Catching up and confessing

June was a surprisingly busy month for me.  So many things to confess and share!

We went on a little getaway to Saipan the first weekend of June for Trace's baseball team.  It was so nice to relax and not have to worry about work or chores or anything else.  Saipan is a tiny, yet beautiful island.  There aren't any big shopping malls or outlets or anything like that, but there is so much greenery and history with some amazing hidden local spots that make it so relaxing and full of adventure.

Eating healthy and exercising has really been paying off.  Since I cut wheat out from my diet (besides minor indulgences) and started running and working out regularly in April, I've lost 6lbs.  Now that I'm pushing myself even harder with my workouts, I've noticed a significant difference in my body shape and the way I feel.  I still have a hard time getting off my ass and working out and it still sucks to see others eating pasta and pizza and cinnamon rolls and...well, you get it.  But the progress I'm seeing now makes it all worth it.

My father's side of the family has always been very private.  Nobody shares feelings, nobody talks about family business when non-family members are present, everything is kept on a need-to-know basis.  That being said, I had never known much about my father's father.  All I knew was he grew up in Hawaii and was in the army at one point.  I knew he had a sister that he was close to, my auntie Janet, and another one that I only remember meeting once.  Thanks to Ancestry.com's two week free trial, I learned that his parents were Korean immigrants, he was actually born and raised in Hawaii, and he had 6 brothers and sisters.  I also learned that my great grandparents were buried in a cemetery on Oahu, Hawaii (where I lived most of my life) and nobody in my family (not even my father) knew.  I was actually very close to my grandfather growing up, but being that I was young, I never bothered to ask him about his childhood or his past.  How weird is that?

I've always been a closet Pokemon geek.  I was never into the cards, just the Nintendo games.  I could seriously play that shit for hours at a time.  Now that Pokemon Go just launched, I know it's about to become a huge problem for me.  Oh well.

I have not touched my sewing machine since baseball season started because we've been busy with practices, games, fundraisers, etc.  Now that it's finally over I've got no excuse not to start sewing again.  Except that my sewing table has become a catch-all for everything that we've been too lazy to find a place for.

After ordering my new Bando agenda, matching travel mug and agenda starter pack (oh did I not mention that I got two other items in my last post? #whatbudget), I'm having a REALLY hard time not ordering even more cute shit from them.  Seriously.  I mean, how can I not get every single item they have?

I have my Bando cart open right now so I'm going have a serious talk with myself about whether I need more planner stickers (I do), another travel mug (I do), a new tumbler (I really do) and a backup phone charger (now that Pokemon Go is draining my battery, hell yes I do)...

Boobfessions.

It's been a while since I did a confession post and with summer right around the corner, I figured it's time I get a few things off my chest, which really isn't much.

As a full A/small B, I'm a full-fledged member of the itty-bitty-titty-committee.  It doesn't sound so bad on paper, but when you've got thick thighs and a badonkadonk, it is noticeable.

My gals used to be a little fuller when I was younger but, thanks to the whole month of breastfeeding I endured (sorry, I tried but I just couldn't do it), my breasts shrank about one cup.  Where was that information in "What to Expect When You're Expecting"?

All my bras are push-ups.  With underwire and lots of padding.  #nosecretshere

I can't pull off the "side boob" look because I barely have the front boobs.

When I wear a sports bra, I could pass as a 12-year-old Asian boy.  I wear mostly baggy shirts when working out so you can't really tell how flat my boobs are.

If I had the money, I'd totally get a boob job.  Joey is really against it, but I have been looking into other non-surgical alternatives to bigger boobs.  Besides push-up bras.

I can't wear tube tops without constantly fidgeting with them. They never fit right or stay in place.

When my bigger breasted friends talk about not being able to find the right bra, needing extra support, their backs hurting...

What about you?  What are you insecure about?

Confessions, because it's been a while.

I finally waxed my legs after weeks of being a nasty, hairy sasquatch.  Seriously, it was NOT cute, but I was kind of in denial thinking I could just keep wearing pants to work everyday - until I ran out of clean pants.

I decided I wanted to join in the "February wallet watch" challenge, and then caved and spent about $30 on Planner Mania within the same hour.  I blame Michael.  But, I mean, I could justify it as a work or household expense, since I use my planner for just about EVERYTHING.  Right?  (Oh, btw I'm gonna do a planner update post to show you all the changes I've made and all the goodies I use, so be on the lookout for that, fellow planner geeks!)

Speaking of work expense, I've decided to start making things to sell.  I already went over my DIY/Projects budget of $50 for the month so I figured it's about time I start making some of that shit back!

On Sunday, instead of going out for brunch/dinner or doing one of the activities on my 30 by Thirty list, we did yard work.  (By "we" I mean Joey, mostly.)  We finally started clearing the property that was given to Joey by his parents.  We've still got a long ways to go before we start building as it is a pretty big lot, but we're extremely excited that it's finally getting done.  I apologize in advance for all the pinning I'll be doing.

