Urban Poly Princess

Uinisaati who is my cousin Saia's cousin from Ha'akame told me stuff this morning at Zumba that got me so mad. She told me how it was so sad that Saia had to go through what he did. I was confused. Huh??? Then she told me you seriously don't know and then she told me Saia's wife had been having an affair with some Tongan guy for over a year. How the hell does that happen? I love my cousin so much. He is so amazing. Even when he was young he'd fast once a week, "For personal spiritual growth." He was a bishop in his Tongan ward in Australia. They haven't lived in Utah very long.

A lot of things are beginning to make sense and that is so sad to me. They have two children. Their daughter is in the sixth grade and their son turns 16 soon if he hasn't already. I actually talked to Lua for a little while because I don't know her very well. I wanted to get to know her better. I had no idea all of this stuff went down. Lua told me they are attending a white ward now. I thought that was a little strange but it makes sense now. Of course Saia doesn't want to attend the ward where his wife probably met her boyfriend or fling or whatever I should call him. Lua also said Saia wants to move to Seattle. Why would he want to leave when his two brothers and their families live here. If I were him I'd want to move away too.

When Saia found out he took his wife to her relatives. When my uncle Tai was in town for my uncle Kingi's funeral he told Saia to go and get his wife and work it out. I hope his children are alright and that everything goes well for them. I hope they are able to resolve their differences. I feel like kicking her. How could she have treated Saia like this. Sisi instead of Saia spoke at Kingi's funeral. I thought that was strange too.

What makes me really upset is Saia is an awesome leader. How he is going to recover from this and be the same happy fun person he always has been is difficult to imagine. I don't know what she was thinking. Your spouse can truly affect your life like no one else.

I think I am over my Steve infatuation. He is so great to me spiritually and in almost every way. He has been asking a lot of questions on his facebook page about gay marriage and the Supreme Court and how influential they are. I know he was an MPA major AND he works in local government now. Maybe he's just thinking about these issues now. I'd think he'd already considered these. I like Darcy because she is real to me BUUUT I'm not too impressed with many of his friends who just seem intent on impressing people with their knowledge although I think a lot of that is crap. They have very strong opinions although I also acknowledge I too have strong opinions. I just feel like they are all like-minded a little in the extreme.

I applied for a librarian position at the Church History Library. It is a few blocks from my mother's house so it would be perfect AND I am pretty sure it pays a billion times better than Sutter Physician Services. It is a nice laid-back environment. Calls are not steady like they were at First Security Bank Collections or even at Overstock.com. I also did that mini-call center place at Eastman Sports warehouse in the International Center while I was a librarian sub. That's when it REALLY hit home how I don't like these type of jobs. The contrast between working as a substitute librarian and working customer service was too great.

I am excited they called me for an interview Friday. I first learned of it on the LDS Librarians Facebook page and a couple other people applied for it. Since it is only my second week of training there is no way I can miss a day or even a couple hours in a day. I submitted a request Monday to get off on Thursday the 14th. They approved my trip to St. George and the woman I spoke with from the church history library agreed to interview me on the phone Friday at 7am. I think I am much better in person BUUUT it may work to my advantage. People often assume I'm younger AND stupid when they see me in person. It is only when they actually take the time to get to know me better that they learn differently. The Children's outreach librarian position interview went really well. They told me the main weakness I had was no Children's librarian experience.

I like that Sutter Physician Services really cares about the patient and wants to help them. It is their first priority, even before collecting what is owed on the account. If a patient dies it is their policy to write off their charges. That is also awesome. Everyone I meet at Sutter loves their job and the company. THAT doesn't mean I'm going to love it ALTHOUGH with their work at home option it is PERFECT ESPECIALLY if I can do it part time. I'm not going there however UNTIL I prove myself AND that's certainly not happening in 6 mos - it is 3 months or NOTHING.

Denise talked briefly of training opportunities. There is a part time trainer now. That is very attractive to me. As the company expands as they kept saying they will that is an opportunity I want although it can't consume me or be my only source of income. I also need to leave some time to do real estate. I didn't get my license for nothing and I need to use it and get my required continuing education credits. Sutter is not the typical call center environment. I will enjoy working there EVEN if I'm not getting paid salary right now.

