Special Delivery!

Today is the day that my iphone 4 is supposed to arrive!

Yippeeeeee!

But it's being delivered by FedEx......

....so who knows if it will make it to my house (I've had many bad experiences with FedEx.)! I have to work today so lets hope that they come before/after work.

We live in the back apartment of our tenant's house, so I took some extra precautions to make sure that the FedEx man finds me:

Plus I am sitting by the window. And I'm skipping yoga today. Oh and I also told the guy who is mowing the lawn to look out for FedEx.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Memories

Today I was making an inventory of things to take to NYC and things to leave/sell here. One of the things that I came across brought back some memories....my laundry basket!

Weird right?

This laundry basket of mine holds a lot of memories for me.

I got this back in the winter semester of 2006 at BYUH when I was 18. I was only friends with Seth at the time, but we had started to hang out a lot. He told me that he was going to take a trip to Wal-Mart, and asked if I needed anything. I told him that I needed a laundry basket, and he said that he would pick one up for me.

I went over to his house the next night to go pick it up. He happened to pick up some markers as well, and for some reason we just started to color all over this laundry basket. We drew all sorts of things on there; things we planned to do together, and stuff we had in common, etc. I've had that laundry basket ever since. I see it every day, but today I took the time to actually look at what we drew, and it brought back a lot of memories.

A lot of the drawings have faded, but I can still recognize everything. On the back side, "FHF" is referring to the fact that I was Seth's "Favorite Hawaiian Friend." That made me laugh. I had forgotten about that. There's also a stick figure of me on a canoe, since I had just started to dance in the canoe show at the PCC. On the right, "STAR WARS" had been written, as that was something that we both loved and watched all of the time.

This side says "I heart Seth," which was written in friendly/flirty terms at the time. But of course now it means something! There is also a sketch of Seth riding a shark. Seth was a scuba dive master and would encounter sharks all of the time. That always kind of freaked me out.

The bottom drawing is of Disneyland. Since we found out that we were both from San Diego, we planned to take a trip up to Disneyland together later that summer (we weren't dating yet)! So in this drawing there is a Mickey Mouse head, a teacup from the Fantasyland Teacup ride, and Seth's drawing of us on the Buzz Lightyear laser ride. We had this ongoing bet on who would be better on scoring the most points on that ride.

Needless to say when we actually started dating and went to Disneyland that summer we were already engaged. Oh yeah and I won the bet.

On the other side of the basket, is us skydiving out of a plane. There is also a Koala Jedi (drawn by Seth of course..???) and Seth climbing a palm tree. This is one of the first things he demonstrated for me when we met. haha. The plane picture is supposed to be us on our first date, where we went skydiving on the North Shore for our first date and my 19th birthday. Seth wrote at the bottom, "Happy Birthday To Lacey! 19!" We were barely friends at the time, but we always pinpoint this date for the start of our relationship. We had so much fun that day and Seth made my 19th birthday unforgettable. This was our first picture together:

I wish I could take this laundry basket with me to NYC because it holds so many memories for me. Buuuuttt....I think I would kind of crazy trying to take it with me on the plane. haha. At least I have pictures of it now to remember. Memories are priceless!

USA! USA! USA!

My mom sent me this video; it's pretty cool.

It's about the world's reaction to Donovan's game winning goal in the game vs. Algeria...

Go USA!

Toy Story 3

Loved it.

Toy Story 3 rocked. Pixar is so good at capturing human emotion in their characters. They're movies are always awesome and they never seem to let me down! Rex has always been my favorite character. I loved it when he found dinosaur friends.

Did anyone notice Carl and Ellie from "Up" on a postcard in Andy's room? :)

I'm sick today, so I stayed in bed and watched the first 2 Toy Story movies. I forgot how much I liked them!

On another note, I couldn't hear the movie most of the time because the neighbors behind us rented a bounce house and kids have been screaming at full volume alllllll ddaaaayyyy lloooong. It wasn't laughing...it was full on SCREAMING. It sounded like kids were getting murdered over there. I can't tell if my headache is from my cold or from the screaming. Maybe a lethal combination of both. It was so bad that later when I started to watch "Where the Wild Things Are," I got so annoyed with the screaming kid Max that I just turned it off!

But then I remembered that I had some cookies and a diet coke in the fridge and all is well. :)

Plus Eclipse is next week. Hope its good! And my iphone 4 should be here soon! Yessss!

NYC!