I'm not sure if its just me, but February is kinda dragging.  I feel like January was really productive, while so far February has been, meh.

I still have a couple Christmas gifts that I haven't gotten around to mailing out yet.  Oops.

Etsy is like my rabbit hole.  I log on to check my order, and next thing I know, it's three hours later and I'm browsing hand-knitted socks.  Seriously, wtf is wrong with me.

Speaking of Etsy, I have 30 items in my cart right now and 26 of them are planner-related (stickers, pens, stamps, etc.).

I had this post drafted since Sunday.  I really haven't had any good post ideas this month.  Meh.

I'm a shopaholic...and other confessions

- I've spent wayyyyyy too much money in the past few months.  Like a ridiculous amount.  Good news is that I started on my Christmas shopping already and got the biggest things out of the way.  Semi-win?

- We got a new fridge and gas range stove recently and it's getting hard not to want to buy all new kitchen crap to use.  Pots, pans, bakeware , dishes, Tupperware, kitchen gadgets, etc.  Our stove isn't even hooked up yet (gas company will be installing it this weekend) and I'm already planning on everything I'm going to bake (lasagna, cookies, brownies, molten chocolate cakes, macaroons, and macarons, baked chicken, enchiladas) along with other diy projects that I want to make/sew to pretty up the rest of the kitchen (heart-shaped oven mitts, aprons, embroidered hand towels).  Plus, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up it's even harder finding an excuse not to cook/bake EVERYTHING.  Especially this:

Chocolate Salted Caramel Pizookie

- I've been in a cleaning/organizing/diy mood lately and have been making progress in clearing out the stuff we don't need and decluttering the house.  Unfortunately, I haven't started on the one thing that was actually at the top of the to-do list:  my shoe closet.  It's a mess and needs to be cleaned and organized but it's one of those things that I keep putting off because it seems overwhelming.  Maybe I'll actually get it done this weekend.  Maybe not.

- Joey and I didn't really celebrate our 10th anniversary last week because we were busy (work, kids, homework, making costumes for Halloween, etc.) so we had planned to celebrate it this Friday instead by having a date night buuuuuut...I'm kinda not feeling it anymore.  I'd rather just work on my side projects and then call it a night.

- I was having a hard time putting together a Christmas shopping/gift list until I started thinking about myself.  I think I'll be putting together my own Christmas wish list and then just pick people to give it to so I can borrow it or have them give me something out of it.  For example, I'll probably be getting Joey some power tools this year even though he is not handy because I saw some diy pallet furniture that I want him to make.  

Hello new couches!

- Speaking of Christmas, I'm kind of excited for it already!  Halloween kinda snuck up on me so now I want to get in the spirit early.  I want to start decorating and get a tree and burn all the Christmas Scentsy bars and make crafts and gifts and CHRISTMAS ERRTHANG.

What do you have to confess?  Are you excited for Christmas?  Got any good recipes to share with me?

Humpday Confessions: Asian Habits Die Hard

Every culture has its own customs and traditions and even though I was raised American, never spoke a lick of Korean and can't even trace my Korean bloodline past my grandfather, there are still some uniquely Asian traits and habits that I have that will probably never leave me.  Though I'm sure there are so many things that I don't realize I'm doing, here are a few that I'm aware of:

Rice is a staple.  As in all day, err'day there is a pot of cooked rice.  Fried rice, in sushi, as side, or even just by itself with some soy sauce (and butter).  It's not a true meal without rice.

Kimchee base in everything!  Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge kimchee lover because I'm very picky.  But, kim-chee base is a whole 'nother story.  I can eat that with pickles, mango, tofu, shrimp, eggs, in my soup, mixed in fried rice...the possibilities are endless.  If you like spicy, garlicky Asian foods, I highly suggest you try this out.  I'll even share one a few recipes I use it with if you want!

Shoes off at the door.  This is an Asian custom that I have been raised to follow since I could wear shoes.  We did it in Hawaii and we do it in Guam.  I had a culture shock when I was younger while on a family vacation because we stopped at a family member's house and when I proceeded to take off my shoes, I noticed that everyone else in the household still had their shoes on.  My eyes almost popped out of my head.  To me, shoes off at the door just makes sense.  You don't want to be bringing in all the shit you stepped on outside.

Go cheap or go home.  If I know I can get the same thing or something similar for cheaper, I'll definitely go with the cheapest.  I always hit the clearance section first and I have been known to coax a discount or two out of a store manager because of a slight, easily fixable flaw.  Giveaways, discounts, trades, DIY's - I am all over it.  Americans are learning the cheap Asian ways now too thanks to the couponing and DIY craze.