The Salt Lake temple this morning was awesome. They have everything so figured out so they can host the volume that they do. There is a post to help the couple get their paperwork done only it is such a routine first the couple is taken to a very specific spot with the escort who waits in an area. When they are done I take the couple plus the escort who is usually the mother to meet one of the bretheren who take the groom. Then I take the bride and her escort to a special clothing room where she gets a temple dress if she doesn't have one along with her robe set. I check that out when I then take her to the brides room where someone else takes care of her.

If it is your responsibility to take her from there you let the mother/escort help the bride to get dressed after which the mother is taken to the waiting room with the rest of the guests, you check to see if the groom is ready and waiting with his temple worker in another room. This is when you instruct him to stand when you and the bride get him next. You get the now-dressed bride in the bride dressing room and take the couple to the sealing room floor where someone else takes care of them from there.

I haven't learned the next part although someone else meets the couple after the sealing and the bride is taken to the dressing room where she puts on her wedding dress but puts on her veil/shoes in the last room before she meets the now-dressed groom and they are taken to the East exit from the looong hallway. It is a completely stress-free process because they have every detail taken care of - I was with a couple waiting at their initial spot when the new shift came on and a sister came and relieved me.

I loved doing initiatories today. Another thing I completely loved is the number of Polynesians who attend the temple. I saw a couple of people I knew but for the most part I didn't know anyone. I loooved that.

After my shift I was excited to go and eat at the Japanese festival. It WAS crowded and the lines were too long so I finally thought why am I going to stand in those stupid lines when the food looks crappy too. Instead I left the festival and drove to Mo Bettah Steaks where I bought my own chicken katsu and teriyaki. I killed that plate off immediately. There are 3 Polynesian ladies on my shift and another girl from my ward on my shift. I think her name is Melissa but I'm going to look her up in the ward directory. She is in our choir. She came and talked to me after I shared my testimony at FHE. She was raised in Kailua.

I am sooo glad training is over for the week. It is draining, tedious and difficult to pay attention to everything. Our trainer is good and I appreciate what she's taught us so far. I missed our presentation meeting but it sounds like they figured it out and it sounds perfect. We are each going to come up with our most important 3 points we'd like to share with our ULA audience. Related to CVLA and our role in it.

I'll be out of training when I have to go which is perfect. We are going to be moving to the Murray building when we start right next to Fashion Place Mall. I am very familar with that area. I used to live in Midvale a little more South on state street. I lived there when I worked at Overstock.com. It was convenient to all sorts of things. I love downtown however and I am glad my mother lives right out of downtown in Rose Park. Her location is perfect. I want a killer librarian job I can take Trax to although Park City has the librarian job I REALLY want now.

I like outreach work that involves working with a bunch of people. It is my favorite thing to do in the world. It is part of why I am attracted to real estate. If nothing else this job will provide me with my real estate fees. There's a health food store there that sells the best sushi. It is fresh, delicious and it doesn't cost very much either. I will be a frequent customer again. There are a lot of restaurants in the area but nothing else I really like. All the Asian restaurants I like are downtown although there is one in Taylorsville.

My favorite Indian restaurant is in Sandy not too far away too. I just found out my cousin Maria works at Sutter Patient Pay in Murray. This is good. It is a small, small world!!!

That's nice that I'll have the chance to get to know her better. I am interested in going part time with them eventually. I thought I'd look into their training opportunities but I don't think they will pay enough. I am going to have to change to part time eventually BUUUT I plan to do a good job until that happens.

I am excited to present the story of CVLA at ULA next month. I'm going to fly there and present then fly back the same day.

I will present the beginning. We are trying to make it a storybook form. Here's what I sent everyone so far who is presenting too:

Necessary but EXTREMELY tedious work. There are about 12 self-taught modules we ALL need to complete. I wanted to scream. I spent 3 hours straight doing that and I wasn't done yet. It wasn't enough that we just heard all of this crap from our VEEERY loooong orientation yesterday. Today we had to do our own information overload on mostly powerpoints with the occasional video thrown in.

I am so grateful to be working but I am also ticked that I STILL haven't found a librarian job. There is this Community Engagement Librarian job I would looove in Park City. If I get that job I'll just drive there. It is closer than West Jordan, Draper, Sandy, Cottonwood, Herriman and then even Riverton. I need to think of some brilliant way to get provide Outreach to Sundance and then also the huge ski/visitor community in Park City. I am certain the hotels are filled with people we can provide reading material - I think a pilot program with one resort is a fantastic way to start that.

