Let's See How I Did...

With today being the last day of January, I thought I'd write a little something to recap my month and let you know how I'm doing with my resolutions.

1. Write a journal entry at least once a week.

- I think this one's pretty easy to tell how I'm doing on. This is the thirteenth entry I've written in one month!

2. Find a job.

- I wanted to have found one by the end of January and I did! Except I don't start til February (tomorrow). I've got a nannying job for a guy named Tim. I worked for him last year and his kids didn't drive me totally insane, so I thought I'd give it another go. I've also been told that Chapters is hiring, so I might check that out for something to do during the daytime.

3. Get my license.

- Okay I don't have it yet, but I have been driving around a lot lately and I've set a goal to get it within the next few weeks. This past month I've come across so many times when I could have just taken the van out to do what I want, but with my lack of license, they were all no goes.

4. Work out 2-3 times a week.

- Without a gym membership, I couldn't see myself lasting very long on this one and I was right! But my mom recently bought a coupon book with one for a free month of an introductory gym membership for her and a friend. So maybe next month will be better...

5. Stop gossiping.

- Surprise, surprise, I'm still gossiping. But I don't think I've been gossiping as much as I used to. I've still got some secrets about some people that are locked up inside of me. I haven't even told anyone about my unofficially engaged friend! Except my mom. And one other girl, but that was for a really good reason, I swear! And besides, I told her not to tell anyone, so we're good, right?

So besides dropping the ball on three of my 5 resolutions, I'd say this month was pretty good. I started playing my violin again, I started going to Institute, I went to Utah, I learned how to play a song on the piano, I donated blood yesterday and I hung out with Cassandra for the first time since we last hung out in November. And I got my visiting teaching done! Yay!

Next month looks promising. I start nannying again, I've got some awesome FHE activities planned and there's even a wedding to go to with Suitman! (Not the one I'm in, that's not til July)

Good News!

It's officially unofficial: I am going to be the Maid of Honour for my best friend's wedding! It's unofficial because they haven't officially announced that they are getting married, so we're keeping everything on the down low.

I was a Maid of Honour for my cousin's wedding in 2008, but the only MoH duty I really had was to carry her train. She was in Utah and I was in Canada for most of the planning, so I couldn't really do much anyway. This wedding will be totally different. I have to give a toast! Gak! And I also have to plan a bridal shower and a bachelorette party too. I think google will become my new best friend because I have no idea what I'm doing!

In order to prepare for my role as the MoH, I am going to watch the Wedding Planner and 27 Dresses and maayybe Bride Wars. Then I'll watch marathons of Say Yes to the Dress as well. We've also vowed that we aren't going to eat McDonald's until after the wedding in July. I can't wait!

So Much Time and So Little To Do...

As I've mentioned before, I am currently taking a semester off school. I'm doing it for several reasons actually,

The main reason being that my family and I are going on a trip to Australia in April, which is the same time that my finals would have been written. Since I didn't want to have to put up with rearranging my schedule so I could write my tests before or after the trip(which would have sucked!), I decided to just skip school altogether.

School is expensive. And travelling is expensive. If I plan on travelling and going to school later on, I will need money. If I want money, that means I have to suck it up, be a big girl and work. I didn't work during the school year because I was majoring in biochemistry. Do you remember the high school days when science was your least favorite subject and that hour long class felt like an eternity? Try taking nothing but science classes. No wait, science and math classes. Sure I used to like science and I used to like math, but after doing it for a year and a half in university, I want to shoot myself in the head at the mention of words like conjugation, molecular orbitals and partial fractions.

Which brings me to my next reason for taking a break: school wore me out. Last semester I was crazy enough to take 5 classes: genetics, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, calculus II and english. Those were some pretty hefty courses on their own, but I also had some new responsibilties at church as the Superma for FHE which meant that I, along with my Superpa counterpart, was (and currently, still am) in charge of planning weekly activities for the ward to enjoy every Monday night. It's a tough job to keep people entertained and happy, but I like it.

I had a very busy schedule last semester. So it's been a challenge to try and keep myself busy with all this time on my hands. It's so easy to fall into a routine of watching TV all day and facebooking, blogging and other online whatnot, but I'm trying to avoid that. I was blog-surfing today (wasting time, I know) when I came across a blog by a guy in my ward. He wrote an entry talking about finding a good use of our time. I thought it was well written and that he'd made some good points in it. If you've got some time to spare, check it out!

I've got some spare time, but I've already read the blog. So I'll go do something productive like solve world hunger or something... Peace out.

Honey, I'm Hoooome!

