Aljay and Sandra Updates


1/28/2022

Alrighty, here's Mommy and Daddy updates.......


Okay but look at us! I took pictures! Aaggh I'm proud of me. I probably remembered because we were on our first real family vacation and it was the most amazing trip ever!!!! So yeah now we've caught the travel bug we are even more motivated to have more family trips! We didn't know how much we actually needed this trip. It was such a great break for us. A good high before we drop into another year. 

So let me just start off with where we're at.....
  • Back to Work (Sandra)
    Started back at UVU. This time I'm in Concurrent Enrollment as an Academic Advisor. My direct supervisor is Colton and our higher up supervisor is Spencer Childs. I've worked with both of them in Admissions so this was an easy choice. So far I'm liking it. Not having to work while pregnant, or having to plan around pregnancy, or recovering from pregnancy is pretty amazing hahahaha. And knowing that I am not going to get pregnant is also amazing lol. 

    Not gonna lie though, the first week of adjusting to a 9-5 job was rough hahaha. I was having second thoughts about being back at work. I was so used to getting up and working at my own pace haha, but I'm good now. UVU has bomb benefits and I like learning a new skillset. I miss the girls, but they're getting time with their Daddy and I love that even more. 
  • At Home (Aljay)
    Yes so Aljay is home with the little ones. He's still trying to figure out a good routine for him because painting with the babies around isn't easy. Right now he's been up in the mornings when I'm at work, then taking a nap when I get home, and then waking up in the middle of the night to work. We'll see how long that lasts. If we could afford to...I'd hire Britt as a personal assistant for Aljay. Would be the perfect set up! lol Too bad we're not quite there. 
  • American Samoa
    At this point I don't even have a time frame and it sometimes feels like we're not even going to end up moving to Samoa. There's so many things we have to get done in order to even go...

    1. Aljay's citizenship ($760, Timeframe: 6-24 months)
    2. Passports ($135 x 8 = $1080, Timeframe: 6-8 weeks)

    ........but like where's the shmoney for all of this hahaha and then of course we have to get our business fully automated, which we are about 3% there lol. We have to plan for Aljay still getting commissioned work while in Samoa...so figuring out shipping options and costs, availability of materials, all of that. Oh and kids....and all the things in the house....and getting a house ready to sell...then moving all the things to Samunda....it's a lot. To be honest, it's been my main source of stress. 

  • If I had it my way...
    I wouldn't mind going to American Samoa for 2 months and seeing for myself what needs to be done and do an actual assessment. It's hard to really know what my parents want/need and seeing what's viable with our family situation. With the borders being closed it's hard to do that.

    If Tui could go and stay with them until we are little more prepared to move, that would really lighten my load. I don't think he does well with change and is low key just scared of the unknown. He left American Samoa when he was six and now has this complex developed that he isn't Samoan enough and will feel like a complete outsider. It's completely understandable, but he really needs to work on adapting to change and having a positive mindset. I think he'd be more comfortable if we were there with him. I just....uuugghh...it's tiring and stressful to think about. So I'll stop there. 

  • Growing kids and no more babies...
    Honestly, this is the first time we've been able to just focus on all our kids. With pregnancy every 1-2 years, our focus would shift to the newborn and their development. It's crazy now to just watch our kids grow and develop with their personalities. And they are hilarious! I love hearing their interactions with each other....well at least when they aren't arguing. 

    Leila started young women's this year and now our ears have to learn to perk up when we hear youth announcements in church. She's hilarious. Sometimes annoying. Still wants a cell phone lol 
    Sefa will be joining her next year in youth and will be getting the priesthood. He wants to play sports so bad so I'm going to put him in soccer again. He is easy going and not needy so I always try to make it a point to spend undivided time with him. 
    Viiga is a whole vibe of his own. He has no shame and loves wearing my bearclaw boots (or his Grandma Lupe's boots she left here) to school. See pic over on the left lol
    Saleima is getting so tall. She is a good helper and a sweet kid. But she's low key psycho and gets naaahhhttzzz when she fights. She loves school, swimming, soccer, and always knows exactly what she wants for her daily hairstyles. 
    Metuli and Salani...I just did their updates in their birthday posts (Metuli Salani) so there's more there. Those little mento heads sure get spoiled by their Dad. 

    Watching them grow truly is a joy and I want to savor it all because time flying. 

  • Church - I'm in nursery and I freaking love it. Any calling is easier than RS President LOL. I remember when we were in Eagle Mountain 14 and got called to Nursery. I hated it because I was with my kids all day every day and a little depressed from moving to Utah. I swore I would never do nursery again. hahahhah but after being a RS Pres....I'm singing all the praises to the Lord! Thank you for humbling me!!!! LOL As for Aljay...hahaha I have no idea. I don't know if he still has a calling. That guy just flies under the radar.

