sUrfChik4JeSuS's Xanga

exhausted and yet...

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:27:28 GMT

Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide
I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings

just heard this Third Day song while sitting on the kitchen floor, tears in my eyes, too tired to finish the sandwich my sister brought and reluctant to start another batch of mochi --- every muscle aches & i feel like just sitting there, leaning against the refrigerator, feeling the coolness of the ground. weak and spent.... and yet my ears perk up at the strains of the music. years ago, lisa taught the hula to this song & i LOVE her choreography - my spirit feels lifted and soon i'm dancing--- fatigue falling to the ground. yes, Lord, my strength is found in the shadow of your wings. the past two months, you've carried me and helped me keep a crazy work schedule without overexerting myself. it's so neat to see how God's orchestrated a bunch of things during this time, like clearing my schedule so i could attend the seniors christmas luncheon to share several songs, and little things like being in the area to give ryan & jen a lift when their vehicle was stuck at manoa marketplace & they needed to pick up their children from sunday school... looking back on the events of this year, it's been quite a ride. thankful that i haven't been alone. here's to an awesome 2009 =)

christmas wishes

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:06:52 GMT

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!! =) my energy sputtered by christmas day and i barely made my deadlines (when you're extremely sleep deprived, no amount of caffeine is gonna help). promptly crashed as soon as the last customer walked away with their party platter. emerged around lunchtime today (the 26th) and am tidying up the mochi house, as it looks like a tornado went through it... then gearing up for new year's. never ends, i tell ya... hoping 2009 will not be as crazy. we'll see...

this weekend...

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:16:43 GMT

at moanalua gardens missionary church
PASTOR ARIGA FROM JAPAN
November 22 (sat., 5pm) & 23 (sun., 8:30 & 10:30am), moanalua middle school cafeteria

Considered the "Billy Graham" of Japan, Pastor Ariga will be coming to Hawaii to share his testimony and a message. Invite your family and friends out to our 3 weekend services to hear him speak. =)

friday 5

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:04:55 GMT

visit www.friday5.org put up your responses & link it =)

friday 5 for November 21: How?

How’s your health?
* okay - SO happy my doctor shanghai-ed me into getting a flu shot. seems to be working so far. need to watch my blood pressure & cholesterol - very high risk for stroke, unfortunately...

How was your day?
*good =) awesome prayer meeting downtown with the HisBiz peeps & lunch at maria bonita's. got to see penny - and scored some fritz's baked goods =) their brotchen makes awesome sandwiches.

How’s the weather?
*nice & cool. dry so far. gotta love living in hawaii! =)

How do you expect to get anywhere in life with an attitude like that?
* my attitude is much improved from before (used to stink big-time) - yay Jesus! but yah, by worldly standards, i'm probably not getting anywhere... oh well...

How many people made you smile today?
* nobody _makes_ me smile =)

Soiree a la Mode friday evening 11/14

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:53:43 GMT

i'll be in the kitchen working, but my sister will be helping with the bead gallery's table. sounds like an awesome event:

Round up the girls for a girls' night out. Or get a jumpstart on your Christmas shopping. Whatever you do, don't miss Soiree a la Mode, a one-of-a-kind shopping event on Friday, November 14th, from 4:00 to 8:00pm, conveniently located on the second floor of the Honolulu Design Center. Plenty of free parking and no admission charge.
For one night only, the best of the boutique world in the islands --its finest stores, artists, and designers--will be assembled under one roof for your shopping pleasure. Discover stylish fashion wear and novelty tees for women, children, and moms-to-be; accessories; face, spa, and body products; hard-to-find, quality toys; novelty gift items; handcrafted designer jewelry, and other great finds for yourself and everyone on your holiday gift list. Complete the night with drinks and dinner at the neighboring Stage Restaurant and Amuse Wine Bar.
A portion of the night's proceeds will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. For a small donation, have your purchases gift-wrapped for a hassle- and stress-free holiday season.

Leeward's Family Fun Fair 11/15/08

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:08:11 GMT

Happy Hearts Mochi will be at the Leeward Community College Family Fun Fair this saturday. If you know you'll be there and want to make sure we save some mochi for you, we are taking pre-orders. See our website: www.happyheartsmochi.com for more information. Hope to see you there! =)

friday 5

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:13:57 GMT

November 7, 2008
Friday 5 for Nov. 7: Middles

What usually marks the middle of your day? A nap! =)
From whom (or to whom) was your most recent middle-of-the-night phone call? he knows who he is...to say goodnight =) - calls that late are not infrequent, as i'm usually up... vampire hours y'know...
On what social, political, economic, or moral issue are you in the middle of the road? mostly everything - like looking at all sides objectively, and am not usually very opinionated
How likely are you to give someone your middle finger? very unlikely. growing up in kalihi probably has something to do with it. just LOOK at somebody wrong & you can get in trouble. give the middle finger, and you're just asking to get yourself killed (or your tires shot at, should you be driving at the time)...
When were you last caught in the middle of a disagreement that really had nothing to do with you? don't remember. try to avoid getting involved --- if it has nothing to do with me, it's really none of my business...

