Sincere Gratitude on Memorial Day

My girls and I were having dinner when my oldest Ju Ju asked me, 'What's Memorial Day?" - So I explained it's the day we pay our respects and show gratitude towards all the men and women who dedicated their lives to this country. Well, it's kind of hard to understand the girl who is only 6.

She asked, "What does it mean to dedicate their lives?" I tried to use simple words and did all I can to explain to her, that many wars have been fought in the past and still today, and that many men and women go to far away to fight for this country and often times, they die to protect us from the bad guys. Her next question was of course, "Why do they have to fight?" - My honest answer was, "I don't know, but if they don't go, who would go to fight it? Would you want to go?"

Ju Ju: "I don't want to go to war, it's scary..."
Maki: "That's right, Ju Ju. War is scary. That's why all the service men and women are there to fight for you, and Mommy, so we don't have to go. And sometimes, they get hurt or they lose their life."
Ju Ju: "Oh.... That's really sad, Mommy...."
Maki: "I know.. So Memorial Day means to be thankful for the people who died for this country and pray for other people to come home safely..."
Ju Ju: "Okay, I'll pray for them too..."


Whether we believe in fighting the wars, I will never stop praying for those who're fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for their safe return. And I feel tremendous saddness for those who lost their lives. Many of them are so young.. People can say whatever they want, but those guys are there to fight thousands and thousands miles away from their family and friends, and the country they love, because nobody else will.

So I can at least be thankful and pray for them to be safe and come home safely....

On a different note, Dennis Hopper past away Saturday. He was one of my dad's favorite actors - and we'll miss seeing him in the big screen... Rest in Peace, Dennis, you're one hard-core and

charismatic actor....

Have a great Memoria Day my darlings.....

xoxo

Finally, Finally!!!!!! {One Step Closer to My Sweet Home}

I got a great news today that the insurance adjuster finally approved the estimates provided by us, and that they will start the restoration process after the Memorial weekend!!!! Hooooray!!!

Do you know how long I've been staying at my mother-in-law's house - over a month! Oh boy....

I've been doing the window shopping for our living/dining room since most of our furnitures were damaged since the day 1 we got displaced. Now, everything will be covered by insurance and I can't wait to have everything back the way it used to be....

One of the things that I'm sad about is that I lost many things that I call my own; even just a pillow or pillows that you held tight watching TV...

The sectional couch above is simlar to the one I had in my living room. Now, I'm not buying that couch from Pottery Barn, however, I have been eyeballing some pillows from the store - and they are sooo pretty. And they look even prettier when you see them at the store...

You know I love beach and everything that reminds of it. So, I'll be a happy girl if I could get these.....

This is pretty with white pillows..

The red looks sooo charming..

White goes with everything...

Believe it or not, these pillows are my favorite - perfect for summer..

So, what do you think, do you like the design???

Oh My Blue Sea.... "Top Kill"

I don't mean to talk about the same issue over and over again..

But as of now, the Gulf of Mexico is on the edge of total destruction - if BP can't stop this mess, I know that the eco-life in the ocean of the Gulf is over...

Today is the day that BP will attempt to stop the gushing oil leak with "top kill" - one of the final options left to seal the pipe.

I used to think that off shore drilling could be a great alternative to foreign oil.

But now, more than ever, I support the other sources of energy; wind, water and solar to sustain our lives.

I realize "oil" is the major source of conflicts - wars have been fought because of it, and the politics have been played out based on it.

It's ugly business...

I'm taking our daughters to Lido beach today after Ju Ju finish with her school with her classmate and her mommy.

I want to believe that their summer is filled with ton of play time and laughter at the beach, but I just don't know...

I pray to god that BP will be successful with "top kill' - it has to end today...

He Is Crazy ~ Jump from the Heavens ~

Have you ever wondered what is it like to free fall from the edge of space? I know I will never find out. But Felix Baumgartner will be the first man ever to break the speed of sound - he'll attempt to free fall from 120,000 miles above! Can you believe it? It's like jumping from the edge of space. He's crazy!!! This is all for Red Bull Stratos. They will bring him all the way up to the edge of sky with a special balloon and he'll just jump off from it.

If he's sucessful of this challenge, it will open a new door to the space program, how to save astronauts from any type of explosions/accidents.

And Felix will do it for his own good as well as for the others.

I've lived my life always wanting to do something extreme because I don't want to have regrets.

But I know there is no way I can possiblly do things that he's done in his life.

He's truly an amazing individual - a risk taker, but in a fabulous way.

I just hope that he'll land on Earth safely and accomplish something no one has achieved.

Felix with Joe Kittenger who saw the world from 20 miles above. Felix is trying to break his record..

