"What Would You Expect on a Saturday?"

9.25.10. I am grateful for busy Saturdays: ukulele shopping, grocery shopping, laundry, participating in a great conference, some Jamba love and a solid UH performance!!! Go Warriors!

Saturdays, a day to relax? To spend time with family? For recreation? That would be too much! Lol. Helped Idea find an ukulele for her nephew in Switzerland at Easy Music, then we went to help at an EPIC table (new banner and pens were great!) for the ISPCAN conference at the convention center, but we mostly relaxed, ate, listened to music and then left. Got a free bag and goodies and Idea gave me a $20 Jamba card for helping her and a big Banana Berry-yum! Then grocery shopping with Sonny, laundry and UH killed Charleston Southern 66-7, yeah! Boys hanging out and I'm actually relaxing tonight!

"Feala. . .Two Years, Still Missing You. . ."

9.24.10. I am grateful today for the privilege of having Ms. Feala 'Fifi Mama' Buttel as my best friend and sister in life. I can't believe that today marks two years since your passing. You are dearly missed, still beloved and always in my thoughts and heart. I miss you, Feala. . .

So I woke up around 3am crying. It was Feala's 2nd year anniversary and I was worrying about something else and feeling hopeless about it, texted Roni and woke up Fosi to talk about it. Gotta have faith in God, He always provides! It is still very surreal sometimes, I can't believe she's gone, but I know she's in a better place and happy and healthy but we still miss her here. I have so many amazing memories, such a blessed life I've had to share it with friends like her-the best friend a girl could have, a sister. I hope Feala knows how much I love and miss her and I will try to honor her life and memory by being the best I can be and being a good friend to others. Spent the evening cleaning the office with Sonny and shopping for his new bedsheets, toiletries and him buying his own toys at Wal-Mart and eating at L&L's there. We had a great 'date night' together! Life does go on, doesn't it? Mahalo ke Akua!

"Quesadilla Thursdays"

9.23.10. I am grateful for early morning meetings, mid-day studio sessions and homemade kalua pig quesadillas with just me and Sonny in the evening.

Early morning CP Hui meeting at the Pacific Club-successful. Flex time from 12-2pm at studio, with Jack re-doing the guitar and igi and I added a faaumu. I want the Samoan song to be great, it is such an awesome song and we want to do a bang up job with it. The intro igi is the most important lick of the song, gotta be malosi! Fosi and Timo had priesthood meeting, so I tried my hand at homemade quesadillas with Sonny and we enjoyed them! Almost the weekend!

"Dance and Grocery Wednesdays"

9.22.10. I am grateful for dance practice and grocery Wednesdays.

Work, work, work and youth dance rehearsal for the temple re-dedication in November. They're doing great! Then off to grocery shop so we could eat at home, healthy and less expensive than eating out! Always tired, in a good way, at the end of the day! It's so funny, because this picture of Fosi buying healthy food generated so many funny comments on Facebook. My favorite from Mac (he looks confused. . .) and Austin (there's a mystical look about this picture, like the Mona Lisa-is he happy? is he sad? what is he thinking?). My wise-guys brothers, hilarious!

"Paul Brown Tuesdays"

9.21.10. I am grateful for Paul Brown Tuesdays.

It was that time. . .to get a hair cut and color. It was beginning to look like I was wearing a wig. Lol. So after work, I headed to Paul Brown's and Ines did my hair while Andrea gave me an eyebrow wax. Nice to clean up, dinner was made at home. Long day, but so blessed!

"Mexican Mondays"

9.20.10. I am grateful for Mexican Mondays!

Long day, tired and lots to do to prepare for the launch next week and conference on Saturday. Timo was still in Arizona so we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant on N. King Street and the kalua pig quesadillas were great! Good way to start off the week with my 'ohana.

"Primary Presentation"

9.19.10. I am grateful to my son for making his parents so proud today. He did a great job today during his Primary Presentation. He is growing up to be such a fine young boy! We love you, Sonny!

Sonny participated in his annual Primary Presentation today. He was so excited and nervous at the same time. He and Fosi had chosen a great suit, tie, shoes and he practiced his piece. I encouraged him to start off with, "talofa" and he leans over to me right before he goes up to say that he wasn't going to do the 'talofa', a conformist! Nah, he did great and had good stage presence, stood still and sang loud and had a great smile up there. He's getting so big! Great job, Sonny!