I sure have missed you for the past week. I just spent the last 5 days down in St George Utah babysitting a spoiled 3 year old with my friend, KtJ. Last semester, KtJ told me about her plans to go down to Utah to babysit her nephew, Carson, because her brother was in a pinch and had begged her to come. I'm not sure who thought of it first, but we soon started talking about doing this trip together. KtJ had gone down alone before, so she was grateful that I had graciously offered to accompany her (the promise of warmer weather and shopping had nothing to do with my decision ;-) ).

So last Wednesday, I packed up my bags and hopped onto a plane with KtJ. We got off to a rocky start when my carryon was searched at security and my passport and itinerary went missing without my knowledge (it was returned, thank heavens!), but we were soon on a plane to San Francisco. However, our troubles were not left in Calgary. We arrived only to find that our connecting flight was delayed and would not depart until 12:30 in the morning! That meant we had 4 hours to kill in an airport that was closing for the night. I spent most of my time reading, trying to sleep and messing around on a wheelchair. We finally arrived in the Las Vegas airport around 3 in the morning, but our journey wasn't over yet! We still had to drive with KtJ's brother to St George. It took us 2 hours to get there, but because there's an hour difference between Nevada and Utah, we got there at 6 am, local time.

Carson was initally wary of me, but he soon warmed up. I knew I had made his good books when he started asking for "the other girl" instead. Even though we were babysitting, KtJ and I could still hit the shops; we just had to bring Carson. I've gained a new respect for mothers of young children. It's quite the talent to be able to scope out a sale and keep track of a restless toddler at the same time. Carson even managed to escape from me and run out the store and down the walk while KtJ was in the dressing room. Luckily, I got him back before she came out. Phew! After a relaxed lunch break at home, we embarked once again with toddler in tow. We were in for a surprise however, when we arrived at the mall to find that Carson had fallen asleep on the way. That was also when we realized that we'd forgotten the stroller, which meant KtJ and I got to take turns carrying him. Even though they require a lot of attention, patience and money I can't wait for when I have kids because carrying them is such a great workout! I'll be ripped! Our arms were killing us when we were done. But it all worked out because I found the cutest jacket on sale at Aeropostale.

After Friday, we didn't do anymore shopping, but we did have a few more outings with Carson. On Saturday we took him to the pool and at first, he was determined that he did not want to go swimming. But once we coaxed him into the water, we had just as much trouble getting him out as we did getting him in. For dinner that evening, we went out to Golden Corral and Carson said he wanted pizza, so that's what we got him. He hardly touched his plate! He was too busy playing with his new "choo choo tracks" (trains). Luckily we wrapped up a couple pieces of garlic bread because when we got home, he was still hungry! I wonder why...

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day - and we couldn't do anything! But we did walk to church and even went to the temple in St George. The St George temple is one of my favorites; it has pecan trees. KtJ laughed at me as I wandered around picking up all the pecans and quoting Nacho Libre saying, "dese are de Lord's nuts" ... I'm not sacriligous at all!

Monday was probably the most exciting day. Carson's parents came home the night before and since our flight didn't leave Vegas until 4:50, we spent the afternoon checking out the strip. We walked around the shops in Ceasar's Palace and had lunch in the Cheescake Factory. I had a Navajo sandwich and it was delicious. On the way back Carson didn't want to hold his mom's hand, he didn't want to hold his dad's hand and he didn't want to hold KtJ's hand. He wanted to hold mine. I was quite pleased with myself. It's not very often that I hold hands with a boy. Now if I can just do it with one that's more my age, I'll be set.

The best thing about this trip was that KtJand I did not get sick of each other. You know how when you spend an extended period of time with someone and eventually, you get sick of them? It didn't happen with us! Probably because we got sick of Carson instead, haha. Although, don't get me wrong, the kid is adorable!

Since I've been back, it's been nice to hear that I was missed. I had no idea I was such a(n) intersting/exciting/vital part of people's lives! Thanks for the love folks!

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos from the trip:

Here he is, the little trouble-maker himself.

St George temple.

Us and Carson. What a little stud!

A pretty sick double decker bus I saw on the strip.

My awesome sandwich! Chicken, lettuce, tomato, avocado and onion wrapped in fry bread.

Oh... Hello, Again.

This week I've started going to my new insititute classes, hooray! Taking a semester off has left me spending more time at home than I would like, so the new reason to go out is quite welcome. I've also got my cousin coming out to institute; Bishop would be proud. Today, we were on the southside and I made the awkward discovery that the last guy I had a major crush on is in my institute class. Joy...... I'm just grateful that the encounter wasn't made more awkward with the presence of his wife.

