WOW

Ok, I got pulled over today AGAIN in the same car..

and I got let off AGAIN.

I feel like the luckiest/coolest person in the world right now.

See ya!

We are off to Kaua'i for Thanksgiving until Sunday! 

See ya next week with some awesome pictures!

Random Rants...

I have a lot on my mind today, and I can't sleep because my arm hurts, so this is what I am doing!

So this Tuesday we leave for Kaua'i with the Dixons and are meeting some people there. I am so excited. But I realized that I haven't really prepared for our trip----we are doing a 22 mile hike on the Na Pali coast, and camping overnight. I don't have any hard core camping gear or anything, and haven't really thought about it until now. Oops. Hope I get that all figured out by Tuesday. We're going to be gone until Sunday, and I haven't really prepared my schoolwork for leaving that long either...yes we have Thurs and Fri off, but I still have a lot of things due that following week that I should have gotten done already, i. e. senior research lab work/scientific paper, genetics problems, art portfolio...blah blah blah. I might just have to bring some of that stuff with me- ugh! Man, school really takes a toll on me. I really have no life outside of school. I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day and she reassured me that school will be over soon, and to just stick with it ( I have a HUGE inner desire to just quit school NOW....and that is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever had). I'm glad I got to talk to her because sometimes you just need some words of encouragement, you know?

Today Seth and I went to go see BOLT in 3D. It was great and really funny and like 100 X's better than I thought it would be! On the way I passed a huge line full of oogling girls wearing Edward T-shirts with his face on it, saying things like "Edward is a lover, not a biter," and "My neck belongs to Edward." Sheesh. They literally screamed as the doors opened to let them in the theatre, and I rolled my eyes as I thought about how glad I wasn't in that line to see that movie  (that was for YOU MIKENSI. lol---I should have taken pictures of this for you so you could have a good laugh.) Anyway, Bolt was awesome---and who doesn't love wearing 3D goggles. Answer: No one!

We are having Thanksgiving Dinner early this year---on Sunday since we are actually hiking on Thanksgiving day. So I am up to my ears in preparing food! I think there will be like 10 people or so... I actually don't know. I just hope it turns out good. I have a whole bunch of stuff to make! it should be interesting--I'll let you know how that goes. And I am all panicky about keeping the house clean--Baloo has turned into this messy force of destruction...making slobbery paths of saliva and chewed up food as he roams around the house. Its a never-ending battle, I swear. Since I don't have any time during the week to clean, I usually spend Saturday afternoon (after work) getting our house in order again!

And speaking of Thanksgiving, who is going shopping the day after? There are sooooo many good sales next week! I want to go so bad and be one of those hardcore people that get in line at Best Buy at like the crack of dawn to get great deals! I'm small so I could totally crawl under everyone and get all the good stuff! I'm not even going to be here on that day though. Boo. Maybe next year. 

And last but not least:

ARM: Hurts even worse--some days I am unable to move it at all when I wake up.

DOCTOR: Can you say C.R.A.Z.Y.? He just keeps giving me stronger steroids, and more of them. Who knows, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow with huge biceps or something.

MRI: Just showed fluid in my inflamed joint. Doctor said something about possibly injecting my elbow with Phosphate radiation...or something or other. Nope. No way. Sorry--thats definitely not happening.

ME: More frustrated than you can imagine. Some people might think its not such a bad injury. But you try having your dominant arm in pain all the time and unable to do everyday things with it. Not fun. I'm trying to get a referral to another specialist doctor. In the mean time, I have enough steroids to buff up for our hike next week! Ok, these steroids don't really do that, but I thought it would be funny to picture me all buff climbing mountains on Kaua'i. lol.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Elves

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I just couldn't.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

crazy doctor + my new favorite place

An update on my arm...

