Silence

..waiting for the phone to ring. Yup, put on call tonight. And I was actually ready to come to work after calling out for two shifts. The flu was killer--don't think I've had that for about three years. I was miserable..had a temp of up to 103.4! I remember shaking profusely with chills, then breaking my fever and having my body literally covered with beads of sweat! I was so lifeless, but now am feeling great! Well rested, appetites back, & ready to go home! Yay!!!

In a few hours, I'll be home! In a few days, I will see my grandma! & in a few more days, I'll be back here! Lol. It's going to go by so quickly, I know it.  But, I want time to go as slowly as possible. Time seems to just slip away too quickly nowadays. So I tried not to have too busy of an agenda, just want to enjoy the holidays with family and close friends..& even if I will really miss Mike&Koko... my heart will still be so very full! 

See ya soon San Diego. 

happy December!

I was placed on call at work..AGAIN..due to low census. So I'm laying in bed paranoid because last time I was on call, I totally knocked out and they couldn't get a hold of me! Oops, my bad! So I figured I would blog since I saw Jamie's email..but mostly because I wanted to tell you guys my new address before everyone sends out Christmas cards:

1020 Mamalu Place

honolulu HI 96817

So I didn't tell a lot of people mostly cuz it's kind of embarrassing (haha!)..but I moved again.  That would be a total of THREE moves in one year, & I'm hoping this place is going to be IT for a while. We broke our lease early because Mike just really couldn't stand the other place--it wasn't well ventilated, very small, & no outdoor space at all. Fortunately, the landlords were cool with it as long as we found them replacement tenants. It was a difficult difficult place to rent out because they were charging such high rent for a tiny place, but we found someone!! & I'm so happy to just move forward!

I'm dead serious that I'm not moving again! Haha. I can tell Mike is so totally stoked on our new living situation. It's an older house, but I think it has a lot of charm (which I guess I've grown to love in hawaii since we don't have nice huge eastlake homes). We also have a guest bedroom, unless Philbert moves in (haha we were trying to convince him!) Had Mike's friends help us move in a day..so it really wasn't bad at all. I think I consider us PROs already, lol. Some of my favorite things about the house would be: bananas, papayas, and puakenikeni (a wonderful smelling, pretty flower!) growing in our backyard!

We had seriously soo much bananas that we went to all our new neighbors on thanksgiving and gave everybody a big bunch!

And somehow between all the moving, I managed to trade my car in. I don't know how that happened, lol! A few years ago, Daisy and I test drove the lexus RX with my parents while they were in town. I was almost going to trade it then, but had emotional attachments to my car. Decided finally that one day my car was eventually going to be too small for me (the rear seats did not push down), so I decided to trade it in while it had good resell value. So, I'm a pretty happy camper..I feel like I can have kids now! Lmao..JK!!

1) in front of my new place

2) first beach day hahha!

Anyways, I'll be home for Christmas dec 18-26 =) Excited for:

1) spending time with family! We flew Inang in for Christmas..so soo soo happy to see her.  Also get to see everyone's new places since they all live separately now. Oh! & my sister&AJ got engaged too!! So a lot to celebrate this Christmas!

2) catching up with friends..& taking sewing classes..yes!!! hahah!

3) cold weather, good food, hot coffees, good shopping, and holiday spirit! 

All that's missing is Mike!!  We never spend Christmas together though, hahah!! We were thinking maybe next year we should work sooomething out?

It's 2:41am. I'm thinking they shouldn't call me in anymore..& I think I've blabbered enough. Here are a few more pics of whatevers...

Pumpkin patch on Halloween! Lol!

Getting ready for our first thanksgiving at our place with mikes sisters. Used the beer pong table for our dinner table. Gotta keep it classy!! LOL!!

Koko all sleepy after thanksgiving dinner! Just like me! 

& lastly Koko's new trick and our little mini tree. I think it's cute!

