Hiyee! Okay, first of all I just wanted to say that I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer vacation so far, and if you're not done with school yet, I hope the next few weeks fly by quickly so you can enjoy your much deserved break! This semester was pretty hectic, but I'm glad it's over and everything turned out REALLY well!!! Hee, hee...I'm just bouncing up and down here, so I guess I'd better share my good news before I pass out!  Hee, hee...

    I GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION!!!    

Oh my gosh...my heart is just pounding against my chest right now!  *Phew!* Okay...calm down...hee, hee!   So happy, happy!  And the best news is that Shanell got in too so we're going to graduate together in two years!!! I just got the letter in the mail today and it was in a large envelope and it felt kinda bulky too.  So I opened it and screamed really loud and my Daddy laughed because he could hear me from outside.   I'm a little sad that I won't be able to take the classes I registered for though, because I had the PERFECT schedule with no school on Monday AND Friday, but it's okay...also, I'm sad I won't be able to take the Yoga class with Fuffer but she said it's okay...so hooray!!!  I'm so happy...I hope all the other people that applied with us got in too!  It's so awesome!  Hee, hee...I'm sorry I keep saying that but if you could see me right now...I'm just glowing with excitement! I just want to thank all of my friends and family that supported me during this process and put up with my nervousnes and all the other not so good moods that came out of it too...I love you all and I'm so thankful that I have each and every one of you to share and celebrate this with! Shanell and I are going out after American Idol to eat ice cream and celebrate and cry together...hee, hee...I'm so excited!

Anyway, on to other news...sorry, I just had to let that out before I drove myself crazy! Let's see...oh some belated Happy Birthday's are needed:

April 21st- Happy Birthday, Ajushi!

April 23rd- Happy Birthday, Mr. Y!

April 24th- Happy 22nd Birthday, Elyse!

May 12th- Happy 21st Birthday, Shanell!

I hope all of you had a special day filled with many memories!   Gosh, so much has happened since I last wrote that I'm trying hard to remember everything!  Oh, I went to the UH graduation on Sunday with Cheryl and saw Nikki, Tammy, Jennifer, Rachael and a few other people too. Luckily I got to see mainly everyone that I wanted to...Bora, Chris, Cheryl, Natali, and Brandon...whom by the way, gave an awesome speech! V(^o^)V  However I'm sad that I didn't get to see Vanessa, Dung, Jacob, and Cody though. But I hope they all had a great time and I wish them all the best of luck in the future!

Okie dokie, well I'd better go and call my family and friends on the mainland and Kauai and Hilo and let them know all the good news! I'll try to update again later because I can't really concentrate right now and I might have forgotten important information!  Oh, but before I forget, I found these pictures and I wanted to share it with all of you...

This is the normal serious picture...

and then we started to get crazy...

Hee, hee...it's really old...from like two or three years ago when we went out to Pearlridge and then to Fun Factory to take these, but it's cute and it made me smile to see all of us together again.  Actually if you compare it to the picture directly below, it's funny to see how much we all changed!  I love and miss all of them dearly and I just wanted to show you all this because it made me think about high school and all of the special people that I was once close to. Anyway, with that I'd just like to wish you all a wonderful and safe summer and I hope to keep in touch!  Take care and be happy like me!

Yay!  I actually got a picture up all thanks to Matty!   This is the large group picture from which I got my profile picture...so now you can see the beautiful gals with me!   Okay, well have a good weekend, everyone!

Hiyee! Wow...my updates just seem to be getting longer and longer apart, huh?  I'm so sorry...things are just very hectic, as I'm sure it is for all of you as well.  However, the semester is almost over and then it'll be SUMMER!!! I hope you all are doing well and looking forward to relaxing, summer school, working, or a little bit of both.   Gee, A LOT has happened since I last posted...in fact, I haven't even posted at all this semester!  I'm currently taking 15 credits...I was taking 18 credits before, but I ended up dropping my REL150 class because I realized midway that I wouldn't be able to devote as much time as necessary to it and I would rather have a "W" than a bad grade.  I'm relieved that I did, but it's also kinda a bummer that I don't get to see Theresa and Coby anymore though. In fact, I don't get to see A LOT of people that I did last semester, but I still try to keep in touch and I'm so guilty of getting super excited when I do see them and giving them a big hug!