Allow me to elaborate: I really liked this boy. A lot. We met in October of 2008. I took him to Preference in November and by December, I'd say we were pretty tight. I thought that he was into me too when he came to my house after my knee surgery to keep me company. I realized I was wrong when I walked in to a party to see him on the couch cuddling with his new girlfriend. I was livid. Both of his closest friends knew that I really liked him, so I would imgaine that they had passed the message along. I guess it doesn't mean a guy likes you when he constantly flirts with you and does anything you ask of him. Whatever. I talked to him about us on Facebook a few days after the party, and he said, "I thought we were just friends". BULL!! Like I said before, two of his closest friends knew that I liked him because I told them. I'm pretty sure that he knew as well. Needless to say, Just Friends and I were not as close as before in the months to follow. When he got engaged in March I was just glad that it meant he would be out of my ward come July. And I haven't seen him since that summer. That is, until today.

What's In Your Playlist?

Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. I love the Beatles.

I've kind of listened to them since I was about 10. But I've been seriously listening to them since my grade 11 art class. We only listened to the best of music while we were 'arting', so naturally the Beatles was one of our favorites.

Last night I participated in a cd exchange in which a bunch of us made soundtracks to describe our 2009. With this being my first time, I was a little nervous because from what I could tell, this group of people seem to have quite the taste in music. What if they thought my stuff was crap?? Well, it turns out, that my taste in music is similar to theirs. I could even recognize a few of the bands listed on the cds! Phew! All in all, it went well for me. I got to hang with a different crew than I normally do and I got 5 cds with a whackload of new (to me) music. I'll have to do some reviews once I get a chance to listen to them.

I think you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of music they listen to. Sometimes I'm surprised to find out what some people are into. Take my English 1900 professor for example. You'd think she was a stuck up snob who listens to classical music, but no! She listens to a pretty wide mix ranging from Audioslave to Taj Mahal to Loreena McKennitt.

On my cd, I have a song by the Moleni Brothers and was surprised when one of the guys recognized the group. He was surprised that I knew them too. Although I don't know why he was surprised; I'm Polynesian! Of course I know who they are. I just wish I would have asked how he knew about them...

Ooh! Before I forget! The best part of the cd exchange! Denise had goblets. GOBLETS for us to drink punch out of. They looked something like this. I was pretty stoked. Except, she said they might have lead in them which would explain why her grandmother has Alzheimers. So if you see me when I'm 60 and I have no idea who I am because I have Alzheimers, you know who to blame: Denise and her goblets!

At Least I Look Good

I am so jealous of boys. They don't realise how easy they have life. When a guy has to get ready for a formal evening, all he has to do is shave, run a comb through his hair and throw on a suit. The longest I can see this taking is an hour. Whereas, for me, an hour is the smallest amount of time it will take me. I may not speak for all girls, but when I get ready for a formal event, it can take a whole afternoon if I have the time - and I consider myself pretty low maintenance! There are a million things to do to get ready: I shower, I shave, I do my hair, I moisturize, I pick a dress, I do my makeup, and I accessorize.

On Saturday I went to a formal dinner with my buddy, Suitman. Suitman owns a suit; therefore, he is eligible to accompany me to any function that requires formal wear (namely weddings). This weekend was different though, because he invited me when it is usually the other way around. It took me a good 2 and a half hours to get ready, which is pretty good considering the dress I'd chosen to wear:

Sure, it may look nice and make me look pretty good, but that thing is a huge pain-in-the-rump to get into! In the back it's got corset ties to do up and there is no way that I could ever do it myself. My mother was at a basketball game while I was getting ready, so I had to call a friend from down the street to do up my dress! Luckily, suitman was a little late in picking me up, so I had the chance to do some last minute adjustments to my look. I asked him how long it took him to get ready and he said half an hour! That's 20% of the time it took for me to get ready!

Oh, the joys of being a girl.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Presley

Random fact of the day: Elvis Presley's birthday is January 8, 1935.

As I was getting my daily dose of CKUA this afternoon, I couldn't help but notice all the Elvis music they were playing and I wondered what was up. My thoughts were soon answered when the radio host announced that it was Elvis Presley's birthday today. If he were still alive, he would be turning 75.

Huh. You learn something new everyday.

Happy Birthday Elvis!

We Need More Werewolf!

I went out to the movies last night and saw New Moon. Now, those of you that know me well enough know that I am in no way, shape or form a Twilight fan. But I've seen the movies, and let me tell you, based on what I've seen, I have no desire to read the books.

I would have to give the movie a mixed review: one thumb up for all the shirtless werewolf scenes, a thumb sideways for the vampire scenes and a huge thumb down for the shirtless Edward scene *shudder*.