Goood freakin night!!! Zzzzzzzzzz

Flossie

Tropical storm Flossie coming close! Always better to be safe than sorry. We have a lot of warnings for tsunamis and floods& thankfully, we haven't had to experience any real emergencies. But can you imagine???!! Being stuck...on an island..during something like that? Mike and his family experienced when hurricane Iniki hit Kauai..homes completely destroyed and no running water/electricity for weeks! So now, he's always prepared--generator and all! (Good for me) But hopefully it will just be heavy rain that passes...just always pray the best!

I have been having the worst insomnia. Staying up til 4-5am on my days off cuz I simply can't sleep! I think even Melatonin stopped working for me....there's only so many lives I have on Candy Crush, things I can look at on Pinterest, people I follow on Fb/IG. I have watched so many movies...and it's so annoying. The idea of switching to day shift always crosses my mind but I will surely miss my night crew! Oh well not making a decision just yet...

I wish Mike was a nurse so he could have as many days off as me..& go on vacations as much as our schedule allows. I think of all my nursing couple friends...& i think it's sooo cool!! Then he could stay awake with me in the wee hours of the night! I could wake Him up without feeling bad!!! Oooh the perks! Oh well guess ill go bug Koko! ;)

lalalalalalaaaaaaa

I am on my 2nd movie at work. First, Burlesque. Next, the Blind Side. & after..probably infomercials..BOOO!! Stuck with one patient on our overflow side..so I'm just cruuuising!

Super bored. 

So I'm all moved in. Feels great to be normal again! My schedule is actually normal too now, so yay! Started running around my hood..and got a hot yoga groupon with Jamie. That was interesting!!! Hahah!! We are such the wannabe yogis ..

My puppy is a cool teenager now. She likes to hide under our bed and be by herself..too cool for her parents! Pretty funny. She's so funny..wish I could take her to Sd with us so u guys could meet her!

Hmm what else? Been trying to learn how to surf still..but dammit, it's so hard! Haha! Part of the reason I started running so I could have a little stamina. Not so easy learning new tricks when ur old! Lol!

Mike has also been wanting to check out this church called One love ministry so we actually went. It wasn't a catholic church..it was Christian. definitely different. Uplifting..Kind of reminded me of prayer meetings with Spirit of love. Everyone was super welcoming...Mike wants to go back. I'm down...just happy he is finding some kind of relationship with God? Beats no church at all! Haha. 

Anyways..I need new clothes. I seriously haven't been shopping in ages! Haven't bought a new outfit in forever! I remember I used to buy a new shirt every time I would go out...now I'm soo scrubby! hahah! I haven't even bought new scrubs for work for over 3yrs..they're all faded, lol! Is this what hawaii has done to me?

K enough rambling. Peace, love, shopping, and praying for one more movie to make the night quick!!! Lol!

Awoha!!

Wahh!

I'm a sad puppy mom this morning:(  I dropped my little furry friend to get spayed today. She'll be at the vet overnight. Came home to an empty house, nobody following my every step in the house and attached to my hip!!  My little furry bff. Hahah awww, I cannot imagine having a kid and having to be separated from them if this is how I am with a dog, lol!! 

This is Koko's new crate. We upgraded her to "high ceilings" since she's a big girl now:)

Other than that, no other big news! I know Sd fair opened. Went the other wknd with Mike and although I have learned to stop comparing honolulu to Sd , SD fair is like 20x bigger and better!! Lol!! No bomb bomb food, no themes, exhibits, shopping, animals, etc. :( hopefully next year ill plan a trip home around this time so I can go, it's been soo long!

kinda like those little fairs at kimball park in national city yah?!

Moving is coming along. Most of the moving has been done by...ME! haha. Mike was just assigned his first project and boy, have his long engineering workdays begun! Sometimes he even goes in on Saturdays! I feel sorry cuz here I am working 3x/wk and trying to get cancelled, lol. So yah, I've just been moving which I don't mind. I can be more organized and know where everything is. Either way, can't wait to just be moved in so I can have normalcy in my life again😁 I need to go back to the gym, cook my meals, sit down and read/watch tv, and just not feel like I always have to be moving stuff all the time haha.