His helmet which will be used for the Red Bull Stratos.


That's him on top of Statue of Christ The Redeemer.

For all the real time information, go to Red Bull Stratos. And make sure to watch this video clip. It will take your breath away....

Have a fabulous Monday, darlings!!!

Give or Not Give...

I was driving to Target to get my kitties' food with my daughters when I spotted a homeless man standing at the corner of exit way from the shopping center. He was clearly in need of help and almost painful to watch.

I could hear myself talking, "Oh no... what should I do, what should I do..." and before I knew, I turned around and back to where I came from. My Ju Ju soon realized that I changed my route and quickly asked, "Mama, where are you going?" - I told her not to worry and drove close to the man and switched to the left lane, so I could give him a few bucks when I drove next to him. "Mommy, what's that guy doing standing there?," Ju Ju asked again. "I think he needs help.." I answered...

When I drove close to him, I saw him holding a sign that read, {Need Work, War Vet, God Bless..} - my heart sunk. I quickly reached to my wallet and grabbed $3, drove right next to him and stopped. As I opened my window, he looked at me, so I said, "Excuse me, here, would you take this and get somethng to drink..." and handed the money. He walked towards me, and said, "Oh, you don't have to do that...." I said again, "No, take it.." - He thanked me and I sped off. "Mommy, what's wrong with that man, he looked kind of scary...," I heard Ju Ju saying in the back.... His face, arms and legs looked all burned from standing outside for so long - or from drinking, I just don't know.

There is a fine line between helping the need and helping the addicts/alcoholic getting their fix. I often see this young homeless couple in their early 20's standing in the middle of main road in my town, waiting for some kind drivers to give them money: clearly drug addicts who have no intention to make their lives better - I have no sympathy. They can starve themselves if only thing they want to do is to shoot up and be stupid.

But when it comes to the older people, I just don't know what to do. Many people are having really tough time these days. I've read many articles on newspaper about how quickly the Afghan and Iraq war vets are becomng homeless due to their injuries and not being able to work or their emotional scars have caused them not being able to hold jobs. Or people are losing their jobs and takeing forever to find a new job. I know too well how hard it is to find a good job because my husband had had tough time with it... Or there are many people who have jobs, but are homeless in Hawaii due to the increase in living expense and housing which is a major issue right now. So you never know how and why people become homeless and to bring your life to the lowest point you could ever imagine. It's tragic. It's really sad...

I told my daughters about the man that he needed a help because he's a homeless. "What is homeless?" - of course that was Ju Ju's next question, so I had to explain what homeless means. I think it's hard for them to understand because they are only small. Some people are very harsh about the way they look at homelessness in our town. I agree with some extent because many of them can help themselves if they really want to make their lives better. Some people however, I believe, don't even know how to work or start their lives again because they lose hope.... I feel really sad at times....

One of my favorite movies is called "The Fisher King" - Have you seen it before? It's about a DJ who has caused a horrible murders befriends with an ex-professor who became a homeless man. The professor loses hope after losing his beloved wife - lose everything...

I changed the way I look at homeless people after I saw this movie. Sometimes, you just don't know the history behind it...

What would you do if you see a homeless man/woman on the street?

Cam & Tom ~ Knight & Day ~

One of my favorite Hollywood actresses is Cameron Diaz.

I adore her sense of style. I find myself copying her all the time. LOL.

She is pretty and cute, and she can be goofy all at the same time.

I mean, don't you love the way she dress?

And that cute wave bye-bye...


Now, to my Tom..
I've talked about him on my blog over and over like a broken record.
I'm sure you're tired of hearing me talking about him.
But, he's my idol.
I can't deny my forever admiration for him.


I would love to meet him before I die....



This is why, I'm so excited to see Cameron and Tom's new film:
"Knight & Day"
They worked together years ago in the film "Vanila Sky".
Have you seen the trailer?
I just love when Tom plays someone who is a bit comical.




This is the stunt between Tom and Cameron. It's pretty cute...

Don't you think this movie looks exciting? I can't wait to see it!!!

One Fine Day ~Love Letter from Lido Beach~

Hello my dear friends..

This is one of our favorite beaches in FL - Lido Beach.

JT took these photos of us a few weeks ago right after the sunset.

We're so fortunate to have such lovely beach so close to our house because wecan't live without it.

Beach has been a huge part of my life since I was a little girl.

Growing up in Hawaii only spoiled me in that sense.

I love everything about beach or islands - the flower, the beautiful sand, the breeze and tanned skin, and flip flops...

Just listening to the waves and looking at the horizon always makes me feel happy and tremendously humble about life.

