Youth Group and other news...

Left-Abby and I, she is contemplating life

Below-Jason, Mahea, and I before youth group.

(Notice Jason and his Integral Technology Shirt-Hot Stuff.)

I never really responded since that really bad night at youth group! It actually never really got dealt with because every week since then we had a very small group because of kids going to camp, vacation or other summer things. Last week I thought we could have a real heart to heart talk, but then it was just about 5 kids, and none of them were even there that night! So, it was not good timing.

We got the Nooma videos for the Summer. God will show us some neat things as we watch them and read the studies that go along with them. It will also help with the feeling that the well is currently dry and we need some refilling at this point. God is so faithful, and He always does refill. I am getting more used to the fact that we do have 'Seasons' and this is one of the dry, summer seasons. It is not a big deal. When I was younger I am sure I would have over-reacted and thought it was the end of the world. I am older and wiser! Actually, I will turn another year older this Wednesday. 28 actually. Close to 30, and I don't even care.

So, youth group will continue, and I will press on.

Actually, something really rare is happening next week. I don't have the patience or time to really write the whole thing down, but here is the basic jest of it. Abby and I are coming to California alone. It is a LONG story. My grandma is about to die any day, my mom is taking care of her. I really want to go be with them in this hard time. I would not even consider it usually, I have work, youth group, a household to take care of and run! Who would cook Jason dinner??? But, Jason is REALLY busy working, and my work just got slow. SO, we can work it out. I will come next week. Then I am staying for a whole month. We were coming out for our baby sitter's wedding (She is also a CLOSE friend and Abby is the Flower Girl!) and so I will just stay for that since it does not make a whole lot of sense to just fly home and then back again a week later. I am lucky too, I can do a lot of work from home. I will bring my laptop and just work from there.

I will miss my dear Jason, and I will worry if he ate fast food too much, and if he cleaned his water jug out often enough. that is my job, I worry about that stuff. He will miss us, and Abby. She LOVES him so much, she says "Dadda" in a really up-tempo tone every time he comes home. When he goes to work she says, "Bye, bye, bye, bye" and waves both arms. She is precious. I would not even consider such things but Jason has such a huge load of work that he will be jamming long hours to just get it done! So, it will be ok. Good thing we have Skype! Time will go fast because of my grandma and all that. I will get to see everyone there, my sis, my friends and even Jason's family.

Ok, I am off to bed. Aloha to you all. ~Becky~

Why?

I am so frustrated right now. Why are people so nuts sometimes and not other times? Is there a full moon out tonight? Just kidding. Anyway. I am overwhelmed right now and I am going to just blog it all out and try to let it go, yes, let it go! So, we have this youth group. It would take too long to write all of our philosophies and what has gone on and is going on, but it is a family style bible study for teens. They love it (I think) and it is normally pretty dang awesome. Not awesome because Jason is a great teacher, or the burgers are delicious, or lots of kids are coming. Those are all true, but it is awesome because we see God in these kids, we see God teaching them, being their eternal 'burger' (bread of life), and they are sharing with their friends and their friends are coming. This is the true wonderfulness. So normally, kids play games, there is a little horsing around but not too much, talking, music, laughing and just hanging, BBQ every week, eat together, pray, read the Word and talk about it. It is usually just so awesome. Not one person usually dominates, but usually everyone is talking, sharing. Tuesdays, 2 kids come over to 'prepare' the lesson for Thursday, so it is the direction they saw and what God showed them as we studied the scriptures.

Tonight was not flowing and cohesive. It was chaotic. There was physical fighting, name calling, crying, disobedience, disrespect, there was very little listening, I felt SO defeated. I wanted to just drive everyone home and say- it's over, we are done. We didn't, we had a 'talk', which seemed kind of pointless, kids were really quiet the rest of the night. They did get into the lesson a little more, then we did have a record number of kids pray. That was the real highlight.

I do not know the reason. My heart just wanted to share how I felt, so disrespected, our home disrespected, the 'safe' place we have always wanted it to be was not safe anymore. Kids were hurt. Multiple kids even had tears. It is a double whammy because we had one new girl, she must have thought us to be a bunch of psychos, and one girl that is moving and it was her last study. She and I cried and hugged. I will miss her so much. Talia, I love you! So much went array tonight. Jason and I did not even feel like we were on the same page. Then our traits start coming out, how I handle conflicts and commotion is WAY different than he handles it. He just gets quiet, hones in on one or two things. I am more the bull that wants to handle the masses. There were so many 'fires' to put out I was trying to tame them like beasts. (They were more like beasts that spoke Chinese or something, because they did not understand or hear me at all). One of the other suckiest things is that our friend that we had told all about how 'great' our youth group was came for the first time. We told him all about how it is such a great, steady and lovely group of kids who are hungry for God. Then he sees wild beasts who are only hungry to be major stinkers and very disrespectful. I felt bad for the few that were not, they were good kids, and just did not know how to even respond in such an environment.

