Just What the Doctor Ordered

Okay, okay, I’m feeling much better today! I just needed to get my mind off track for a little relief.

So…I went for Greek food with Jules! We went to the Olive Tree Café near Kahala Mall. I had gone there once before, years ago with Care-bear. Then I think because I’ve been watching The Bachlorette, whom is Greek, I’ve been getting a weekly reminder that I’ve been wanting to go back there. Since I so desperately needed a relaxing night, I took the opportunity and rallied Jules to go with me- she’s such a good friend!

I had it all planned too. Usually Mom’s got bible study on Wed. Perfect. I figured I would be fuel-minded, drop Mom off at BS, pick up Jules, and I’m eating Greek. Mom found out last minute that BS was on break that night. Too bad, I was going no matter what!

Jules said that OTC is popular, so we might have trouble getting in. No problem. Even though we didn’t get to go super early, we got there right on time. People were leaving, we got parking, we found a table easy, ordered, then a huge line formed just after Jules had ordered.

I was considering the chicken souvlaki, but decided on the shaorma instead. It’s ground lamb with tomatoes and onions on a pita, with a salad on the side. I also had pomegranate juice with it. It was so absolutely and completely ONO! Here’s a photo for your drooling pleasures:

SHAORMA!

Jules had the same thing. We got caught up on stuff, had some good conversation, took our time a little. Then we checked out Kahala. I haven’t been there in so long. I finally toured the Apple store, tried not to drool. Nine West has a store there- I drooled only a little!

Then I dropped Jules off. She had work in the morning.
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It was the perfect night for releasing the bad energy stirring up in my brain. Thanks also to anyone who had prayed for the well-being of my mind! It’s been known to get stuck in a gear. I feel refreshed now. Tomorrow is the 2nd night of IMPACT- I’m ready now! Bring on the IMPACT!

Olive Tree Cafe is my new favorite place to eat! Anyone else up for going?

And regarding yesterday's little tiff, I'm trusting in God and plunged right in. Let's see what happens.

Mahalo for reading in!

Scar Tissue

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I have many hurts in my past that I would love to see healed. I thought I had “gotten over” a particular one and recently it has come to stare me in the face again. To be honest, I’m not handling it as well as I thought I would if given the chance for a reconciliation of any degree.

This hurt occurred almost a full decade ago. Early on I held on to the bitterness. Then I made attempts to reconcile. That being rejected, I turned back to bitterness and it almost destroyed me. That is no exaggeration. Close friends could tell that I had changed, though they might not have known the reason why. I suppose what is so difficult is that this was a pivotal event. A lot of firsts were involved for me. I can trace many bad decisions to this one experience. I began to doubt myself more than I had ever before. I began to care less and less as time went on. I began to lose faith in myself.

I cannot think of it without tearing up. I see now that I could have gotten a lot more destructive had God taken His hand from my shoulder. There were times that I begged for it, times when I dared God to abandon me. I always knew He wouldn’t, and there were times when I begged for forgiveness.
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Late last year, something clicked inside of me and positive changes began to occur in my life. In the midst of all that was going on, I decided to leave that hurt [among many others] behind, or so I thought. I had come to a better understanding of God’s grace given to me and wanted to cling to it. I have actually been feeling different inside. I wanted to share the joy with others more.

That was only a few months ago. Back to the past, I suppose it was easier to think that any chance of reconciliation was long gone. I believe it was a huge hurt for both parties involved, or maybe I only like to think so. Looking back, I am reminded of how much I cared and how much I wanted to communicate that. I also remember how ugly the whole thing made me over time.

Is this God talking to me? But if it’s not God whom is giving me this tiny opportunity…I guess I just don’t want the chance to fall again after having so recently been lifted up.

I realize that people will disappoint, and so it is never a sure bet that someone will not hurt me. Am I making too much of this than it has to be? Is it possible to care too much? I know that sometimes I think too much. But it’s just hard. When someone or something has led me to be perhaps the most fragile I have ever been…it can become difficult to breathe.

This is just ridiculous. The person hasn’t asked for reconciliation. We haven’t begun a new dialogue. I guess I want so much to happen, afraid it will, and afraid that nothing will come of it.
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Okay, this is a lot of stuff to be writing when just yesterday I welcomed any possible new readers. I apologize for the heaviness. I had decided some time ago that I would make good use of this journal and so I thought that I should include anything I felt led to include. I will try to find something lighter for tomorrow.

Life has its grand moments; life is also full of tough situations. I need prayer in both the good times and the bad times. I surely would appreciate your prayers this moment. Let us all pray for each other; can never have too much of that.

Mahalo.


“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9

For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. -Philippians 4:13

E Komo Mai!

I’m gonna take this time to welcome any new readers- WELCOME new readers! I know, I’ve been rather shy about having this journal and all but I’m finding it a good release for the things clogging up my brain.

Feel free to roam around and to leave a comment on any entry at any time, whether a compliment or criticism, I’m okay with it. Please at least drop in and say ‘hi,’ let me know that you’re reading! It would be a great encouragement to continue. For the lurkahs out there, you can even leave a comment anonymously, so no be shy!

Here are a few things one might like to know about my writing:

▪ First and foremost, I am a Christian. I pray that anything that I write is acceptable to God. I have an interest in apologetics.

▪ I use nicknames very often. I like giving people I know nicknames, especially all the Chris-es and Jennifers out there- it can get complicated without them! Plus, I do want to be respectful of my friends and so sometimes need to afford them some privacy. If I use an alias and you think it’s you but not sure, ask. If you’d like a better, cooler, sleeker nickname, suggest one and I’ll think about whether or not I can be comfortable using it, or remember to use it.

▪ Respect, it’s a big thing with me. I don't mind arguments or differences of opinions, yet please be respectful in any comments that you leave. I personally do not care for foul language.

