Family Picture Fail

Before I named this blog "'Alu 'Auha," I named it "Dang Langis."  And for good reason.  Some things we do in this little family of ours is... well, cheap... for lack of a better word.  And sometimes being cheap backfires on us.

For example: while sorting through my digital files, I saw a picture I didn't expect to see.  But first, a background.  Last year Jobi took me to Iao Valley for Christmas and we took a family picture.  You can read the post by clicking here.  But here is the picture we took Christmas 2010:

Not bad, right?  Especially considering we just had our camera and tripod and took it ourselves.  It's not as professional-looking as this one that we took at Sears just one month earlier:

but the former was $200-something cheaper than the latter.  So I told Jobi we should just take our own family photos from now on.

Oh the cheapness of me and Jobi.

This year my parents in Samoa asked all of their kids to send family/individual photos to them for Christmas, so back to Iao Valley we went.  I charged the camera for four hours before we left, dressed us all, packed the camera and tripod, and went back to the same benches that we sat a year earlier.  I set up the tripod and took this dumb photo:

I was actually surprised that this photo came out, because right after I snapped, something happened...

the camera died.

The four hours I charged it did absolutely nothing.  The LCD screen said "Battery Exhausted" and then went black.  And that was that.

Surrounded by outdoorsy tourists dressed to hike and swim, we looked Sunday best for nothing.

FIRED.

Then I took a whole bunch of pics from my camera phone because I didn't want this trip to be an entire waste.  I tried to make the photos look as nice as possible, but... well... this is what I came up with and you can decide if they're worth sending to my parents or not.

Oh, and since I wasn't in any pictures at Iao (and I still only had a camera phone to work with), I took pics of myself when we got home:

Yeah, I'm not sending these either.

Sorry, Mom and Dad.  We'll get a family picture to you soon, I promise.

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Filing, Filing, Filing

I make a good secretary

or bookkeeper

because I am obsessed with filing and organizing.

Just offices, though.

I'm no good with organizing a bedroom, or a living room, or a kitchen, or a classroom.

I'm not sure why.  It's like I have mad organizational skills, but... not really.

I can't for the life of me tell you the best place to keep keys and shoes and extra rolls of toilet paper,

but I can sit for hours -- or even days -- until all files in a file cabinet are sorted, labeled, and filed away

or all my digital music is not only consolidated, but also properly labeled by title, artist, album, and in the playlist I want it to be in.

I'm the one who files our taxes because I keep all the income and deduction forms and receipts neatly tucked away somewhere, and when the filing is done, I save like 3 copies of our returns.

I would even take the time to make sure all my digital photos are all rotated upright.

How OCD, huh.

Oh, I'm also great with books in a library.  Just ask my high school librarian.

Why am I mentioning this?  Because that's what I'm doing right now... organizing all my files on my computer and external hard drive.

I have a lot of random songs that I got from family, and I don't even like half of them.  And I have lots of good photos that I want to touch up and use for different things, but I have to find them among all the "IMAG000" and "DSCN" and junk pictures that I didn't delete.  Not to mention I have a stack of papers that need to go into our filing cabinet.  So I've been a little on edge all day just thinking about all of these things, and now I've decided to just go for it and get it done tonight.

Ok, I'm reading this post as I'm typing, and now I think I'm nuts.  Don't I have anything substantial to blog about?

Oh yeah... I'm supposed to post my Laie vacation.  Dang, that'll have to wait until my digital filing spree is done.  I wonder if this is the beginning of my nesting stage as a pregnant woman.

Anyway, off to my filing, then I'll come back again soon with something at least slightly more interesting for you.

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Making This Year Count

Did the new year really come 10 days ago?

This is probably my fifth attempt at posting a new year's post, and I'm hoping it will be my last.  I've been thinking, a lot like you, about new year's resolutions, and I've decided to forget them for the following reasons:

I'm pregnant, and getting more and more pregnant every day

I forget to do things, thanks to the pregnancy

I get lazy -- ok, I am lazy

I'd feel REALLY bad for myself if I didn't complete them

then I'd just wallow in my self-pity and never get anything done

Then I read this article from "Pick the Brain" about making every day a fresh start instead of every year, and it got me thinking.  Why should I only make every year a fresh start?  Why shouldn't I just try for every month, or week, or day?  Looking at every day as eagerly as I do every new year seems much more tangible and positive than the alternative, and maybe -- just maybe -- the disillusionment of New Year's Resolutions won't ever happen, because with only 24 hours the time is too short to mope and give up before the next day comes.

So "hang the code, and hang the [resolutions]! They're more like guidelines, anyway!"

(Name that movie!)

