharf was definitely a highlight of the trip, as it always is. We missed Mani and Sulu this time around, but hopefully we'll do it again soon.

Nuu's wedding was beautiful. Her dress was gorgeous and I later found out, when I finally got a chance to chat with her, that they had planned it for over a year. They had their reception at this nice hall on Berkely campus. She had white satin draping from each corner of the hall to the center of the room. The band was amazing, though I have no clue what their name was. They came up from L.A. and apparently they are the best Samoan band in SoCal. They sang my favorite Samoan song "Taute". Anthony is the best dancer so we had a blast. My mom's side of the family is full of 'single ladies' so Anthony was the designated dancer, as always! Gotta love that.

Seeing Nu'u get married made me realize how old I'm getting. Nu'u is just a few years younger than me. When I was a kid, we spent a lot of summers in Daly City and I used to spend that time in Serramonte with Nu'u and her sister Susana. They lived in this ghetto house, the kind you only see in movies, that have the liquor store on the corner and where you hear gun shots and police sirens through the night. I didn't think of it at the time, but I can't belive my parents let me stay with them. haha. We did some crazy stuff, like being 9 yrs old and stealing Nuu's dad's cigarettes and climbing up on their roof to smoke them. ***Mental note - Serramonte is off limits for Sina*** We were dumb kids, but they were the best cousins I had and I have such fond memories of them. Now look at us - old married farts!

The band at the reception was so good that we stayed until 12:30 am until we got kicked out of the hall. We made that band play until they couldn't sing or play their instruments anymore. They were that good. They even sang the best rendition of "Sosefina" I've ever heard. If we ever take another trip to SoCal we have vowed to hunt them down.

We headed back Sunday afternoon to try and make it over the mountains before nightfall. We made a stop in Elko and then in Wendover before making it home. We slept 12 hours straight after that so we could recoup for the rest of the week. What's next? St. George in June for Nathan's wedding... not as far, thanks goodness, but we're looking forward to spending time together again!

Motown rocks!

Last night was motown night on American Idol. I had been looking forward to it because it is my absolute favorite genre of music. Smokey Robinson was their mentor. I was obsessed with Smokey Robinson when I was a kid, along with Marvin Gaye and Lionel Ritchie. There was a time when they were all I would listen to and I knew every word of every song. So naturally, I was very excited about motown night.

I have watched almost every season of American Idol and I just have to say that this year seems to be by far the best talent they have had. To further illustrate this claim, I have to mention that out of all the years I've watched, this is the first year I have ever felt compelled to pick up my phone and vote. I have voted the last 3 weeks because that is how much I want my favorite guy to win. Even when David Archuletta who is from Utah was on last season it wasn't enough to spark my votes. There is just something about this year's talents that totally blow me away.

My favorite singer since the auditions has been Matt Giraud. What is it about this guy? He's an amazing piano player and can sing...riff...with a range out of this world. His rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's get it on" last night was off the hook! Moving from the piano to the stage was genius. He is my definite favorite to win!

Aside from Matt though, who has always been my favorite, I have to comment on Adam's rendition of Smokey Robinson's classic "tracks of my tears". All I can say is ..."What the ....???"
I was speechless through his performance. His falsetto was on point. I mean, he sang in that range almost the entire song. Amazing! It's one of my all time favorite motown songs and I'm just blown away by his arrangement and performance. Hands down my favorite performance last night...next to Matt.

things that make me go "hmmm..."

I figure once a month updates are as good as I'm going to get on this thing. So much has happened it's hard to find a starting point. Okay, well, mom is in Hawaii. We received word the Wednesday before last that Aunty Luse passed away there. Luse was my mom's only sister. She had been diagnosed with cancer and wasn't given much time to live, but it still came as a surprise. We thought she had a few months left, at least. Mom rushed to Hawaii after only being out of surgery a little less than 2 weeks. So of course, we were concerned about mom's health, but in these situations, we couldn't not have her go. Gratefully, she is fine, though she has been bumped twice already in her attempts to fly back to Utah on her buddy pass. We're praying she makes it back by the weekend. We all miss her terribly and Sina still asks every night - "gramma?"

Well, spring came with a bang - the flu bang that is. Sulu has been sick for the last 2 weeks. We finally took her to the doctor and she was told she has bronchitis. Sina then started to get a fever last Thursday. We took her to the doctor on Friday and found that she had a throat infection. Our little apt was rapidly becoming a germ fest. I started feeling symptoms of a cold coming on yesterday, but i'm steadily trying to fight it off with Sudafed and lots of juice. Anthony is holding strong and hasn't shown any signs of sickness yet (knock on wood). Heaven forbid that happen because he's worse than Sina when he's sick. I'm beginning to think it's a 'man' thang. My dad was the same way. So why is it when we women are sick we can still take on the world, take care of the kids, make dinner, clean the house, and deal with our own sickness without even the dog knowing we are sick? It's just one of those things that always made me go "hmmm...."

Last Friday "Twilight" was released and there were release parties all over the country. Sulu and I went to the Blockbuster in Bountiful where luckily there were only about 30 people in the store and we didn't have to wait in the cold!! We bought the 2 disc deluxe version. haha! We watched that thing til 4 in the morning, it was so much fun. It's funny how easily entertained and amused I've become over the years. Another one of those things that makes me go "hmmm..."

Well, it's about time to head home. Tonight is 'motown' night on American Idol and I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I'll probably blog about it tomorrow...."hmmm...."

p.s. Congratulations to Shawny and her cute little munchkin!