Sunday, June 7, 2009

The job hunt is over!

I'm so excited!! Sio finally got a real job (he has been doing landscaping for a guy under the table since he got layed off). I guess technically the landscaping is a real job, but it just didn't have insurance or benefits, so I don't count it as a real job. He got hired at Schreiber's finally!! He has applied there twice, and finally got it after forever. It's not the ideal job obviously, but it's hard for him to job hunt when there is a slight language barrier, he doesn't have very many options. I know a ton of people that work there and I have never, ever heard a bad thing about it. They pay good, have great benefits, and let you work pretty much as many extra hours of overtime that you want (or so I've heard).

He's going to be working the graveyard shift (by choice), so that he can work there and still do landscaping during the day. He is going to be dead tired and I'm going to miss him terribly, but he really wants to do it so that we can save up money to go and see his family. And if gets to be too tiring, then he will just cut back on the landscaping and do it minimally. I think it will end up working out fantastically, but we'll cross our fingers!!

We are so lucky that he got a job! With so many people that applied, we would have never had the chance without an "in." Our "in" is a guy in our ward. He has really taken to Sio and they get along really well. He just so happens to work in the human resources department there. He doesn't do the hiring, but he has been putting in a plug to the lady that does every chance he gets. He is so great and we are so lucky that he was able to help us out! At first we didn't think he got hired after his test, cause it took them a couple weeks to get back to us. It turns out they had a big audit and weren't focused on anything but that. We need to do something really nice for this guy, anyone have any ideas?

It's funny because I told everyone after the sealing and that entire weekend was over, that I expected life to go back to normal and that I was done with the trials for awhile. So far, so good...but I definitely won't be holding my breath.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

It has finally come...and gone!

The day I have been anticipating for nearly my whole life has finally come and gone!

I grew up in this valley. Every time I have come out of the canyon and back into the valley, the first thing that I look for is the temple, even when I was little. It is something that I can look for no matter where I am or how foggy or horrible the weather is and know where I am or where I need to go. It is something that I have wondered about and have an been intrigued about for as long as I can remember.

We went to my parent's house in Syracuse the day after our sealing and stayed the night cause we were celebrating my sister's birthday. We drove back on Sunday night. We came out of the canyon and as usual, and I immediately looked for the temple. But this time was a very different experience and feeling. I realized that I no longer wondered what it would be like or how I would feel, I knew exactly what it was like and exactly how I felt. The feelings are something that I never expected, but always hoped for and some days didn't think would ever happen. I am so greatful for that day and for all the days leading up to it, even the hard ones. Maybe even especially the hard ones. Those days made it all the more special and meaningful and any trial was and is worth it.

I am so glad that we had so much support from wonderful friends and family. I am especially glad that my grandparents were able to be there. They have made a special bond with Sio in the short time that they have known him and it was very important to both of us that they were able to be there.

And let's talk about the delicious food! Originally we were just going to go to the Coppermill, but Sio's boss (whom he had only known for about 3 weeks) offered us a feast...and we took him up on it! We went and BBQ'd at Mack Park and it was so awesome. The weather and the atmosphere and the food and the company were all perfect!! I'm so glad we did that rather than going to somewhere formal like the Coppermill, it was much more fun and much more yummy!

Here are a few pictures. If you want to see all of them (most of them are hilarious!) then you can go to my Facebook, cause there are almost 300 of them and would take forever and too much room:
Everyone - mostly:
Us and the grandparents :)
The guy in the jacket and the one to the right of Sio are his REAL cousins. We were so excited that they could be there. The only thing that would have made it better is if his family was there...
Me and my sisters. Aren't they gorgeous? We have done this at everyone of our weddings. Everyone looking all sexy and then there's me and my white stockings and white legs!! haha.
This one is for our friends Alli and Kyle. ha. They did this at their wedding and Sarah(the photographer) stole the idea. This is us being sad that they couldn't be there ;) ...although we really were.

The beginning of the beginning :)
The BBQ at Mack Park afterwards -
The yummy watermelon/coconut otai that we made - it's SOOO good.

It really was the perfect day, in every aspect. Thanks everyone for making it great!
That's all for now :)

Friday, May 29, 2009

More family pics

We recently got more pics of Sio's family in Tonga and of his adorable daughter:

Here she at a church thing in her beautiful Easter dress that we got her:





And here she is being a gangsta with Sio's little sister, Lesieli! haha.

And this picture I absolutely LOVE. Sio's little bro Ofa, his wife, and their baby Isabela (remember the one that I named?) at the baby's baptism. The white hat and dress are beautiful and I totally want the outfit. Very classy!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Can't believe I forgot this...

I can't believe that I forgot this! We got the first pictures 3 weeks ago! I'm such a slacker. Here is my beautiful step-daughter, Hiva:




She had just woken up from a nap, thus the tired look and the person behind her...but the shirt says it all :)

Only 20 Days To Go!!

