Sad News

Grandma Ouchi suddenly and unexpectedly passed away yesterday. We are all in complete shock. Although she was diagnosed with breast cancer last July, she had successfully completed treatment and was given a clean bill of health. In fact, just last week, she had undergone some body scans to monitor her major organs. Everything was normal.

She was having dinner at home at around 6PM last night. My grandpa went outside to water the plants and when he came back in the house about 40 minutes later, he found her on the floor in the bathroom. We have no idea how long she was lying there.

My mom came home from work to find an ambulance, fire truck, and 2 police cars in front of the house. When grandma got to the ER, they worked on her for quite some time, but could not revive her. Grandpa described what happened at the house. I gather that she had already flat-lined in the bathroom. They think her heart just failed.

Grandma's 78th birthday is on Monday. They were all supposed to come over to my house tomorrow night for a birthday BBQ.

This is just one of those things. There really wasn't anything anyone could have done. Grandpa is not doing so well. I sense a lot of guilt in him. Plus, they've been married over 50 years. I can't imagine how he must feel.

The difficult part is that Grandma took care of all of the household financials. Grandpa and my mom need to figure out all that stuff...what bills they owed, what kind of accounts they have, etc.

I'm supposed to go over to the house today and help sort through stuff. I really don't want to. I'd like to just stay home and stay in bed. I have a headache and stuffy nose from all the crying. Brian had to go to work today. I wish he could have stayed home with me. I'll keep you all updated....

Some photos from our wedding:

What's Wrong with this Picture?

No joke, this photo had to be pulled from The Honolulu Advertiser website after people got a bit rowdy with their reader comments. It's a photo of people making sandwiches. Do you see what they got all excited about (no pun intended)?

Okay, okay...it's a knife handle! Such a bad angle....

Handmade by Nicole | Dry Embossed Greeting Cards

I've finally uploaded more of my cards to a "secret" blog. I plan to keep adding designs as I make them. Click on the banner to see the site!


My buddy, and future attorney, Dior, suggested that I write to the company that makes the stencils I use. They explicitly state on their website that those who wish to use their stencils to make products for sale must obtain their written permission to do so.

I haven't "sold" anything yet. I make the cards as gifts and for my own personal use. But, you never know what may happen so I've been meaning to write to the company. I'll keep you all posted.

Wedding Photos

Here are some photos I took:

Local Hawaiian musician, Gaylord Glushenko, singing beautiful songs of love

The lovely bride, Wendy

The groom, Bobby, and his 2 sons approach

The ceremony

The Newlyweds with Diamond Head in the distance

Reception at The Willows

Jam session with Gaylord and Mike Barquez, another local Hawaiian musician

The gang. Brian's eyes are closed. :P
You can see more of the photos I took here.

Magic Island Wedding

We had an awesome weekend. It began on Saturday morning by attending an intimate, impromptu wedding of which we had less than 24 hours notice. As nothing was really planned, I ended up being the wedding photographer and Brian was the videographer. Geez, talk about pressure!!!

The wedding was no-frills, but very moving. We met some really wonderful, down-to-earth, sincere people today. Brian and I left the wedding feeling very refreshed, blessed and uplifted. Here are some shots of the gorgeous scenery that day. I'll post some wedding photos in another post.

I'm back!

Sorry it's been such a long time! Nearly 1 month...Yikes! Yes, we are alive and well. Things have been very busy. Thank you Kathy for giving me a little nudge. ;)

I have a new job!!!!!!!!! I start Monday. Much sunnier skies lie ahead. I'll keep you all updated on how it goes. It's still in the shipyard, just a different department.

I have some photos to share from the past few weekends. I'll blog about them separately....

I have so much to catch up on, but I'll blog about recent stuff first and then try to catch up on old stuff as I'm able to. Thanks for being so patient!