I will try and process this. I am welling up with tears thinking about it again. It was just not them, or what they normally are. It makes me think of what God thinks when we are like that, acting totally different than what he created us to do. The love is stifled and not even apparent in us, and we are selfish and rude. That must be one of the reasons he grieves. The sadness to see his children that he loves, that he knows he made better, more loving, more sincere.

I am grieving over this at this moment, as 'high' as it can feel when God is rockin in this place, kids are growing and just being bomb, it can be that 'low' when they all leave after they were so obstinate. Bye for now.

Little Vacation, and it is about time I blogged about it!

So, about 3 weeks ago we went on a mini-vacation to Oahu. Well, Abby had a doctor appointment, so we took the opportunity to spend a few nights over there and get away. We had a great experience at the Ala Moana Hotel. I have a video of the room. This was the Kamaaina Rate room, but they gave us a free upgrade to a one bedroom suite! It was so awesome. We got to the room and we were blown away. There was a beautiful rainbow over Honolulu towards the mountains. It was so beautiful. The room was just wonderful. I tried to upload the video of the room, and it ran all night, still nothing. It said it was still going this morning! So, until I figure it out, we will have to live without it.

So, Friday night we walked over to the Mall. It is cool because there is a bridge the directly connects to the hotel. Abby in the stroller we head over. We went to the Apple Store first. Jason loves seeing all the new toys. Then I looked around at some other cute stores. We put our name in at Macaroni Grill. We looked around a little more, and then went to the restaurant and got seated. It was good, the best part for me is the 'Leaning Bellini' which is a super yummy drink. It consists of champagne, peach schnapps, fruit juice, and vodka. Oh my gosh, they are so good. it has a kick, I was warm and relaxed. We enjoyed dinner too. Abby loved her food and we had a great meal. So we walked back to the hotel and got settled in. Then, we did something we never do, watch TV in bed! Abby was out like a light, and we watched one of our freakishly favorite shows 'The First 48'. So, the next day we got up with the intentions to go to the Zoo. We ate breakfast at Zippy's, as soon as we were heading to the Zoo Abby was asleep again! She is such a sleeper. So, we changed our minds and went on a drive the long way to the North Shore so she could sleep in the car. It was so beautiful. We drove all along the ocean and saw where they have shrimp farms, and we even saw the Mormon Temple. That was a new drive for us, and we enjoyed it. We were ready to get out once we got to Haleiwa. We got out for a smoothie and let Abby run around. So, then we were back on the road and we went to one of my personal favorite places on the island: Waikele Shopping center (the only Outlet Mall on the island!) I had some really great fun! Jason and Abby also did enjoy it. Here is a picture of Abby at the Mall...

So we went to Chili's for dinner. Again, so good. We go to lots of Mainland restaurants when we go over there since we don't really get that very often. So, back to home (aka the hotel) and again Abby was sound asleep. It was a fun day.

Monday we woke up, ate breakfast and went to the doctor appointment. I was nervous not knowing what exact testing they were going to do on her. I was prepared for the most invasive, hoping God would just get us through it. Then, we had a great surprise, he did not have to do any of it! He did an X-Ray and due to the testimony we told him, her prior record and X-Ray of her abdomen we were good to go. We are not due back for another year now! Yeah hoo! Then, we went to a few of Jason's electrical suppliers and Best Buy and headed back to the Airport to fly home.

It was so fun, but we were, as always, glad to be home. Our home is just our home. There is nowhere like it for us. It is comfortable, cozy and is great to come back to. The mini-vacation was fun. If we could have changed something we would have done 2 more days. I would have liked some pool time, maybe more sight seeing, and the Zoo! I really wanted the Zoo! So, one more year, we will do it again. This was the first time, since moving away, that we went away not to see any family, but to just to be together as a family ourselves. We liked that for a change. We were on our own time, able to do whatever we wanted. It was really fun and free.

So, I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures, video and blog. I will be blogging more soon. Aloha.

Abby is fun.

I have Pig Tails!I kept them in too!

This is me, after bath time. Look at that bootie! So cute.

I am a nakie monster!

We're playing.

Fish Lips, kiss lips.

Laughing all the time.

Smile! Finally, a real smile!

Let's go bye-bye.

This is one of my favorites...

So simple and true, she is just a fun little gal. As you can see from the pics today, you can see what I mean. This week I worked 3 days, so it makes me appreciate the days I am home with her. I also have an amazing friend watching her. She has a little girl too, and they have so much fun together. Shannon is such a good mom, and it really encourages me to be even better. So, today I sat and played with Abster for hours. She was just so fun. She has a real sense of humor (that must be Jason's fault.) She looked so cute in her jamies...