"Siva Siva Mai Saturday"

9.18.10. I am grateful for getting back into studio and for producing a great song!!!

Saturday in studio. UH lost to Colorado after a lead. Luisa and I spent all day working on Siva Siva Mai with Wendall. Wes Roe laid down the keys, we met him last week at the Women's Health Day, he was doing sound and he's Derek's keyboard player in Au Uso Moni-how ironic! He used to play for Hot Rain and Lina knew him. D got a kick out of it when I told him, lol. He did a great job and we worked that song and I think it turned out great! Jack just gotta redo the igi and maybe add a faaumu at the beginning and we're set! Spent the evening relaxing and watching videos while the Parkers had a dinner in Kailua. SIVA SIVA MAI. . .

"RED Friday"

9.17.10. I am grateful for these things on an Aloha Friday: Skype (honto?), paying respects to Grandma Maga and her aiga, the Kapalama Dance-a-Thon with DJ Force (aka Fosi), a free lunch, a night with Sonny and wearing RED. . .=)

It was a good Friday. Last night was a good Thursday night, with stake dance rehearsal and David bringing me my 'gift'-Ricky, to help with practice, lol! That was nice! Today was Mary's grandma's funeral, Grandma Maga. I loved that lady, she was a faithful LDS and loving grandma. Always speaking to me in Samoan kindly. Her family will greatly miss her! I stopped by the Kapalama dance-a-thon to see Fosi-he said Sonny danced up a storm! Then Lydia bought lunch at work and I was busy busy because I came in at 11:30. I got the wrong color keys delivered for the launch event, but it will be all good. . .breathe! And I wore Red and took a pic and sent it to Roni because she said I should wear red and I got all kinds of compliments! I was told it was 'my color'! Gee, I should buy more color! Spent the evening with TJ and Sonny, setting up movie, pizza, video game night while I watched movies and slept! Good Friday!

"Na Wai Albums on iTunes Today!"

9.16.10. I am grateful that as of today, ALL of NA WAI'S FIRST FOUR ALBUMS ARE FINALLY UP ON iTUNES!!! BUY THEM TODAY!!! (Fifth Album Coming Soon!) MAHALO!!!

Its true, after years and a lot of hard work this week and thinking about it, the albums are finally on sale on iTunes (so fast, now!). Let's see if we get any slack from Radical Rob or John Chang! Yikes! So excited, hopefully people enjoy the music, and Na Wai earns passive income! More money, more money!!!

"A Mid-Week Celebration"

9.15.10. I am grateful for celebrating in the middle of the week with my two boys.

Timo left for Arizona today to spend time with Tiah and see if there's anything there. Me and the boys eat a scrumptious meal at Chili's to celebrate getting the tax clearance for "Sobriety Support Hawaii", Sonny raising his $200 and turning it in and me getting a 5% raise! Hooray for mid-week celebrations!

"Late Night in Studio"

9.14.10. I am grateful for a late night in studio with great musicians, all on a Tuesday!

Tuesday night and it was the only time Jack could lay down the bass and guitar before he headed to L.A. Since we needed to lay the song down on Saturday, Bella and I went in at 10:30pm and laid a scratch vocal and the music was great! Pushed up the tempo and it sounds good, can't wait to finish it up! He has to re-do the igi, but 'Siva Siva Mai' should be a hit (although I miss my 'igi' friend, but hiki no!) Studio, here we come!

"The Healing Power of Music. . ."

9.13.10. I am grateful for the healing gift of music. What a blessing it was for us to sing for Uncle Richard and to see how music transcends physical limitations. Mahalo ke Akua!

So after work, Bella, Luisa and I sang a few songs for Uncle Richard, Don's uncle thr0ugh marriage. He's a great musician, comedian who has suffered a series of strokes and now is unable to talk and is unconscious most of the time. He barely responds to anyone, but when we went to sing for him, he was alert and crying and trying to talk and they were so happy. I lost it, of course, crying and feeling the love and gratitude this man had for music. I felt privileged to be there and to share that gift with him and his family. I was so thankful to God for the gift of music and service in my life!

"O for Owesome"

9.12.10. I am grateful for a great Sabbath: family time, church, a wonderful fireside with the Akanas and a new find, the 'bomb' organic chocolate milk!!!

Another Sunday and its nice to catch up with laundry, hang with the dogs and the boys and get ready for church. Attended a great youth fireside with Joscelyn and Branden Akana speaking about the importance of education. On top of that, I'm in love with an organic chocolate milk from Safeway, tastes like chocolate shake! Healthy and yummy! It was "O" for "Owesome"!!!