Seth finally convinced me to go to the doctor about my arm...so I just went to the health center, and they couldn't figure anything out. They sent me to go get blood work done and get to get an x-ray, and both showed up clear. My arm still really hurt and still couldn't bend or extend it, sooooo... they sent me to a rheumatologist down in Honolulu, and thats where things got interesting! They think I have some sort of arthritis or something. But the doctor that I went to was CRAAAAZZZZZYYY! First of all, the "nurse" guy that comes in to weigh me and take my blood pressure reading is wearing jeans with holes all over them and and Abercrombie shirt---??? Professional? I think not. The exact opposite of professional actually. But it gets better when he pulled out his cell phone to clock the timing of my heart beat. Geez! I could have probably grabbed a stethoscope and started walking around taking people's blood pressure and no one would have known the difference. Anyway, so the doctor comes in. Don't doctors usually wear a shirt and tie, and a lab coat of some sort? Well this doctor doesn't. In fact, he was wearing black flowy pants, Prada shoes, and a tight blue shirt that was unbuttoned! eww... His hair was all gelled up and he had crystal/diamond earrings too. ha! It was so weird that it made me uncomfortable when he came near me. He was like some form of David Hasselhoff gone wrong I think. How can you take a doctor like that seriously? So he brings in his med student, and they just start talking to each other (not me) about my elbow. They went everywhere from cancer (which its not) to lime disease to a whole bunch of other crazy stuff--I felt like I was on an episode of House. Anyway, they still couldn't figure it out and sent me to get some fancy-schmancy blood work done, and to get an MRI of my elbow....

and that leads me to my new favorite place: where I got my MRI done.
I've had an MRI before, where you just go into a magnet tube and lie still for like 45 minutes while they take pictures of your body using detections of proton vibrations with magnetic forces. But this place was awesome! It was super fancy, and it reminded me of a spa. They had me change into these really comfortable scrubs, and then had me lie down in a really super soft bed! I had to put my elbow above my head, and had to straighten it as best as I could, which actually hurt a lot, but I forgot about that when the technician put pillows under my head and legs and then a blanket over me to make me even more comfortable! And when I asked him if I could just fall asleep during the MRI, he says, "But don't you want to watch TV?" TV!????!!!! So I chose the Discovery channel. So he puts these huge headphones on me, and just when I start to wonder where the TV is, he puts these crazy goggles on my eyes, which is the TV! COOOOOOOLLL. So I got to watch Myth Busters and Dirty Jobs during my MRI. I hardly realized the time had gone by when he pulled me out of the tunnel. I was so comfortable! I wish I could have just stayed there! I even got to take the pictures home. Which are really cool to look at. Anyway, hopefully they figure out what's wrong with my arm. Until then, you will continue to see me walk around with a crooked arm.

I just hope I get to go back to the MRI Spa again someday. And where can I find those cool TV goggles?

Foodfest

Ok, this is a little old, but I forgot about foodfest! We had a lot of fun eating foreign food--but I can't remember what exactly we ate---some sort of curry that was really good! I even got a balloon animal from the Pre-med club, which I am actually a part of (i think?), but kept popping on the grass--and then all the little kids would laugh at me. We listened to a lot of good bands too, and it was fun!

But there weren't any acai bowls. boo.

Baloo's progressive entry

Baloo is the sneakiest dog on the planet.

Whenever we are in our room, Baloo will flop outside of our door and "sneak" in by slowly inching into the room, thinking we won't notice. 

Do any of you remember this picture of our sneaky dog from when we were at our old house?

This is how he starts...

...a few minutes later...see how he's inconspicuously inched forward?

And what does he do when he gets in our room? He looks in the mirror! 

Man Baloo, get over yourself!! ...geez.... we've caught him just staring in the mirror dozens of times.

Turkey Sandwich Connoisseur

Ok, I am obsessed with turkey sandwiches--they are my favorite thing to eat (besides cheesecake of course) and I will always choose eating one over almost anything. While we were in the Philippines I went through turkey sandwich withdrawals and would talk about how excited I was to get back to the states where there are turkey sandwiches galore! 

I love turkey sandwiches so much that I am a known regular at several different sandwich places---no joke.

Stortos:  My absolute FAVORITE place in the world. Nothing can complete my day better than a Stortos sandwich. Seth and I have been going here for at least 2 years now. The people that work there always just write down what we usually get as we walk in. I love the lady that owns the store. She always tells me how skinny she thinks I look--how could you not keep coming back?

Quiznos:  I always have Seth pick me up a turkey sandwich on his way home from work in Kaneohe. The asian owners are so cute and they just say hi and make our sandwiches without us even saying anything.