She took a long 3 hour nap, while she was napping I worked and showered and made her a lunch. I have been experimenting with the whole grain Annie's Macaroni. I add veggies and chicken and other yummies to it. She loves it. I made White Cheddar shells with peas and chicken for lunch. She woke up and ate a heap of it! She was hungry. It is good to see her eat yummy, healthy food. I feel good when she has healthy food in her belly. Then we cleaned up and went to pick up Mahea from school. She is like my other, older, precious girl. She is in Jr. High, and she is like family. I love her. So, we are planning her B-Day party, so I picked her up from school today. We ended up finding our friend who's car had just broke down. So we gave him a ride back to work, and we went home. We worked on the party plans, in true Becky fashion, the party is on Sunday, and we are just now planning it today! That is the way I roll, on the edge. This is Mahea...
So, I hope you all enjoyed the new pictures of Abby and even Mahea. I will definitely write more soon.

Bethany said I need to write more blogs, so I will!

So, I can not sleep. Mostly because I am exhausted. It makes no sense.These pics are old, but they were on Jason's camera and I forgot about them, so I put them up for fun!

What should I blog about? Let's see. Well, since my normal babysitter is off island until September, I am winging it. I am working from home, getting into the office when I do have the opportunity, and just trusting God that he will bring me through this. I don't have anyone over my shoulder, but still my sales will speak for themselves and then I will have someone to answer to, the owner! Yikes. Nah. Today though my good friend Shannon watched Abby. (She is doing it tomorrow too). It is only a temporary fix, but great! She is SO amazing with Abby. She has a 2 year old little girl, and they play and play all day. They are both pretty relaxed girls, go-with-the-flow. They colored, and snacked, and all took a walk to the coffee shop. Shannon told me today was great! I was a little jealous not being there too. Since I have been with Abs so much, I was sad. She was not sad, she blew kisses and used the little stroller and toys that she adores that we don't have. So, it made it easier for me to go. I got home, Jason had picked her up. I had gotten a ton done at the office, so I came home ready to be with my girl. We played and watered the plants. We read some books and then she said 'Nine-nite'. She walked into her room. She was just ready, ready for bed! I love this abnormal and wonderful baby! Now, 16 months old! STOP GROWING UP! She does not listen though. :)

So, going backwards...Last weekend, the Monte was put to sleep. After 7 long years of service. We drove her all around the country, shipped her to Maui and California and back again. She was a wonderful car, a part of the family. Never had really problems, but the oil leak did her in for good. She only got $1000 for trade in, looked sad, but it had to be done. So, we have a new set of wheels, that I am getting used to. On Saturday we went, traded her in, and got a Mazda CX7. We are Mazda people for sure. I wanted my 3 hatchback again, but they only had one, and they had 0.9% financing on the 7. So, we did it, got the 7. It is beautiful. It's new, shinny, and I don't want to mess it up. So I am super careful. That is the only down side, I have to be more careful than with good ole' Monte. Monte had been through so many bangs, hits, smashes, dings, and lived to tell the story! She always came out like a champ. :( Sad times, but good times too. New memories will be made! I will post a picture of the newbie when I take one. It's silver and black leather on the inside. Sounds fancy, but it came with it. It is actually a 2007, I think that is why it was on special. they had 6 of them, all 2007's that were new.

Anyways, that was that. Mother's day was good. Went to Maui Ocean Center. Abby LOVED it. We took Mahea, our friend and youth-grouper. That made my day. She is a darling, sweet girl. Jason and Abby got me doughnuts, balloon, flowers and kisses. Abby gave me a big wet one. That was my favorite present. :) Jason got me a car, so that was good too.

So, it is midnight now. I think I am getting tired. blogging does kind of relax you. :)

Does anyone really read this??? It feels like I am writing to nobody. Oh well.

Mojito's

These pictures have nothing to do with this blog, they are just recent pictures for decoration only. :)

Well, Mojito's, we like them. I had one for the first time about 2 weeks ago. Then, we saw the already mixed kind at Costco. It's good mixed with Fresca. Someone recommended that, and they were right! (we can't quite handle them full strength. :)

This week was so transitional. We spent lots of time this weekend cleaning out, spring cleaning. Also, spent some time planting a garden. An Organic Herb and Vegetable garden. That was so fun. I am excited to see what will happen. I did about 1/2 with seeds and 1/2 with baby plants.

I plated 2 kinds of basil, cilantro, parsley, chives, bell peppers, zucchini and squash and strawberries. I will update as things happen with the garden. We cleaned the lanai top to bottom! It was so good to do, washed all the windows and all the outdoor furniture.

Jason, I think, thinks I am officially crazy. :) I function better with a clean and uncluttered house. I just do. I love waking up to a clean house. I like drinking my coffee with everything being in its place. Freak.

How do I get a list of friends on my blog? I am so confused on that. This is like writing to a black hole. I mean, thanks Amanda for commenting. You are the ONLY one so far, quite possibly the only one to read it! Keep reading, k, because your all we got! ;)

Ok, were going to bed. Peace Out.

Testing uploading PICTURES!!!! I did it!

These are pictures from Mike and Amanda's wedding in Oahu in December. Abby is our little stinker.
These are her One Year Pictures (well, 2 of many!!!!!)


I finally figured out how to get a picture up!!!! Here is Abby in December! She actually has changed a lot recently. I will post more soon. Here are a few more to update you all...