Moving Back??

So I've been playing around with the idea of perhaps it being a smart decision to move back to Salt Lake. . . .now hear me out. Lol. I love living in Ogden primarily for the fact that I'm within 120 seconds of drive time to my school. Which makes a HUGE difference. Also, I like being a little bit away from families & friends because of the fact that it isolates me from that part of my life that can be somewhat distracting at times. Lol. Because all of our families live out there, we're constantly commuting every weekend back & forth & with these gas prices?? It's a bit ridiculous. But when I weigh out the pros & cons. . . . .it's much more economical for us to commute to Salt Lake on the weekends then it will be if I were to have to commute from there to here everyday. So I guess problem solved. Lol.

I had to get this off my chest cause it's been bouncing around in my head for the past month or so. And as much as I push it to the back of my mind, it keeps finding its way back to the forefront.

With that outta the way. . . . .this past weekend was another time inducing, extra busy, family filled weekend shared with the ones we love most. Friday started out crazy with my butt sitting in immigration for the second time this week, mind you, this building is all the way in Salt Lake (once again refer to the two previous paragraphs). I had to clear up some stuff with my residency status in order to be able to take the holds off my admissions at Weber in order to continue my education. A few other bumps in the road that I've been dealing with while trying to broaden my horizon & enlighten my brain. Lol. I am so relieved & so grateful that everything has finally panned out & I have registered for summer semester with no resistance. I'm currently enrolled in twelve credits, but am scheduled to see my advisor Friday morning to see if I can add one more. And as crazy hectic as twelve credits already is, I need one more three or four credit course since I was only able to take three classes last semester because of the fact that I registered late so I'm trying to get back on track with taking one extra class this summer semester. I'm clearly aware of the fact that it's gonna be really difficult to stay afloat, but I'm hoping that I will get through it alive.

After I got everything squared away with immigration, I headed back to Weber to clear everything up in admissions. It took all of two minutes & I was outta there heading to the girls' school to pick them up. We headed home & cleaned up a bit, grabbed their change & headed BACK to Salt Lake for the kids to spend the weekend with grandma before she heads to Fiji. A special request from grandma Selu since she'll be gone for four weeks. :( Savou & Liyah didn't wanna stay so they had the opportunity of heading to my sister's house with us to do s'mores & play with my other nieces & nephews. Which wasn't part of the plan, but my sister text me on our way back home so we stopped by. We finally got home around 3 am & ended our night with a quick stop at Betos for a TEXANO burrito that was to die for!! My fave!! :D I was scheduled for a breakfast date with my sister & Ati (which is my sister's sister in law) which I totally missed cause I was too busy sleeping. Lol. I jumped up at 9:20 & called my sister that I wasn't gonna get there in time for breakfast. Ugh. . .we finally got back to Salt Lake a little after 11 am & my sister & I started our day together. She took me to get a pedi, then we headed to the Gateway for lunch at Applebees & then upstairs to the megaplex for a movie. Hanna, to be specific. It was a great day & we had a lot to catch up on. :D We headed back to her place & ended up spending the night there watching movies & just chillin. FUN & better yet. . . .so RELAXING!! :D





Sunday came & we headed to my parents place for our easter lunch/dinner cause our eating lasted all day. We got to talk with my parents more about our family land that my parents just recently purchased in Fiji, which is the reason my mom's leaving there on Thursday. That got us all excited as well. We ended our weekend at the Mostyn's for an egg hunt & dinner that they put on for our families. Nothing comes close to the time spent amongst the ones you love & cherish. Makes you grateful for all the things you have been blessed with that can easily be taken for granted. This was our crazy weekend that's pretty much every weekend. Especially with summer approaching & the weather warming up. Birthday parties, weddings, reunions, etc., are just the beginning of these unforeseen weekends that are approaching. :D

Been Awhile??

It's been awhile, right?? I know. I feel like I'm always saying this so I'm just going to accept the fact that this is the way it's gonna be. I can't get to my blog as often as I'd like, but who's keeping track anyway?? Lol.

