Tomorrow is September!!

This has been a truly delightful summer. Like every summer in California the weather is now turning to perfect and we will continue with beautiful beach going days! I'm looking forward to a milestone birthday in 2 weeks and starting to reflect on my last uh, 20ish years ;-)

I have been going through "30 before 30" lists. I have a couple to cross off on my list just for the pure fun of doing them before I turn 30. However, All of my major life goals I set out to achieve I have. There is a bittersweet feeling I have about this birthday. In some ways I feel so amazingly grateful for everything I have been blessed to do but I also cant help but feel that pull of what will be next.

Being a Christian I have found joy throughout my life by the Phillipians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  That has been such a glorious reminder for everyday living. To remember that my constant communication with God will allow me to follow Gods will for my life.

If you didn't already know I am a HUUUUGE Pinterester (That is one who spends a LOT of time on Pinterest,ha!) I came across a while back The Birthday Project This was such an amazing and cool thing to do on your birthday. Its basically random acts of kindness according to the age you are turning. So, this year is 30 and I will be doing 30 Random Acts of Kindness to celebrate the amazing life I have been blessed to lead! I cant wait to do this and look forward to inspiring others to pay if forward!

In the next couple of days I will add and check off my "30 before 30" list and let me know any cool things I might need to add to my list!

Happy Weekend and Happy Labor Day!!

Mahalo,
Adina

It's Friday!!

Ahhh it's early Friday morning and I have had a delightful week! 

Husband had a bunch of army stuff this week so this pretty much sums it up!

Hahah! I love this picture! I make him take so many pictures and he's always like "Dina, more!" Yup, More! Ya know why? Because,sometimes you can capture pure gold! No. But, really. I'm so proud of  him and he does such an amazing job leading and caring for our family and is such an amazing soldier! He has so much to give and share and makes me beyond proud to be his wife. Plus, he's super hot! ;-) 

Oh, he just makes me happy! Like giddy happy. :-)

Monday we did the fam day at Incredible Johns for pizza and games and then went to the mall! Guess what it wasn't that crowded! Ya know why?! Because school is back in session!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO! I know there  will be a day when it will be the opposite and as the girls get bigger I will be bummed out. But currently I love when school is in session! Why you ask? It means I can run to target in the middle of the day on a Tuesday and there is not a million and one people in there. We can go to Disneyland and not everyone and their mother are there! 

We(husband and I) live in a world where we are not off of the whole weekend. We work Saturdays and have multiple days off during the week. We love doing things in our own little world. Not with crowds of mass people. I love going to places and traveling on the "off peak" times because its cheaper and less crowded. This goes for holiday school breaks too! We go out all the time not just because we are off school or its a holiday.

Heres the girls riding rides. Greens is way into yellow at the moment. Penny was actually into this. Although she would much rather have ridden the horse(it was out of order) and that white jeep with the rainbows...I wish I had it in real life,ha! :-)

I upped my mileage running this week and really it felt great to go a little bit further this week! Next week I will be back in the 20+ miles per week and that gets me über excited!! 

I'm running the Walt Disney marathon with my awesome sister-in-law and I'm beyond pumped!!

This week I was having major Hawaii withdrawals and cannot wait to get back to my "homeland" haha! It's just amazing there! So, we had Hawaii night and made and island feast and enjoyed Southern California and ate fine island food! I made this super yummy pineapple and shrimp fried rice! Suuuper good!

It's really easy and looks way more complex than it is! 

When we are not galavanting around town or on an exploring adventure. I'm beyond blessed to be hanging out with my little bff's and there is nothing better than living this amazing life with my precious little girls. They are so spectacular and challenge me daily to be a better person and an even better mama. 

It doesn't get any better than a week full of fun and love! Enjoy every moment and don't wait for a special occasion to celebrate your spouse or your children. 

Everyday is an amazing gift we have with one another. The days in between the holidays and birthdays turn out to be way more memorable for us in the long run! 

Mahalo,

Dina 

Babies

My arms are missing a child. My third child is with The Lord. Not a single day goes by that I don't think of how my life would be if I were to have had that one here with me and not our Penelope. Being a mama changed my life forever. The quote that I'm forever reminded of is "when a child is born so is the mother" the weight of that statement is something  that couldn't be more true or more powerful in my life.

My girls here are healthy, beautiful and thriving daily. As a family we do amazing things together and my world is painted with their laughter, smiles, hugs and even whines and tears. My world revolves around them and makes me a better version of myself everyday by having this role as their mom.