Along with that, Shanell and I are finally done preparing everything for the College of Education.  We both took the Praxis Exam and passed and then we submitted the application and everything on March 1st so all we have to do now is keep our fingers crossed and wait!  I found out during Spring Break that we no longer need an interview for the College application process...I'm not too sure if that's a good thing or not because it doesn't really allow them to get to know the candidates, but hopefully all goes well!  I'm so nervous...if we get in, then I'll graduate in 2 years...but if we don't, then I'll have to apply again in a year...so let's just hope for the best!  We find out in mid-May, so I'll be sure to update when we find out!  Please pray for us...we REALLY want to get in!!! V(^o^)V

Okie dokie, well I just want to say some belated birthdays to some special people...

Happy Birthday, Daddy! -January 18th

Happy 21st Birthday, Rachael! - January 20th

Happy 24th Birthday, Hai! - February 11th

Happy 21st Birthday, Jamie Gee! - February 20th

Happy 21st Birthday, Fuffer-dear! - March 10th

Happy 20th Birthday, Ryan! - March 12th

Happy 20th Birthday, Paul I.! - March 28th

Happy Sweet 16, Janel! - April 16th

Happy 21st Birthday, Cheryl! - April 20th

Hee, hee...so many of my dear friends are already 21!  Wow...and soon I'll be too!  Not that I'm going to drink...I'm just excited about going to Las Vegas with my family!   *Sigh!* So close, but yet so far...there's so much going on right now that I guess I'm excited, but still not able to fully be happy yet.  One of the major things that I'm debating is my summer job...Joi got into the JET program, which is the Japanese English Teachers program, where they go to Japan for 1-2 years and teach English.  I'm so happy for her, but yet I know I'll miss her a lot! But anyway, the thing is that since she's leaving, along with her co-worker, Lisa, she wants me to take over her job.  She works at the Kama'aina Kids program in Waikiki and works with Japanese tourist's children, along with other children as well.  I just found out that if I do decide to work there, I could get offered a really good position as a Site Coordinator for my own hotel and I'd get paid about $10 an hour!  Money really isn't an issue for me, but I did want to invest in a laptop computer since my computer is ancient and I will eventually need one as a future Elementary teacher!   It would be really great to use my Japanese too and make use of my minor...BUT...there is also another job offer too.  Or rather, the one that I've been committed to for the past two summers, Crestivew Summer Fun.  I love it there, but sadly, out of the eight people that were there last summer, only three are returning...Brian, Ray and Alex...all guys...so if I do return, I'll be one of the only girls, along with any new people he hires.  I don't know what to do...I do feel obligated to return since I've been there for awhile, and also since my boss is freaking out that he has to hire 4-5 new people...but he also let me know that he'll support me no matter what.  (Although he has been SUPER nice to me recently )  I don't know...I know the pay will be about the same as the hotels, or less, but like I said before, it's not THAT important.  I'm so confused...my sister is literally begging me to work, whereas the kids that I'm teaching really want me to come back, too.  They're so cute...I didn't go into work on Tuesday because I'm not doing too well (health-wise), but I did go in on Wednesday and when I came they had painted me this banner that said, "Please come back to Summer Fun, Ms. Jamie!"  I was thinking, "Oh, my gosh!  How can I not come back now!"  But still...there's so many chances for opportunity elsewhere too...HELP!!!  If there's anyone out there who could offer me any advise, I'm more than willing to listen!  The only thing is I need to decide ASAP...like this weekend or at latest, by early next week...so I'd be very grateful for any input!

Oh and along with that, I'll still be working at Morning Glory, or Precious Dreams on the weekends, but preferably, only on Saturdays, or at most half day on Sundays too because it would be nice to relax a little! Oh yeah, did I mention that Ajushi got a new store?  In the Pearl City Daiei, there's that Precious Dreams store that sells Sanrio items as well as Precious Moments figurines, so he's been really busy lately.  Sun, if you have time you should stop by and see Kathy because she's there 24/7!  Hope to see you around sometime too...we miss you!

Okie dokie, well I'm sorry this is SOO long again, but just wanted to do an update because I probably won't be able to during the summer.  But other than all of that, I've just been studying and hanging out with my best buddies once in awhile!   Gosh, I can't thank you enough for listening to me and being there for me...this semester has been crazy, but easier to deal with due to you all!  Mom, Dad, Joi, Fuffer-dear, Des, Eli, P.G., Paul, Chris, Nellie, Elyse, Sherry, Hai, Janel, Kathy and Matty! You guys are the best!  But anyway, I hope you all are having an awesome semester and are doing well!  Oh yeah...hee, hee...I finally got a picture of me as my profile pic.  It's actually of Jen, Des and I at her 21st party, but for some reason, it's too big a file to put the entire thing, so Joi told me to just put me to experiement and see if it would work.  So hazukashii! But yeah...it's so cool that I could put it in sepia...it looks so old-fashioned...like me! Nah, but hope you all like it...hee, hee...yup, that's my $250 Straight Perm hair...can you tell I did it?  I'm so self-conscious that I'll probably end up taking it down soon and putting up something else, but just wanted to experiment for now!  Okay, well take care and best of wishes to you all on FINALS! Ganbatte, ne?

A Belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!!! I'm so sorry I haven't been on for the longest of time, but things have been VERY hectic and I haven't really had a chance to go near a computer long enough to update!  But I hope all is going well with you guys and you're enjoying the start of a new year...2005!!!   All those of you who graduated in 2002 with me know what that means...we're going to be 21 finally!  Whoo, whoo!  Oops...wait, not yay because we're of legal drinking age, (cause I'm not into drinking ) but hooray because we can go to Las Vegas!  Or rather...I get to go with my family in June! I'm so excited!  But anyway, let's do a quick update before I have to go back to studying...

Let's see...haven't updated for almost two months again!  Yikes!  At least I didn't go over two months this time, right? Hee, hee...I'll try to do brief highlights so I don't bore everyone!

~December 2nd: Happy 21st Birthday, Brian R. and Happy 20th Birthday, Paul G.!!!

~December 8th: Happy 20th Birthday, Branda girl!!!

~I adopted a family for my ENGR250 class with Shanell, Cori and Jay and I'm so happy I was able to have that experience!  We were able to raise over $1, 000 for them and buy everything they wanted...which by the way, was only comforters!  Comforters, guys!  I was so sad that I cried when I heard that! But anyway, we got them so many things like a Christmas tree, games, a skateboard, a color tv with a built in dvd player and all sorts of other goodies!  I just hope they had an enjoyable holiday season and maybe show interest in meeting us later on!  It would be nice to meet them in person one day.

~I got caught up in the holiday spirit of giving so I did the Angel Tree with my friends on the day after Thanksgiving and I adopted 3 angels and bought gifts for them too.  It's so nice to have several jobs because you have more money to buy gifts for special people like that who are less fortunate...and it makes you feel so much better too!

~I had a concert on December 5th in Aina Hina at the Calvary By the Sea Church for my MUS353 class.  It was nice to see all the keiki and to play some holiday music too! It really helped to get me into the Christmas spirit!

~I gave myself an early Christmas present on the 20th...a Magic Straight Perm at Park Jun's! Umm...it was rather takai, ($250 plus $50 for a hair cut and $50 for a tip) but very much worth it, I think!  I had a special treatment since the owner was the one doing it and even got a massage and tea!  They were super nice although they didn't speak much English!   Hee, hee...I know it was a little expensive and I'm a little upset that I spent so much on myself...but it was something that I really wanted and after much convincing from Kathy I decided to finally get it done!  It makes my hair look really healthy...my mom claims it looks like those Pantene Pro-V commercials from the back, but I don't think so! Hee, hee...I'd put up a pic to show everyone but you know how much I love taking pictures by myself, right? Hee, hee...maybe later!

~Oh...and another thing, I almost forgot...due to my stupidity I learned to NEVER bring your phone with you to the bathroom when you're at work because no matter how careful you are, there is a possibility that it can fall in the toilet or in the sink and cause you to have to buy yourself another Christmas present. Grr...no more buying things for meeh for a VERY long time!

~Then the day after that, I went shopping with Matt at Ala Moana and helped him to pick out gifts for his family, which was lots of fun!  I also had to help him restrain himself from buying Christmas presents for himself too! But at least I got some hints as to what he might want from that!  Then at night, I got to go the Dave and Busters and see all my co-workers from this past summer!  It was so great to see everyone...Brian, Gina, Ray, Jess, Hai, Rachael, James, and Alex...and to catch up on things too!  I sure miss seeing everyone!

~On the 24th, Christmas Eve, I did the Secret Santa Exchange with my girlfriends and it was nice to just relax and hang with the gals.  I love all of them and I'm so glad we've remained friends since high school!