"Donate to the Dance-a-Thon!"

9.11.10. I am grateful for a UH win and seeing my sister Nani and her family.

The Warriors played Army today and although we blew a 21-0 lead, we barely squeaked by with a field goal at the end to win. I can't even write down how much we spent to buy the whole season on tv, crazy amounts! Anyway, I had a HI HOPES board meeting from 11-1 and only 4 showed up but we planned for the launch event, so that was good. That night, Sonny, who has been hitting up everyone for donations for the dance-a-thon, went with me to Nani's. I went to drop off the album covers to Jared so he could scan and clean it up and Sonny brought his donation envelope and got $10. Go Sonny!

"Women's Health Day"

9.10.10. I am grateful for performing at Women's Health Day, seeing Kainoa, lunch with Na Wai and a day off!!!

I took the day off to sing with the girls and help emcee the Women's Health Day at Waianae Comp and it was a blast! The ladies there loved it, Luisa got to see all her peeps, we enjoyed singing together again and performing for those people. It was a nice surprise to see Kainoa, who is doing his intern there, he danced a hula for us and we caught up. He looks great and it was nice to see him. Aunty Francis came with us and we had lunch at Chili's afterwards. Was great to catch up and laugh and eat. Fell in love with the chicken crispers taco. The girls decided to put up all the albums on iTunes, so that's my new project. Spent the night with Sonny while Fosi went to the high school football games with the boys.

"Old Skool is the Best!"

9.9.10. I am grateful today for 'Old Skool' Jams. . .nothing like some 80's and 90's music to bring back the best memories! Classic Hip-Hop, Slow Jams, the JETS! That's my jams!!!

You know, any time of the day or week, when I wanna have a good day, I listen to the music I grew up with and it makes me feel so good! Jammin to the 80s and 90s, the JETS, brings back so many good memories of friends and places and my youth. Nothing like music to bring it all back!

"Worldwide Birthday Celebrations"

9.8.10. I am grateful for birthday celebrations, homemade carrot cake and one of my childhood favorites, spam and rice for dinner!

It was 9/9 in Japan and I got up early in the morning to wish D a 'happy 27th' via Skype with Ms. Roni. He was thrilled with his gifts from all over the world, which I'm sure is comforting, being so far from home. Arlynna made a great carrot cake at work and I had some nice comfort food for dinner, spam and rice! Good Wednesday!

"My New Banana Berry Love. . ."

9.7.10. I am grateful that I've found a new love. I know we've been together a long time and I was loyal to you for years but I've found something new. . .aloha Strawberries Wild, hello Banana Berry!!!

So I used to be a Jamba fanatic and I've become one again, thanks to Banana Berry, a blueberry banana and raspberry concoction that is creamy and sweet and so 'ono! What a great way to enjoy an average Tuesday!!! Working on the Launch Event in a couple of weeks-great to have Jeanne on board and Bella helping with all the launch party planning!

"In the Rainforest"

9.6.10. I am grateful today for: recording with Na Wai at Rainforest studios and visiting Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and Feala.

We spent the morning recording at Rainforest studios in beautiful Nuuanu with Aaron Kaonohi and Charles Lukela for a Molokai artist, Mark Kapuailiawa, song called "Ryze Up", a rootsy reggae song. Luisa is working on a duet with them. After that, Fosi, Sonny and I went to the graves to visit mom, dad, gramps and gramma and Fifi. It was a nice ride and great to see them and pay our respects. Back to the grind tomorrow!

"Spread a Little Aloha"

9.5.10. I am grateful for these things on this Sunday: testimony meeting, dinner at the Nauahis, a ride to Hawaii Kai, no work tomorrow, spreading aloha worldwide and hopefully. . .understanding. . .

Sundays, gotta love um. Especially because tomorrow is a holiday. Testimony meeting is always a great way to start off the month and ending the evening at the Nauahis with dinner and a ride to Hawaii Kai to pick up some food from a cousin, was nice. The package I sent to D with some goodies from Theresa and I and the mealofa from Roni got to Japan today, so its nice to send a little 'aloha' across the world. Then, I had a misunderstanding about something but it turned out all good, that's life sometimes!