Last night I found out about acquaintances that are now starting the process of chemotherapy for their 2 year old. The fact that I even typed that last sentence out breaks my heart and brings years to my eyes almost immediately. I can feel the words popping up in my head saying "why Lord?" Feelings of anger and frustration. The same feelings I have felt before and almost at the same time begin to hear The Lord speak. "I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born" Isaiah 66:9 this verse is something that rocks my world and brings things into perspective for me daily. I mean that. I fail him daily and he continues to bless me.why?! Because he loves me! Because he uses situations to show us and the world how he works. We don't always know at the time how God can use a situation or what other person our life and story can be affecting someone else and their walk. 

I cried in my husbands arms last night and prayed for this family and for ours. That they would stand strong in this journey and that Gods mighty healing hand would bring comfort to this baby and his wonderful family. I also prayed for ours that in the midst of living that we always remember how blessed we are. That how no matter how hard it is sometimes in this world to be content with what we have that we have something so much more. We have a hope in our God that he is in control in our lives. That he has blessed us far more than we deserve not only for by his death on the cross so we might live. But, for the lives we live here on earth so he may shine through us. 

Gods daily reminders of his love and grace cling to me even as I write and they are in the forms of my girls which God has entrusted to Mike and Myself. By walking with him and showing them Gods love and guidance as he has shown us by loving us. To be patient with them when they are driving us crazy and to love them like Jesus loves us. 

Mahalo, 

Adina 

Weekend Review and Currently

We had such a great week and weekend. So many fun things happening all around us.

This weekend we started a couple projects with the girls and got to spend so much time together. 

The first project we did was the girls ABC books. Greens loves tracing her letters and reciting the appropriate words with the matching letters. Pen enjoys using a marker and being creative. 

We also introduced the girls to scissors. They have their very own training scissors and did pretty well for their first go at it. 

The project for this weekend was our paper chain. I love doing countdowns and this was a great way for the girls to visually see the days before we go on vacay. We leave in a couple weeks to visit our family in Indiana! I'm so excited and cannot wait to spend time and make more amazing memories with this group I married into. I am so truly blessed and look forward to so many different adventures with my hubbs and dumplings.

           Here is our countdown!!!!!

Saturday night after the girls went to sleep I got the chance to watch a Redbox movie I had been waiting to see FOREVER! The movie was "Intouchables" It's a foreign film based on a true story set in Paris. It has subtitles and just a great feel good foreign film. 

 

I also tried a little hair project...

I am a Groupon fan and love buying stuff that I would love to try but don't want to pay the full cost for. I found these "Goody Summer Wave" rollers. I had seen these before and groupon had them for about $5.00. So, I bought them.I tried them. Verdict: Ehhhhh.... They are okay the wave was a little tight and if I used more hair they would not close all the way because of the length of my hair. I would use them again and play around with them a bit.

 

 

Currently....

Working on: Being more creative! I have sooo many delightful areas in my life to use my creative skills. I looove cooking and baking and I love being able to use it in my personal life and not my career right now.

Obsessing over: Rachel Khoo!!!! She's British and a crazy, amazing chef and creative gal! Need to buy her cookbook and blog my way through the recipes. 

Thinking about: Remembering that "today is the tomorrow you were so worried about yesterday" not to stress!

Listening to: if you have seen my spotify activity it's been all jazz lately! Sydney Bechet- Parisian jazz/blues is the background music I hear if my life were a film! 

Eating: nonsense,lol! I have been such a carboholic lately. Challah( rich egg bread) doesn't stand a chance if I see it in sight! 

Thankful for: my 2 little girls with whom i get to enjoy,learn from, teach, mold, dance, sing, list goes on! I am also thankful for my jobs. One is easy going and serene. The other is lively and fun! It's a great balance to keep me enjoying both.

Planning for: VACATION I'm so excited to just spend precious time with my loves and escape the back and forth's and everyday stuff we do here. :-) 

Have a great Week, Mahalo!

Recap :-)

Things are settling down in our schedules and starting to find some more routine and peace in our daily lives. We try to squeeze in as much family time as we can!

We went to the local Catholic church carnival this past weekend. The girls had a blast these are some pictures of them on the rides...

No, Its not a turkey! Its a big 'ole chocolate cake that I won for my dad! They have a "cake walk" you walk around squares when the music starts and then when the music stops they draw a number and if your standing on that square you win!!! Well, I won on the first try! wooohoo!

 

 

Greenlee turned 4 on Monday! We went to Chuck E. Cheese's. This was cool on so many levels! My first job when I was 15 was working at CEC. It was great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, now all these years later it was so cool to bring my own little and celebrate her!

Do they look excited? Yeah, not so impressed by this roller coaster simulator,ha!