This year is going to be big for us.  This year is going to manifest (at least to me) our capacity for success in this world as a family.  2010 was depressing.  2011 almost seemed like Jobi and I had given up.  But 2012 feels different.  It really does.  We are on our own.  We are struggling financially, and yet we are making it.  Jobi's deployment to Afghanistan is delayed, so we are looking at our future with new eyes.  Our girls are growing, and we need to prepare them for education instead of just caring for their basic needs.  We are going to have 3 kids.  Shoot, we even have a new car!  I want us to make this year really meaningful, for myself, for my marriage, for my family.  I want to be better.  I want to be useful.  And I want to take it one day at a time.

Of course, I do have at least ONE resolution for this year.  According to this "Pick the Brain" article, there is a difference between resolutions and goals.  And I personally do think that resolutions, though ultimately unattainable because of lack of structure and finality, are important to make.  Resolutions are like personal creeds, something to continually strive for, never having an ending because they can keep on going, and the more you fulfill the resolution, the better a person you become.  Resolutions are never-ending progress.  So here is my one resolution this year:

give back.give forward

By the end of last year, I realized that we wouldn't be where we are today without the help of others in our lives whom I can only describe as angels.  Jobi and I don't feel worthy or deserving of such kindness, and yet we've been showered with it time and time again.  So it's only right that I become the giver now, to show my gratitude for those miracles, and to show others around us who are struggling that they are not alone as well.  This year I will give back to those who have given to us, and I will find others in need to give to as well.  That is how God blesses us, when we serve others. And I want to earn my blessings, not feel entitled to them.

Ok, now that I've finally said my peace on resolutions and the new year, I'm going to start on my goals for the day...

... the first being to clean my house.

What are your resolutions or goals for 2012?

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A Look Back at 2011

Since the majority of 2011 was not recorded on this blog, I thought I'd consolidate all the fun nothings we got ourselves into this past year into one post.  I hope it's not too long and unexciting for you to read.

Here we go.

The beginning of the year:

Jobi went to BOLC (and I got to visit him for a few days)

so me and the girls went to Washington to stay with my sister and her family

and had way to much fun with them... for some reason these are the only pictures I have.

In July, Blondie turned 1

and we celebrated at the pool

I made her birthday cake with fondent... that was fun.

A month later I saw this... and wanted to punch Jobi in the gut. :-)

In November, Almonds turned 3

so we celebrated at the park

and with Jobi's family.

This Halloween I skipped dressing me and Jobi and just focused on the girls' costumes.  I took some pictures, but they didn't come out well because the girls just ran around flaunting them.  But we captured a couple of videos, so here is one:

Did I mention that Blondie won the "Cutest Costume" award at the ward party?

It has been a year of lots of fun nothings and I'm more than excited to see what next year will hold for us.  Happy New Year everyone!

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The Christmas That Happened

The Christmas I had planned:

... make cinnamon rolls and cocoa for breakfast
... Christmas devotional with the Nativity story
... open stockings and presents
... take family picture somewhere (maybe Iao Valley)
... go to ward sacrament meeting
... go to in-laws for lunch/dinner

The Christmas that happened:

... I didn't have any pans to make the rolls in, and the dough turned (to) sour(dough)
... Almonds and Jobi slept in, so Blondie and I opened our stockings and ate fruit snacks for breakfast
... Almonds opened one present, fell madly in love with it, and didn't wanna open any more ... Blondie just opened her juice box from her stocking and ran around the house drinking it
... our car got a flat tire the night before so we didn't make it to Iao Valley
... or to church
  ... at least Lasi gave us a ride to lunch/dinner

But at the end of the day, we had a good Christmas, because:

... The girls got wonderful presents from angels in our ward
... we got to eat great food that we either made with our own hands or had the funds to purchase
... we made it to my in-laws', and everyone enjoyed themselves
... Jobi gave me presents ... yep, not just one present -- THREE
... we tried to make it a good Christmas. Together.

This was our second official Christmas living on our own (meaning under our own roof with no other families in the home), and it was much better than the first. (Don't even ask about how the first went.)  After almost five years of marriage, Jobi and I are finally starting to figure out how to be married to each other.  Isn't that a funny thing to say?  I used to look at other newlyweds who seemed to have their marriage well-established right off the bat, and I would get really jealous.  But now I can say that we are getting there.  This year was really trying for our little family, and at times I didn't think we would make it.  But somehow we got through them, and our trials made us stronger -- made us more like the couple we are meant to be.  It's nothing short of a miracle, and this Christmas season I have had nothing but gratitude in my heart for my Savior who has given my life meaning once again.

So now I'm looking forward to a better year for us.  A better year for me.  And many more Christmases to come.

P.S. As our Christmas "gift" to you, here is a clip of Almonds laughing.  You may not think much of it, but if you know Jobi, you'll appreciate it.  Laugh courtesy of "Winnie the Pooh" 2011.

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