Valentine's Day...

is one of those holidays that I never could make up my mind if I liked or not. I've been more single then not on V-Day, so it was never a huge holiday for me in the romantic sense, however I've recently come to the conclusion that I really like Valentine's Day--- but not necessarily for the reasons most people do--the lovey sweetheart couple stuff (though I am a bit spoiled by Karl, see below). The reason I like Valentine's Day is that I get to be a kid again (if for only a few moments) on Valentine's Day. You see, my mom is the best mom ever and as the best mom ever she always makes her kids a special Valentine. It consists of the most delicious homemade heart shaped sugar cookies (one year we got cookies shaped like big lips), with pink frosting, all wrapped up with candies and a little treat-- this year it was cute V-Day socks. Now most moms stop this kinda stuff when their kids get married, but not my mom-- she gives you even more cookies to share!! I would have taken a picture of my Valentine gift but Karl picked it up and tore into it to eat some cookies before I could capture the cuteness.... boys, they just don't get it. Thanks mom for being my special Valentine for all these years-- and hopefully for many many many more to come!


Of course, how could I mention Valentine's Day without mentioning my handsome hunter! Karl is of the belief that V-day is a "girl" holiday, meaning the boy is to get stuff for the girl and the girl just enjoys it....and wanting to be a supportive wife I said "whatever you want dear" (yeah, so maybe it wasn't those exact words...it might have been more along the lines of "so, what romantic evening do you have planned that I've been looking forward to and will set the tone for 2010???? Just kidding, about the 'tone for 2010' part.). So, my romantic husband planned a candle lit dinner at home, had my wedding band engraved, flowers and.... here it comes ladies..... danced with me to a total of 4 slow songs in the candlelight!!! Thanks babe! Here's to many more romantic V-Days, at least until the kids come and then it's egg pan time! (Ask LaAna about the egg pan... gotta love Eddie! Lookin' forward to visiting them so he can use that egg pan for us!)

What's in a name....

I've always loved unique names (probably because I loved being the only Telesia/Sia in my class or group of friends) and I've always loved family names that have history and meaning (Telesia is my Grandma Fau's name, LaAna is named after my two aunts, Aniva means the Stars/Milky Way and Tenny is in honor of my dad). A person's name can have a profound affect on ones development of a sense of self, so when Karl's Dad set up accounts for Karl and I on the church's new family history program I was intrigued to see the names of our ancestors (and potential names for our future children-- this is NOT a pregnancy announcement) and wonder about the type of person they were. Here are a few names from our combined family tree.

Albeon (Karl)--- I bet he was cool, reminds me of Albus Dumbledore
Ursal (Karl)-- has a Walt Disney tone to it (hee hee)
Iva (Karl)--- I bet she was glamorous, reminds me of Ava Gardner
Otto Adolph (Karl)--- yeah, ok. Bet he has some stories.
Arclie (Sia)---she was French, makes this name cooler.
Emmaline (Sia)-- reminds me of Madeline...
Sanitoa (Sia)-- this is a popular name on the Fau side, I bet the original Sanitoa was beautiful

and then there is..... Lualuapuolenu'u (Sia).

I just found out for the first time in my life that Lualuapuolenu'u is the first name of my Grandpa Fau as recorded on his birth certificate (he always went by Tavete, which turns out to be his middle name!).

Hmmm, my Granpa Fau was a smart man....I think I would have gone by Tavete too :)