Words of Wisdom for if you ever get in trouble across the border...

We just got the first reimbursement check from our insurance company today!

Our accident back in October turned out to be quite the expensive adventure, but thankfully Joe's insurance has got our backs. However, I did learn a very important lesson from our experience:

If you ever have to visit a hospital for any reason while you're in the States, call your insurance company before you come back to Canada!

We are very blessed to have such good benefits with Joe's job, but because I didn't contact them until after we'd gotten home, we had to pay most of the bills first and then apply for reimbursement. If we had contacted them while we were still in the States we could have set it up so that they would pay all the bills right then and there.

March Catchup

Hey guys!

Did ya miss me?

Sorry about not blogging for a month. They don't call it March Madness for nothing...

March got pretty crazy with big assignments due in all my classes that month. Not to mention a huge group presentation I had to prepare for with my group. Though to be honest, it was one of the more fun group projects I've had to do. We had to make a video as part of our presentation and we did a Bill Nye video! I had fun editing it and bringing it all to life.

To be honest that Bill Nye video sucked up a lot of my attention. And poor Joe was even home during crunch time, so I hardly paid attention to him. He's such a good sport though. But hey! I spent waaay too much time and effort on that stupid thing not to share it with everyone. So check out our video and have a laugh.

Part 1: http://youtu.be/aa3JhTkjI18
Part 2: http://youtu.be/sTZrTmPlvQ4

Not much has really happened to me besides that... Sad, I know. Though this past Wednesday when Joe went back up to work he took a small load of things up with him in preparation for our move up there this summer! I'm starting to get excited about it. It'll be a good change I think.

Oh and I posted this photo to facebook the other day with the caption, "We've got a bun in the oven!"

It was April Fool's day to be exact. And I had a lot of people fooled into thinking we were pregnant, when really, all we had was a literal bun in the literal oven. So technically I wasn't lying or trying to fool anyone, because with this photo taken out of it's cultural context, all it is is a photo with two people who are excited about a bun in an oven. 

Wow, I just got way too scholastic for this humble little blog. I should stop writing now... 

Line upon line

Sometimes I get bored and I feel like writing something. I don't mean on the computer, I mean actually putting a pen to paper and forming the words with my own hand. When I get into one of these moods, I grab the closest piece of paper and start writing. I write one line, and then another and another until I've filled a page.

I recently found one at the back of my binder that I wrote who knows when. It made me laugh, so I thought I'd share...

Testing, testing. One, two three. 

My name is Leinani & I eat meat. 

Animals are yummy & most of them make good food. 

I don't like liver though. Animals can keep their livers. 

I am a brown individual. 

My hair is brown, my skin is brown & my eyes are brown. 

When I was a baby my eyes were blue & my daddy hoped they'd stay that way. 

I'd like to have blue-eyed babies too, but with Joe, I don't think that'll happen. 

I wonder what it's like to be an albino. 

You'd think that if you couldn't produce pigment, you'd be invisible. 

Can an albino get a sunburn? I mean, if their skin can't produce pigment, wouldn't they be unable to turn red when they burned?

My head is filled with a ball of wire.

Yesterday while I was working I was introduced to a comedian named Mark Gungor via youtube. And in the video I watched he talked about the differences between men's and women's brains.

This is what I learned from him:

Men 

• Men's brains are filled with boxes. And within each box is a subject. When a man is having a conversation he pulls out a specific box and discusses the contents of that box and only that box. When he is done he closes the box and carefully puts it back, making sure it doesn't touch any of the other boxes. 
• It is very important that none of the boxes touch each other.

Women

• Women's brains are very different from men's brains. We all know this, I'm sure. Unlike men, women's brains are filled with a giant ball of wire in which everything is entangled. 
• This means that when women have conversations they have a tendency to jump from one subject to another. And by the end of the conversation they're asking themselves, "How did we get to this???"

I have a woman's brain, indeed. 

The other night Joe and I were having a conversation as we often do. He asked if I was going to play with the rugby club in Grande Prairie while we're up there this summer. 

I said: "Mm, maybe, I'll have to see when I'm up there." There was a pause. "Did you know the Cheesecake Cafe is closed?"

Clearly, my husband is used to my abrupt changes in subject because he did not miss a beat. But later I had to ask myself how exactly I'd gotten onto that train of thought. And I'll tell you.

Start: "Are you going to play rugby while we're in Grande Prairie?"

First I thought of the possibility of me playing rugby in Grande Prairie which led me to think that I'd have to dig up my cleats and bring them with me if I choose to play. 

Thinking about finding my cleats made me think that I'll probably have to buy new cleats anyway because the ones I have are starting to get torn up. 