Now that I'm moving to the fashion capitol of the US, I can't help but wish for a whole new wardrobe to prevent people from mistaking me for being homeless.

Here are a few things that I would pick up if I had a bajillion $$:

Now I just need a bajillion dollars! hehe. I think the thing I'm most excited for are shoes. I've been running around Laie either barefoot or in my really old Rainbow sandals. I need to get into some heels and boots! I'm also excited for coats and scarves! It always fun to prepare for a new adventure in life. I feel like my world is going to turn around and upside down in a little over a month! :)

We are still looking for housing. Having a dog definitely lessens the options. Plus its hard to make sure we find a place in a safe neighborhood...since Columbia is blocks away from Harlem. We're working on it. And I've been looking up how to get to NYU via the subway. It should be quite the adventure.

One more month until we leave HI! We're enjoying every minute of it. I'm going to be sad when I have to quit my job. I'm learning the Tongan canoe now. It's so much fun to perform cultural dances. When I get to NYC I'm going to look into some polynesian luaus and see if I can get a job performing. I bet they pay more there than they do at the PCC. I was also thinking of teaching hula to little girls over there for some extra money. Just a thought! I've been dancing at the PCC for a little over 2 years cumulatively, and I really want to continue dancing.

Next week Seth and I are heading to town for a late birthday getaway. I'm so excited! We're trying to live up Hawaii as much as we can before we leave. Seth really wants to move back here after we graduate. I told him if he can find a good job here then we will. If anything, I will just move back to eat my favorite Stortos sandwiches (leaving those behind is going to be hard.)!

I'm excited for the new change in our lives. It's going to be a big one, and I think the next 2 years will be really hard on both of us, since we will be going through rough programs at 2 different schools, but I'm embracing the challenge. I think it will be fun and it will be something that we will both look back on for the rest of our lives.

Plus I hear NYC has some amazing food.

And I love food.

Cheers!

It is possible!

I found proof that bulldogs can swim:

...with a little help of course.

Now I just need one of those life vests for Fatty!! Then our swimming lessons will start!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad ever.

Love you Dad.

The big 23.

Well I've finally got around to posting about my birthday... which was all the way back on the 2nd.

I mostly celebrated my 23rd birthday the following weekend, because Seth and I both had to work on that day. I got lots of calls from my family and friends, and that made my day! I totally felt the love! haha. Thank you to all of you that called and wished me a happy birthday. It seriously made me so happy!

I did have a great day at work though, because I have great friends! I didn't get thrown into the lagoon (as is the birthday tradition) because I told everyone I would seriously go into an all-out brawl if they threw me into that nasty water! [whew].

I was craving curry all day, so when Seth got home we made yellow chicken curry over steamed rice. SOOOO good. This is one of my favorite dishes ever. I've always thought that curry never looks to appetizing....but I promise it is delicious!

That night Seth "made" me the most delicious cake! He said it was just a coincidence that the cake was in a Baskin Robbins box. hehe.

By the way I almost cracked my tooth on that flower in the corner. Those frosting things always look so good, but they are always so hard that they will crack your teeth!

Oh and of course on my birthday I received a letter that I was accepted to NYU for a MS in Biomedical sciences--which was the best. ever.

And my hubs surprised me with the most gorgeous necklace. Seriously, it is gorgeous and the sweetest present! He also took me to my favorite restaurant Dukes, where I stuffed myself full. It was half a birthday dinner and half a celebration for grad school. Yum I'm sitting here drooling just thinking about it.

On another day, Grandma and the Uncles took Seth and I out to dinner at Hale Koa. Yummmm!

Here they are enjoying their ice cream! I'm totally mooching off of Grandma's.

The most fun surprise was that Baloo sent me a painted paw print on a card! That made me so happy!

Can you sense the struggle? My mom said that Baloo ended up running away and left painted paw prints all over the floor! I miss that fat guy!

And one more birthday present: I combined my birthday $$ and spent it on a little weekend getaway at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at the end of the month for Seth and I. I got a really good deal on it and I can't wait to spend some lounging time with Seth! He works so much and he probably needs it a lot more than me. I'm so excited and will be sure to take lots of pictures.

I need some more beach time anyway. I'm learning the Tongan canoe and I need to darken up so I don't look so hapa! :)

A special mahaho to everyone who helped make my 23rd birthday special!

