My friend Tava

I have been friends with Tava since I met her in 7th grade. She was a sweet, very smart girl. She was always giving me good advice & helping me to understand math! I remember one day I was sick & she came to my house with homemade chocolate chip cookies, that meant so much to me. I knew that day we'd be lifelong friends. As we grew older we went on completely different paths. My path was motherhood & wife duties at the tender age of 18. Tava was on the path of higher Education. She was also wanting to be a missionary. Although our lives were completely different we stayed in contact with one another. 

When Tava got married & had her son Alama is when we emailed or instant messaged eachother often. Enjoying our long conversations, I found out she was struggling with a disease called Lupus. Lupus is different for everyone but basically it's an illness that attacks & shuts down your joints, but in Tavas case her lupus moves around to her joints, ovaries, lungs, brain, etc. There were times in the past she's been hospitalized, had surgery, gained weight, skin color changed, etc. through all these challenges she has remained extremely faithful & positive. She truly amazes me! Whenever I would go through hardships I would think of her words or the things she's endured & I become humbled really quick. 

About a week and a half ago I seen some FB (Facebook) statuses from her sisters that Tava was ill. I immediately was worried & she was heavy on my mind. I kept thinking of her and decided to text her and ask if I could visit her. She replied maybe next week when I feel better. Tava unknowingly at the time she might not be here next week. Well a few days passed by & I kept getting this prompting to go see her. That very day I got on the computer & read Misionas status that her sister was in the hospital & she can't imagine life without her. I inboxed Misiona & she told me that Tava had almost passed away the other night! I was in tears, thinking why hadn't I acted on my prompting? I asked Misi if she thought it'd be a good idea to visit because her text said next week. She said I think any visitors would lift her spirits. So I planned to see her the next day with my bestie Ane. Misi asked if we could just surprise her & I thought that would be fun esp because Misi was going back to Phoenix that Saturday morning & we were planning on being there Sat around 10-11am. 

So I picked up Ane & we made our way to Provo. We stopped by and got her some flowers & snax. Then we got to the hospital around 11. I opened her room door with the flowers in front if my face saying, Hi Tava! She grabbed her glasses put them on with a look of who is this, I moved the flowers as Ane & I came in and she sobbed, tears streamed down her face. We cried staring at one another and embraced our friend. She was so surprised & kept telling us that The Lord sent us in her time of need. We stayed til about 4pm. We laughed, cried, laughed til our tummies hurt & ate candy! It was such a fun & spiritual visit. I'm grateful for the friendship we have. I'm grateful for the promptings of the Spirit, I'm grateful for the gospel, for good doctors & nurses who take such great care of my beautiful friend. I'm grateful for my health & my spouse & kids. Nothing humbles a person more than to see someone else in a predicament you can't imagine. I love you Tava! The Lord is mindful of your hardships & has given it to you because you can endure this. Remember your hardship may not be for you, but for others to learn or maybe gain a testimony of your endurance, faith, & love. I'm so blessed to have you as my friend & I'm so blessed The Lord let you stay longer with us who still need you. Xoxo

Ofa Atu,

Anna

4 years later...

I can't believe it's actually taken me this long to go out to Louisiana. I have never been there and I'm so excited to go! Mazzie has been living out there for 4yrs!!! I couldn't even believe that when she told me OK 4YRS LATER! lol...I really am a good friend to her I promise! hahah in those first 2 years we were living in California and we had NO flying bennies at that time, and then the last two I've had a baby, and moved back to Salt Lake...and yeah just tons of things. But NOW NOW me and my Jelly are gonna head out that way and have a lotta fun! I know she's been awaiting my arrival for quite some time now, and I'm so excited to visit her and get to know her good friends out there too. I miss her so much, and I hope and pray that one day she'll come back to Utah! haha I'll update this later about our lil trip out there. We will be leaving Friday and returning Mon. Can't WAIT!! Durrty Durrty here I come, WATCH OUT NOW!! lmbo

This Month

So I haven't updated a lot about what has happened this past month. First of all Mazzie came down from Louisiana to visit for her sisters baby's blessing, and her inlaws baptism...and of course to see me!! lmbo she was only here for a short visit, but the ONE night we spent together was a night to remember seriously!! Mazzie is always the LIFE of the party and she definitely put it down at Alexis' wedding reception! Man it was hilarious!! I wish I had the video to post on here of Mazzie droppin it like 15 times NO JOKE str8 to the floor and back up and just being the fuhreak that she is, it was sooo much FUN!! I will never forget that memorable night, I'm sure all the miko's won't forget her moves either hahahahaha!!!

Another thing that happened was my potluck with my other BF Ane! We decided we would hava a lil get together and so we met up at her house and I made something very delicious called Mexican Chicken Casserole: It's soo easy really even for me!! lol.

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes
1 whole chicken, cooked, boned, and chopped or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken
Unsalted butter, for greasing pan
1 (11 1/2-ounce) package flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by-9-inch pan with the cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the 3 kinds of soup and the tomatoes. Stir in the chicken.
Layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture in the pan, beginning and ending with tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes.

Ane made some homemade scrumptious Tacos (like the street taco stands) those kinda tacos, which were soo yummy! She also made dessert which was Brownies, and fruit salad!! mmm good! Ane is such an awesome listener, she is so patient, kind and I love her desire to serve her family! It was nice catchin up with her & her family.