           My small humble abode...

Anyways, miss everybooody! Since i cant go home til August, this will probably be the longest stretch I haven't been to SD since I moved out here. Haha, not even that long but sheesh..Im getting antsy! i wanna see G and J, and squeeze them! eat some legit carne asada fries! go to downtown and act like I'm 21! Haha. And  of course just kick it with everyone, even if its doing nothing! Sigh..haha!

Jamie's big 2-9 this wknd...!! will definitely take a break from moving to celebrate! Can't believe how old we're getting..

June

Ahh, a new month approaching..already!! Looks like its gonna be a busy month...MOVING again! Sucks cuz I don't want to go thru the process again, but also believe everything happens for a reason so just go with it. Moving farther away from work again...ayyye! But hopefully it won't be too bad. We are moving into a newly built unit in a nice neighborhood, so hopefully it will all be cherry. Pics to come of the new place!

The time has literally flown by me! Since the last time I posted, I completed the ultimate reset. It was super difficult...I lost 9lbs doing it..but I am too embarassed to post my before/after pics. Maybe if I lose 20lbs, lol.  Time to hit the gym and get more active now! Soon after I completed it, Lynn Lynn and her new boyfriend came to town. (Is it me or is everyone and their mama in hawaii?!) I like to blame Lynn for my ultimate REtox while she was here. Lol, jk! Had a lot of fun third wheeling with those two...so did Koko!

I kind of know how empty nest syndrome feels..cuz every time a family member/close friend visits and leaves..the feeling of an empty house and going back to work makes me kinda sad. I guess growing up in a house where family was always around--kinda miss that!! I am due for a trip home pretty soon..but probably August is the soonest I can go. 

So I looked at my calendar cuz I have been so MIA with hanging out. I haven't had a full wknd off since march..so sad!!! My June schedule I finally have a few Fridays off but work almost every Saturday! So hopefully after June is done and I'm all moved in, I can finally find some sort of work/life/social/bf balance/harmony! The libra in me needs this balance in my life..but lately feel like I have been letting my work schedule dictate my days. Thinking about maybe switching to days (thiiiinking, but not  sure!) But, really dreeeaming about going part time and doing something fun like being a flight attendant!! Hahah, I so wish!

My next small goal in life is to seriously learn how to surf small baby waves..I think this will be more possible since our new house is literally a few blocks to an uncrowded surf spot. My biggest fear was always that I would stand up..then run into people while riding the wave cuz the lineups are always so crowded! Lol! So I guess I always held back cuz I felt intimidated and scared. Prob gonna buy a used soft top long board to learn...& mike said if I graduate he would buy me my first official longboard, hahah! (Mike is officially on full time salary now, yay!) He bought me some surfer girl inspiration for our "anniversary" (although we don't really have an "anniversary" just 3yrs of being friends, haha) 

Should be a fun process cuz my ass needs a few new hobbies! 

Anyways literally have like 6 loads of laundry to do...ugh! Until next time!!! 

Day 3

So, I started the ultimate reset! First of all, the ingredient list was cray--I was walking thru whole foods literally for like an hour looking for all the things I needed. Thinking "where are the lentils?! Wtf does is look like. What the hell is tempeh? Who eats this stuff regularly?!" Hahah. Luckily, it is just down the street cuz I always forgot something!

On my first day, I was soo miserable. I went to work..craving coffee& with an annoying headache the whole shift. I was a grumpy, super sleepy nurse!! I also felt a little dazed, weird! I thought to myself like "wtf? This sucks!" But I read if you are a regular coffee drinker, that its normal. So I went to sleep and woke up still with a headache, grr. The food is good--pretty much nothing processed..all whole foods. And did I say no red meat?! The night before i started me and mike made some super fatty steaks &indulged on wine!! Thank goodness for Mike..he's super supportive and cheers me on! Haha.