 

This is my Penelope. She makes even hand washing fun!

I found this picture online and I loved it! Minus the cigar and add some tacky gemstone rings...I can only hope to be this fab! To be able to maintain my zest for living and carefree style! 

I simply adore Asian babies. Like looooove them!!! So, I saw this and melted. I love her!



Mike and I have been faced with some issues this week and remembering God is in control isn't always easy. Praying first for patience and peace and letting go and letting God work. Using these tools has also helped to have God reveal his plans for us!

 

Here's to a wonderful weekend! Get out and live and enjoy life!

 

Mahalo!

Currently

When I don't blog for a little bit I love to do currently post, Kinda sums up everything! My blogger friend Hanna over at bouffe e bambini just did one and I love them!

 

 

Reading: Bob Harper's "Jump start To Skinny" I purchased the hardcover book for a whopping $25.00 and then got home and was like "Oh, yeah! I have an Ipad! I wonder if its cheaper on an ibook?" oh, well big surprise. It is it was only $12.99!,Yay! Starting the program on Monday if ya wanna start too. I will be documenting progress as this book just came out and no one else,that I can see, has started one.

 

Starting: Another round of Jillian Michael's 30 day shred! If you haven't done it before it is a great 20 minute workout that is killer and does amazing things for your body! I have taken about 2 weeks off cross training so pretty pumped to start it up again on Monday!

Feeling: Special. I have really great people in my life. I am blessed with friends who fly across the US to hang out with me. People who stop by just to say hey! Call to see how I am doing! These are the same things I do with people so I love to feel that it really does make a difference.

 Planning: We have a trip to the Midwest coming up this summer that I am ecstatic about (I know that may be a funny statement,ha!) But, I love my husbands family so very much and CANNNNOT wait to spend time with all of them and just enjoy that time with my husband and my dumplings!

Wishing : That time would freeze for a bit and my little dumplings wouldn't grow up so darn fast! My Greenlee will be turning 4 next week and it just blows my mind how amazing, beautiful and perfect she is and what a little girl she has become.

Thankful: This is actually quoted from Hanna's "Currently"  but its my thoughts exactly! "For my mom! Oh I would not survive with out my mom. She loves my kids so much and she helps me A LOT! I am eternally grateful to her."

Craving: Cupcakes... Its always cupcakes! Oh, and craft beer :-)

Learning: Balance.Balance.Balance. I am now working 2 part time jobs and although they are both super awesome. I am constantly praying for The Lord to guide me and show me how to balance it all. Its very simple really; We prayed and God provided. He will see us through as he always does.

Thinking: I need to sew more. I love dresses. If you follow my Pinterest I pin a lot of dresses. (Because, my husband loves his me and the girls in dresses!) My usual dress budget is no more than $25 per dress. So, its not like I spend that much on each one but I could probably make 2 or 3 for that cost. That goes for the girls clothes too I can make them so many more. That's what we all need is more clothes right? ha!

Loving: Time with my husband. Like with anything in my life whatever I put time into and make a priority, I find success. I'm just grateful for little moments we get together where we get to focus on eachother and enjoy time together.

 

Mahalo!

 

40 Days

So, I took some time away from Facebook. Why? Because I did a spiritual fast. I gave up something and the thing I chose was Facebook.

My church started the 40 day fast and at first I was like yeah sure! Then when I thought about it I realized it could be way harder than I think. My choice to give up FB was something I knew I would definitely miss and would actually be a challenge. A couple of my reasons for being on FB is mainly stemmed from shifts at the hotel where there is nothing going on so FB is how I connect to friends and family I have all over the U.S.

Things that changed in 40 days:

• I realized how much time other people spend on FB. Ha, my family, my husband, friends, random strangers. Having extra free time its the first thing I see most people do
• My mother in law actually signed up for FB!
• I realized how much time I would spend on it pre fast
• The first days were hard then it got a lot easier
• I missed connecting with people I don't get to see everyday and seeing what they are doing that day.
• I will not put the app for FB on my phone again, at least for a little while

I really have worked on being more present and being more real. People have said to me before you have such a charmed life. I do,but its because of my relationship with the Lord. I am extremely blessed. But, I do have crappy days and its not always walking on sunshine. But, my faith allows me to be positive and thankful regardless and even in the moments where its bleccck and gross. Those are the times when the Lord carries me through.

I'm not perfect, my kids are not perfect, my marriage is not perfect. But, no one's life is perfect. Never compare your life or aspects of your life to others. Don't Judge others. Live your life for God not for other people. Be Kind. Surround yourself with like minded people. These are lessons I have learned and I am grateful for that.

Mahalo,
Adina