I took the last of my finals today. Phewww. . . . .what a relief. I am so happy to say that this semester hasn't been a total disappointment. It started out pretty rough. I took all generals classes and won't get into any CORE classes til next spring. I went and saw all my professors yesterday n today to see how my grades will turn out. If everything goes well with my finals I did today, I am hopefully on track for straight A's!! Woo hoo!! I am so happy cause I was so SHOCKED when they all said that. I was crossing my fingers & toes that I would at least get a 'C' so that I wouldn't owe any financial aid money back to the school for failing. :D

I had an interesting conversation with my psych professor. We got to talking & I mentioned how I thought all my classes would be pretty easy since they were all intro classes. Boy was I wrong. I thought that maybe the difficulty of them all was the fact that they were all packed into seven week courses and not the full fourteen weeks they usually are. My professor went on to shed some light on me & explained how intro courses are a lot more difficult then CORE classes. She said that they introduce you to the subject as a WHOLE and not specifics of it. Like this psych 1010 course. We went over everything in a nutshell about psych. But if I was to take a child psychology class, it would primarily focus on that field of psychology. Makes sense, right?? I hope so cause it made total sense to me & I didn't feel like such a dummy.

I have been so blessed to have my husband home while I've been in school this past semester. I don't know how I would've been able to cope with all the stresses of school, motherhood, kids, home, and just LIFE. Even though I understand that he'll be leaving out of town soon, I'm cherishing every moment that he's here with me. I love him so much!! :D

Something that I've learned about finishing out the semester is how GREAT I feel. A feeling of accomplishment, even if it is just for the completion of ONE semester. One of the intro classes I took was in computers and I was able to learn Windows 7, MS Word, Excel, and Power Point 2010. It's given me more confidence in myself in having that picture in my mind of getting back into the workforce. Especially in this economy.

I'm grateful for my wonderful kids!! I have been so blessed with such helpful, loving kids. Aaliyah & Lote have taken on more responsibility around the house with cooking, dishes, Savou & just little things here n there that add up. Helping to dress their younger siblings or making them cereal. I feel humbled and eternally blessed for their love & support in my going back to school. There are a lot of nights where I can literally feel the walls closing in on me. Like I'm falling short of so many responsibilities & I cringe inside. When those nights come, my kids can do the MOST simplest of things to put a smile on my face & remind me of how grateful I need to be for everything that I have been blessed with. I don't think my kids will ever understand how much they carry me through the TOUGHEST of times & I thank my father in heaven for blessing me with these wonderful spirits. I absolutely feel that they have benefited me more than I can ever benefit them. They are just so precious. With that said, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be bringing in another spirit into this world. I am thirteen weeks along & already showing. Ugh. . . .not that I'm trying to hide it or anything. But most of what's showing is just fat from my lack of exercise. At least what I'm used to when it comes to exercising. It's been really hard this time around. Back in January, I knew I was cause I woke up one day & my body totally shut down. I had no self-discipline, no motivation to workout, nausea joined me every night, & I was so tired all the time!! What else could it be, right?? Well, I was in denial up until a couple of weeks ago. Like three or four. I've gained a good fifteen pounds already. Pathetic much??

It must be why I was so EXCITED when I logged onto my FB acct & saw that Beyonce's new single is available on ITUNES tomorrow & that her music video is scheduled to release in June. Oh please come sooner!! Nobody motivates me like BEYONCE can!! I love her!! She is so comfortable in her own skin that nobody can come close. :D I'm looking forward to getting myself back on the healthy bandwagon sooner than later. I workout two to three times a week, but it's so not enough. Trust. . . .the scale testifies of this. I hope with the one week break between now & summer semester, I can get myself back into the routine of working out & eating healthy. Til next time. . . . .adios!! :D

Another Bday Celebration. . . .

Lote in her morning looks 'n all. Hahaha

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity of celebrating our lil Lote's 9th birthday. WOW!! I can't believe my two oldest are 9 & 10. Lol. When Hoko & I talked about me going back to school, I prayed all of last year to know what I should go in to. It had everything to do with our older children growing up so fast. Once I received my answer, I pondered about it because it would take me a total of SIX YEARS total to finish up. Which means that Aaliyah would be hitting her SWEET SIXTEEN with Lote si'i trailing right behind her. But we continued to pray about it & we also attended the temple weekly in our effort to be sure. And we're pretty positive that this is the path that we're supposed to be on. It's definitely an exciting journey & while we're still in the forefront of it, I am still in AWE of the unwavering love my father in heaven has for me & my growing family.