"Chinese at the Nordgrans"

9.4.10. I am grateful for meeting with the youth board and a great homemade Chinese dinner at the Nordgran's.

Spent the wee hours of the early morning skyping with Roni and D. It's always good fun to talk story with them and laugh. I woke up kinda down thinking about people who have past and its nice to know someone is up and talking story somewhere else in the world. I asked and they gave good advice about the Vegas trip, I just can't rationalize going when I need to pay bills and save for Florida. They said 'family first' and I agree. If I had choke money, I would do both, but I'll focus on Florida for now. Had a good youth board meeting and spent the evening at the Nordgrans with the Parkers, Nauahis and Rob, eating homemade Chinese and chilling with the sister missionaries and Lexie, the pretty collie. Sonny is on a mission to raise over $200 for the Dance-A-Thon and he's made over $90 so far, hitting up people on his own-that's my boy!!!

"Memory Lane"

9.3.10. I am grateful today for. . .really good memories, really good friends and a really blessed life. . .

Just waxing a bit nostalgic today, thinking about my girls growing up, especially those who have past: Feala and Marilyn. Looking at old pictures reminds me of all the wonderful memories I have, all the lifetime friends I have and appreciating just how blessed my life has been. Feala used to say, "The only trip I can afford is one down memory lane!" But its a journey I can take anytime and I love it! In this world, to love and be loved by so many people is more than anyone can hope for. My love and gratitude goes out to all of my friends out there who bring so much joy and richness to my life-thank you!

"Warrior for Life!"

9.2.10.I am grateful that I am a UH WARRIOR FAN FOR LIFE!!!! Great job against USC tonight, we should have won, but we had a strong showing on national tv, never gave up and our offense looks SWEET this year-GO WARRIORS!!!

First game of the season against USC! They've slaughtered us in the past and we have a fairly new group of players, so I was nervous but UH did their thing! The QBs were great, the O line did a great job, the D needs a lot of work and we lost 49-36. I was proud of our boys, it could've gone either way and I think we have a lot of great potential for the season ahead! Of course, I am a WARRIOR FAN FOR LIFE!!! Spent the evening chatting with my Aussie and Japan friends and . . .helping things along. ;) Love those guys and love the Warriors!

"It's All About the Fruits. . ."

9.1.10. I am grateful for healthy eating! Can fruits replace ice cream and fries? Probably not, but I'm gonna give it a try!!!

So the eating well is going good so far. Fosi bought a lot of fresh fruits and made a lovely fruit salad and we had homemade nachos for dinner, which I cooked. No ice cream or fries this week, trying to keep up the good work-went walking, too! Let's DO this-"Mission: Disneyworld", here I come!

"Tuesday's Looking Good, Too!"

8.31.10. I am grateful for working with Bella and Jared again, attending a great lecture about Native Hawaiian children in foster care and Timo making steak for dinner. Good Tuesday!

It was a long work day but a good one! I'm working with Bella and Jared again for the Launch Event with Bella helping design and do tasks for the party and Jared doing the graphics. We had a meeting in my office this morning and it was like old times, lol! I went to a lecture by Dr. Kimo Alameda (Sky's brother-in-law) entitled, "A Day in the Life of a Native Hawaiian Foster Child" at LCC. It was really good, got home after 8 and Timo made me steak. Good Tuesday.

"Now THAT'S how we start off a week!!!"

8.30.10. I am grateful for two pieces of great news today, a new 'mission' and a FHE activity of major purging and cleaning my son's room. Good Monday!

It was a great Monday! What a blessing that Arlynna offered to pay for Fosi and Sonny to come to Florida and agree for us to pay her back over time. We're going to Disneyworld and Universal Studios, baby!!! It's almost surreal but we're going and we've decided not to tell Sonny until his birthday on October 3. I found out from Alan that he adjusted our taxes and we'll get a $11,000 credit to help reduce our outstanding balance with the IRS! I actually have 2 new missions; 1) is to go forward with the Sobriety Support Hawaii and the ATR program and assigned tasks for the week, 2) to prepare for Disneyworld by walking and eating good to lose weight so I can enjoy the vacation with the boys. And we spent the evening cleaning out Sonny's room-purging, throwing away and putting away and his room looks great! What a way to start off a week!

"I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ"

8.29.10. I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Another beautiful Sunday and it was a good day at church and doing chores at home and getting ready for Monday. We watched the Hawaii Little League team lose to Japan for the World Title, 4-1, but it was a really tough game and the Hawaii team gave all they had and we're SO proud of them! I am grateful to be a member of the Church, in this day and age, when things are so unsure and when there is tragedy and evil everywhere, what a blessing to have the gospel in our lives and to know that there is a God and that he loves us and that Jesus lives and is the Christ.