So today I woke up soo much better. Energized, not sluggish. Not craving coffee. Having good bowel movements, lol! I'm never hungry..& to top it off, I lost 4lbs already. Yay! A lot must be water weight cuz I'm feeling a lot less bloated. But this is good cuz I was in the gym and doing my kickboxing videos since I came back from PI with super little progress. I guess it really is "80%diet 20%exercise" blablabla whatever it is. Haha. You can't really do vigorous exercising, so just been walking Koko girl twice a day for now.

Anyways, hope I can stick to it! I know I usually give up quickly on things (sadly) but hopefully not! My landlords mother passed away & his siblings want to sell the house...so if they decide to sell, we are gonna have to move again! Wahh! Praying we won't have to (totally dread it and hard to find pet friendly rentals)..& wishing I can just buy my own beautiful house! It's ok ...all in God's timing..yes! K going for a massage..until next time!:)

Before and After

A few changes in the past weeks.

1) had a root canal on one of my teeth a long time ago. Ever since they put a crown on it, I always pocketed food there. My old Filipino dentists tried to fix it three times! So, my new dentist kept telling me to get it fixed...& once I finally decided to fork up the 1000+ to do it (dental insurance sucks ass here)...my tooth underneath was decayed!!! Omg so disgusting....i was so close to losing my tooth! Finally had an all porcelain crown placed on it today and had it all cleaned up...& I'm sooo super happy. No more food stuck, no more gray tooth, all SMILES!

2) Finally cut my long ass mop hair & had it lightened..subtle ombré. Hallelujah been wanting to cut it since I was in the PI. But as always, miss my long hair after its cut but its all good:)

3) Weight loss picture to be announced. Puahahah, I wish!!!!! No lies, I need to drop at least 10lbs..giving myself 3 months to do this. Since Ive gained a few lbs, my periods have been super irregular, get constipated easily, super hard to lose weight,and just feel just blah! Going to restart by doing the Ultimate Reset..have a lot of friends/acquaintances who have had good results (lose a few lbs, lower BP, improved energy) after doing it, so hopefully I can start from there! I've been wanting to do a good detox but honestly never wanted to pay for it, lol! Gotta start somewhere I guess...let u guys know how it goes!

Anyways, hope everyone is doing good! love you guys!

Easter weekend!

happy Saturday everyone!

Been up super early cuz I pretty much knocked out all day yesterday after work. I was asked to do OT on my last shift cuz it has been crazy busy...as usual! It was also Good Friday...feel a little bad because Lent started while I was in PI so I never got into it (if that's even the right way to put it!) but I always pray and feel thankful!

Anyways, I wanted to talk about how horribly hung over I was last week--a little traumatizing I would say! I went out with all of mikes best friends from HS..even his ex gf was there (haole chick pictured below) lol. But it's whatever, I don't even trip. I think we drank from like 8pm-5am....went to probably 6 bars, & they were all into Patron shots! Agh!! I hate patron nowadays because I get the worst hangovers. Anyways we got home and I wake up and FaceTime with Lynn and Tess all drunk. They had soup..so when I got off the phone I was craving and so I drove mike & I to Chinatown to get pho at like 730Am. Not a good idea, I was soo dizzy!! Afterwards, mike and I were literally bedridden for 24 hours..so horrible. Mike was throwing up til like 9pm that night, haha! & Every attempt to stand up was like, "okay, no I'm still dizzy." I blame it on the patron. I don't think I was even fully recovered til Sunday evening. We drove all the way to Kapolei for our first real meal at brick oven pizza on Sunday night. So that was my traumatic weekend! Lol. I am staying away from Patron for a verrry long time!!!!

So cheers to a new weekend!! I love the e-cards that I posted below..hahah! Reminds me of us, out here at least--regressing almost 30year olds. Me and mike wanted to plan camping this weekend cuz it's going to be my last free weekend for a looong time (damn scheduling!)...but the weather is shitty. Anyways, have a Happy Easter weekend everybody!!!

Puppy love.