Lote in her bday church 'fit :D

Right before heading out the door to church

We tried to do a family pix with the self-timer on my camera, but it didn't work. Hence the fact that Hoko's not in this pix. Lol

We had a blast this past weekend in ringing in another birthday year for our Lote si'i. Her treat pick for her class on Friday was doughnuts. Lol. When she got home from school, we headed to the Junction to watch 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules. They LOVED it!! :D We picked up some KFC on the way home & ate & chilled & talked the night away. Saturday came & Hoko & I were busy running around all day. We had a bunch of things that we planned to do around the house, but was put off until after Taeao's wedding was done. And so we started to get those things in order. We did a little face lift to our living room which we're pretty happy about. Now we're tackling one room at a time. Organization is KEY. Especially with half a dozen kids in tow. . . . .it's more of a LIFELINE that if not used, will create nothing, but CHAOS in our household. Lol.

Sunday came & we did what we always do for our kids on their birthdays. Dinner with a homemade cake. :D We kept it simple for this dinner & stuck to ribs with fries. :D But we went all out on her cake. I mixed up her fudge marble cake & stuck it in the oven to bake. When it was done, Hoko stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Then we pulled it out & put the chocolate filling in the middle, frosted the outside & decorated it. :D Hoko did the designs & I put the strawberry milkshake whoppers around the edges. :D It turned out great, but tasted even BETTER!! :D I can't wait to make this cake again cause it will definitely turn out a lot better looking. Hahahahaha. . . . .here's some pics from our weekend. :D

Homemade bday cake made by her dad

This cake was DEE-LISH!!

February Was Filled With Birthdays!! :D

Last month was FILLED with birthdays. From some being on the same day, while others were only days apart. And yet they were ALL just days from each other. Lol. It was a HECTIC family filled month, nonetheless.

My father inlaw's bday was up first. And all the boys headed to the monster truck show at the Energy Solutions center for a testosterone FILLED night!! Lol. They had a blast!! And since none of us, women, were there. . . .there are no pictures, of course. But they had a blast. Three generations of the Tu'akoi men!! :D It was definitely a SIGHT to see. :D

Next up was our baby Hoko!! His bday landed on a Sunday so we baked him a cake, made some food & invited our family over to help us celebrate!! He had such a GREAT time with all his cousins. He's now five years old & learning new things everyday, it's crazy. By the end of the night, we were pooped!! Lol.









Three days later was our Polu Marie's bday. She turned 7 yrs old and shares a bday with her auntie Fine. :D Her bday landed on a school day/night so I bought treats for her class & took it up there so they can celebrate with her. :D We also made a special dinner & cake for her as well. :D







And finally, since Fine's bday was on a weeknight, we waited to celebrate hers that Friday. We cooked up a special dinner & baked her a double layered chocolate cake with a peanut butter filling, topped with a chocolate ganache & sprinkled with heath toffee bits. Similar to the ones we made for our kids, but with a different filling. :D Fine's a BIG reese's fan, hence the reason why we went with a peanut butter filling. :D Busy busy week, but filled with what we treasure MOST: FAMILY TIME!! :D

Quick News Flash!! :D

We're coming to a close of another month. It's been nothing short of a very very BUSY month. With ups, downs & in-betweens. . . . .I am definitely ECSTATIC to be approaching a new month, to say the least. :D We've celebrated two of our children's birthdays this past month that were only three days apart. That was a bit stressful. Lol. We also had the opportunity to participate in my father inlaw's bday as well as my sis inlaw, Fine. I don't think I've ever baked so many cakes in a month's time let alone one week. Can you believe it?? Eight cakes total!! Lol. But in all seriousness, we were able to enjoy what really matters. Time spent with loved ones. I have a TON of pictures to post. When that will be is a whole 'nother post. Hahahaha!! But I will definitely try to make it happen ASAP. :D

My 1st day of school here at Weber is approaching. This coming up Tuesday to be exact. The 2nd block of spring semester. I'm stoked!! I've ran into a couple of hiccups along the way, but I've learned from each experience & am happy to be moving forward. I can honestly say that it's humbled me tremendously.

Please don't give up on me while I try to juggle keeping this blog afloat. Lol. This post is short, but I will post again soon. Hopefully. :D

Getting Back In The Game. . . .

What game is that?? The game known by most as the 'WORKFORCE' Or if you've read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki, he calls it the rat race. Being stuck in a what he calls a 'RUT' Crazy thing is, he makes a lot of sense. Working for someone else can be very much like being in bondage. Like the Jews were for a very long time before Moses parted the Red Sea & the Lord delivered them to safety. Before that, they were in bondage to Pharaoh. Slaves who worked & worked & worked for very menial wages. They were told when they could take a break, when they could eat, when they could use the bathroom & so forth. Sound familiar?? Now don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking JOBS. We need them. It's how the world works. There are an array of occupations out there that I wouldn't be able to do & I'll be the first to admit it. The number one thing a job has been said to provide is SECURITY. That was easily perceived by the majority of society until the recession HIT. And boy did it HIT. We are still in it. And it's been a couple of year as of yet. Some say we'll be here for a while. Others predict an expeditious recovery. With studies & figures aside, it all boils down to us. How we choose to react to circumstances we have no control over.