▪ Be free to ask questions or suggest a topic for discussion. I have a WIDE range of interests, I’m open to a wide range of opinions. If I don’t know something, I will research it and get back to you. Again, I appreciate good arguments and respect differing opinions.

▪ Regarding personal questions, one can always ask! I’m rather a private person at the core, which is one of the reasons I’ve been slow to publicize this journal, but I appreciate it if people want to know more about me and go about it by asking ME personally. I will be as frank as I can afford to be. I don’t have too many readers at the moment and so I’ve been able to keep up with responding to those who have left comments [Mahalo to Jules, Kev, Clay, and Hensly for your comments!] and will try to continue to do so.
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I think those are the main points. Come on in, take your shoes off, have a good time! And please remember to leave a comment!


Mahalo for reading in!

[My] Papa Don’t Preach…

He's a refueler!

Okay, that was terrible! I admit it!

Hope everyone had a relaxing day with dad. Congratulations to Tony and Shay for their first Father’s/Mother’s Days with Baby Zeke! Also to Jamie Arakaki and her husband on their first little one! [I'm sorry, I'm blanking on her married last name!]

Here’s a photo of my dear pa with his beautiful children…



This might be the shortest post I've ever done. You're welcome!

Mahalo!

Le’go My Lego!

I was gonna post an entry-in-waiting but thanks to Brother, I’ve got something else in mind! The other one can wait sum’more.

After taking care of some business, we went over to Circuit City. Not my fault, Brother was buying something! I checked out the camara’s just in case they had something for me. I ended up getting “Lean on Me” for a good price. [We don’t wan’ a good principal! We wan’ MR. CLARK!]. Great movie, check it out some time.

Since we were over there, we moved on to see the Lego exhibit at Pearlridge Uptown. It opened just today with 6 exhibits. The artist was present, working on the next piece to be displayed.

It was pretty neat. There was the guy with the disconnected head; the Aloha Pencil; lady swimming; the Parthenon; the hangman; and cone/ball thing. Hmm…maybe I shoulda taken down the names of the pieces. I guess I was busy not tripping over the keiki.

The cone/ball thing was alright; I didn’t take a shot of it. The Sleepy Hollow man was pretty cool. I LOVED the Parthenon- that’s my kinda building! I wish I could pass Lego for building models during studio crits. Then when a professor asks, “Is that structurally sound?” I can say, “Of course! It stands in Lego, doesn’t it?” Hangman was cool too. The tower’s out of Lego also.

I thought the swimmer was okay but it would’ve been a long shot anyway. After seeing the physique in Hangman and Sleepy Hollow, I get it. The guy’s studied the human figure. Then my overly analytical side is saying, “Man, her [swimming] technique’s all wrong!” See, a few years ago, I took a swimming class at UH to tighten up my strokes. If I remember correctly, the coach said that only 5% of our bodies should be out of the water at any time. Okay, and a little of it might be that I’m jealous she’s got a swimmer’s body and I don’t. Whatever. I bet I can beat her in a race….

I was rather impressed with the gi-normous pencil. That invisible giant’s got pretty good penmanship! Thumbs up!
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Uptown’s my old haunt. I was noticing all the new stores that came in since the last time I’d been there, which has been a while now. Forever21’s expanding- what?!! Ah, good times…and some not so good….

Enjoy the photos; I wanna go back later when the other 2 exhibits are finished. Anyone interested in going with me?

If I could, I seriously would go back and make a scale model of the Retreat Project I had for Studio 301 [WU] out of Lego! The site was a generic that we developed, supposed to be anywhere in L.A. I designed my project [n.] to project [v.] off the side of a cliff. It was cool if I say so myself.

If you could, what would you make out of Lego?

Mahalo for reading in!


Sleepy Hollow Man
"Honey, put your head back on! We've got people coming over!"

"Excuse me, lemme just set this down..."

Nice profile...


The Parthenon

"Whatcha writin', Dah-ris?"
"Aloha, it's for the folks, doncha know."
[I have no idea why Doris and Gus have a French-Canadian sort of accent in my head]

Dad looking at the swimming lady

Jennifer nods, says, "I could beat her in a race."
"See, her technique's all wrong."
More than 5% of body out of water... my, she's bouyant...

Loungin'?

Nah, jus' hangin'...

Artist Nathan Sawaya at work
He's the one looking down over the table.

Artist from up top

Working on the next exhibit

Photo Impacting #1

Singing group, Revival

Gamemaster JamesNo camara that I've had has been able to capture James [FCF]. He's just too fast....

Getting into groups

List of relay challenges


On your mark, get set, ROLL!

Ambulance
In this challenge, the team had to carry one member all around the court. Sorry about the blurriness, but in this picture are KUC kids, Rachel and Oko in front.



"Sardines" meant that they had to find James wherever he was and lie down in a row, like a can of sardines, hence the name.

The score after Round 3

Kendal [KUC] keeping the leaders honest

Pyramid


Leap-Frog collision safely averted- *sigh of relief*
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Getting ready to demo the Joust
Demo-ing...
Tad and Joel [KUC] wanting a rematch


SoftSock Fight. I need to get a better camara for these shots!

KUC's own Adam in the thinking position. Look alive, Adam! Cherie [KUC] in the orange.

Adam's got the answer...

Wait for the question first.

"I've got it! Pick me! Pick me!"

Looking to Pastor Owen, who pulled the Bible from his back pocket, for the tie-breaker question.

The winner, after 5 tie-breaking questions.


How do you foos?

UFC- Thumb-wrestling Division
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Making a stand for Christ

Kendal giving the message

Kaleo on the ukeBackground singers: the leaders. David [FCF] using the cone for a megaphone.