I think that I have gone to write a new post for a couple weeks now. I start to write and then I don't finish it. Then I come back to edit it and don't finish it. Things have been very interesting in the last month or so. I hate getting on here to write about all my problems. I don't have kids, so I don't have that to focus on. But it's hard not to talk about those things when that's been what's happening.

My mom told me that problems come in 3's. This is so true. Within a span of about 2 days, one of our cars broke and is going to be expensive to fix, my doctor told me that the 300mg (18mg is a normal daily value) of iron that I have been taking for the last 2-1/2 months hasn't been absorbing into my body and that I need to have iron transfusion treatments, and my husband got layed off yet another job. In the midst of all these problems, there have also been some wonderful things happening.

Things have been progressing with the steps we are taking to get to the temple. My husband has had the opportunity to bless the sacrament for several weeks now and it has been a great blessing in our lives. He has progressed so much spiritually in the last few months and even more so in the last few weeks that I am in awe. Through all of these things that have been happening, he still stays strong in his faith and gives me the strength and encouragement to have that same faith. We are getting our temple recommends on Sunday and he is also getting ordained to be an Elder the next week. Then 6 days later, we will get our endowments. Wow. Some days I never thought that day would come, but it is so close and I'm so excited to finally have that in my life.

We also got a new calling! We are now officially working in the library!! woot. I was very surprised by the calling, but after our first week there, I think it's going to be fun and that we will meet lots of people. I will be soon be pro at running a copy machine. :)

We have also gotten back into Rugby! He stopped playing last year, but I knew that he wouldn't be able to stay away! haha. Hopefully this time we are not gone every weekend and spending loads of money on gas!

It's also the season for Spring Cleaning!! I have been de-junking and de-dusting my house over the last few weekends. The sick part is that I enjoy it. I love to organize! I have not cleaned or organized my office/junk collecting room for over a year. I would hardly go in there and so I just ignored it. This is not like me! I still had wedding cards/gifts and other random things all over and finally got all of that room re-organized and presentable again. I also never go down to the basement (my husband uses it for his nintendo playing) and there has been lots of extra junk in there from when my sister's lived down there that they STILL haven't done anything with, so I went through that and cleaned it all out! It felt good. I even inherited a few things. Some cleaners, hangers, etc. Hey, it's their problem if they haven't taken care of it in over a year, right?

A few good things that came from going to my follow-up appointment with my doctor is that since I have been taking my Metformin, all my levels have really normalized and are now where they should be or close to it (except my iron, of course). I'm excited! I want to start trying for kids since we are both so baby hungry and have been for forever, but my doctor said to wait a few more months and then try. I hope it all works out! We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed!! I also found out that as of mid-April I'm down 30lbs since I've been married (and probably a few more pounds since I have been actually been able to start going to the gym since most of the medical crap is out of the way now). yay!! Before I got married, I went to the OB-GYN and we discussed a few things about my husband and his habits, etc. She told me that most people take on the eating habits of their spouse after they get married. I think this really freaked me out since my husband could eat a horse and still be hungry. He's got the perfect metabolism so this doesn't affect him at all, no matter what he eats. I, on the other hand, am not so lucky in the metabolism area. If I ate like he did, I would be as big as a horse! I have been trying to watch what I eat more and not eat so much (or maybe it's because my husband eats so much that there's not much left for me. hahahaha.) and drink lots more water. I have only been to the gym a handful of times in the last year or so, due to the anemia and lack of motivation. Now, I'm trying to get to the gym a couple times a week and running lots on the treadmill. Once I get there, I like it...it's the getting there that is hard!

Well, this last month or two has been an interesting journey. Anytime that you are trying to do something right in your life, there are always horrible things that bombard you and try to distract and get you down. This last little while has been no exception. It has been a huge test of strength, but has been so worth it and I have learned so many new things about myself and my husband. It really is true that we wouldn't know happiness without trials. I never thought that I would say that I am happy or would be happy for the trials in my life...but I am.

We got a chance to go to General Conference, it was great! I was dumb though and wore old heals that don't have much support left in them and almost died when we walked only 2 blocks from our parking to the Conference Center! I had to take my shoes off part of the way, it was gross. My husband was shocked at the anti-mormons on the corners and what they were saying. He said that if someone did that in Tonga, they would have been beat up in less than 5 minutes. haha.

Here's my hubby after conference across the street by the temple. Isn't he a hottie in his white shirt and tie? :) And the other is obviously one of us...


