Fit Tea.

Look what I got in the mail today! I am actually excited to start this...

So, last week I was talking to Ashley and she asked me if I would try something with her. I told her it all depends on what it was...and if it wasn't harming anyone or myself...I would. Then she told that she wanted me to try this Fit Tea detox thingy with her to help her stay motivated and just so that she can have someone to do it with. 

I have to say that I have never really tried any kind of "loosing weight" program thingy...well, no, I take that back...long time ago when I was still in Jr. High...my mom wanted me to join Weight Watchers...which helped me loose weight, but I was very active in sports back then and I did have that eating problem (dark past that I don't really like to revisit if I don't have to)...but I think it was more because my mom wanted me to get in the habit of actually eating again...but that is a different story...but that was the only weight "loss" thingy that I've ever tried. Other than than, I would just do the whole exercise and try to eat more healthy dealio...but, my mom actually wanted me to go on a detox/juicing diet thingy with her. But I like food...and I like to eat...and I do have the biggest sweet tooth ever! But I also know that if I wanted to, I can be "more healthy"...but I would need a lot of motivation, moral support, and a very good reason. 

I do want to do the whole juicing/detox thingy just because I know that it's healthy and I do want to get in better shape before my brother gets married. I have been running and boxing more...and I am force myself to be more aware of what I eat. I still love my smoothies and I always tell myself to eat salad everyday. So I am more conscious of healthy eating and all. But juicing is SO expensive! I know that is just an excuse or whatever you want to call it...but it is what it is. I am a teacher...a preschool teacher and we get JUNK PAY...and I would go broke in a quick second if I had to buy fruits constantly to juice it. Coz if I could have it my way, I would eat all the fruit ever! I love fruit...apples are my favorite..I LOVE all kine berries...I can eat dragon fruit all day long, mangoes...oh my days, I love mangoes and I miss, SUPER miss white nectarine! That is one thing that I'm sad about living here in Hawai'i...the fruit here are so mad expensive! I kick myself now for taking for granted all the fruit that surrounded me when I was growing up in CA! We a kickass garden with fruit trees of all kind...and a vegetable garden with the best tomatoes ever! And cucumbers...oh mandope...I would LOVE to have a garden like that again! I remember always climbing and just reading up in the apple trees and peach trees in my backyard. And I could always just reach across and grab me some plum...oh my goodness plum! I LOVE plums! So yeah, I'm not against juicing, it's just...if money was not an issue, I would do it. But it is an issue and it is something that I would probably have to save for and not do for long amounts of time. 

So, when Ash asked me if I would do this detox thingy with her...I said, "why not?!" It's only a 28 or so day thing...and in the grand scheme of life...it's only a drop in the bucket...and so why not?! I think that we have decided that we will start on Sunday, if not sooner...but I have yet to tell Ash that I finally got it! :) At least we can start on the beginning of a new week...and we'll do it do together. 

I got the Super Fit Tea pack from here. And this pack came with everything that you see in that above picture. One thing that I looked at was that all the ingredients was natural and I am always drinking tea anyways...and so that is a good thing...I don't have to change that. I have to get used to taking the pills 30 minutes before breakfast and lunch though...I'm not the biggest fan on taking pills...and if I can help me I don't take pills for ANYTHING...but it can try it. 

The reviews that I have read said that the tea was a pleasant taste...and like I said, I love my tea! I have a pretty impressive collection of tea, but my #1 favorite tea is Irish Breakfast (with milk and sugar!) :) That and Peach Ginger tea are my go-to tea. (I still love my cup of black coffee in the morning though :)). 

I think the thing that sold me on this detox thingy is that it's basically tea...and I love tea.

The only thing that I could do with out is the stevia. (And we all know that I don't like CORN! *laughs* But it won't kill me to consume that!) I'm not the biggest fan of stevia...but in moderation, I guess it's okay. And...HONEY POWDER?! I have never heard of that before...but it's powdered honey, I guess. Can't go wrong with that...just it sounds weird. I love honey. :)

Well, I'm excited for this...we will see how it goes. I'll talk to Ashley and it will be pretty cool to document this journey of this Fit Tea Detox tea. Hopefully, it will be a good experience...can't hurt, can it?! :)

Relaxing day.

Last night I knocked out. I think that the lavender is finally working! I actually slept 4 hours straight...and I haven't had that kind of sleep in such a long time. And yes, I am crediting it to the lavender, because that is the only thing that I've changed since trying to change my sleeping habits...well, my non-sleeping habits.