Bella would have to have the worst taste of any girl I've ever seen. Honestly, how could you choose Edward over Jacob?? The entire vampire crew is just so white and scrawny, whereas the werewolves are brown and ripped.

Look at these guys! I don't think I saw any of them with a shirt on. They must have had a low budget for wardrobe...

Poor vampires:

Not a very happy looking bunch, are they? Although, I must say, after seeing New Moon, Alice grew on me. She seems to be the friendliest out of all of them.

Happy Anniversary!

Oh my goodness! Do you know what today is? It was a year ago on this day that I had my ACL reconstructed. It was the worst day of my life, but the results have been amazing.

This means that I no longer have to wear my brace when I play sports. That means I can play rugby again! Competitively! There is nothing more that I have missed this past year than rugby. Everytime I heard about how well our University team was doing, it always made me sad because I missed out on my chance to be a part of it. But now I've been given my chance again!

I should do something to celebrate...

I'll Get It One Day

Arg! I gossipped again! D= This time it was to my rugby mate, Jazz. She was in Texas for the last semester, so of course I had to fill her in on all the juice. I promise, one of these days I will not gossip. I think I just have to wait until all of my friends go back to their respective places of study and then it'll happen. Or I could become a hermit for a day and stay away from any social networking site that keeps me up-to-date and informed on the lives of those around me. *cough* facebook! *cough*

Other than the gossiping, my resolutions are going well. Except I still haven't started on my license... You should have seen the roads today! We got a pretty good dump of snow and there wasn't a snow plow in sight! All they did was sprinkle sand on the roads, which did nothing except get the road dirty. Cars were slipping and sliding everywhere! And the drivers around here are so bad that they don't make things any better. Can you blame me for not wanting to be one yet?

Alright, so I promise once this snow lets up and the roads get a little nicer, I will go out for a drive to get some practice in and let you anxious folks know how I do. But if I die in a blazing car wreck, don't expect a blog the next day. Unless they have wifi in heaven...

Here's Another While It's Still in My System

H'okay, so at the moment, I am totally HOOKED on this whole blogging thing!

Like, all day as I was going about my business, I kept thinking about stuff I could put in my blog. I even thought about doing stuff just so I could talk about it later in my blog. And then I figured it might be too soon to blog - I mean, I just wrote one yesterday. Is there a certain amount of time you're supposed to wait between blogs? We wouldn't want to overwhelm my followers with too much awesomeness, right? *snicker* How do I know if I have proper blogging etiqutte? Or is there such a thing?? I have a lot to learn.

But anyway! As with most New Year resolutions, the novelty of blogging will probably wear off and it will become more of a chore than a hobby, so I may as well blog to my heart's desire while it is still - desiring.

It's still so far, so good with my resolutions! I'm obviously doing well with my journal-ing. My work-out resolution has officially started. I worked out today! - sort of. Okay, I ran up and down the stairs in my house and did some pushups and other things that made me sweat and grunt. I never feel like I get much done when I do it at home, probably because I don't. I just had the house to myself this morning, so I took advantage of the rare opportunity. Working out in front of judgemental university students always made me self conscious; but I would much rather do that than work out in front of my brothers. They are mean! And much fitter than I am, so they are always bugging me about my - ahem - lack of muscle, shall we say? But let's hope my work-out resolution changes that.

I'm also one step closer to finding a job. I started working on my resume today. You know, I've never had to go on a real job hunt before. I must be growing up (scary!). My first job was at a bookstore owned by my uncle. I didn't really ask for it, he just gave it to me. I work there every Christmas and sometimes on the weekends when they can't find anyone else. I even worked there everyday for a whole summer. The last job I had was a nannying job and I got that because my friend, Cassandra, worked for the guy the year before, so she passed it off to me. I'm thinking of passing the torch on to someone else this year, but I have to figure out who...

I gossipped today :( Don't judge me! It's really hard to stop! My good friend, Mcfly, has returned and so I had to fill her in on all that happened while she was gone. A lot can happen in 2 weeks for a singles ward. Like the new relationship that has blossomed between two of our friends. They think it's a secret, but it's not. I'm pretty sure you'd have to be blind, stupid or both to miss it. They hold hands for goodness sake! We were all waiting for it anyway. If it's any consolation, I didn't gossip nearly as much as I did yesterday... I think.

The only resolution that still hasn't been touched now is my license resolution. Driving during the winter in Canada sucks! Especially when there's as crappy a snow-removal system as there is here in L-town. That is my excuse for not driving lately and I'm sticking to it!

