Muchadoabout everything...

Guess Who's Back...Back Again?! ...thank you Marshall Mathers...

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Sat, 29 Sep 2018 22:05:00 +0000

Oh hello there...again...blogging world! It has been at least 8 years since I touched my blog. I sort of forgot about it until one of my best friends responded something I would hashtag mind blowing to a text I sent him. I won't share my text but I will share his response. He responded "YOU NEED A HOBBY." Ok, not in all caps but that's how my eyes registered it for my brain. I will also say that this is not the first time he's told me this.

The response got me thinking back...waaaay back...to when I rarely spent more than 8 hours at home when I wasn't working because each weekend, I would wake up, eat something, get dressed, AND GET OUT! Whether I grabbed my camera and tripod to go shoot the world, threw on my running shoes and ran at Ala Moana beach park, or scheduled a day date with a friend or two...I made time for myself and "did stuff".

For this post, let's get reacquainted! I'll bullet point for you what has changed in the last 8 years and to help me add content to this blog, each of those bullet points will have it's own article.

In the last 8 years I have:

Gotten remarried
Changed jobs...twice.
Moved homes...4 times.
Made it on the Wheel of Fortune.
Had not 1 but 2 more children: Weston Edward & Oliver Jon
Bought and fully renovated a house.
Had my oldest child graduate from high school.
Sold the condo we owned for 21 years.
Gained 20 lbs...Lost 24 lbs.

This list may grow if I remember some other milestone-ish kind of stuff. I will insert random articles in between to keep things interesting.

To Dump Or Not To Dump...

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:24:00 +0000

We are in the process of moving - AGAIN. It's been about 10 months since our move into this 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse in Hawaii Kai and while we were renting the place with the possibility of buying it when the owners decided to sell it - we weren't sold on the unit when that time came (amongst other factors). So here I am, weeding through boxes that I shoved into the "I'll never ever look in there" closet and I'm left wondering "How much of my past should I hold on to?"

I have oodles and oodles of photos from high school which of course include photos of ex-boyfriends, old friends, and the infamous high school sweetheart (who in later years ended up being my first husband!). It seems like there are a trillion photos (yes, 1/13th of the national deficit!). I've also come across one of those plastic file boxes with old letters (the oldest dating back to 1990 from a pen pal I had during Desert Storm!).

The questions that plague my mind every time I rummage through these boxes range from: "Do I keep these? Do I need to keep these? What would it mean if I didn't?" Granted I haven't looked in these for 10 months (I peeked into them when we first moved) and before then I hadn't peeked in those boxes for at least 7 years. Had I initially done the "grab and dump" method of really just grabbing the stuff and dumping them into trash bags without looking, I may not be in this situation.

Do we hold on to old momentos because we still feel for the people in them - or do we hold on to them to remind us of things (or people) that we've had the pleasure of knowing in our past? Do you have photos of old flames, little crumpled pieces of paper that once legibly held a love poem that someone put in your locker, or even dried up roses from a bouquet you got from prom? Why do you hold on to physical things from your past?

Back To The Blogging Board!

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:27:00 +0000

I have managed to ignore my blog for at least five months and just yesterday found myself frantically trying to remember my log in information to this website. I am not sure how to explain it but every so often I feel the need to blog about something. I'm not sure if blogging is proving to be an outlet of pent up emotions where instead of spewing out word vomit I compose a neat little paragraph (or two) about what my little noggin is pondering.

There seem to be an enormous amount of bloggers out there! My sister-in-law blogs about her spiritual healing experiences, my friend Mona blogs about every day life in Seattle, and another friend of mine, Marg blogs about fashion (I look forward to seeing her posts on FB!). Everyone who blogs does it for a reason -- what's yours?

My Lenten Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I grew up Catholic. I lived in a household where church attendance was mandatory at 6AM every Sunday. We prayed the rosary every night and went through all the rites of passage in Catholicism - Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation. In my adult life I am not so much a practicing Catholic. I haven't been to church in a while. I do not pray the rosary at all. I do have personal conversations with God but I don't feel the need to speak to him through a priest. I do however seem to still give things up when the Lenten season comes around. Rice used to be the thing to give up. Back home we ate rice with every meal. Steak just doesn't seem to taste right without rice and soy sauce! After a few years of giving up rice, it wasn't difficult to go without it for 40+ days. This year I decided to give up desserts (breakfast muffins, whipped cream, and ice cream fell under this category), candy, and Starbucks (which ended up really meaning any kind of coffee and lattes). Anyone who knows me will tell you that I live for desserts, will usually not pass up a piece of candy, and Starbucks lattes and I go together like a Filipino and patis!