Here's one of me before a MASSIVE spring cleaning session. I should have taken a before and after, cause I was all sweaty and gross after this:



We also tried to get a new cute picture of us together, but it just wasn't happening. The lighting wasn't working, we were laughing at each other, and the pictures just weren't working. The first is Sio being a goober. I had no idea that he was pulling this face until after when we looked at it on the camera. Hilarious...and slightly creepy. The next pic is me getting back at him for his little move:


We tried about a million times to get a cute picture, this is the best we could come up with:





That's all for now :)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Ode to Injuries

Okay, I'm really bored. It's past 11 o'clock at night and I'm not really tired. I have been browsing through the camera and came across these pictures. This post is an "Ode to Injuries". baha. This means that I'm REALLY bored.

This first picture is a few days after I had my surgery. Let's recall that the stitches were supposed to be about 1" long...and they ended up being 2.5" long! The stitches were driving me crazy and I couldn't stop touching it. It felt so good to get them out!!





The next 2 photos are of my poor husband. He started giving plasma when he got laid off and has just kept doing it for extra money. He was in the middle of getting plasma when a girl was just finishing giving plasma and she was getting up to leave. Her body didn't like that too much and she passed out right as she was passing Sio. He reached out and grabbed her and prevented her from hitting her head and crashing to the floor! Isn't he a stud? He got some massive, painful bruising. But, he is the hero of the plasma place and now every time he goes, people know him as "the guy that saved that girl" and always commend him for his boy scout efforts.



See the tiny hole near the inside part of his elbow? That's where the needle goes in, why he got bruising around it and so far from it...who knows!??!

Ah heck, while we're on a picture scavenger hunt, let's put some more random ones up. This one is one of my favorites of the goober. He's adorable.

Eww! This one was definitely hiding in a deep dark folder! I totally forgot about this. This was before I was married. This is what happens to Heidi when she takes anti-biotics with sulfa in them. Apparently I'm allergic to it, rash and swelling all over my body. I found out the hard way.
haha! This one is when I was playing with my nephew and his tool set. I can't believe they fit me...well they kinda did.
And this one is how I will always remember my husband, doing what he does best...EATING!
I remember this night! We were dating and this was the first time that he saw me with my hair curly. He absolutely loved the curly hair and couldn't stop staring. It was hilarious...and slightly awkward :)
And we'll end on this one. Just a cute picture of us together, although it was like 3am and we look exhausted. We were!

That was a random post of pictures. So sorry for the randomness. The exciting news is that we should be getting pictures of the new baby niece that we got last week!! I can't wait. I also get to see my step-daughter for the first time and Sio's older brother for the first time...and hopefully lots more pictures of his family!! I'm so excited and can't wait. You better believe that I'm going to post pictures then, so there will be another picture overload soon. Prepare yourselves for more cute pictures and especially some cute babies!!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Isabella Grace Latu

I named my first baby girl today! Well, not my baby girl...Sio's little brother and wife just had their first baby! She was born on Friday the 13th (haha) and weighed about 8 lbs. Sio was talking to his brother yesterday on the phone and he said "Do you want to name their baby?" My first thought was "Are you nuts!?!? Why would I want to name their baby? Why would they want me to name their baby? That's weird!!" I thought he was joking and I just laughed it off and told him no. Sio was on the phone again this morning, this time with his parents and he said "They want you to name the baby." At this point, it wasn't really a question, but a request! I'm sure I could have declined, but I decided to do it. I didn't want to offend them or anything. And I was kind of honored to do it. So, I looked up names for awhile on the computer trying to come up with names that were cute. I found several but I kept coming back to one of the names in my top 3 girl names, Isabella or Bella. I know this isn't a shock since it's such a popular name right now because of the Twilight series, but I liked it before the series!!! So, Isabella Grace Latu, although they changed the middle name a little - Isabella Mo'ui he kelesi Latu. I like it better. It has a Tongan name in it. "Mo'ui he kelesi" means "saving grace" or something to that effect. I hope it fits her...I haven't even seen a picture of her yet!

Lately I have been very obsessed with baking muffins. Who knows why?!?! Muffins aren't really my favorite, but I do like them. I have made blueberry, raspberry, and banana muffins all in the last 2 days! They are very tasty, especially the raspberry!

I have also lately been obsessed with cleaning!! Before I was in the stage of my house always being a little cluttered, dishes in the sink, stuff on the floor. Now I am in this mode of everything has to be spotless! No dirty dishes in the sink, no crumbs on the counters, nothing on the floors! The no crumbs on the counters is a challenge with a husband that leaves bread, ramen, and cereal crumbs everywhere he goes! I have always been OCD about things, but lately I don't know what's gotten into me...it's very strange.

Now on to another subject, one that I hated in the past. School. I liked school and did really well in it, but my only problem was GOING to school. I have now decided that it's time, time to go back to school!! I'm kinda apprehensive about it, but also kind of excited. I decided that although it's not my favorite thing to do, I may as well do it a little at a time and get it done eventually instead of procrastinating and not get it done sometime this century. I'm going to try and get into a night class or two starting in the summer. Yay!!

Um, the end.