Oh! I'd also like to give a quick shout-out to the 2 followers I've acquired since yesterday. Holla! Thanks for the support :)

Also a quick little Holla! to those that have read that aren't on my list of followers. Thanks to you as well. I loved it when someone brought up my blog to me tonight at FHE. Yay!

Hooray for blogging and hooray for YOU. <3

Hello, my name is:

Leinani.

And this is my first ever blog! You are are very lucky person to be part of this momentous occasion. I hope you're not disappointed.

What with it being a new year and all, I decided to make some resolutions and one of them was to keep a journal and write an entry at least once a week. I've kept a regular journal before and it was fun, but I thought I'd try something new this time around.

So for my first entry, I thought I'd fill out a little quiz I found to review the year and let you know a little bit about me:

1. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I made 7 goals last year and only accomplished one of them. But I did get really far on the others, I made it 9 months for a few! And yes, I have already made more for next year.

2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! Two of my cousins had babies. One had a boy and the other had a girl.

3. Did anyone close to you die?
Unfortunately, yes. A friend from my ward died this summer.

4. What countries did you visit?
Sadly none. But this year will be different :)

5. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A gym membership. Or my own gym.

6. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
January 6th - My ACL was reconstructed that day. It was not a pleasant experience.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finishing physiotherapy and then riding my bike up the biggest, longest hill I could find.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Failing several of my midterms this past semester as well as failing my Analytical Chemistry class.

9. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only my knee surgery. And the minor cold here and there.

10. What was the best thing someone bought you?
A skirt that can be worn thousands of ways from my gramma, as well as a silk screening kit from my mom.

11. Where did most of your money go?
School, food and Threadless Shirts

12. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My dad coming home, going to see the Michael Jackson movie (This Is It), and my best friend coming for a visit from Utah.

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Hot N Cold - Katy Perry or Fire Burning - Sean Kingston. There weren't too many dances I went to that these songs weren't played at.

14. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier.
b) fatter or skinnier? probably slightly fatter. (I ate a lot this Christmas)
c) risher or poorer? sightly richer. (Like, maybe by 2 bucks)

15. What do you wich you'd done more of?
Leg presses. Cardio.

16. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Going out on school nights.

17. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Not really. I was very infatuated at the beginning of the year, but that soon changed.

18. What was your favorite TV program?
So You Think You Can Dance (the American version), Corner Gas, Big Bang Theory, Rob & Big, and Gargoyles.

19. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I wouldn't say hate, but yes there is someone that I like significantly less that I did at this time last year.

20. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Jack Johnson. And even though I found them a few years ago now, I have to put in a plug for CKUA. This radio station is fantastic! They play literally anything and everything. Check 'em out: http://www.ckua.com/

21. What was your favorite film of this year?
This Is It. Followed closely by Avatar with Invictus right on its heels.

22. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
I turned the ripe old age of 19 this past year. And on my actual birthday, I went out for DQ with a boy and had lasagne dinner with my family. Then 3 weeks later I had around 20 people over while my parents were gone for the weekend.

23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Doing better in school. I really dropped the ball last semester.

24. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Color, accessories, layers and Threadless. Okay, I guess I should put in another plug here because I'm probably going to talk about it in later posts. Threadless shirts are da bomb! I was just introduced to them last year and now I have 6 in my collection. Check 'em out: http://www.threadless.com/

25. What kept you sane?
Church, Cora, and riding my bike.

26. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
The Mad Hatter. And Michael Jackson.

27. Who do you miss?
Selina. And even though we're living in the same city, I miss Cassandra too.

28. Who was the best new person you met?
Sister Emeline Loketi! She was a Tongan sister missionary that I found when I went out for Chinese with my parents one day. We bonded instantly. I really, really hope that I'll be able to find her once she's off her mission.

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
I'll tell you two, because I learned a lot this year.
1) Don't go against what you've been taught for a boy or because everyone else is doing it.
2) Through blood, sweat and tears, anything is possible.

So that gives you an idea of how my year went last year. I'm really excited for 2010. I've got some pretty rad things coming up :) And I've also got some resolutions that I'll share and keep you updated on:

• Keep a journal. Write an entry at least once a week.
• Find a job. (I hope to have one by the end of January)
• Get my license! I'm 19 years old and I only have my learners - it's time for a change.
• Work out 2 -3 times a week. But first I need to join a gym...
• Stop gossiping.

I'd say I'm doing pretty good so far. Except for the gossiping part. I gossiped so much today! But I'll keep working on it.

And that's it! You've just finished reading my very first blog entry. How did I do? Do you have any suggestions for me? Leave a comment! Make me feel welcome! Tell a joke! Anything!