Park City is a tourist city which is what I love about it. There are similarities to Hawaii BUUUT there are still significant differences too. I wouldn't move if I got a job there I'd just commute although owning a condo there is a great idea. I could rent it for ski season and also during Sundance. When I feel like it of course I can also always attend myself too without having to jet back and forth.

Condos there are still pretty cheap. I would love to own one there. My brief time spent coordinating ski vacations at Overstock.com taught me how lucrative owning a condo there would be especially during the peak ski season.

The day from hell that you sit there and listen and sit there and listen AND sit there and listen. I was sooo happy to leave when I did. Right now I am exhausted and I need to sleep.

I didn't even discuss this in my last post. The facility is beautiful but we're moving to Murray near Fashion Place Mall and Red Lobster. It is the entire billing department which is a twist. It reminds of when I used to live in Midvale. I am very familiar with that area and it is where I lived when I worked at Overstock.com.

Despite that I always loved downtown best. Tomorrow is Sutter orientation and they'll serve us breakfast and lunch which is very nice.

There was a Sutter video played today in our Training class. While it examined and showed snippets of former and then even the current president, it felt like a liberal democrat PR machine. It made me want to discover the issues they glossed over or didn't address at all.

My training class has about 32 people in it. It reminds me so much of when I was a collections trainer at First Security Bank. It was a great job and a nice company BUUUT there is no comparison to being a librarian. Library work involves working directly with patrons. Creativity is always employed to get people excited about reading. What I love most about public libraries is I feel like I'm working for some higher good. I love libraries and everything they represent. I like trying to expose people to culture, I like offering services to people who can't afford it. I like that libraries are used by a diverse group of people.

There's a new girl in my ward named Marianne Bell. She has her master's degree in library science from a very good school out East. She has not been able to find a librarian job since she graduated AND when I was complaining about making $13 an hour she told me she would kill to make that much. She has an interview tomorrow and will facetime with someone out in a tiny town in Illinois. I hope she gets it.

I enjoyed talking to her. She is a trained Children's Librarian. My strangely less-active friends I sat with at that one St. Patrick's day FHE came again. When I told them what we were doing they left. I just added them on Facebook which is good. I hope to be a positive influence in their lives. I enjoyed sharing my testimony with my ward members who did attend. I told them about how my father is Tongan and mother is English Irish Hawaiian Chinese.

I told them how I was raised with the church and always had a testimony although this grew stronger with time. I told them I attended a church high school in Tonga and that I knew probably no one could claim that. I also worked at my first job at PCC, owned by the church where all of our preparation meetings began with a prayer. I also told them how I was raised in a small little town Hauula near Laie where BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center are located.

I shared with them that instead of being like Alma and the sons of Mosiah who fell away from the church and then returned I was more like Nephi who never left and just got stronger and stronger as time progressed. It was hard to say that because comparing myself to any Book of Mormon prophet is ludicrous BUUUT it was what came to mind. Perspective is key. I finally shared how I thought I was strong spiritually when I went to BYU and that although I went to church each Sunday my friends and I would attend different wards looking for the ward with the hottest guys. I also told them how we went dancing EVERY Wednesday and Saturday in Provo and Friday in Salt Lake.

I enjoyed sharing with my ward a little more about myself. I told them about my struggle with myself before I served a mission. I explained that although the church just changed the policy for women to serve a mission to 19 that girls in Tonga could always serve a mission right after high school like the men. This mentality led to most of my first cousins male AND female serving a mission. I told them how when I was 14 I got my patriarchal blessing but before this happened I TOLD Heavenly Father that if he wanted me to serve a mission he needed to specifically tell me that in my blessing. He DIDN'T ALTHOUGH where I got off and thought it was appropriate to TELL my Father in Heaven anything was silly.

I also told them how my stake president was Tongan and had the mentality that all girls should serve missions too. I shared how he would always tell me that when he saw me even when I was just in the Young Women's program. I repeated the line I would use with him then that if the Lord wanted every young woman to serve a mission he would command them to do so and how my cousins began to think I was apostate. BUT then I wanted to serve a mission anyway so I went and that it was there that my testimony grew the most. I also shared how on my mission the missionary guide would reference Elder Packer's talk The Candle of the Lord and how it made me consider and then feel every time how there's nothing like the spirit confirming that what you speak as you testify is the truth.