I won't lie and say this lenten journey has been easy. It hasn't. My workplace is filled with cubicles packing a "snacking" punch - you can pretty much find anything you're craving: chips, cookies, candy, cheesecake (yes, cheesecake!). I can also say that I'm probably a glutton for punishment. To ease my stress levels - I bake. This past month made no exception for me because I was unable to have my comfort vices. I baked a few different times in the past month and as much as I wanted to eat an oatmeal craisin cookie, chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and have a slice of my citrus delight cake...I didn't.

I am now in the homestretch and am hoping I don't falter and shove a twinkie in my mouth before Sunday.

Murad - Acne Complex

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:30:00 +0000

I didn't have much of an acne issue when I was in high school. I had the occassional pimple and I only remember breaking out badly once. Fast forward to college in Hawaii - my face went beserk! I wasn't sure what happened. I didn't eat differently and the weather was almost the same as back home. It couldn't have been make-up because back then I didn't know anything about make-up!
Throughought the years I used everything under the sun that was meant for acne: Clearasil (which worked for a while), Stridex, Neutrogena, and even ProActiv (and that worked for a while, too). Double fast forward to today, 6 years out of Graduate school, my face is still freaking out. This time I know it is most likely hormonal AND the fact that I use MAC Studio Tech make-up which, and I've been told this even by MAC artists, that MAC is really not for every day use, it's meant to look good under the extreme heat of studio lighting.
In my quest to seek out another type of make-up, one less likely to keep my face looking like a pepperoni pizza, I walked into Sephora at Ala Moana. It was there that I was introduced to Murad Acne Complex instead of finding new make-up.
The sales associate did a skin consultation for me (which they do for anyone really!) and we went through different types of solutions - but because of my acne prone skin and age she thought the Murad line would work best for me.
I've been using the product for two days and I honestly do feel a difference in my face. It isn't as congested as before and my fiance has commented on how clearer it looks already. The photo above was taken the evening I bought the Murad Acne Complex regimen (notice the congestion especially on my forehead). The photo below was taken the next evening (a little less congested). I will keep my blog updated on my skin's journey on this regimen!

My Introduction to Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:32:00 +0000

I've heard it a million times - CREDIT CARDS ARE BAD. Unfortunately, I heard it a little too late. Growing up I did not understand the concept of "the credit card". I always thought it was a card you used to buy stuff - there was no limit (or at least my dad did not impose one on my siblings or I when we asked to use it to purchase things on-line or over the phone (damn those Dance Remix Collection commercials!). When the expiration date started to approach the usage of the credit card would sky rocket because it was my belief that whatever money was "on" the card would be subject to today's flexible spending account mantra "Use it or lose it." I could not have been more wrong - about what a credit card really was OR even about the expiration date!

Blogging - Take 2!

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:10:00 +0000

I haven't touched my blog account in over a year and I feel like blowing the imaginary dust off the keyboard and computer screen, just like how you would after finding an old book in your attic!

I've decided to stick to the earlier theme of my blog - daily randomness - because I probably will not have one topic to continuously talk about for next 300+ days left this year.

Here is to a new beginning, dusting off the blogging materials, and more blogs on my daily randomness!

Friends vs. Acquaintances

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:29:00 +0000

I found this blog and thought it was worth reading:

FRIENDS vs ACQUAINTANCES

Some Bunny Groped Us...

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:09:00 +0000

It's almost Easter, so the baskets and the plastic eggs are flying off the shelves and almost everyone who celebrates Easter is writing out their shopping lists and making up the menu's for their family lunches or dinners. I say ALMOST everyone because it's already Thursday and I have no idea what we're doing, with who, and where just yet! Of course, at this time of year, almost every major mall is visited by the magical Easter Bunny.

Here goes the story attached to my title:

Scene 1: In Jen's car on the way to Kahala Mall to see which clothing stores are hiring.

ME: Oh my God! JEN! We should take a photo with the Easter Bunny to commemorate that we were unemployed during Easter!

JEN: That would be fun! We should do that!

Little did we know that taking a photo with the Easter Bunny would leave us feeling icky instead of all warm and fuzzy.