Do you have any habits/traits that reflect your culture?

Things I'm Not-So-Great At.

It's about an hour away from Friday right now but I wanted to do a confession-type of post anyway because I do what I like.  Booyah.

Sticking to a set schedule.  (Obvs.)  Hey, sometimes shit happens and it messes up your whole routine.  You just gotta go with it.  And, sometimes you're on schedule but you feel like binge-watching the entire second season of New Girl.  Or taking that extra five minutes of sleep in the morning that ends up turning into 30.  That's cool too.

Remembering certain things.  Ask me what I had for dinner last night and I wouldn't even be able to tell you.  And unless your name is tattooed on your head I probably won't remember you if I don't see or talk to you on a daily basis.  However, if you ask me what I wore on the first day of school in 2nd grade I can tell you that I wore a Princess Jasmine outfit that consisted of a teal and pink t-shirt with a huge graphic of her face on it and matching teal shorts that had the Disney logo on the bottom left corner.

Keeping things tidy.  I'm messy.  I've always had so much stuff and have always had a messy room because of my hoarding issues.  Usually my mess consists of clothes, shoes, accessories and trash associated with such things (tags, shopping bags, receipts, etc.).  As of right now I have one closet, one garment rack, a shelf, a 6-drawer dresser, a shoe closet, and four baskets full of clothes, shoes and accessories.  I plan to downsize soon but, you know, that means scheduling time to do it.

Running.  I've never been good at it, except for maybe when I was 10 and I was faster than my younger brothers and racing other kids on the playground was cool.  Gonna take Nadine's advice and start the C25K program to hopefully lose some pounds and build endurance.

Budgeting.  I'm a spender.  It's not my fault, though.  I was born and raised this way.  I'm the first born, first daughter, and first granddaughter (on my father's side) so I've always been spoiled.  Christian Dior baby clothes, Coach shoes for everyday wear in high school, random shopping sprees "just because".  Life was easy for me back then.  Fast forward to adult life where I actually have to do something to get something, pay bills on time, buy food/clothes/essentials for my kids - adult life is hard as fuck.  Trying to start some kind of budget plan that I can actually stick to thanks to tips from Steph and Alyssa, but they have more willpower than I do when it comes to temptation.

Your turn!  What are some things you're not-so-great at?

Confessions, because it's been a while.

Ever since Kathy's confession linkup died, I haven't done a confession post or linked up with any other confessions.  I'd like to think of it as my mourning period.  But, I've been so inconsistent with my posts and replying and commenting on other blogs that I figured it's about time I make a little more noise around here and join up with the other sinners in confession.

So, here it goes:  I confess...

That I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew with trying to switch over to WordPress.  Holy frikken crap.  I thought I could do it all on my own, but it looks like I'm gonna have to fork out some cash to get it done right.  Anyone have tips or suggestions or wants to do it for me?  Please?

I had planned on doing a makeup post this past Monday, I really did.  But, if you caught last week's post, you would know that Younique launched 6 new products on March 1st, so of course I was busy browsing and drooling over everything.  ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  If you check my browser history for the past couple days, you'd see.  But seriously, I am so excited to try out the new products (and give you all a review, of course) and I may even do another makeup giveaway this month since it's been a hot minute since I've done one around these parts.

I've gotten ahead of myself again with the whole business planning thing.  Here I am thinking about names, logos, models, etc. and I haven't even started on creating an actual product.  #iknowican bust out that sewing machine tonight and get started on something instead of spending my time browsing for stuff that I can't afford.  Time to turn on some tunes and get productive.

I started the 14 Day Yoga Shred Challenge the other day and holy hell am I out of shape!  My legs and core are killing me today but it hurts so good.  I cannot wait for the next video to be up.  I'm also doing the #JourneyToHandstand challenge on Instagram, but I haven't posted any photos of me doing the poses because, awkward.  I really do hope I can do a handstand by the end of this though.  Anyone else doing a fitness challenge this month?

I've been playing around with Photoshop lately and having a little too much fun using the resources I've been downloading.  So far, I've done a mock-up of some Younique business cards, a few quote prints (including the one in the Monthly Mantra: March post) and a bunch of new logo designs for the blog.  I've even decided to create a new brand logo for this shop because (a) the owner is awesome, (b) her designs and products are amazing and (c) I think it's a great way to show my love and appreciation to someone doing what I aspire to do someday (soon) by creating a fresh new look and supporting her business with a post and banner here on Frikken Duckie and hopefully making her do a happy dance at the end of it all.

So what do you have to confess today?

I am Kourtney Kardashian...and other confessions.

Okay, first confession:  This confession is a day late because I had a shit ton of shit to deal with yesterday.  Shit.  BUT, I've missed you guys (mostly gals) and it's been so long since I've done a confession post so I just HAD to.