Koko Isle Circle. Koko Drive. Koko meaning "blood" in Hawaiian. Sometimes she drives us Koko. How fitting that we named her Koko!!

It's been about 2 months since we've had her, although 1/2 of that time I was away. But, she has brought so much JOY to us! Nothing like waking up to a puppy whining to go shi-shi at 6am, nipping at your toes when she wants attention, & following your every step around the house. Never a dull moment with a puppy:) I seriously can't imagine a baby! Right now, she is teething and boyy has she been biting more than usual! She has this "kolohe Koko face" me and mike call her..looking like she's ready to nip you any second! Ill post a picture.

Anyways, just felt like talking about her cuz I love her so much! Haha. I am back to work again...unfortunately, with the crappiest of schedules starting in April:( working lots of weekends, fridays, and split up nights...but how can I complain after being off for a month. Mike has started his new job as well..& he really likes it so I'm happy for him.

I have lost 4lbs of the weight I gained in PI but I still feel fat, lol! I feel like I always get in phases of eating well/exercising and then totally go bad cuz I go on vacation somewhere every 3 months & just indulge! Well I don't have anything booked at all this year (yet! Haha) so I'm actually gonna stay on island for more than 3months! Hopefully this means I can try to keep healthy for now..well see. Mike and I have been cooking a lot more at home and I would say eat out 75% less than before...that's a lot! Makes a big difference in my pocket & belly!

Anyways, this post was supposed to be about Koko only..& I like how it finishes off with how I want to lose weight. Lol. So random--just how my mind is. Like "oh I love my dog...hm I wanna get skinny" hahah! Ok, until next random posting✌

Back from the Motherland

Three weeks later and we're back!  We had a great time in the Philippines--had a lot of experiences, saw a lot of beautiful places, and bonded with a lot of family.   Happy to be back in the comforts of home now-- where I have a sense of time, can drink ice cold beverages, can go out without bug spray, take a long hot shower, can eat a salad and fresh veggies, and use my iphone &internet freely.   Makes me realize how lucky we are to have simple things like that!...often taken for granted for sure!  

This trip was a little different than all the other trips back to PI.  This time I was old enough to appreciate everything.  On prior trips I was like 14 and 21, respectively--both times I remember talking on the phone and going out with friends was my priority.  Like, "ugh, wonder what my friends are doing. I wanna go  home" kinda attitude, haha.  At the age now where I could really appreciate getting to know my family...appreciating all the luxuries we have at home compared to there....and just being in the moment.  

So, going back to work tomorrow--I am totally dreading it because I feel like I forgot how to work and stay awake at night.  I am also trying really hard to watch my diet, exercise, &limit my drinking cuz I feel totally fat/disgusting from the trip:(  Not cool at all!  

Anyways, I took tons of pictures. Thought I'd share a few each time I blog...

This photo was taken before heading to the P.I.  We hiked Mariner's Ridge.  Little did we know, this would be one of the last times before PI that we could be physically active (aside from swimming) on our trip.

This is a photo where we visited our Tatang.  Said a small prayer for him. We love and miss you!

Our first meal at Darayonan Resort in Coron, Palawan.  We stayed here for about 5 days.  Every morning we ate tapsilog, had a cup of instant Nescafe, and started our days around 6 am.  They have "brown outs" during peak hours of the day..meaning no electricity, no water, no AC, no cold drinks...nothing! Very humbling to say the least, learning to deal with it--but definitely worth seeing this paradise:)

Spent our first evening poolside.  The only choice we had--it was soo hot! & no electricity or water.  We drank the typical San Miguels and got semi-drunk.  First time seeing Mom and Dad swimming in the pool in a long time.  They used to take us every weekend at 32nd pool base we were young; consequently, all of their daughters are water lovers!