Seasider: I am addicted to their herb bread! I stop by and get a turkey sandwich almost everyday between zoology and biochem, and the girls that work there always know what to make for me.  I consider them my new sandwich friends. 

Subway: We are not as known at Subway, since the one in Laie just opened up again recently....but before it closed down the workers would always know that I would want a turkey sandwich.

Safeway: These sandwiches are a new discovery. We haven't been enough to be regulars yet, but I love these sandwiches, so we will be back often!

When we go home to California, we consistently make stops to get sandwiches at The Cheese Shop, City Bagel, Girard Gormet, and Poor Boys...yum!

Turkey sandwiches are seriously the best!!  mmmmm.....I am seriously drooling just thinking about it.

I think I can actually blame my turkey sandwich love on my mom, who is like Subway's favorite customer. 

And thus I consider myself a turkey sandwich connoisseur. A very cute one, I might add. 

Hawaiian = Lucky

Thursday started out being unlucky....
Seth was gone in town all day, and I was left with the junk car, which is hard to drive and has like 10 roach families living it it. My arm was also still in a sling, and I could barely function without being able to bend my right arm (and still really can't by the way) ..annnnnddd I had to go to school that day (which is usually my day off) to go do my senior research work. So it wasn't in the best mood when I took off to school....

And then when I turn off of the freeway, I see flashing blue lights and hear a siren----a cop was pulling me over! I have never gotten a ticket before, and I definitely wasn't speeding. The cop tells me that he pulled me over because my safety check wasn't updated---lame! How can they even see that tiny sticker from the side of the road!?! So he asks for my licence, which I give him, and then for registration and insurance.....which I don't have. Our junk car, which we call "the Tugboat," was just bought from a guy in our ward when we moved to Hauula so that I could have a way to get to school when Seth drove my car down to work in Kaneohe. We never registered it, or got insurance, or a safety check! So when the cop was checking my license in his car, I was adding up the total fine in my head-----somewhere around $500 for everything. UGH--- I thought it was the worst day ever.

But, the cop comes back with my Hawaii license, and says :
**imagine this in hard core pidgin:***
"Ehhh, you go to Kahuku high school? You look like my dotta, yeah?"

I say, "No, I went to high school in California."

He says, "Ehhh, too bad eh? You really look juss like my dotta. You gotta make sure you take care of your arm." (My arm was in the sling, remember?)

He gives me back my license and says " Alright you juss make sure you get all da kine stuff takin' care of for your car, eh? That's all, you can go."

HE LET ME GO. NO TICKET. NOTHING.

Hawaiian racisim at its best, folks.

I called Seth and told him about what had happened. He paused and then said, "....You are going to drive EVERYWHERE now!" (He has gotten 3 really lame tickets that weren't his fault in the past 2 months.)

Hooray for being Hawaiian! What a lucky break....whew!

Halloweeeeeeen!

Halloween this year was so much fun!
A bunch of us decided to go down to Waikiki this year--and it was crazy....and AWESOME!
It was so crowded---people were just flooding the streets!
We ate at the Cheesecake factory in our costumes, and then roamed the streets for a while.
The group!...

We ended up running out of time to find everything for Seth's costume, so he just dressed normally and helped me walk around Waikiki--I couldn't see anything in that helmet!

My costume was a total hit! I added my yoda backpack to my costume, and SOOO many people stopped me to take pictures with them. Especially asians, who would see the backpack, laugh, and say "oooohhh master YODA!" We thought that was so funny!

Camille and Nathaniel were dancing people from the Ipod commercials...This is them dancing in front of the Apple store

Sherrilyn was an old lady who couldn't find her dog..lol..

Mike was the most popular one of the night-he was a banana and people all over the place were stopping him to take pictures! James had a second head, and Elizabeth had a cute pumpkin belly!



Everyone that had a Star Wars costume stopped me to take a picture with them. My favorite was a little Obi Wan Kenobi:

I got to fight with Darth Vader...

And pose with a sweaty Jedi ...lol

So Halloween was a BLAST! We had tons of fun and now Seth calls me the cutest clone trooper ever. :) Hope you all had a great Halloween! (**You can't see it but I promise I'm smiling under the helmet!**)