Thinking of buying new cleats made me dread spending a ton of money on something I probably won't use very often. So then I thought that I would just have to wait for a good deal on cleats. 

But then I remembered that we have a store credit at Sportchek and so I could probably use that to buy me some cleats. 

Thinking of our gift card made me think of my aunt who had a 20 dollar gift certificate for the Cheesecake Cafe, but now she was frustrated because she wouldn't be able to redeem it now that the restaurant is no longer running. 

Which made me wonder if Joseph knew they were closed because he'd recently mentioned how we needed to go there soon for dessert.

Finish: "Did you know the Cheesecake Cafe is closed??"

Turning Points

There are a few moments in my life I can look back on and say that if they hadn't happened, I wouldn't be where I am today. 

July 25th, 2008 - I tore my ACL. One silly ligament was enough to send me down a very different path from the one I had anticipated back in high school. I didn't get to play Pronghorns that fall and as a result, I was able to play a large role in the single adult ward I was attending. I formed a network of friends that were good influences on me and helped me to be a better person. 

December, 2008 - I created a friendship with a girl who I think eventually helped me to meet my future husband. Starlene. She was from a small town I'd never heard of called Cherry Grove - the place where Joe grew up. Star and I became pretty close and were always together at every church function. So when my future sister-in-law, Anne Marie, moved into the ward in the fall of 2009 she stuck close to us because she knew Star from back home. Annie and I became thick as thieves that semester, so when her big brother, Joseph, moved down in 2010 there was no way our paths weren't going to cross. 

January 4th, 2010 - The very first time Joe and I laid eyes on each other. My first impression of him was, "Holy biceps, look at those arms!!" and "Man, that boy sure can talk". We didn't actually spend a lot of time together that night, mostly because I avoided him because he was so good looking and I didn't want Annie to catch me staring. In fact, we didn't see each other again until May. Joe lived on the westside of town so he was in a different ward from us and floated in a different group of friends. 

May, 2010 - Joe started hanging out with our group of friends. And we had a pretty good group going, so I don't blame him for coming over to our side. The rest, they say, is history. We started dating in June and by the end of the spring semester in 2011 we were engaged. And now, we've been happily married for a year and a half tomorrow! 

Four and a half years ago I would have never guessed that my life would be the way it is now. Had I not torn my ACL, I would have gone on to play for the Pronghorns. And because that would have taken up so much of my time, I would have never developed that network of friends that I had in the beginning. And if I'd never made those relationships, I could have missed out on meeting Annie and eventually, Joseph. 

So I guess the moral of the story is, even when something may look like a setback (like my ACL), it can really be God's way of telling you that He has a better path in mind for you. But the question is, will you fight it? Or are you willing to see where the path will lead?

Always on My Guard.

Tonight I took my brother to basketball practice because I am a good big sister.

As I was driving home I noticed a certain car kept taking the same turns as I did. I put some distance between us hoping that I would lose the car eventually in the evening traffic.

Unfortunately, Lethbridge doesn't get much traffic, so they stayed hot on my trail.

I started to panic the closer I got to home. There was no way I was gonna let these guys know where I live. The safety of my family was at stake!

Thinking quickly I made a right turn and sped up to take the next turn immediately after. As I drove along the dark street, I held my breath as I watched for my pursuer in the rear view mirror.

1 second... 2 second... 3 seconds passed...

Then I saw him. He drove right by the street I turned onto and I breathed a sigh of relief.

As I pulled into the driveway I considered the odds of whether that person would have actually been following me. He probably wasn't.

Either way, it made for an interesting drive home.

Mrs. Amazing

I am so on the ball today, it s awesome!

My motivation levels must have been a record high, I still can't believe it. 

All the Stuff I Got Done Today

1. I went to school. That is a big deal cause I nearly slept through it and I had to hand in an essay today, ack! Thank goodness I'm living at home, cause mom saved my butt. 

2. I went grocery shopping. Okay, I only went because mom went. But I went! And I helped! 

3. I organized and cleaned my room. This is the first good chance I've gotten to do it since the move and I am so glad I did it. You can see the floor now and walk around the room in the dark without killing yourself!

4. I worked out. All thanks to Just Dance. Man, it can really make you sweat!

5. I showered. And I'll tell you a secret -- I hadn't showered since Saturday. I know, gross. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who's put off a shower for that long!

6. I studied. Okay, that's a lie. I started to read my textbook but then realized how boooooooring it was so I stopped. 

7. I painted my nails. They are nice and pretty now, so let's see if I can make them last more than a couple days this time. 

My pretty nails! With my PJs as backdrop

And that was my day. I just thought of a couple other things I probably could have done, but hey, today was still great. 

Oh!! I just remembered! I showered Sunday! So not showering on one day isn't so bad, right?