Even yesterday, I took the girls to the beach and they were in the water until 8:30pm!

It was dark, but they were swiming and catching waves like mermaids.

It's just a beautiful moment to experience...

I heard news today that BP successfully inserted a tube into the leaking pipe.

I really hope and pray that this will ease the flow of the oil and they can work efficiently to stop the further damage to our beautiful ocean.

It breaks my heart just looking at those images of the Gulf.

This is our another lesson to learn - to respect our beautiful nature, our planet...

Ju Ju is cute...

Yeah that's right, Soap, strike the pose!

"Cheeeeese!"



So my darlings, how was your weekend???

Have a great Monday!!!
xoxo

Stop It, Stop It Now!

This is beyond ridiculous. I have no words to describe how angry and frustrated, and sad I am.

I live in West Coast of Florida and this is no joke.

Every day, thousands and thousands of gallons of oil keeps spillng out.

I take my girls to the beach almost every weekend. The beautiful Lido Beach we always go to hasn't seen the effect of the craziness, but what if BP can't come up with the solution to contain the oil? Then what?

What am I going to tell my children, if the oil reaches the land here, they can no longer play at the beach? Or what if we start to seeing the dead fish washed ashore or oil covered Pelican or birds reach the beach? It's really scary and upsetting.

Have you seen the video, how scary it looks?

I feel like our ocean life in the Gulf is over.

And I feel helpless....

{Some images are from AP}

A Dinner Date w/ Daddy

It's been a week since my husband left again for work. The day before we had the water damage, JT took us to our favorite Italian restaurant in town called Epicure. I've posted a video clip a few months ago when I took the girls to dinner at the same place.

We've been going to the restaurant since Julia was six months old. JT's grandma took us there when we're visiting FL and we've become a huge fan since.

We love their salad or pasta or pizza.
They use such fresh ingredients that you smile with every bite.

Look at Soapy. The mouth opened wide expression - That's a second one. I think she's just a camara shy sometimes or maybe she is truly a comic. She is so precious.. Julia is such a daddy's girl. Always she says, "Daddy, Daddy..."

We had such a lovely evening - it was during sunset, and the breeze from the beach was so pretty.

JT took this pic from his table - I must say it's one of my favorite pics of us.

Looking at Daddy and my husband, JT's girls are all smiley:)

We miss him so.....

Midnight Blues...

My daughters and I have been displaced from our own home for over two weeks now. We are lucky, JT's mom's been taking us in and taking care of us, but you know it's not easy being at in-law's house for a long period of time.

I get along with my MIL well and quite frankly, we're very close. But if you have someone over at your house for a long time, you want your space back. And now I'm the one who's invading her space, I feel like I'm intruding and taking her freedom away from her and her husband.

She and her husband don't say anything, but only being kind to us. They saw it with their own eyes the destruction of our condo, so they only want to help us. But I want this restoration start already. Tired of going back and forth with the insurance people, getting the estimates and telling us that they'll get back to us. We've been doing this non-sense since the day one of the water damage.

When you're not in your own home, you can't walk around naked (not that I always do this, but sometimes. haha.) or play music loud or do all the things that I accustom to do without having people around me 24/7. It's exhausting. I'm sure my in-laws feel the same at times. Sorry mom...

Now, if I had a magic wand, I would rewind to the day that we encountered the accident and would tell the kid not to use the tool by the fire extinguisher.

or

I would restore my condo in a second and back to where everything was.

I miss my home. I really do. And when the night falls, I feel so anxious when can I go home again??? The sadness or the nervousness surround me and I get scared sometimes...

I'm simply exhausted....

Mother's Love ~Happy Mother's Day~

Mother's love is amazing...

She teaches you how to put on makeup, or comb your hair, or hold your hands when you're sad, or she holds you close when you had your heat broken for the first time..

She is ALWAYS there for you....

Be nice to her, not just today, but every day.

I hope all of you have a beautiful Mother's Day with your kids, and the family and your mother...

{All the images are from Photobucket & We heart it}

Have A Lovely Weekend!!!!

Hello my darlings, what are you up to this Mother's Day weekend?

Did you buy niceties for your Mom yet?

My Mama lives far, far away from where I am, and actually I haven't bought anything for her (Thanks to the water damage) - however, I'm making her an album of her granddaughters...

I miss her terribly and more I spend a day without seeing her each day, my love for her grows even more...

I'm so blessed to have this little Munchckin - It's funny the hibiscus is almost bigger than her face...

And this little princess of mine... She just takes my breath away...

I'm such a lucky mom to have them in my life!!!!

Have a sweet weekend with your mom and the people you love...

xoxo