Sunday, My Last Day Before School Starts

Today we went to the 8:30 Sunday morning service so had to wake up by 7:30. Erin had already gone to the church to pratice playing the keyboard for the morning worship. Naomi, Maki, and I had a quick breakfast and headed for Kaimuki Christian Church. Tony was leading and Erin did a great job on the keyboard. ^_^ Everyone was complimenting her and saying how they liked seeing her up on the worship team.

After the service we were able to fellowship with many friends from church, including Jenny who we hadn't seen for a while since she had been on vacation. She's excited because her School for Creative Hearts is starting tomorrow!

<---- Ok, the picture on the left is very random but today Naomi was commenting how I look so much like an adult so I had to takea picture and see if you thought so. :P Of course, I had to 'poste'. ^_^

Went home and Erin led our church service. Maki and I played the guitar and piano; it was nice to worship with instruments! Erin gave a very good sermon on "Being Joyful and Thankful". She made it very clear how both are tied in. Without joy, we cannot be thankful; if we are not thankful, how can we be full of joy? The Bible says in I Thessalonians chapter 5 that we must 'Be joyful always' and 'give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus'. Well, that really doesn't give much room for excuses, does it? ^_^ I think it was something we all needed to hear, considering school will be starting soon and Naomi will be working at home. :P We'll be needing a lot of joy and the right heart to be thankful in all things!

We were all pretty exhausted after everything so we all relaxed in our individual rooms. For lunch we went to Kahala Mall and ate Panda Express. I admit, it was my suggestion but no one was complaining! Their food is just sooooo good! The fortune in my fortune cookie was interesting; it said something like 'You will have the fortune that you desire most'. Wonder what that means...?

Got home and basically everyone collapsed in their rooms. Erin and Maki actually took short naps. :P I was lazily downloading some songs; I like listening to Wilson Phillips recently. I found out that the Wilson sisters are the daughters of one of the Beach Boys, and Phillips is the daughter of one of the members of the Mamas and the Papas. No wonder they can harmonize so beautifully! Excellent coaches... :P

At 3:00, it was 10:00 over in Japan so they were beginning the sign dance pratice for the kids. One thing I can tell you; directing over a webcam is MUCH more difficult than one could imagine! For one thing, the movements and sounds are a beat off so it takes a bit in getting used to that difference. But everyone was paying attention and trying real hard so that we were able to get two songs ready! I know, only two songs you might think but I think that's real great! They were the two most difficult songs so the rest should be no problem. Great job everyone!!

By that time we were done (almost 5:00), I was pretty exhausted and my cold suddenly got worse. I laid down for a bit and just tried to relax as much as possible. Around 6:00, I went to the living room and flipped channels; settled on America's Most Talented Kid, a talent show for kids. The host was Dave Coulier who I LOVE in Full House. It was interesting because one of the celebrity judges was Daryl Sabara, who some may know as the boy from the Spy Kids series.

My favorites of today's contestants were a fifteen-year-old boy who played REALLY good jazz piano while singing (he won first place), a fifteen-year-old girl who did modern ballet (you wouldn't believe how flexible she was!), a nine-year-old girl who tap danced and sang, and an eleven-year-old boy who did tap dancing. Oh, the ballet girl I mentioned had already won 13 dance scholarships! She was REALLY good! They were all extremely talented and I enjoyed watching it.

We had watched the last thirty minutes while eating dinner; salmon patties, moyashi, and asparagus. After cleaning up, Naomi suggested we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding so we all shared the couch to watch it. It's such a funny movie, one of the best 'wedding' movies out there besides the Father of the Bride series. Opah!!

Well, now I'm going to go get ready for school tomorrow. :P I'll be having math class in the morning, then English and ballet in the afternoon. I think I'm going to take a peek at my ballet book right now. Wish me luck on my first day of college!

Here are a few of my favorite lines from My Big Fat Greek Wedding:

Gus Portokalos: There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

Toula Portokalos: Ma, Dad is so stubborn. What he says goes. "Ah, the man is the head of the house!"
Maria Portokalos: Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.

Toula Portokalos: If nagging were an Olympic sport, my Aunt Voula would win a gold medal!

Yianni: Ian, if you're gonna be in this family, I get you some earplugs because the Portokalos women, if they're not nagging someone... THEY DIE!