"So How was Hawaii??"

Did I mention on this blog that I went back home to Hawaii yet? 

I go back every year around Christmas to visit my family and old friends from high school who still live on the island.  I always have a great time catching up with people and reminiscing about the ‘good ole days’ when we were young and stupid, er….not as mature as we are now. 

But whenever I tell people here (“on the mainland”) that I’m going back home to Hawaii, they bring it up ad nauseum. 

“So, are you excited to go back to Hawaii??” 
“When are you going to Hawaii??” 
“Are you counting the days?” 

And here’s the thing about being asked the same question over and over again; after a while, you start to lose your enthusiasm for the topic.  In a way, it’s kind of like being bombarded with the same piece of news over and over again….! 

Until, eventually, I got sick of people asking.  And it’s the same thing when I get back…..! 

“So how was Hawaii?” 
“Did you go surfing??” 

“You look so tan!” 

“Was it fun?” 
“Did you have fun?”

And usually that’s when they look at me expectantly, waiting for me to give them their vicarious thrill-fix.  (My stories usually disappoint them)   

Don’t get me wrong – going back home is *always* great.  Christmas is a time for family and I appreciate being able to come home a lot.  But, to me, Hawaii isn’t some exotic place where I can be adventurous and try new things; it’s not that kind of vacation.  I go back to visit family and reconnect with friends.  In fact, when I go home, that’s pretty much *all* I want to do. 

That and eat the “ono food”….it was probably the one thing I didn’t get sick of talking about! 

I even made a list of all the food I wanted to eat as soon as I got back, entitled “THING TO EAT IN HAWAII:    

-          Shave Ice

-          Mochiko chicken

-          Curry house curry

-          Zippy’s Chili

-          Ahi Poke

-          Jello cream pie

I’m glad to say I finished the list. 

*NOM* *NOM* *NOM* 

Resolutions 2011

As is my tradition during Januarys (Januaries?), I try to come up with New Years Resolutions to follow through on in hopes that I grow and become a better, more evolved human being.

It doesn’t always work, but the important thing is that **I TRY.**

So, after spending (literally) a few minutes thinking about how I want to improve myself this year, I came up with the following resolutions:

Say “No” more often: You ever feel like you try to do too much? I feel like that a lot these days….and the majority of it has to do with my inability to say “no” to people; different friends will invite me to hang out with them at the same time and I find myself saying “yes” to them regardless of the scheduling conflict. It’s what causes me to leave early and arrive late.

Make more plans: This is the other effort I’m making to manage my free time better. By organizing my own get-togethers, I can invite whoever I want

Take a summer vacation (for real this time): I broke this resolution last year, but I intend to keep it in 2011. Not sure where I’m going yet, but……….hoping to see my friend, Amos, in Europe!

Take the GRE: Not sure if I ever mentioned this before (too lazy to look back in my Blog archives right now), but I made a plan to go back to school before I hit 30. It’s a slow process as Grad School isn’t cheap and I’ve only started saving since last year (2010). The cost of tuition alone is very discouraging. But they say to take things one step at a time, so that’s what I’m going to do starting at the beginning. And that first step? Take the GRE (and get a good score).

So there you have it, folks – my New Year’s resolutions for 2011. It’s not the traditional kind that most people do, but I think keeping them specific is what helps you achieve them.

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS??

In the year, 2010...!

Hey Blogspot – long time no post!
(Sorry about that, btw)

So I think I kept about a third of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010: 2 out of 5 isn’t great, but it’s better than nothing, but it’s better than nothing….!

- cut back on the sugar.
- keep this blogspot account for the whole year. 

And while I didn’t really keep track on exactly how much less sugar I consumed last year, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed I was able to blog as much as I did in 2010. And while I tend to think that 2010 was an overall crummy year in my life – see posts from last year – I’m pretty proud of some of the posts I wrote.

….particularly the one about Hipster-hate & my theory on why people hate L.A. (Although the one entitled “Speaking of movies…!" got the most comments by far ~ mostly SPAM, but still….!)

I’m also pretty proud of a lot of the things I actually set out to do that I got accomplished: my volunteering, competing in dance competitions, my promotion, etc. etc.

So maybe it *wasn’t* such a crummy year….!

Anyway – as I said in my first post of 2010 – I wanted to keep this blog for a year to see how I liked it….and I do (like it). And especially now that my new job takes up a lot more of my time, I probably won’t be able to commit to a blog like I should if I went back to Xanga, so I think I’m going to stick with Blogspot.

Also – it’s kind of a pain (for me and all of you) to just up-and-move blogs again……!

Happy 2011, everyone!
May it be the best year we’ve had yet!