T.A.G you're it!

THE RULES

-Post a photo and eleven random things about yourself
-Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you
-Create eleven new questions for the people you tag
-Contact those you choose and let them know they've been tagged

Eleven Random things about Myself & Family

1. Nahleah is waayy excited for our big move to Alaska, lol. No for real, she's always telling my parents and asking me if we are going tomorrow to Alaska. lol

2. I have a collection of Nail cosmetics, and every now and then my besties and I have a girls day or night where we do nails and catch up. Since we are all adults now, we hardly see each other, so this is one way we get together and catch up. :)

3. Justin has O.C.D. He's gonna give a hard time about me posting this..buuutt oh well. lol. Its not a bad thing. But he has a way of doing things (his way) for everything, from brushing his teeth, to folding clothes to how he cooks and washes dishes. And yes he is always on my case about everything, cause I don't like doing things his way (its just to much to do and remember) lol. So I guess you can say he's the Clean Freak out of the two of us. hahaha. Love you babe!

4. Every Saturday we spend time with my Mama in-law (Mama Lei) at Papa Vivao's Grave. We try our best to make our Saturdays free, that way Nahleah gets to spend Q.T with her other Mama and Papa. She loves and enjoys her Saturdays cause that's the only time she runs free on the grass, and sees her Mama Lei! :)

5. I recently started a collection of shoes! Ha! I'm a subscriber to JustFab, and I am HOOKED! lol I have like about 5 pairs from there and couple from another brand lol. Its an Obsession, that can't get cured. lol

6. Justin can cook really amazing food. Sad to say but out of the two of us, he's better at cooking, hands down. lol. And he enjoys cooking and well Nahleah loves his cooking too. haha. Don't get me wrong I can cook some pretty mean stuff too, but his food is always on point, and he knows more recipes then I do. lol  I married me a Samoan Iron Chef :)lol

7. Our favorite place to eat as a family is YUMMY's. The food is BOMB dot com. I love how it comes with 4 choices of veggies, makes you feel like you eating HEALTHY! lol Thats one of the many things imma miss about Hawaii! :(

8. My birthday and hubbys birthday is in the same month! haha. Through out my life, I never really met anyone with the same month as me (February)..and now I'm married to someone with the same month. lol. :) Yay for Feb. babies!!!

9. Nahleah is growing up fast with a very smart mouth! hahaha. This generation of kids, are very smart and they pick up on things so fast. Nahleah will repeat everything she hears, it might not be right then and there, but she will repeat it. lol Like she heard my mom tell my dad "you eat too much"..lol...sure enough I hear her saying it to her uncle and her daddy. lol hahaha.

10. I am terrified of LIZARDS!! I don't care how small they are, if its a LIZARD, i will walk or run the opposite way. lol. Thats my worst my fear besides sharks, but I know I wont see any sharks walking on land, so Im good, unless I'm swimming at the beach lol then I will be swimming as close to the shore line as possible. hahaha.

11. My husband takes the longest showers EEVVEERR. Like for real its longer then girl showers. hahaha. He says that he shaves and uses the bathroom before he showers, but still 2 hours!! SMH lol. So if you see us late to something, its not cause of me, its cause of HIM! lol



Eleven Questions from Kelcy Ponciano-Ahue :)

1. Are you a Night Owl or Early Bird?
Definitely a Night Owl. I hate waking up in the morning, especially if its too early. lol. 

2. Who is your Celebrity crush?
Hhhmm Celebrity crush, I would have to say Chris Hemsworth from THOR! Because he's so BEAUTIFUL!!! ;) lol

3. If you could go back in time and revisit a memory, whether it be good or bad, what would it be and why would you want to revisit it?
It would have to be when my Grandma Pemita Mamea and Grandpa Pauga were still here with us, because I wasn't able to attend there funeral, so I never really got to say goodbye. :(

4. Do you prefer Milk or Water with your Brownies?
MILK! It makes the brownies even more yummy! :) lol

5. Name five things you would like to do before you die:
I would like to meet Chris Hemsworth (LOL)
Go to Paris & New York
Go sky diving
and Swim with Sharks (shivers) lol

6. If you could move ANYWHERE in the world for a year, where would it be and Why?
Since we are moving to Alaska for good, I would like to move back to Hawaii for a year because there is no place like home! :)

7. Most inspiring actor/actress?
I would say Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr., & Johnny Depp! I know I'm suppose to pick only one, but I couldn't decide. lol. But I absolutely LOVE their movies, and they are just so dang good at what they do. :)




8. Morning Ritual? If none, do you have a nightly ritual before you go to bed?
My morning and night ritual is my own personal prayers. This for me is a must because without it I would have a rough day or cant go sleep. It helps me through the day and night. :)

9. Favorite way to sleep; on stomach, on side, or on back?
I love to sleep on my sides and sometimes on my stomach but mostly my side. lol. But I have to have like five pillows around me to get comfortable. lol.

