Spa-ring, spa-ring!

Wow, it's been a long time since I have written anything... I go through periods where I want to do things like make my own magnets or scrapbook or write on my blog about what's going on in our lives, but those times are sometimes (read: often) few and far between. However, you can't share much in 160 characters nor should you.
We are very excited about it being spring here in Kansas. It's so nice that the world is green again. I love flowers and seeing trees all puffy with blooms. Joe is a total snow bunny which is weird since he is from cali/arizona, but I hate the snow since I hate being wet and cold, so I am happy to say, "GOODBYE, SNOW!"
Joe and I are moving about 30 minutes from where we live now in order to go back to school. We can't wait to have a new start... although our old one wasn't that long ago. We will definitely miss our friends and family, but the good news is that we won't be too far so don't forget about us!

Exciting News

Joe has a new brand new niece (His first one!) who was born this morning at 9:25 to Charlie and Amy Tulikihakau. She was 9lbs. 3 oz. Sounds like quite a healthy baby! It is traditional in Tongan culture for the sister of the first born baby in the family of the baby's father to name the baby (Sounds complicated, but it's not really!). Joe and Charlie's sister, Sekola, named the little one Lineti Mele Feinga Tulikihakau. She was named for their mother who passed away several years ago. Sekola was a stinker and wouldn't tell anyone what name she chose for the baby until little Lineti was here, but she chose a beautiful name. Here is a picture Joe sent me of him holding Lineti! I wish I could have been there, and I can't wait to meet her soon!

The picture isn't great quality -- it was taken with a cell phone -- but it is precious none the less! So tiny and perfect!
Meanwhile, here in Kansas we are in the middle of our THIRD snow storm in just two weeks. We don't usually get much snow, so this is crazy! The high on Friday is supposed to be -2! Yuck! Joe is somehow jealous. Who would think an island boy would be a snow bunny! He loved every minute of the snow when he lived in Provo, Utah where it snows all the time! I can't say that I'm a fan, myself. Too bad he isn't here to shovel it! :-) The back deck had snow on it that was about knee deep and we are supposed to be getting up to five inches more. It started snowing around noon and has been snowing steadily since. I got a call saying they were closing early at work today and that I wasn't needed today, so I got the day off. I was told to watch the news tonight to watch to see if I have work tomorrow. My sister has a snow day tomorrow, which  would have been her first day back from Christmas break. Winter is definitely in full effect in Kansas City! Oy! I help it all melts soon!

xoxo
Bren

Having a Good Attitude

I heard something great in church today I wanted to share. In Relief Society, a sister was giving the lesson on being positive and told this story:

There was a woman who had cancer and was losing her hair due to chemotherapy. She woke up one day and looked in the mirror and found that she has three hairs left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to braid my hair today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror. That day she had two hairs left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to part my hair in the middle today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror and only had one hair left. She smiled and said, "I'm going to wear my hair in a ponytail today!" She did and had a great day. The next day, she woke up and looked in the mirror and had no hair left. She smiled and said, "I don't have to do my hair today!"

I will have to be honest and say that if I had three hairs left, I would not be smiling nor would I braid my three hairs. I think I would have shaved it all off a long time ago and gotten a wig. (This shows my vanity: My wanting to  look like I have hair being strongly outweighed by how creepy I think wigs feel. And are in general. Same thing with fur. I don't know - It's a sensory thing.) I hope this story made you laugh. It was a great reminder to me to be positive even when things get tough. I hope you are all staying warm! And if you have warm weather, I am JEALOUS! It's FREEZING here in Kansas and won't stop snowing! It's beautiful though! (That's me being positive!)

xoxo
Bren