This is on our boat. We were lucky enough to get our own boat tour for just our family.  That is Tatay in the back, along with Raffy "the silent sea warrior"  and "OJT"--we called the little boy who was on the job training:)  Random story:  one day we ran the boat into shallow water over the reefs, and the propellor broke.  Tatay in the back said he's been saving for a long time to buy a new one....Dad did the kindest thing and gave him the 3000 pesos he needed to buy it.  It was theee nicest gesture, made his day and MY day! lol, love to see nice things happen.  Tatay, who reminded us a lot of our Tatang Lucio,  had a cheesy smile on his face the rest of the day...amazing!!!:)

No words can describe and no pictures can justify really how beautiful this place was!

Snorkeling was so so so so so so amazing.  Soo much live coral and abundant fish---I hope it doesnt get ruined in the future. By far, the best snorkel experiences we had were in Coron...hands down.  This was taken with my little underwater Sony, cool yeah?

This was our first actual stop.  Bulog island.  We were so excited and took tons of photos here..little did we know, it was just the tip of the iceberg.  I remember looking around like WOW.   Wow wow wow, soak up the feeling and the moment. Wish I could rewind back in time!

Ok I could go on forever with more pics..but wanted to share this last one!  This is Raffy the silent sea warrior.  Yeah, we made that last part up. Because he truly was!!  I've been around a lot of water people especially here in Hawaii, but this guy is something else.  If you look closely at his right foot, that is a handmade fin...yes, just a piece of wood with some bands.   Just one foot, lol.  But this guy was free diving the deepest of waters...coolest grand finale of our boat trip was when he dove I have no idea HOW deep but DEEEEP below...and snatched an unsuspecting turtle and swam it back to us.   Who does that?!!!!! A man of few words, but impressive nonetheless! (We tipped them big time).

Hope you enjoyed! Will definitely share more in the future! Aloha.

January 2013

At the end of January..and I can't believe how fast the month has went by!!

This month has mostly consisted of:
1) Renting a new house
2) Moving into the new house
3) Getting a puppy!!!!

So we moved in second week of January. It was such a pain in the ass. Me and Mike bought forearm forklifts...and basically, it just sucked! Next time Im paying however much it costs to hire movers...and I also plan on just staying in this place for a while!  It's not bad..feels a lot cozier, plenty of storage, cheeaper, and less dustier. Our other house was so dusty bc all the wind would just blow dirt off the freeway into our house, so it was soo time consuming cleaning that house.  Our previous landlords gave us hassles about the yard maintenance in the old house too, so we also had to put in a lot of time and effort before moving in fixing the yard, growing the grass, trimming the hedges--and that yard was bigger than the whooole house!! OMG, soo over it and glad we moved out. That occupied me literally the first half of January :/

Since our new lease allowed dogs, I was so very anxious to get a puppy. Part of me wanted to wait til I got back from PI, but part of me was too excited and couldnt wait!  Mike said he kind of wanted one to have around when I went to PI, so everyday I was practically obsessing..looking online (I think I knew every dog for sale on this island) Lol.  I saw Koko listed for a while in a litter of 4 puppies, but Mike said she looked to furry....and then one Sunday she was listed as the "last puppy left!" Ahh!! & it was practically love at first sight. She was super mellow, sweet, and cuuute!

So this past week has been a lot of time spent with her.  First day was rough, a lot of crying and adjusting. I was a little nervous about what I got us into because of all the attention she needed!!  But after that, everything has been great. She is super smart--she has already learned to sit, fetch, to use potty pads, and to sleep in her crate without crying for hours at a time. So we are stoked:) Cant wait til her immunizations are done so we can take her for walks and force her to like the beach, LOL.

So with all that, havent had much time for anything else.  Went out maybe twice this month?? Lol!  Mainly because I've been trying to save cash for my trip to the Philippines which is like NEXT week!!!   Ahh! Honestly havent much time to get excited about it because Ive been so busy.  But we booked 1 week in Palawan, touring all the different islands and Im so excited to see it. & after that, we'll still have 2 more weeks of fun! & I get to see Inang! Yay!

Anyways, computers dying.  Probowl is tonight...I'll be working. But only 3 more days of work, and Im off for a month!!