Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had some great New Year's Celebrations and they were safe in whatever they were doing.

Christmas was good too, nice and relaxing! We spent Christmas with my family this year and it was nice to spend a few days at my parent's house. I have to tell you about the gift I got for my mom because I am just so proud of myself. 

I found this software made by Roxio that converts old VHS movies to digital format so you can burn it onto a DVD. It's called Easy VHS to DVD3 Plus. Yeah, a mouthful, I know. So what I've been doing is converting our old family videos and putting them on DVDs for my mom. I just gave her one DVD to begin with, but now that the hubby is gone I've started up the process again so that I'll hopefully have all the videos converted before school starts up next week.

With the New Year I've come to a decision. I've decided that I am going to stop referring to my husband as Johnny on the blog because I've grown tired of it and feel ready to move on. His name is Joseph, and that is what I will call him here from now on. In case you didn't know, I introduced him on the blog by calling him Johnny Lingo because of the pineapples he brought over when we first started going out.  

Speaking of the New Year, have any of you made New Year's resolutions? Or do you even believe in them at all? I've made resolutions on and off before and I am always terrible with keeping them. However, starting this blog was part of a new year's resolution, so I guess I'm still doing alright with that. 

Joe (my husband, remember?) and I haven't made any resolutions this year, but we've decided to try something else instead. We decided to come up with a family theme for us to focus on for the year and maybe we'll throw in some monthly goals to work on later, but for January we're just focusing on the theme. I even got all gung ho and made a little picture using google docs. So here is our theme and goal for the year:

Tickets! Tickets, please!

I don’t know if everyone knows this, but I am a wanted criminal with Parking Lot Officers everywhere – particularly in the University parking lot. It usually happens when Johnny is home and I get to drive the car to school. I’m usually too lazy (or running too late) to park in the free parking spots that are a 10 minute walk from the school so I just park illegally in the school parking lot with a month-old Pay-n-Park pass displayed on the dashboard. Sometimes this tactic works... but more often than not it doesn’t. I bet I’ve paid over 100 dollars worth in parking ticket fines since last January.

This past week that Johnny was home I didn’t have to worry about parking because I got a ride with a friend to school on most of the days. But on Tuesday I was on my own for a ride and I asked Johnny to take me to school. He was still sleeping at the time so he groggily told me to drive myself. I explained to him that I didn’t want to worry about parking so he should just take me. Again, he told me to take myself. “I’ll get a ticket,” I told him. “No you won’t, now go.” He mumbled into the pillow.

Not wanting to waste anymore time arguing with him, I grabbed the keys and drove to school. I found a parking spot, adjusted the old Pay-n-Park pass and went to class. 2 and a half hours later I returned to find a lovely gift stuck to my windshield from the friendly Parking Officer. Yup, a ticket. Yesterday I went downtown to pay it off and I made a vow. I vowed to never get another parking ticket ever again. I’m going to be smart when I drive and I will plan ahead so I can park in the free spots far away from school.

With the internet as my witness, I swear that this past ticket will be my last or so help me.

Kiss Me and Smile For Me

Well aren't you a lucky bunch? Today you are getting 3 posts-in-one from yours truly. Why the excessive blogging, you ask? I shall tell you.

1. Today is Wednesday. That means another installment of the Wonderful Words of Wednesday.

b) Today is also the last day of March. That means you get a recap of my month.

iii. Today is also the day I leave. For Australia that is! So of course I must say goodbye to you lovelies.

---

First thing's first. Dub^3!

For those of you who are new, Dub^3 is short for WWW which is short for the Wonderful Words Wednesday. This is the segment where I talk about words that I like and you smile and nod and pretend to be interested. (Yes, I can see you smiling and nodding through the computer)

On friday, I learned a new phrase: Kitty Corner. I've heard it before and I know what context to use it in, but I've never been entirely sure of what it means to be "kitty corner" from something. When giving directions, if the place you are referring to is diagonally across from another place of reference it is said to be kitty corner from it. For example, "My house is easy to find. It's just kitty corner from the school over there."

But seriously, kitty corner? I hate cats, why do we have to bring their offspring into this? It turns out, the original word that was used used to be "catercorner", but people had trouble remembering "cater" so over time it got replaced with "catty" and it has now become the "kitty" that we hear today.

reference!

---

H'okay, moving on...

It's time to recap my resolutions for March.

1. Write a journal entry once a week.
It's fairly obvious to see that I'm doing well with this one. I've recently bought a new notebook to serve as my journal. It is red and I love it.