10. Favorite Quote?
LIVE, LAUGH & LOVE. Enjoy LIFE, one moment at a time. :)

11. Name 3 things you LOVE about YOU! :)
Three things I love about myself would be...my loving FAMILY i am blessed with, my beautiful HERITAGE, and my amazing RELIGION/BELIEFS :)

Our HIGHEST POINT! :)

   Laie Temple

Its been a couple weeks now since we reached our goal of getting sealed in the temple for all time and eternity. :) I been slacking on my blog, but I been wanting to share my AH-MAY-ZING experience. So here I am :)
My family and I got sealed on April 27th 2012. (Yaayyyy) Getting to where we are at now, has been a long long loonnnggg but well worth it experience. I been told by many that the feeling is truly something u have to experience for yourself and it cant be compared to anything else, and they are totally RIGHT! It was the HAPPIEST time of my life. I knew I was where I was suppose to be, and finally I have made my parents proud! I know both me and my husband share the same feeling, because he too was over whelmed by the experience. We went in around 4 pm and got out around 8:30pm. It was also nice to see familiar faces, supporting us on our special day. It was like a 2nd wedding, but with limited guests :) I have learned so much that day, and the over whelming feeling of Happiness, Peace, and Accomplishment made my testimony for the church even stronger. I just wish my husband and I did this earlier. But I am forever grateful and blessed to have accomplished this AMAZING goal of ours. The process wasn't easy, but what is!? Looking back at what we've faced to get to where we are at now, all our ups and downs, in the end its all worth it. After our sealing we had a small dinner at the back chapel in Laie for our supporters :) Everything was PERFECT! I am so glad we made this decision and we accomplished it. I do encourage those who haven't gone to the temple, to do so, you wont regret it. Til this day, since our sealing, things have been a lot better. I mean don't get me wrong, we still have little issues here and there, but its not as bad as before. If that makes any sense. The feeling I have now, is just peace. I'm not worried about anything anymore, and I do know that getting sealed was just the first step we had to take. Now is the real test, where we continue to keep ourselves clean so we can continue to go back to the temple. :)
I want to thank my Parents, who have done so much for me in my life. They truly are the best examples. They have sacrificed so much and worked so hard to help me get to where I am today. I love you mom and dad. And to my mother in-law and the rest of my in-laws that were there for support. Thank you for driving out to Laie, I know the drive is far, and I am so blessed to have such great support and love from you all. To my besties! TWO down and TWO more to go. Ha! Thank you for your love and your support. Jieni Kotobalavu you're NEXT! :-) And last but not least BIG THANKS to my husband for putting up with me and for being the one person to take me to the temple. You have sacrificed a lot for our family and I am so so BLESSED to have you as my ETERNAL COMPANION. Love you, and love to all my family and friends who came out to celebrate our Highest Point in our Lives :)

-Ruta

Our Adventure to obtaining the gift of ETERNITY!

