It's the small things...

Three things that made my day:

The sunset last night

The Christmas corner in our house!  Tiny tree but it's just perfect!

The flower that my hubby got me... gerber daisy, my favorite!

Other good things include Alabama beating Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

Oh yes, Old Navy groupons that saved me $40!

Making Japanese origami with my patient at work.

Laughing so hard on Thanksgiving with my hubby that my sides hurt.

ORDERED A BRAND NEW SEWING MACHINE!  yay!

Just a few things to be grateful for.  It really is the small things!

...Forever is only the beginning ....

11.18.2011 ...

Breaking Dawn came out!

I really love the Twilight series...  I think it's the impossibility of the romance in that series.  I just love it.

Anyway... some ladies from the Makiki ward and I went to the midnight showing.  I thought I was a Twihard.. little did I know these ladies were just as into the series as I am!  Okay, probably a little more... :)

Rachelle, Me, and Chas

Sommer made the sweet veils so we could all dress up for the wedding... :D

Hanoni, Sommer, Kayli

We ate at Dave and Busters before and then headed over to the theaters.

The show was FANTASTIC!  I question the age appropriateness of some of the scenes between Bella and Edward... But overall it was a wonderful show!

LOVE IT! 

Work hard, play harder!

Even though my weekend is coming to a close... I am SO EXCITED!  Because there are so many good things to look forward to...

1.APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Conference) will be over this weekend, which means normal life can resume again! Yay!  We can have our town back.

2. BREAKING DAWN comes out this weekend!  Okay, maybe I am a huge geek but I love Twilight.  And, for your information, I'm totally Team Edward.

3. Monday Night Football tomorrow night!  Normally not a huge NFL fan, but Mike and I are having a date night to cheer on the Packers since they are undefeated.

4. Missionaries for dinner on Tuesday! Got a new Elder.Yum!

5. Zumba - my new little obsession. I love these workout classes!  Have a couple planned for the week. Gotta love getting good deals through base to go to these! :D

6. Going to start my CHRISTMAS shopping!! :)

... and in the more distant future ...

• Mario and Holly (some of our Arizona friends) are coming to the island so we can party like it's 1999! Oh, and we're going to the pro-bowl with them.  No big.
• BYU vs HAWAII! See ya later U of H.   Got tickets to the big showdown at Aloha Stadium in just a few short weeks.  Also planning on going to the traditional fireside the night before.  SO STOKED!
• Booked my best friends tickets for her trip down here too!!  FOR TWO WEEKS BABY!  Oh the fun that will be had.. (FEBRUARY) Welcome to the rainbow state Em-dawg! :P
• Parents / In-laws coming for a trip in March!  I'll go through the temple to get ready for our big sealing date in (hopefully) April!

Korihor

Wow, that's a creepy title for a blog post.

But I've been thinking a lot about the story of Korihor today.

Korihor went all over to many different people spreading the poisonous doctrine that there was no God, there was no Christ, to live for today, because there is no accountability.

There are several thoughts I have on this story.

1.  Mormon was inspired to include that entire account in the Book of Mormon, because it is a doctrine that is seen everywhere today.  Dress how you want, say what you want, love who you want, whenever you want, LIVE FOR TODAY.  It is sad to see people with brilliant minds have so much wasted potential.  And that's what is being taught to the rising generation.  The lack of morals is just... sad.

2. When Korihor was brought before the chief judge, Alma, he gave a wonderful solution in the way to respond to this mindset.  BEAR TESTIMONY.  Look around us.  The stars in the sky, the waves of the sea, the brilliant colors in the sunset... all testify of a Master Creator.  We do not need to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ... because it is TRUE.

3. I find it interesting to note the people that brought Korihor before the chief judge were the people of Ammon.  The Nephites didn't turn Korihor in... they merely turned him away, and then just a few years later Korihor's beliefs started sneaking into their lives.  They became prideful, thanking God that they were better than everyone else, casting out the poor, and denying the Christ.  Perhaps the people of Ammon, since they had repented of their Korihor-like beliefs, realized the danger that was behind that lifestyle.  This account is a wonderful testimony of the Atonement... when you have truly repented of your sin, you realize the danger in anytthing that may lead you back into that lifestyle, or into that sin.


Anyway.  Just a few thoughts.

Life's A Beach!

So, for our six month anniversary, I splurged and bought some sweet snorkeling gear!

Okay, well some of it was sweet and some of it was cheap as heck... 

We have now attempted going snorkeling THREE times.  But, I am freaking scared as heck.

Let me explain. 

Attempt # 1 - We drove about an hour and a half to the North Shore.  Turtle Bay - when we got there it was POURING.  Although we did get to see some HUGE waves, so it was still worth it.  No snorkeling for us, though.

Attempt #2 - Hanauma Bay.  I about peed my pants!  The water was so shallow over the coral and I could feel it scraping against my tummy ... I felt like sea urchins were going to get me the entire time!  Also, this is when Mike went into rage mode because his snorkel kept filling up with water and choking him out... 

So, since I was scared as could be and he still wanted to keep snorkeling, I surrendered my gear and sat and enjoyed watching the waves roll in.  Still a beautiful beach!

The dark areas are where the coral is RIGHT below you.  Enough to give me a panic attack! :D

Getting all ready to go play in the water!

The sweet gear!  The fins and my mask/snorkel worked great!

Attempt # 3 -  Bellows Beach.  There was nothing to see there, because the waves are waaaaay too big and also the water is murky.  But we sure had fun with our boogie board and body surfing today!

This is my new "happy place."  It is SO BEAUTIFUL here!

After a fun afternoon splashin' in the water!

Mmmm Hmmm.. I like that view.

Anyway, slowly but surely I am becoming less and less afraid of the water!  Probably by the end of our 3 year stint here I'll be a regular fish! :D