2. Find a job.
Found one. Still have it. I watch Tim's kids.

3. Get my license
Boo yah! I got it. I can't remember what I did back in the days when I didn't have it.

4. Work out 2-3 times a week.
Just when you thought I'd given up, I surprise you. I've surprised myself. I've been running and biking all month. I love getting my endorphins in the morning. Toby tells me that only two props are returning to the Pronghorns this year, so if I can get my fitness levels up and my knee up to snuff, I will have a spot on the team come fall!

5. Stop gossiping.
Oh goodness, every month I hide my face in shame when I come to this goal. This is the only one that I've made no progress on :( but maybe now that I've gotten the other ones out of the way, I can focus on this. (yeah right...) I should make a T shirt that says "No gossip zone" . . . =O OMG! That's a good idea!

So as you can see, March was my month of progress. I can cross my license goal off my list entirely and my workout goal has now taken effect. Rugby has made its way back into my life this month, I got some vaccinations, Elder Bednar came to Lethrbidge and gave an awesome firside, I made a buttload of shirts, I created a weekly blog-segment, I babysat a lot, I hung out with Plausible, I told Pirate Steve (and you) about Plausible, I played in the Kiwanis with my orchestra, I donated blood, Selina came to Lethbridge on Saturday (we've been together every day since she's been here) and I finally got to play Beatles Rockband - it was everything I imagined and more. Oh, also - this Monday for FHE we had a scripture study night. I was so pleased with how it turned out! People actually showed up with scriptures in hand, ready to participate. I am so grateful it was a good night, I think we should have another one before the end of the year.

---

Ack! I can't believe it! I'm leaving for Australia soon! Depending on when you're reading this I could be on my way right now. Please don't miss me too much, friends. I will be home soon. I am going to try my hardest not to miss you so that I can enjoy every moment. I still have no idea what the computer/internet situation will be like down there, but I do know that I won't be bringing my lap top. As I promised, I will try to take a picture everyday specifically for this blog. I can't say I'll be able to upload everyday (if at all), but you will see them eventually.

If you happened to notice what time I'm posting this, you are quite the observant person. It's so late/early because I've been up packing all night. My friend, Star was pestering me over a week ago to start packing and I just laughed. Sorry pal, that's not how I roll. With every single trip I've been on, I have never started packing more than 2 days before I leave. I don't put anything in my suitcase until the night before. I've been using this system for years and I don't plan on changing it :P

Anyways, enjoy the next month without me! I hope I'll be able to give you at least a couple updates to share the fun I'll be having. I also hope to find me a hot Tongan to bring home. Fingers crossed.

Yup, Another List

Yesterday was such a good day!

I'm too lazy too organize my thoughts into paragraph form, so I'm sorry, but you're getting stuck with another list.

Things that made yesterday awesome:

1. I had to get The Kids ready for school in the morning, which meant I got to wake up before nine, hooray! (Yes, I am a morning person)

2. I went for a bike ride. My second one of the month!

3. I went to institute and had an awesome sub. I love learning church things!

4. My newest Threadless shirt arrived in the mail, woot woot!



5. I PASSED MY DRIVERS TEST!!! And I wore my new Threadless shirt for my picture.

6. I hung out with Cassandra last night because I could drive myself there!

Things that made yesterday not-so-awesome:

1. I jammed my pinky. Bad. And it hurts :(



If you divide the good things by the bad things, carry the one and take the square root, you will find that regardless of the jammed pinky, yesterday was pretty freakin' awesome!!!

Beat That

Oh dear! I totally forgot that February is over! That means I need another check-up on my resolutions.

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

As you can see, I'm still going strong with this whole blogging thing. So that's a checkmark there. Ka-check!

2. Find a job.

I've found one. I'm nannying for Tim and I didn't apply at Chapter's. But I made some good money this month! Ka-check!

3. Get my license.

I've made progress! I drove with my grampa a few times last week and I've made an appointment to get it. Woot! Almost ka-check!

4. Work out 2-3 times a week.

Ahem, umm... Me and mom are failing. We haven't even gone to redeem our months worth of free classes at the YWCA. But I did do some serious walking with my sister when we delivered papers this weekend. It's March now and the snow should be melting, maybe I'll get out my bike! For now, a big fat X.

5. Stop gossiping.

I am now conscious of when I gossip. So now that I can recognize it, that'll make it easier for me to stop, right? I'm not completely hopeless, right?? Another X.

I only have two resolutions that I'm failing at now, but resolutions aside, I'd say this was a pretty good month. Let's see, I got my visiting teaching done, I went to the Sweetheart's Ball and a wedding all in one night, I got to show my ward what a Polynesian Luau is like, I helped my ward make a whole bunch of Vic Park T shirts, I went to the temple (finally!), and I watched Canada host the best Olympics ever.

It looks to me like February is going to be a tough month to beat in awesomeness, but who knows what March has in store. After all, I do plan on getting my license...

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)

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!