I woke up at 4:am this morning and took a shower...and wrote in my journal, then went back to sleep and this time went to sleep for 2 hours before waking up at 8:pm. And guess what!?! I went to church! At the central church there was the convocation thingy...which I really have no idea really what that is...but I do know that it's like this Island's way of having a camp meeting or something.

My sister wanted my brother and Mandy and I to help her and Tracy with the children's program. And so we decided to help them out. My "job" was to keep DollGirl occupied and so I had a lot of fun with that...because we all know that I love that girl with ALL my heart. But before we went to the church we were going to stop by Starbucks to get mine and Mandy's coffee...but the line was way to long and so we made our way over to Peets Coffee and Tea...and I had no idea what to get, so I ended up getting the Matcha Chai with pumpkin Blended...and at first I was SUPER iffy about it...but when I tried it...it was super yummy!

Also, that place is super cute! I know that in Cali we have a Peets in American Canyon, and this place just opened up here in Kailua, and so I'm pretty happy that they have one here, because even though I'm not familiar with the place, I think that I can grow to like it...it looks like a good place to go study, so I wouldn't mind going there to just study homework and stuff...it's cozy and it has a lots of seats and right at my finger tips there is coffee AND tea! And literally it's like 5 minutes from my house...if that!! :)

Well, it was super hot today, and DollGirl just wanted to run all over the place! And I had worn some of my heels to church...and it was good to know that I can still run in heels because I needed to keep up with the little one! But I think that everyone in general had a lot of fun. My sister and Tracy did such a good job. I'm not sure if they were in charge of the whole thing, but they were the front deck people...and when Jem and Mandy came they helped them and then I saw that Kuya Neal and Kaleo were doing their own booth for the health message. So that was cool.

Afterwards we all went over to Wahoo's from lunch. We didn't want to stay at the church for potluck because there was A LOT of people and also my sister was not feeling well because the heat is getting to her. I am super excited because she is getting bigger and bigger and soon I'll be able to feel lil Jr. kick! My sister said that K.Neal has felt the baby kick already, and I can't wait until I can feel him kick too! I am so excited for this little one to come into the world...but I do know with this pregnancy my sister has not been feeling it. But she does everything for her babies...and DollGirl super loves her baby brother already! It's so heart warming to her her talk about her baby brother in her mommy's "tummy". *laughs* 

After lunch we made our way to my sister's house and DollGirl went to take her nap and when she went to take her nap, we all took our nap too! Gingerbear took her nap with me!

She looks tired in this picture...also she looks like she is smiling. I love how she loves to cuddle with me when I am sitting in the E-Z chair...or even if I'm on the ground or something. I am starting to love this dog...even though when I first met her, she wasn't my favorite because she was super aggressive...but now she is SO good with DollGirl and it is always good to see her. :)

All in all, it was a good day. I'm so glad that I was able to spend time with DollGirl. I love that girl...and also I got to see my parents. I miss them. I need to find time to hang out with them. Hopefully that time comes soon. I know that my sister really appreciates how they are here to help with DollGirl and stuff. But I do miss them when I don't see them. I miss all my family when I don't see them. 

Smiles.

Mondays. I don't even know what I have against Mondays. Well, I don't think that I really have anything against the poor day...I know that it's all in my mind...but I will say that no matter where I go, it seems that when Monday rolls around, the kids are just a little bit more rowdy than normal. Nothing that I can't handle...at least not yet. *laughs* But it was a very...how can I put it...it was a very ladidah day. *laughs* But I will say that it is always good to see my kids again after being away from them for even just two days.

That's the funny thing about kids, you don't even have to spend a lot of time with them...before they capture your heart and you just think about them...not all the time...but they are there in your mind. I miss my keikis...my 2 year olds. I miss them something awful and I wonder about them all the time. Goodbyes were always so hard for me...and with my lil ones it's even worst because part of me wants them to forget me because I hate hearing that they are still having a hard time that I'm not there, but I don't want them to forget me.

I try very hard not to visit all the time...I think since I've left, I've been back a few times...like 5 times. But in the times that I've gone there, I think only 2 times that I've actually gone up and let them see me. I don't want them to think that I'll be coming back, but I so want to see them and hold them in my arms again.