A few random notes:

-CONGRATS to the LAKERS for their fabulous win! I was jumping up and down and screaming the entire game. It was intense. Loved it. And I especially loved reminding all of the Laker haters at work how much Boston truly sucks.

-My absolute best friend got called to serve in the New York, New York mission!!!! That means she will be in the same area that we are moving to! And almost for the exact amount of time that we will be there! So excited. I'm going to spoil her and her companion with all sorts of food at my house! :)

Birthday time!

This old guy turns 14 today:

14 years old for a dog is about the equivalent of 82 humans years.

Hammy, you're old! It's hard to believe that the little pup we brought home when I was a kid is technically now 82!

He's an old dog but he's still out catching birds, geckos, mice, you name it! He's turned into quite the refined looking wiener dog now---doesn't his white beard make him look regal?

Love you Ham!

Caffeine!

I saw this online today and it made me laugh:

It's the molecular structure of caffeine tattooed on someone's arm! ( I love how they colored each element accordingly and showed the different covalent bonds---NERD!)

Americans are so addicted to their coffee and other caffeinated drinks today; it's crazy!

Though I'm one to talk.....a big ice cold Diet Coke is my best friend. It makes my day so much better to have one! The other day my friend and I had this huge conversation about how much we love Diet Coke.

Maybe this should be my tattoo.... (um, not!). By the way I think this guy's (or girl's....) bulging arm is kind of gross.

hahaha!

Today was Seth's day off, so I asked him to come watch me dance at the PCC.

He brought my camera to take some nice pictures.

At the last minute, I decided that I would do the solo on the Tahiti canoe so that he could get a really good HD video...

...but Seth had never used the video setting before. This is what he got:

hehehe. I hope you enjoyed all two seconds of my solo. :)

Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.

Mowing Etiquette

The question of the day is: what is a polite time to mow the lawn?

My neighbors seem to think that 7:30 am is an ok time to be blaring the lawn mower. To me this is wayyyyyy to early. I hate being woken up by a lawn mower right outside my window.

My other neighbors think 8:30-9:00 am is a good time to mow the lawn. I feel like these neighbors alternate between these times to make sure I don't get any sleep.

I always thought after 10am was the "green light" for mowing lawns, blaring music, tv, etc. just to be polite to those who still might be sleeping.

Why are people up so dang early anyway? I mean, I'm usually up by 8:30 anyway, but I don't want to hear that annoying roaring sound that early in the morning! Plus poor Seth sometimes gets home from work really late and needs to sleep-in in the morning---but CAN'T because of the crazy loud lawn mowing!

So am I crazy for getting mad that people are mowing the lawn outside my window from 7:30-9:00 am everyday?

What time do you think is ok?

Oil spill

Today is day 48 of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

It makes me so sick to see the environmental damage that has occurred because of it...and it worries me that it's just the beginning.

It is estimated that $1.6 billion of economic damage has been cause by this oil spill (Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.) Not to mention all of the damage done to the wildlife:

(From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

437: dead birds

212: Sea Turtles dead

52: Number of species facing threat

32: National wildlife refuges at risk

24: Dolphins dead

It makes me so sad.

Please help pray for a solution.

"The earth we abuse and the living things we kill will, in the end, take their revenge; for in exploiting their presence we are diminishing our future."

(Marya Mannes, More in Anger, 1958)

More good news?

I had a great 23rd birthday.

I got the best present ever: an acceptance letter from NYU!!!!!!!!!!

Can you freakin' believe it?

I read the letter over and over and over again to make sure that I was accepted and that I didn't just skip over the word "not." When I came to the conclusion that it said I was accepted, I started screaming, waking up Seth (poor guy!).

I STILLLLL CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

I was accepted into the Masters of Biomedical Sciences Program for Fall 2010 at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. This program is sooooo awesome. Its a research degree, so I will be spending all of my time in labs with professors and other grad students. I even get to pick the research lab that I work in! Yay! I start August 18th for orientation and stuff like that. And the school is near Columbia!! So Seth and I both start graduate school this fall, and finish in 2012. SO EXCITED! I was prancing around all day yesterday like I had won the lottery.

So now Seth is a Lion and I am a Bobcat:

The question is, what color is Fatty going to wear to show support?? haha.

I was excited to go to New York already, but now I'm 10,943,634 x's more excited now! Who would have thought things would work out so perfectly? I can't even BELIEVE how lucky I am to have an opportunity to go to graduate school and study in this program. God has truly blessed our family and I am so grateful.

BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER.