Loooong day... ^_^ Today is Sunday so Naomi and I planned to get up early to make it to the 8:30 service at Kaimuki Christian Church. As you may have guessed, we woke up slightly later than we had planned to. :P Fortunately, we got ready quickly (must be all the practice we have in Japan when getting ready for our Sundays... :P) that we got to service on time. It was my first time to go to the 8:30 service so it was odd to see how different all three KCC services are (Friday evenings and Sunday morning 8:30 and 10:30 servies). The 8:30 service have almost a totally different group than the other services so Naomi introduced me to several people, Lorrie in particular who I've been wanting to meet so much. She's one of the sign dancers and I heard she's really good. I got to see some familiar faces, too, most specifically Joe and his family. Joe is the drummer on KCC's worship team; an EXCELLENT drummer and a man with a very funny sense of humor. ^_^ His wife Mercy and his two daughters were also there. It was surprising to see how much Kyla had grown up since I had last seen her. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of Joe and his family. :( I promise to get it next time I see them!!

After the service we went straight home (after saying good-bye to Ericson who was there for the youth service at 10:30) and had our own church service. We sang worship songs in both Japanese and English. Naomi led service speaking from Romans 8:31~. I think after listening to the sermons both Naomi and I seem to feel we must truly understand the meaning of 'all things work together for good to those who love God'.

Soon afterwards our landlord came to check out our air conditioner still needing to be hooked up in Maki's/my room. At first he said we could have a friend help put it in but after leaving he called us up and said he'll put it in for us tomorrow morning! Hurray!!

Naomi made lasagna and as we ate we had a Monk-a-thon, watching four episodes from season three. LOTS of fun, we were laughing so hard because there were several scenes which certainly showcases Tony Shalhoub's comedic talent. The Captain and Randy are also hilariously funny; it was also nice to see Glenn Headley reprise her role as Captain Stottlemeyer's wife.

Naomi and I then were going to register me for college online but found out for some reason that it still said that my x-rays haven't been cleared! HMPH! So tomorrow we're going to have to get this all straightened out because the lady at the desk had said I was cleared to be registered. Must be some mix-up, and this is Hawaii...

Then Aunt Jean came over to pick us up and go to a wedding. Her friend's daughter was getting married and we were all invited. Actually, 'kinda' the reason I came to Hawaii so early was to be able to attend this wedding and meet the bride, Anri's, younger sister. More of that in a sec. Wedding started around 5:00 in the outside lawn of Hale Koa, a hotel. The bride and groom's names are Anri and Joe and they were a really sweet couple (Joe looks a bit like a young Dennis Quaid, very cute). I didn't catch what kind of work Joe does, but Anri is a ballet teacher at an university in Utah. Since Aunt Jean's friend, Anri's mother, lives in Hawaii, they decided to have the wedding here.

The reception was in the dining hall of the hotel and we got to eat a VERY American buffet for dinner. The food wasn't really as good as Japanese buffets, especially our church buffet. :P Can't compare with the church buffet, huh? Oh, yes! It was really funny because there were two waiters who looked like 1) Mr. Incredible especially the profile and 2) an even better looking version of Stanley Tucci with very cool glasses. I had such a hard time trying not to stare at the two of them because the resemblances were uncanny. Hee hee!

So many people came from all over; Chile, Switzerland, Mexico, Japan, and Italy. It was nice because during the speech time the bride and groom thanked all the people who came from far so when they said, "And thank you Priscilla from Japan for coming here today," I was like 'Me?" ^_^ I stood up in front of everyone (say over 100 people) and got a very nice shell necklace.

Anri had choreographed a speciall ballet performance which her two friends performed. A simple dance between a couple and it was very beautiful. There was also live music and the woman who sang was fantastic; she had such a beautiful voice everyone clapped after every song she sang though she was singing as background music.

Then came the bouquet toss from the bride. You'll never guess who caught the bouquet... NAOMI! LOL! I'll never let her live this down. It was just so funny because it seemed like a lot of girls (especially me) wasn't really too excited to catch the bouqet. But Naomi got it!

By this time it was getting late and the official wedding ended for the night. Next came the dancing and though the music was really nice (Celebration and Funky Town) and I LOVE dancing, I didn't because I felt it would be awkward to dance with strangers. :P Also, I happen to be... ahem, a bit tall, so a lot of the other guys were a bit shorter...

Picture with the bride's parents -->

Anyway, we decided it was the best time to go so before we left I got to talk to Anri's younger sister, Michelle. She graduated from a film college (the reason I wanted to meet her a lot) and she lives in Hollywood! She's at the moment producing and helping to direct a documentary. After telling her my dreams, we exchanged e-mails and hopefully we'll become good e-mail friends! Maybe someday we can work on a movie together; fun, fun, FUN!

Got home kinda later than I expected, maybe say after 10:00. Got to talk to Daddy and Mommy on the phone a bit and heard Bianca being brushed. Seriously, I could hear the brushing going on through the phone; it sounded like a hurricane or something! ^_^ It was nice talking with my parents; I was a bit tired but they perked me up. :D Going to watch maybe an episode of Monk now. Good-night all! Last picture is one with a pineapple ornament I got to take home, Kiss chocolate wrapped up in a cute little napkin, Naomi's bouquet, and the necklace I got.