~Christmas Day was very interesting to say the least.  Well, let's just say, it'll be one that I'll never forget.  My grandmother has Alzheimer's so we live with her and take care of her.  On the night of Christmas Eve, our neighbors were having a party so she got up early, like around 2 a.m. I'm guessing, and didn't go back to sleep.  So...after staying up late to finish wrapping gifts, I heard banging on my door at 6 a.m. and I see my grandmother standing there yelling at us demanding to go home and saying the phone was broken and she couldn't call home. (She was trying to call "home", which is our house, and that's why she couldn't reach anyone) So we all ended up getting up and trying to calm her down...and sadly this is the worst she's been in awhile so it was quite difficult.  I felt really bad for her because she was so confused and just tired and frustrated so I started crying and that eventually lead to things getting a little better because she settled down after that.  So anyway, you can see as to why it was a memorable Christmas.  However...I was able to call and text almost everyone I wanted to that day...so if I didn't get a chance to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I apologize. Eventually things did get much better at night when she calmed down and we could relax and spend time with our loved ones. So overall, it was an okay day.

Whoa...I didn't realize how stretched out this gets when you make it into short paragraphs...okay I'll hurry up! But anyway, that's pretty much all that's been going on.  I've been spending time with or stopping by to visit people here and there...Fuffer, Des, Eli-dear, Cheryl, Paul, Matt, Ryan, Hai, Nellie...and along with that, I've been working at Morning Glory a lot since Un ni gave birth to a healthy 9 lb. and 12 oz. baby boy! Sugoi!!!  I'm so happy for them!  But overall, it's been good...not too much rest and relaxation, but lots of fun times with special friends so I couldn't ask for more!

Okie dokie, well I'd better go back to studying!  I'm going to take the Praxis for the College of Education on Monday so I'm trying to prepare myself for that!  Wish me luck! V(^o^)V Hee, hee...okay, but take care of yourselves and I hope you all have a great New Year and a wonderful semester!  I'll try to post my schedule up later once I have things finalized, okay?  Thank you to all of you who have made an impact on my life this year...I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough.  I was planning on listing you all, but I'd be afraid to accidentally forget someone...but just know that you all are important to me, okay? Take care and hope to talk to you all soon!  Bye bye!

Oh my gosh!  It's been exactly two months and four days since I last posted anything!!!  I'm so sorry guys...I didn't fall of the face of the earth or anything...I've just been so busy, as I'm sure everyone else has as well!

Yikes, there's SOO much to update about!  But first things, first...it's a MUST that I say happy birthday to the two special people that I was planning to before things got crazy!

September 13th~ Happy 20th Birthday, Nikki-chan!

September 18th~ Happy 21st Birthday, Matt!

Phew...okay, I'm glad I finally got to do that!  Hee, hee...okay, on to updating....definitely met a lot of new people this semester, as well as get closer to those that I've met in previous semesters...all of which are incredibly kind and unique in their own ways. Nellie, Matt, Cheryl, Robert, Chris, Adam, Derek, Amos, Judy, Jay, Paul I., Paul G., Vanessa, Elyse...the list goes on and on.  It's so nice to be able to talk to people who are going into the same field as you, as well as those who aren't, but are still lots of fun to talk to!

I've also been working a lot...Saturdays and Sundays at Morning Glory...along with teaching arts & crafts classes on Tuesday at Crestview.  Haven't been able to work the past few Sundays since I've been sick on and off...but have been working Saturdays with Janel, and with Kathy when she came back about two weeks ago.  I really missed working with Kathy at night because it's so lonely by myself! But it's been great getting to know Janel better too during the mornings!  She's really sweet and kinda quiet, but we have fun watching customers, and having them think that A ju shi is our father! Teaching classes has been going great as well!  The kids are so cute...I actually have about five regular students now!  Katelyn, Leilani, Carly Mae, Jake and my favorite, Kelsey.  She's so cute!  She always gives me hugs now when I come to work, and the one week I didn't come because I was sick, she said she missed me!   But yeah, I think it's really relaxing to take a break from work and do arts and crafts with them...they're excited to learn new things, and I'm actually learning a lot from them as well.  Hopefully this is good experience for the future! V(^o^)V

Then there's also school...which is getting a little hectic due to midterms and upcoming finals, and also with the few days that we missed school due to the flooding.  Hee, hee...I can't deny the fact that it was a much needed break for me, but the make-up work for those classes are crazy! Hopefully everyone is doing okay with that and not stressing out too much!  Only four more weeks, guys!  We can do it!

Okie dokie, well I gotta go and finish up doing some homework before work tomorrow, but I had some time and just wanted to update everyone on what has been going on.  Hopefully I'll get to update again soon...like hopefully sooner than two months! Take care everyone and if I don't write again until then...best of luck on finals! V(^o^)V