It's funny how the Lord works. In 'mysterious ways.' I find that to be especially fitting for the 'CURRENT EVENTS' of my life at this time. I continue to be astonished at the workings of the Lord in my life. How I can pray for specific things & how His answers are absolutely unforeseen, unanticipated, unpredictable. But when I'm able to take a step back & examine the course of my life. . . . .I become unquestionably grateful for the experiences I am put through so that I may learn & develop distinct characteristics in order to forge ahead & continue to make progress.

Continuous prayers have I poured out of my heart in my plea for specific things in my life. And I am now seeing the Lord's hand in them & I honestly can't help, but smile. One of them being me getting back into the workforce. It's been about three years since my last place of employment. While it's a little scary, it's not as scary as not being able to work. So I find a lot of comfort in that. :D Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a career fair at Weber. I was quite impressed when I walked in. Male students were dressed in shirt & ties. Female students in business casual attire. Mind you, it's been a couple of years for me & I was at the school for something else. So I was dressed in skinny's, casual shirt & UGGS. Lol. I almost convinced myself to walk back out & go home, but I'm not that kinda person. So I took a deep breath & walked into the ballroom & grabbed a flyer with a listing of all the employers in attendance. And I sure am glad I did. I was able to meet with reps from the Dept of Workforce Services who informed me of funds the state has for mothers who are going back to school. I also learned of a company that has a tuition reimbursement program for my field of study. And finally, I met a couple of reps whose company offers summer internships where you are assigned a mentor & together you work on several different projects where you are trained in management & training skills that you can take with you in any occupation. This is at the top of my list for summer employments & I will be putting my app in this weekend. :D It blows me away, the world of information available to us who with just a little work, manifests itself.

That spark that we all have as innocent children who believe they can conquer the world has been re-ignited in me. I am cognizantly appreciative for the obstacles & trials that are put before me so that I may continue to overcome them & move forward. It's a magnificent thing to be constantly thinking of the future. With the Lord on my side & I on His, I can be confident in being on that straight & narrow path. :D

Before I left, I picked up a FREE magazine called 'Utah Careers Supplement For Women.' It is filled with a wealth of information. A lot of time saving tips as well as ways to balance family life & work life. There's an article in it that I read & was simple enough for my girls to understand so I didn't hesitate to share with them. :D It's exactly why I feel that WAGES aren't everything, but nonetheless they are IMPORTANT.

'The Fable Of Jane & Susan'

Jane grew up knowing she wanted to be a mother. She thought she would marry a rich man and stay home to take care of her children. She didn't think she'd need an education or a career. She got married right out of high school to the man of her dreams and had a charming baby girl.
Time for a reality check. Like most married women with children in Utah, Jane needed to work to make ends meet. She got a job at the local discount store as a cashier and after a while, earned the Utah average wage for that occupation - $8.50/hr. She had few benefits and no retirement plan. To make enough money, Jane had to work 40 hrs a week - mostly when her husband was off work so he could take care of the baby. They couldn't afford childcare. Even though she didn't see much of her husband, she grossed $340/wk - before taxes and other deductions.
Susan went to high school with Jane. Susan grew up knowing that she wanted to have a family. But, she also realized that she would probably be working outside the home - like most mothers in Utah. She chose a high-paying career, finished college and went to work as a computer hardware engineer. She got great pay, had good benefits, and could count on a retirement income - when that day finally came. THEN she got married and had a bouncing baby boy.
Susan's employer valued her work skills and was willing to let Susan cut back her hours. She ended up working only 20 hours a week at the Utah average wage for computer hardware engineers - $30/hr. So, while Jane was making $320 working a grueling 40 hrs/wk on her feet all day, Susan worked only 20 hrs/wk and at the same grossed $1200/wk - two and a half times more than Jane for half the work. Who would you like to be?