As you all know from my past posts, my hubby and I have been working on taking our family to the Temple to get sealed for Eternity. It was one of the BIGGEST step/choice we had to make, but it was the BEST choice/decision we have made or will make together. The path was not easy, but we survived through it all. There were times were I felt it was useless, and that giving up was the only option, and I'm sure my hubby felt like that at some point, but we stuck to it and worked thru it. Satan really does exist, and with this goal in our minds, he will show his ugliness and try to stop you and your loved ones from obtaining this gift of Eternal Life. I have read on one of the talks from Elder John. M. Madsen that Eternal Life is the GREATEST gift from God to mankind. And I agree with him, whats better then spending Eternity with your loved ones. Nothing in this world could compare to that. I am forever grateful to have a choice or opportunity to have Eternity with my family. The subject is easy to talk about with your partner, but the road to it is hard. The temptations, peer pressures you will face will be impossible without Heavenly Father and Faith at your side. Trust me, I have learned that the hard way. I have learned and grown so much through this process. And I am ssssooo HAPPY, that we are now just a interview and signature away. Every time I think about it, It gives me these butterflies and this excitement that makes me smile. I know in my heart that my family and I are on the right path, and that once we enter that beautiful big white house of the Lord, nothing will or can ever stop us from being apart. This experience of  trying to obtain this gift is an experience of a lifetime that i will never forget. I am thankful and so very blessed for my hubby, for agreeing about making it Eternity and for working so hard to get there. You the best babe! :) We got this...<3 My parents and this gospel has played a big role in my life and I am grateful for them. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't have such great role models. Like no joke. I am eager and excited, but until then I will share more details with you when we get that last signature and interview. <3 I love my life and my loved ones, especially the man upstairs! To those who haven't started on this great endeavor, please start soon...I promise it will all be worth it, "If we can do it, then you can do it too". And to those who are already there, you guys are right..."It really is the BEST feeling EVER!" I can already feel it :)

-Ruta

Im BACK! :)

So I'm finally back, its been a long while since I updated my blog. (smh) Things have been crazy and lots of stuff been happening. So where to start! Okay so its been awhile now but if you haven't heard already, my father is now Bishop for Laie 9th ward (Samoan Ward) :) It was a surprise to us kids cause we didnt find out til the Sunday they announced it. lol *my parents think they sneaky like that* lol Since i was little girl my dad has always been a great a example/role model. Its great to see him take the role of Bishop again, I know without a doubt in mind that he will be great as always :)
Last month my hubby and I celebrated our 2 year Anniversary! He took me out to dinner and a movie. We ate dinner at this Italian place where we had our first dinner date, then we watched this army/military movie. I totally don't remember the name of the movie, but it was a great movie. He spoiled me on our anniversary with a little bit of shopping here and there. :) We've known each other for about 3 1/2 years now but married for 2 AMAZING years!! He's such a great husband/father/bestfriend and I love him so :)
As we all know it was tax season and well we been talking about moving, so when we got our tax we purchased our tickets to Alaska for May 22nd! Why Alaska you ask? Well we figured its a perfect place for us to get a fresh new start and to get financially stabled. We want to start of clean so we can soon stand on our on two feet without relying on our parents or family for support and help. You know? Plus I'm the oldest out of my family and well my parents aren't getting any younger and they will soon need my help, and I want to be able to give them that help without having to worry about my own family. But before we leave, we've also made a goal to get sealed here at the Laie, Hawaii Temple, since both our families are down here. :) And I am very happy to say that all we need right now is our last interview with the Stake President and get his signature then we set a date for our big day! :) I can't tell you the feeling I have everytime I think about how close we really are, It feels so GOOD!! :) I will definitely blog about it when we get our date set. So until then...:)
And then we have this whole Laie North Stake Cheerfest thing. It was our first year to ever have something like this, but it was so much fun. Even though we practiced like the last week an a half, I think our cheer was bomb dot com. lol. And my baby girl rocked it. I'm sad that we are leaving hawaii and only now they wanna start stuff like this. lol. I don't maybe we will just come down for the next cheerfest....hahaha. Even my hubby was all excited about it, cause you know..only on the northshore u can find stuff like this. He's a Mule alumni so this was pretty new to him and he LOVED it. hehehe. He will deny it, but he told me he's happy he got to experience that kind of hype. :) He's also a small kine RED RAIDER FOR LIFE on the D.L..hahahaha. SSHH!! ;-p
And thats pretty much it, well at least thats whats worth sharing :) Until next time, heres a video of our Cheer, my baby girl is on the bottom right doing her thang like its no ones bizz... :) Thats how you knows she a True Red Raider lol. She got Spirit! YES she does :)  EnJoY!!