While getting our photo taken, I notice (and so did Jen) that this Easter Bunny was more touchy-touchy than most others. He was rubbing our sides kind of like how your boyfriend would rub your sides when he's holding you from behind.

I get up to leave but as Jen tries to walk away, the Bunny grabs her arm...she turns around thinking "Oh, maybe it's one of our friends in that bunny suit..." but the Bunny gives her two packets of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and waves good bye.

I guess it wouldn't have been too bad if we never got to see who was in the Bunny suit...but we did. An hour or two later, we come across the Bunny going into one of the vacant store suites at the mall...we knew he was going in there to change out of his costume but we didn't know that inside the bunny suit was an OLDer male -- imagine a Mall Santa Claus' -- that kind of OLD. I mean hey, if we continued to think that a super hot guy with a life guard body was in that bunny suit feeling us up, the "ick" factor probably wouldn't be so high!

So while we aren't scarred or anything, I think we may think twice about taking an Easter photo next year.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Toothbrush color....

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:08:00 +0000

The entire day I had one of those headaches that kind of linger. I had one Tylenol pill left and popped that but unfortunately, it didn't work. I made a stop at Longs and grabbed Tylenol PM and Motrin and while trying to get to the register, I overhear a couple in the Oral Hygiene aisle talking about how nice the color of a certain toothbrush was. It got me thinking, does it really matter what color your toothbrush is? I guess in a sense it does because I personally would not want to mistakenly use my a toothbrush owned by someone who chewed tobacco or betel nut in my household. Do any of you really stand in front of the bathroom mirror and think to yourself while brushing your teeth "Oh my, this is a gorgeous shade of purple. Would I call this lavender or eggplant?"

Carwash, Cupcakes, and Guns...

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:57:00 +0000

Living in Hawaii has it's perks. The sun is usually shining, the people always smiling, and the beach always welcoming. Since the weather is never at either extremities, I usually sleep with the lanai sliding doors wide open -- you know, to let in the breeze...and consequently, the noise...and random smells that waft through the air on Sunday mornings. This morning I woke up to what sounded like a heated argument down by the bus stop...but it ended up being a few college students yelling at the cars driving by: CAR WASH! CAR WASH! GET YOUR CAR WASHED!

In, other news...I've started baking again. To say "again" might imply that I've had some sort of baking hiatus which isn't entirely true because I bake something at least once a week but I do it half-heartedly by using boxed cake mixes and yes...store bought frosting! Yesterday however I waved away the boxed cake mixes, rolled up my sleeves, and started on my merry way to making my lemon cheesecake cupcakes with vanilla crumb topping! It was a tedious sifting, folding, crumbling and assembling process but the end product...well, let's just say no one that had a cupcake complained!And, finally -- has anyone ever been to a shooting range? A very close friend of mine and I have recently picked it up as an extracurricular activity. The first time we went to was celebrate his freedom from our former employer and the next time we went was just some random Saturday night when we had nothing better to do...and then we went again last night. I never thought I'd hold a gun, let alone shoot it and end up enjoying pulling the trigger.
We go to the same gun club every time. It's located on the third floor of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki. The prices are rather decent for those living in Hawaii (50% off the published price). Last night my friend ended up choosing the package with six different guns. I opted to just pop a few rounds off of a semi-automatic. The owner is always there when we go to visit and I ended up getting my choice of gun for free and my instructor even threw in an extra clip as well. I tried to hit the "X" on the target...which of course is the goal of everyone that goes there but for some reason, I just can't get it! I can hit the "10" ring that surrounds the "X" but I can never hit it dead-on. My friend on the other hand is pretty good...okay, okay...he's a pro compared to me! He can literally "shoot out" the "X" on his targets. Our instructor said "He's either getting the hang of the guns or he's not telling you something." He swears he doesn't go to the shooting range to practice without me! So if you've ever wanted to shoot a gun but not necessarily at someone, give the Royal Hawaiian Gun Club a try!

Hello, Blog World!

noreply@blogger.com (Agnes) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:14:00 +0000

Hi...or should I say Aloha...or maybe even Hafa Adai or no wait, Mabuhay! I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but since I've got some time to spare...ok, I won't lie, I currently have a ton of time to spare, I figured I would do something semi-productive!
I'm guessing in this blog of mine, you will find the total randomness that is me!