Bridging The Gaps

'The mortal experience is filled with gaps:

• between what we know and what we do
• between the way of God and the ways of man
• between preaching and practicing
• between what the media represents and what really occurred
• between what the media popularizes and what the Lord endorses
• between what we know to be true and how willing we are to stand up for what we believe
• between the world's standards of morality and God's law of chastity
• between the world's definition of the family and God's divine plan for the family

And on it goes. For each of us, there are gaps with which to deal. For example, if you believe in the Word of Wisdom but don't really live it, there's a gap. If you believe your family is the most important entity on earth but often seem to get pulled elsewhere, there's a gap. There are gaps if you feel love for your spouse, but withhold love for some reason. If you want a strong marriage but don't make building it a priority; if you believe modesty is important but are tired of coaching teenagers who are tempted to wear clothes that are too tight, too short, too revealing, and with slits up to high heaven, and therefore you say nothing. There are gaps if you say money isn't everything but spend your time and energy as though it were; if you believe in a living prophet but manage to slip away most conference weekends to the beach or the lake; if you believe there is power in the word of God but don't spend much time immersed in the scriptures. . . . . .and so on.'

This is an excerpt out of a book I'm currently reading called, 'No One Can Take Your Place' by Sheri Dew. She is definitely one of my favorite LDS authors. She makes sense of things that usually go over my head. Or things that I've looked at, but from the total opposite side of the spectrum. Lol. I love this book so far.

It's really helped me to realize that there are a lot of things in my life that call for 'BRIDGING THE GAPS' :D One of those things that I've always believed strongly in is missionary work. But I struggled with how I, as a mother, who didn't take advantage of this wonderful privilege because of paths I chose to go down that prohibited me from doing so, could become an instrument in the hands of the Lord in bridging the gap between what I believe to be such a significant & cardinal TRUTH as to bringing those souls to the knowledge of God & being able to teach them of our purpose here on earth, yet fearing that I might somehow offend someone in doing so. President Hinkley has explained how the Gospel makes sense of everything. Let me repeat that: The Gospel Makes Sense Of Everything. And I absolutely testify to the veracity of such a statement. I am completely baffled as to the workings & exactness of the Lord in everything He does for truly everything has a specific purpose in moving His work forward in 'bringing to pass the immortality of man.'

As I've pondered on this & kept a constant prayer in my heart about it, it came so clearly to me one day (which I know without a doubt was the spirit of Lord). I was laying in bed with Hoko having our usual pillow talks that consist of our happenings of the day as well as our future plans & goals. Hoko started asking me how everything went for me. I had attended a Majors Fest at Weber that day. I told him it was GREAT!! I felt so much peace & excitement from everything I had learned that day, namely the nontrad center that they have for nontraditional students such as myself. There is so much support & help available for us with our unique situations. I had stopped into the student services center on my way out to sign up for an upcoming seminar & was able to meet the student body president. She invited me to join her in a new student orientation type thing where members of the student government were explaining all the different positions available to students & the benefits of applying to these positions. Upon acceptance of these different positions, the school issues a tuition waver for a certain amount, depending on which position you are appointed, which then frees up whatever financial aid money you've qualified for to be able to help with the financial obligations we carry in our families. That took the cake for me & I was ecstatic, yet definitely a little apprehensive in even the possibility of running for student government. I mean, I'm already married with six kids, with the three younger ones still at home with me right now. I didn't wanna think of the time involved with taking on these extracurricular activities. But then I thought that this is actually something that wouldn't take up any more EXTRA time than a job would out of my life. Since I was looking to jump back into the workforce anyway. But becoming a part of the student government at Weber would actually benefit my family & I wayyyy more than just going out & finding a job to help supplement our income. The money that it frees up with my financial aid would make up for it & it would look GREAT on my resume. But that's not all. . . . .my constant desire of wanting to get more involved with missionary work is now about to become fulfilled. Maybe not in its entirety, nevertheless I am so happy about it. Being able to run for one of the positions in the student government and if I'm appointed, opens the flood gates for me to get involved with the students at Weber as well as getting involved with the community through volunteer work. :D UOILA!! And though it hasn't happened yet, I am THRILLED to be working on my application at this time in hopes that everything will work out for the best. :D

There are a myriad of things in my life that I KNOW for sure need some STEEL-BUILT bridges to fill in the gaps, but I'm thankful that this is a part of our mortal existence. That these experiences are necessary for our eternal progression & I'm gonna take it one day at a time. :D My only hope is that we can all strive to be more Christlike by bridging the gaps in our lives for by so doing, the Lord has promised us in 3Nephi 11:39 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them."