-Ruta

My Valentines Day

Valentines Day is a day where we get to buy/spoil/show our loved ones how appreciative and blessed we are to have them in our life. Its also a day we get to spend with our loved ones. Well in my family, since I was little, I've noticed my parents not really celebrate this "Valentines Day". I have yet asked them "why" they don't, but i figured its cause back home "Samoa" they don't really celebrate this, so I guess they are use to it. lol. I think the only time I remember my dad getting my mom roses for Valentines Day was last year! And I remember her saying "Oh, WOW! Finally, you get me flowers!" lol. This year was different. I don't know what my parents did, but I think they went to town to celebrate. I on the other hand woke up to a note on our white board saying "HAPPY  VALENTINES DAY BABY" and at the bottom it said "look by the door" and sure enough there was a small red bag hanging by the door. (I always write little notes and pin them next to the door cause he hangs his keys there, and that way he will see it) lol Inside the bag was my pearl necklace I got from my mom on my 16th birthday! The day before Valentines Day I told him, I didnt want anything for V-day and my B-day, since he already let me splurge on JusFab (shoes) and the bag he got me. I felt that was enough for me, and i really didn't want to spend anymore. With that said, he went ahead and fixed my broken necklace. [The necklace broke the day I found out I was pregnant...for some weird reason it just fell off, the chain broke and the pearl separated itself from the pendant, and I was just laying down watching t.v when I felt it come right off] lol So I been asking him to get it done for me...for the past year and a half...and finally he did! lol YAY!! I was touched and surprised, cause this necklace of mine had a lot of sentimental value. <3 

I called him right after I opened the little red bag, and Thanked him and wished him Happy Valentines Day! :) For the day Nahleah and I cleaned and did our normal routine, and then before hubby got home, my minnie me and I made a little sign/letter to Daddy :) Homemade cards/gifts are always the best!! When hubby got home we had dinner and a movie. It was a perfect day & night! I got to spend it at home with my loves. Hope everyone had a great Vday! 

-Ruta

The Mini-Vacay & Moms 50th B-day Weekend :)

I'm like a week late, but HEY! better late then NEVER right!? lol. So this is the continuation to the previous post! As I said before it was my Moms B-Day and it was a pretty big one too, cause she was turning 50! :) Usually you throw a big party for the big 50, but my mom didn't want that. I asked why, and she replied, "because we will have to cook and serve others and its too much work and hassle. I just want to spend time with my husband and kids" :) And so we decided to go to the Aulani Disney Resort for the weekend of her birthday. We checked in on Friday the 27th. We were sssssoooo EXCITED, even my dad couldn't sleep the previous night cause he was excited to go. hahaha. TRUE STORY! lol. The drive there was fun, it was just my and parents and us kids. My hubby was meeting us there after work, so it was just me and ben and sefa with my parents and of course Nahleah too, in the Family car. On the way to the hotel we all talked and cracked jokes on each other. It was nice cause my brother is hardly home, and we never really get a chance to spend family time with each other. Besides everyone's schedule was different, so it was already hard getting the family together. But this weekend I made sure EVERYONE was gonna be there. It was a special weekend as a family to spend together and it was my moms only birthday wish. So when we got there, we immediately got leid and helped with our bags! I swear it was just for the weekend, but we packed like we were moving in! hahaha I told my dad "OMG the workers are prolly like (WHAAAAT MOVE IN ALREADY!!)" ahaha. No but seriously we had a cooler filled with food and lots of bags like we flew in or something! lol We really did look like we were moving in tho. HA! So after we checked in we went up to our villa and it was sssoooooooo nice! We stayed on the 12th floor and the view was beautiful! I already knew the weekend was going to be amazing cause it was also the pro bowl weekend, which means we were hoping to run into some nfl players. My husband pulled up like ten minutes after we arrived with his nieces and his little sister. We invited them for Nahleahs sake and we thought it would be fun for all of them. So the villa we stayed at was a two bedroom and two and a half bathroom place. The kitchen was completely furnished and the living area had two pull out couch beds, so it was perfect with all of us there. The bedroom I chose was the one with the two queen beds, one for hubby and I and the other for my niece and sister in law :) The boys (Ben&Sefa) crashed outside on the pull out beds and my parentals got the master bedroom with the AMAZING bathroom! Nahleah slept with them cause their bed was bigger then ours lol. We had dinner that night and family prayer and then went to bed. It was now even harder to sleep cause of all the excitement..lol. But we managed to get some shut eye :) The next morning we had breakfast then went down to the pool area and spend the whole day there. The hotel had a mini water park, it was a lot of fun and the girls were enjoying their time there. I left my mom and the girls there and went up to the room with my baby niece. I didnt swim til later with my hubby and brothers. My dad joined my mom and them when they were swimming earlier, so everyone got to swim that Saturday lol. I made a big dinner since it was our lastnight there. We had porkchops and Mushroom Chicken! YUM! The next day we checked out, but still stuck around for the activities. Even though we checked out, we could still use the facilities which was pretty neat. We got to take pictures with the characters, which is something i really wanted to do for the kids :) After taking pictures, we did some activities the hotel provided. The girls had so much fun and so did the adults. We left the hotel around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Yes we missed church. lol. But all in all the weekend was the best, it was so good to spend some time with the family especially for moms big 50. She got what she wanted and it was a great way to start off our 2012 year :) We all hope to go there again some day. :) It is by far the best 50th Birthday weekend and Family Outing Ever! I will never forget this special weekend of ours :)