You ever feel like your life should be filmed as a reality show because it's THAT crazy?  That's how I feel ALL the time.  With our family alone (Joey, the kids and I) we've got our fair share of crazy adventures and dramatic events.  Add in our extended family and - holy shit - you've got a hit reality TV show!  Even the Kardashians couldn't top our scandals.

If I had the money, I'd buy a big chunk of land and build a nice (not too big) house out in the country somewhere (preferably California) for us to live.  Far away from the madness and drama.  Far away from people who only try to bring us down and don't really have our best interests at heart when they say they do.

I'm an all-or-nothing kinda person.  I stand my ground and fight for what I want, especially when what I'm fighting for is right.  No negotiations - "my way or the highway" as my dad likes to say, which is why he and I don't get along most of the time.  We're both stubborn as hell but I'm more devoted to my choices and decisions.

I have no problem with shutting people out when they've done me wrong.  I'll get over it, sure, but that doesn't mean that I'll let you back into my life.

Okay, so obviously these confessions are hinting at some issues I've been having in my personal life lately that I'll get more into detail about later (maybe later today since I still have a Thursday Thoughts post I could do) but here's one last confession that hopefully helps you make sense of all this:  WE'RE MOVING!

Not anything exciting like a different state (yet) just a different village.  We'll actually be moving in on one side of Joey's parents' duplex in Merizo.  It's a farther drive for work and stuff but we'll still be saving a ton of money, especially since the temptation of fast food, dining out and quick shopping trips will take more effort.

At first I was hesitant but now I'm kind of excited about it.  No more long "to do" list of repairs, no huge ass utility bills because of the outdated wiring and plumbing, no one dropping by unexpectedly thinking that we're going to listen to them lecture us on what THEY think we should do and entertain their bullshit just because they're "family".

PEACE OUT.

I Jinxed Myself...and other confessions.

So remember last week's post and how I listed "Good Vibes Only" as one of my goals for October?  Well, the universe didn't get to read that post yet.  It's been one negative thing after another.

...the weekend was nice and sunny for the most part, but only because we were expecting another typhoon (Vongfong) to hit us on Monday.  Thankfully, it didn't do any damage but it meant that schools were closed for the day and other places were closed for the first half of the day, but opened up later.  Vongfong totally punked us.

...I've only just recently realized that even though some things seem like a good idea in the beginning, they don't always pan out the way you expect them to.  People grow in different directions, like branches on a tree, and you just gotta know when to cut it off in order for it to grow into a tree on its own.  Tough love.

...since the typhoon scare has delayed my inventory shipment, I've been slacking on promoting my business.  I'll be stepping up my game soon and will hopefully get some Halloween makeup looks up for you guys.

 

...I still haven't worked out at all.  Supposed to pick up a treadmill from my niece but...haven't gotten around to it yet.  Maybe tonight.  And then who knows when I'll even start using it.

...because of all the drilling the dentist did on that one tooth the other week, my other temporary got loose and fell out so I was forced to starve myself because I couldn't chew good.  Thankfully I got it fixed yesterday so no more toothache diet for me!

And now it's your turn!  What do you have to confess this week?  Spill it!

A major bump in the blogging road...and other confessions.

It’s been one hell of a week so far and we’re only three days in!  I still can’t believe we’re already in the third week of September.  Remember when I said I’d blog more in September?  Yeah, so far that hasn’t been happening.  After the craziness of August and the flash of September so far, I’ve realized that there’s a LOT of shit that I haven’t even filled you guys in on.  So what better way to fill you in on all the behind-the-blog happenings than with Kathy’s confessions, right?  Here goes…

//  Got off the waiting list for ipsy and got my first (and second yesterday) glam bag.  Best $10/month ever.

//  Went to the local zoo and saw animals I never thought would even be on Guam.

//  Got hooked on washi tape.

//  Got a new car.  (Thanks babe!!)

//  Got a new laptop as a belated birthday gift.  Thank you parentals!

//  Purged my closet (again) and then put away all the clean clothes I had lying around and ended up filling the closet back up.

//  I’ve been buried in paperwork all month.

//  Kids aren’t yet used to the morning schedule.

//  Tried out the youniqueproducts.com/frikkenduckie/party/557746>Younique 3D Fiber Lashes.  And LOVED them.

//  Ate more than my fair share of pepperoni and cheese.

 //  Became a Younique Independent Presenter because I loved the fiber lashes so much.  A full review to come soon!

And too add a bigger bump in my blogging routine, I just found out that blogger has now been blocked at work.  What.  the.  actual.  fuck.  So as of right now, until I figure out how I'm going to stick blogging into my regular schedule away from work, you've just gotta deal with sporadic posts.  Sorry!  I'll try to draft and schedule posts ahead of time...but you know how that usually goes...lol.