Do not get me wrong, the kids that I have right now have also enchanted me and I love them. It's funny because I have only been here for...going on my 4th week now...and it warms my heart that in the morning its my classroom that they all want to go to when they get dropped off. It's different here because they are allowed to choose which classroom they want to go to before we all go outside to play. For the most part, all us teachers are in our own classroom, just prepping for the day or whatever, and since I've started working here, I can always count on at least 95% of the kids to come into my room. And I love it. I love being with them...and just listening to them talk and their random stories and facts of life are so interesting to hear...and I just love them. They make me smile, and seriously, I can't even imagine my life not being around children. They are truly the joys of life.

Well, today I did stop by my former school because my friend there just needed a friend. She is going through something horrible at the moment and it really does kill me that I can't be there for her. I mean, physically anymore. Since we use to work together I would see her everyday...but now we don't see each other everyday. But I will say that I have talked to her EVERY day...and I feel for her. I admire her so much because she is such a strong person despite the "lemons" that life has thrown her. But even strong people have their breaking point...and although she is not to her breaking point, I can hear the stress and heartbreak in her voice, so I decided to stop by on my way home just to say hi. She had to go pick her boys straight after work, but I figured a hug can heal so much pain even if it's just in passing.

I'm pau work at 3:30pm and she finishes at 3:45pm, and it takes less than 10 minutes for me to get there...so it works out. I had told myself that I was not going to go up onto the campus because I don't want to give my keiki's false hope that I'm back, but they heard my car drive up...or at least someone was looking out of the window and saw my car, and even though I didn't go up, I could hear them yelling my name...so I did look at them and tell "my darling loves" hi. They blew me kisses and told me that they missed me and that they drew pictures for me. That makes me smile...usually if a child misses a parents, tutu, papa, sister, brother or what not...I tell them that they can draw them a picture and when they see them they can give them their present...so when they told me that they drew me pictures, it made me smile. They miss me...just like I miss them. So much.

Well, like I said it was really fast that I saw my friend because I didn't want her to be late and I hate things that I needed to do as well, and so it was really quick...but then as I was about to leave, I see this little sunshine detach her self from her mom, scream my name and came running towards me with arms wide open. I was standing down hill...and I can see that her momentum was making her go way too fast and I was at the parking lot...and I hate when children are running with no one holding their hand at the parking lot, so I ran up to her and grabbed her and swung her in a circle (something that I have always done with this child) and her arms encircled my neck and she said, "Aunty Chartee, you came back to me." My heart shattered. It was good seeing her again though. Her mom is an amazing person as well. Super sweet and very generous and just someone who I was very happy that I got to know. They asked if they could take a picture of me because the little girl had bought a picture frame and told her mom that she wanted a picture of me in it with her...and that made me smile. Mom was telling me that she was hoping that they would see me again...and I am so glad that I was able to see her again. After I put her down, the little sunshine asked her mom if she can give it to me. I was puzzled as to what she was talking about, and her mom explained to me that they were at Starbucks a few days ago and little Gracie wanted to buy me a gift card, so mom told her that they can buy me one and that she will hold it until they seem me again. Mom told me that the little girl would ask everyday, "will Aunty Chartee come back to me today?!" Oh my...there goes my heart again!

So, little Gracie Sunshine gave me what she had kept for "a long time" just to give it to me. 

I am so glad that God gave me the gift to be able to work with kids, because I can not even imagine a life without being around them as much as I am. Yes, there are days where I feel as if I just want to get away, but just one hug from a little one can make my hurting heart heal. Even though there is a big percentage that they will forget, I can only hope that they will not forget how I made them feel. That their teachers love them...that we do carry them in our hearts and that, at least for me, I will never be too busy to give them a hug.

Fun Snacks.

Day four of our Teacher Appreciation week brought me snacks! I did leave a bunch of them at school for me to eat slowly through out the weeks...but I did bring these home.

I have to admit that I am eating my gummy worms right now. *laughs* I will appreciate you FOREVER if you bring me gummies! *laughs* I love gummy candy!

Everyday (well, nearly everyday) my friends and I made fruit smoothies for our lunch break...and today when I opened the frozen strawberries that we had...I was in awe with the ice crystals that I saw surrounding the strawberries! :) So, I took a picture of it. I didn't want to disturb the prettiness of it all...but I did. I love how we make smoothies everyday (nearly)...they are yummy and I am super glad that I have friends that encourage me to stay healthy! 

"Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate."-anonymous