THE FAMILIA :)

POOL DAY!

PICTURES W/MINNIE, MICKEY, STITCH & GOOFY! :)

I had to post this for the Birthday Girl and her little Rascal! lol Bath time in their big bathtub, that could be Nahleah's own personal pool! lol

-Ruta

Oh January! :)

January is almost done and I haven't updated my blog, January has been hectic. We had so much going on this month that I completely forgot about my blog. The first thing that happened was we (my little family and i) went in for our bishop interview to find out when we can accomplish that GOAL we been working towards. And I'm happy to say we are VERY VERY close! I'm super excited and relieved we are one step away from it :) The process of preparing has been hard, especially now that we are super close, Satan has been working really hard. My hubby and I have been getting into arguments here and there, and we are trying our best to not lose our focus on ETERNITY. I will post another blog before we go in to properly announce our date :) 

The second thing that happened that kept me from blogging was having family visiting from Samoa. My moms little brother and his beautiful family came and spent a week with us, and it fun and hectic, cause they had little ones and so Nahleah and the kids would run around and play like no other, even if it was 11 pm at night. lol It was nice to have the house full again and the kids enjoyed themselves, especially my little one. We got to do a bunch of stuff with them before they left. My mom and Nahleah took them to the infamous P.C.C for the whole day, including the dinner and night show. Then the next day I took them to the swap meet to do some shopping for them and the rest of the family in Samoa. lol. And then the day before they left we took them to the Honolulu Zoo! Man that was a LOONNGG DAY, but i had fun seeing them enjoying themselves, especially with Nahleah older now, she knows and notices thing more. After the zoo we got some pizza at Costco (my favorite pizza)! Then we headed home, they left the following morning which was this past Friday. It was a bittersweet moment. But I'm glad we got to spend time with them :)

 

Third was my husbands sisters one year of passing and birthday!! Which was on Saturday. It was beautiful, everyone in the family was there, along with the bishop and his counselors and the Y.W and the Y.M. They sang some songs and did a little ceremony for her. Her name is NenailaLotomama Lulu Danielson :) She left us in December before Christmas, but they decided to do her one year on her birthday which was Saturday Jan. 21st :) I didnt really get the chance to get to know her, but I know she was a BEAUTIFUL person inside and out, and she's touched many hearts including mine! <3  My husbands family is wwaayy big, siblings wise. (if that makes any sense) lol I have only one brother and thats all. He has many sisters and brothers, which is why I enjoy being around them. Its nice to see them together laughing, talking stories and what not. I've always wanted sisters and brothers growing up and I'm happy to say I've gained many since I got married :) lol But Nailas SPECIAL DAY was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! And her grave site or should I say HOUSE is even more BEAUTIFUL! We sang happy birthday to her and we had the family let go balloons in her memory and for her birthday :) I loved that day, I dont know about everyone else but I felt so much LOVE and SUPPORT that day. Its nice to know that our Loved ones aren't lost forever, cause with the Plan of Salvation we will get to see all our LOVED ones again and be with them :) So ONE day I will get a chance to sit down with Naila and get to know her, and see this BEAUTIFUL person everyone in the family is always talking about :) She is DEEPLY MISSED & TRULY LOVED. R.I.L Naila..*Until we meet again* <3

And then we have my Moms big 50th birthday this Thursday, along with our mini family vaycay. I haven't figured out what Im gonna get her, but I will go into details with that on another post, since it hasn't happened yet! :)

TO BE CONTINUED......

-Ruta