gourmet tofu

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:48:03 GMT

I've seen these recently, but never thought to buy it, especially since it's so expensive (reg. price at nijiya $6.99!). Masahiro otokomae tofu is very soft and silky - reminds me of the yummy tofu i had in okinawa. I got one since the expiration date was today, and it was marked down to $3.49. I put it in a mizuna salad with goma dressing & added cashew nuts for crunch. It was sooooo good! =) the container was small, but it is quite a portion. i was planning on eating other stuff for dinner in addition to the salad, but could barely finish it!
by the way, got the cashews from costco. they were sampling it & it was so fresh and light (dry-roasted with just enough sea salt for flavor), i had to grab a bag!

not your normal sunday

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:32:54 GMT

this weekend has been unbelievably busy mochi-wise. it's a good thing though, since it really has been a slow summer and with the holidays fast approaching, the increased cash flow is much needed to get the containers and supplies i need to get through the season... i had planned on dropping some food off at the bead gallery for my sister's september bead tea party and then going to mgmc for 2nd service. i ended up sleeping through both my alarms and was awoken by my sister, who had come to pick up some of her stuff. by the time i got through with my sister's food (mochi and a few other baked goods --- jamie & michelle took care of the bulk of the refreshments, since i knew beforehand i'd probably be unable to much, with the weekend schedule being so busy), it was after 11am. though i'd usually go to mgmc late rather than not go at all, i felt like staying in town and chose not to stress about about missing service. it was too late to catch honolulu christian's service up the street too, so i opted to worship in my living room and ended up listening to an on-line sermon, which spoke to where i'm at ---i think it ended up being a wise choice.
www.northlandchurch.net . the sermon i listened to was "building a generous life: being great with finances (Pastor Joel Hunter)". while i do value being part of a home church and attending regularly, there are some days when it's just not the most feasible option (especially since obtaining a copy of the sermon i missed is readily available). after pulling 2 near-all-nighters and going into this weekend with a daily average of 3hours of sleep, the plan to run across town and then back to get more stuff done before this evening's sanshin practice and dinner (and taking care of the bg stuff in between) was just not happening. the martha and mary story in the bible is one that i'm brought back to time and again (i'm a slow learner). i tend to get caught up in being busy. i love those times when i get to drop everything and just sit at His feet ---moments made more precious because they are few and far between... choosing to be not so insanely busy and using some of that time to hang out with Jesus is something that i've been working on for the past few years and i think i'm finally getting it... =)

westridge shopping center

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:57:05 GMT

heeey, anyone tried milano freezer yet??? i saw this on kgmb's website, lei chic section:

Milano Freezer, Aiea
Try the yuzu or mango yogurt flavors, or if you're really indulging, have one of the super-creamy gelatos.
One street over from Pearlridge Mall, in the Westridge Shopping Center.
98-150 Kaonohi Street, Aiea, 808.488.7976
www.milanofreezer.com

i was just at westridge the other day for a family party --- chinese dinner that nearly killed me. the roast chicken came with a saucer of msg (!) & a smidge of other seasonings --- and i KNOW that they were liberal with the salt/msg in their other food too. my blood pressure shot up to 150/108. hello! of course it didn't help that i forgot to take my meds that morning... but i woke up the next day all puffy due to major water retention. first time i such an extreme reaction to chinese food - and we eat it fairly often.

didn't notice milano freezer... hmmm... will check it out on my next trip to aiea...

*9/11/2008 my sister and i were in aiea looking at restaurant supplies and we stopped by milano freezer before heading back into town. it's a cute place - the guy at the counter was really nice and had us sample a bunch of stuff. there's a display case with approximately 16 flavors of gelato and a variety of toppings including the mochi bits you can find at yogurtland. the gelato seems comparable to mondo gelato (waikiki) and is a softer consistency than Maurice's La Gelateria gelato that i'm fond of. the flavor of the lychee gelato was really mild (unlike tropilicious lychee sorbet). my sister got a small cup of agrum (orangey citrus fortified with vitamins) & watermelon gelato topped with a mound of mini chocolate chips. the citrus was a nice contrast to the sweet watermelon. a couple came in after us while we were eating & i could've sworn i heard them order watermelon gelato with li hing pineapple. THAT sounds good---i don't remember seeing anything remotely li hing mui-ish in the case... i had the lime frozen yogurt with mochi bits, as they were temporarily out of yuzu. There are only 4 frozen yogurt flavors at any given time. There was banana, lime, original, and pomegranate today. I love pomegranate, but that tasted a little weird. The original was good - tart with a hint of sweetness. The lime was like yogurtland's plain tart with a little lime flavoring. A good alternative to yogurtland if you're on the west-side.