Choir was good. I'm glad Cindy came today. Following her is easier for me than following Rachel who is our only other strong Alto. We didn't have much of a turnout. I know Domoina is out of town with Amphay, Yuri, and a couple other Asian girls I don't really know in the ward. They keep posting their pictures from their roadtrip. Nice but not something I could or even want to do. I think that's alright, at least I feel alright with it. Lulu wanted to plan a trip. I want to get married and go on a trip with my husband. Forget the girlfriend thing. I'm not into female-bonding. I can do that with the women in my family. I wish I could say I met someone gorgeous or that someone amazing spiritually was there that I can be interested in even a little BUUUT NOOO NO ONE!!!

I did see Jason who really impressed me at first. I still like how he treats people. I have seen him twice go out of his way to include someone in a conversation. He is just really close to this girl Caleen in my ward and she is freaky into Steve. Whenever I saw them hanging out it felt like they were conspiring to take me out of Steve's orbit. Weird but true. Why someone would do something like that is beyond me but I didn't like it at all. They never did anything it's just a feeling I had. It did not support my good opinion of Jason. Jason has inserted himself into my orbit lately which would be great if I didn't feel like it was some sort of calculated move just to turn me away from Steve.

I have 3 more hours of this Korean soap opera I'm watching in-between going to Facebook and then coming on here. Steve posted something about how people are using nouns as verbs more now and used epic fail vs. failure as an example. Darcy wrote an entire paragraph trying to explain the prescriptive/descriptive argument and even went on to describe the their use as singular instead of the formal he or she - I wrote that I always tell people grammar is descriptive not prescriptive and that the meaning of words are constantly changing AND I like that. Steve's friends all seem to be entirely in his camp. IT IS how I feel however and I'm not going to change that for Steve or ANYONE.

YES clarity is important to me and I've edited more things than I'd like BUUUT so is communication as a whole and knowing as many second-language English speakers the way I do, it gets on my nerves when people are impatient with them or correct their errors maliciously AND this is done quite a bit. I was a freaking English major and I've done more than my fair share of editing so much that I see mistakes everywhere and wish I could fix them with a glare. That is why newsrooms and stations use vocal AND written style guides. It is why I used to teach APA writing where format is EVERYTHNG even where and if you put a damn period in a certain place in the references. It is for clarity and publishing when editors should be able to understand something right away when they have to comb through manuscripts.

If someone is going to use a superior arrogant tone when they exert their grammar-nazi muscles they are better off shutting the hell up. I hope Steve isn't like that. I don't think he is - he is kind enough to that special needs guy in my ward that he'd go out of his way to spend time with Steve. Slang is often used by people from a disadvantaged or lower socioeconomic class too. Criticizing the way people speak and demanding that everyone conform to a certain "correct" way of speaking is NOOOT something I will ever support. I always suspected Steve and I held very different political views. I'm glad he's posting more so I can learn more about these even if we will never spend any time alone together.

It always helps to talk to my brother. I was crying when I told him I took a full time position as a medical biller through a temp. agency. I told him how I felt when I took my drug test and he told me how the last 6 jobs he's had he had to take one including Stevens-Henager College and even Convergys when he first moved here. I used to tease him all the time for working there because I told him they'd hire anything with a pulse. He did that part time in addition to his full time job as a computer security analyst/auditor. I know he only made $12 an hour for that part time position.

He helped me put a lot of things in perspective. He told me a medical billing job for $13 an hour is good for a temporary job and that people with doctorate degrees have had to take positions for less to support a family. He reminded me that I don't and that although I am living with my mother now I don't have to pay rent or support a family.

True, although I made a lot more in Logan and could afford the nicest apartment out there AND to eat out whenever I wanted, I will actually have more disposable income living with my mother than I did there. I didn't really think about that. I don't have the bills I did there. Insurance and phone are the only things I pay now along with gas. Sooo I should be able to pay for my insurance now if this temp. agency is like ones I've used in the past that pay you EVERY week. I can confirm that Monday morning when I meet with Sophie.

I feel like this sort of landed on my lap. There were 3 other people in the interview with me. They all wanted full time. I was hired so soon because I insisted on part time and that's all that was available. Because I completed everything they asked if I could begin earlier since they needed someone right away as in Monday. My interview was Wednesday morning. Thursday they hired me officially for the part time 20-hour position. I was going to start on May 4th but instead they called me yesterday to see if I would take a full time stint starting Monday.