    Also, we completed the Self Reliance: Emotional Resilience class woohoo!!! 10 weeks!!! It was fun though. Learned a lot and really enjoyed the company. There were so many things taught that gave me better insights on mental health, grief, and sadness. I came out of it more empathetic I think. 


  • Manusina Art - We've been blessed to have a steady stream of clients/income. It's amazing to think that we've been able to live off of art!! Running the business has really sparked this entrepreneurial side of me I never knew I had. It's been quite a journey so far! My/our goals this year are....
     1. to gross $60,000 in sales.
     2. to get our website fully automated with print on demand integration. We're 2% there lol.
     3. to get an art show done in the third quarter. 

    And did I just make up those goals right now? yes. So I should probably make sure Aljay is on point as well. lol But I'm pretty happy with these goals hahaha

  • Healthwise- Still fat.....bahahahha Nothing new there. Buuuuut I'm really going to focus on my health!!! True story! I'm excited to take advantage of the health incentives UVU has. They have a UVU Fit program where you can do Tier 1 and earn $300 and then Tier 2 and earn prizes and an additional $200. Then they have all these other programs that you can do as well. It's really cool and encouraging. I'm excited.

    We've been managing to go to the Orem Family Fitness Center (we just call it the Rec center) at least once a week so that's good. But we need to make it a permanent part of our routine. And I need to get us back on track for eating veggies and fruits. Aljay's been buying a lot of quick/reheat foods to "save time" in the kitchen with the kids, but it's really not doing any favors for us health wise. 
Anyways....that's us in a nutshell. 
We're excited to grow and progress this year.
I can't wait to look back on this post and triumphantly say that we've become what we're meant to be
and accomplished all we set out to do!
At least that's the intent with me even writing this post haha!
*Setting a reminder on my phone to look back at this post ever Sunday lol

Comments

Sui-Jean Fuimaono said…
Love this Team!! All the best for 2022 and your future plans. I know wherever you go and whatever you plan to do, y'all are gonna kill it!! xx
February 1, 2022 at 9:26 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 January

Image
Start the year off with two volleyball tournaments for Leila. The picture below is of her and Isa, the only 14-year-olds on their U16 team.  Fires are destroying parts of California, the Palisade area experiencing the worst of it. Texas and some of the southern states are experiencing some of the worst snow/ice conditions. TikTok is on the verge of being banned, President Trump is continuously passing executive orders that are sending people into panic.  Saleima made a list of the disasters and warned us that Jesus was on His way.  Sefa moved up to the Teachers quorum and was ordained by his Dad, Uncle Dennis, and Uncle Ben. He's growing so quickly and I love seeing his growth. They have a great group of young men. I love that they are old enough to plan activities, including attending the temple to do Baptism.  Sefa's also starting U15 7v7 pylons with coach Matt Manuma. He had made the decision to not be held back for football. It's a common practice here in Utah, a...
Read more

Being Prepared For These Times

Image
Auuuu that title sounds like I'm trying to write a General Conference talk or something hahaha. Probably still on the GC vibe from the beginning of the month lol. Anyways... So this pandemic that's going on, it's been something else! It has put the whole world on lock down. So many lives have been affected. I've written quite a bit in my journal, but I wanted to make sure to write about how the Lord has prepared our family specifically for this time. Looking back just in February and March, we can easily see how the Lord had orchestrated parts of our lives.  In February Aljay secured an art collector who commissioned several art pieces. His deposit was the cushion that brought a sense of financial security when we entered this lock-down life.  Towards the end of February, my bosses had heard about school closures in Seattle and decided that we should have a plan in place for our advisers to work remotely in case the schools had to close. We honestly didn...
Read more

2025 February

Image
Leila - Volleyball and more Volleyball  Leila had two tournaments in February. This club season has challenged her in a good way. She wants to play the outside hitter position but is playing on a 16s team (meaning older girls with more experience) and is sitting in the 3rd spot for out side hitting. To get to the 1 or 2 spot she needs more reps, more practice, and more individual coaching. We're seeing improvements each week, but are planning to set aside money for her to do more 1:1 coaching.  These tournaments are no joke. They are allllll day. 6am - 7pm sometimes. 1-day, 2-day, and sometimes 3-day tourneys. The mental stamina it takes as a parent ahahahahh is a real thing! Trying to say the right things to keep your athlete focused, motivated, and locked in is tough. There are so many things that are over stimulating or compounding: - the non stop sound of whistles and girl's cheering/screaming - the smell of swass in the building that increases as the tournament progresses...
Read more