AND last but not least!...MY ZUMBA INSTRUCTOR is PREGO!!! yay she had said they were ready to have a family, so I'm so happy for her...but nervous that she may be leaving us! It's okay tho I'm more happy for her being prego. I believe it's thee best blessing ever to be a MOM :) And that's about all in my life so far that I can think of. Great times so far for sure!

FHE

mmm even daddy likes it!
YUMMY

Are they done yet mom??

their creations!

Last week we had family home evening and I forgot to write about it. We had our lesson on OBEYING and I read them the story about the 2,000 strippling warriors and how they listened to their fathers who had made a covenant to not kill anyone...so they sent their sons. Because these 2,000 young men listened and had faith in Heavenly Father, not one of them died.

Ariana and Jay really enjoyed that lesson. And so afterwards we made caramel apples and they had so much fun doing that. I love FHE and ever since conference we have made it very imp to not miss it.

Yesterday we had FHE with Betsy & Teki Lao along with Kime & Pua and my bro Toa & his wife Klarah. It was really fun and I taught the lesson and it was on Reverence. I brought some pics of folded arms, legs, mouth, ears, and I asked the kids to explain how our arms are suppose to be during church, how our mouths are suppose to be closed and how we are suppose to be listening with our ears. I also had a lil mouse named George. A story went along with George about how if he would ride in your pocket to church what would he say. Would he say you were reverent, or moving around so much he couldn't believe it. It was a cute lil story. Anyways everyone had brought a dish cause it was potluck and the food was mmgood!! Betsy it such a chef!! We had some yummy food, and great desserts!! Gotta love FHE!! :)

LooKin UP!!

So as you all know I have been working out with my "LPC" (liberty park crew) walking around Liberty Park Wed & Fri. I've also been hitting Golds Gym with my mom the rest of the week besides Sunday of course. And I have lost a total of 6lbs so far! I'm so happy about it :) I don't know how many inches...but I'm sure I'll continue to keep dropping if I stay at it. Slowly but surely is my motto!!

Last night I went with Betsy, Lacey, and Bets cousin to meet up with a great blogging friend of mine Silia...We caught the 8 o'clock session at the WVC rec ZUMBA class...let me tell you, it was really a fun time! I had so much fun, and I loved it. I'm more of a "take classes" type of person anyway...cause I have so much fun doing the moves, I forget I'm burning calories...So thank you Silia for inviting me, I can't wait to see ya on Sat Morning!! :)

While in this process of working out, I struggle with what to eat, what to eat?...Constantly reading labels..and I thought, you know what, I'm just gonna go with my instincts and eat what I think is good, (and not junk) but watch my portions. I'm excited to see my results...and my family is as well. My kids are my cheerleaders and Pulu of course is such a great supporter (tryna be my trainer) annoying at times haha...but I'm glad he helps me out! I feel good everytime I come back from the gym or from walking around the park. It's always nice to meet new people too. And I want to thank all the new people I have met, because they all have the same goal as me, and that is to live a happier, healthier life! I'm glad I am able to share this goal with you friends...it makes working out so much more fun! Thanks for all the advice, and support, and friendship! here's to things lookin up!!! WOO HOO

RECOVERY....

Since babys birth, it's time for me to recover. Well recovery is going okay. But when I was in the hospital my back hurt soo bad!! I had the epidural and I thought I would be fine, cause I had the epidural with Jay too and my back didn't even hurt, but this time around!!!>....OUCH for 2 days it hurt. I'm good now. But who can remember the days with the ice packs, squirt bottle, and pads!! Yeah not too fun when I have to go to the bathroom for 20 mins!!! lmbo Today it's been 5 days and I feel really good. I still have ligament pains here and there when I get up out of bed. Selini is doing good, she does have her days and nights mixed up so that sucks! But I am gonna try and get that resolved. Yesterday I gave her a sponge bath and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She didn't like it, but she smells really good!! hahaha Oh yeah my breasts are soo engorged!! Yes and it is not a comfy feeling. Since I don't breastfeed (and that's another story on why) my milk has come in and I look like Pamela Anderson X10!! lol...sleeping isn't very comfy!! All in all tho, I am walking, cleaning, and really enjoying my lil bundle of joy. My kids are a real huge help to me! Especially Ariana. She loves to feed her sister, hold her, get ne thing I ask her to get. Diaper changing isn't there for them yet, but I'll get em to do it one of these days!! lol...Pulu is so good. He works in the mornings and he'll still get up and make her a bottle and then I'll wake up and tell him to give her to me and to go back to sleep. He's such a BIG BIG help for me. I'm so glad he never complains about feeding, changing, or cleaning so that I can rest. We also have been getting food sent over from Relief Society and the meals are delicious! I'm so grateful for them, they are truly life savers. Also my neighbors, which is my bro Bubs and his wife Klarah have been so good to us. Klarah comes over everyday just to hold Selini for a lil while. It's so cute. They are the greatest neighbors ever! My in laws are so special too because they come here right after they get off work and pick up my kids and take em somewhere so I can sleep. All these blessings of recovery are things I will always remember. Thank you all for making my recovery a fast and easy one. I appreciate all that I have, and the wonderful people in our lives!!