My CVLA presentation for ULA is on May14 in St. George. This will allow me to pay for a plane ticket because there is no way in hell I'm driving or riding there. I think it is extremely valuable for me to present at ULA especially since it is telling the story about how CVLA started because I am the one who started it AND I want EVERY library hiring manager in the state to know that.

So I will work full time in medical billing instead AND I begin Monday. I completely need a job which is why I'm taking it BUUUT yeah AGAIN I didn't get a master degree in library science AND an MBA to learn something completely different making much less than I want to make BUUUT I guess I need to take the approach that it is an opportunity to learn a new skill AND the chance to pay for my real estate fees faster. I'm sitting here crying. I DON'T want to work in something that isn't my area but I will go ahead and do that since I don't seem to have a damn choice. I am grateful to Prince Perelson for giving me the extra push I needed to do this although it really ticks me off too.

I didn't think it was possible to be simultaneously grateful and sad at the same time but that is how I feel right now. I don't know why this is happening. I need money so I know I should be grateful BUUUT it is just really tough. I'm glad it begins Monday morning. Jon our FHE chairperson just called to ask me if I would share my conversion story with our FHE people. I'm going to enjoy that. I made sure I told him I was raised in the church. I can prepare myself by Monday. I want to be engaging so I need to plan that out.

By accepting full time work I feel like I'm giving up on my librarian career BUUUT I also feel like I had to do this too. I don't have money AND I need money so I HAAAD to go ahead and do this. I also need to reschedule my shift at the temple. I REALLY didn't want to work Saturday morning but I think that might be my only option AND I've done it before in Logan, I can certainly do it again. I'm not going to give up being an ordinance worker now when I've just started with Salt Lake. I'm not sure how long I'll do it but I love it. I'm sure I'll love working in Medical Billing. The pay just sucks bigtime. 13 an hour is a pay cut from even what I was making at Stevens-Henager College which was nowhere near what a librarian with over 7 years of professional experience should be making. I need to start Real Estate asap. I can't work very long doing something making only $13 an hour.

After running around like a chicken without my head for the past few days I am just chilling right now annoyed because my internet connection isn't as strong as I'd like it to be or rather my neighbor's since I've been enjoying their internet since mine was turned off when I told my mother I couldn't pay for my HD tv OR internet. Now I can again BUUUT my neighbor has infinity too!!! I discovered that by accident but what a nice discovery. They are going to pay the same amount whether I use it or not so it doesn't really matter. It is only annoying when I'm trying to watch a streaming video like I am now. I'm watching Pinnochio off of Hulu. I should try dramafever, maybe their connection is stronger.

Nooo it's not. I just applied for ANOTHER position with the church family history library. All I can do is keep applying and interviewing and smiling as needed. Alright all the bars are visible now and a commercial is playing. So how long will that last?

It's still working YEA!!!

Alma 17
2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the timethe angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma didrejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what addedmore to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord;yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of thetruth; for they were men of a sound understanding andthey had searched the scriptures diligently, that they mightknow the word of God.
3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to muchprayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit ofprophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when theytaught, they taught with power and authority of God.
5 Now these are the circumstances which attended themin their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they didsuffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger,thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit.

It is a comfort to me that the sons of Mosiah although faithful and righteous still suffered much and were subject to many afflictions. I know trying to find a job and having problems with that is so miniscule compared to what trials they faced but it still feels hard and tough. It still makes me cry and be frustrated. I feel so ungrateful however when I get like that because despite any trial I experience I still have so very much. 

I am fortunate to live with my mother. She drives me crazy and she is such a witch at times but despite that I still have a parent living. My cousin Hotaia just lost her dad and my cousin Annie just lost her dad too. That was their last remaining parent. With all of her faults I am lucky to have my meddlesome infuriating mother in my life. I love her so much even when and as she drives me crazy.

Even though I don't have my own family my nieces and nephews are such a joy to my life. Family really is everything and I love mine so much. I can't wait to find my husband and start my own however that'll happen. I'm certainly going to try although I probably won't be able to have my own children since I keep getting older. I know getting fit is a huge factor in that and should be my greatest motivation.