On this busy, busy day I decided to share a simple photo of my son Alaka'i in his Iron Man costume at our church celebration for Hallow Him (on Halloween). This simple photo took forever to edit because I didn't have a real backdrop so I masked out his and 84 other people's photo background and added a digital background. Not easy but way easier on the eyes than the mess that was originally in the background!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday. I'm utterly swamped at my "day job" but I have lots of new and exciting posts that will be going up in the next couple of days!! Lots of photos, reviews and more!!

Happy Wednesday!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/search/label/aloha" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWdntYejY8vx_4m4tgpMai4CyO3CbdoAKeEgDlJJoHPvRFTJlIDO6mMuMEetMa_MVA_zhyphenhyphenZFcAXCHJ2xHSGCJOFkyN3uqG5oG4gnWSgdDnp_w48ynSCbQF_LweHVOus6UFQoQpoRWXaM/s320/Aloha+Friday+Blog+Hopsmaller.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This week we wanted to add a little something extra special to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...
Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ... Katie from Life in the Simple Lane!! Katie's blog mission is to spread her message of simplicity to the far corners of the world. If something is worth doing at all it is worth doing simply :) Want a little taste of her ideas? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing: Simple Beauty Tips for Moms on the Run - invaluable, even if you're not a mom! Timesaving Tips - clever stuff here people. If you're not already a follower than you definitely should be! Now, let's link up and start spreading that Aloha shall we?

xoxo,

Aloha,

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling utterly drained of all energy lately.  I don't know if it's just because the holidays are approaching and preparing for it is both stressful and time consuming, or if it's the fact that I've been working the equivalent of 5 jobs pretty much every single day.  Let me switch gears here and go in reverse a bit to explain a bit..

Ok so I know all you moms out there (and dads too) can empathize with me on how exhausting it is to be a parent. I found the graphic above on Pinterest and found it both funny and true.  Children have this endless supply of energy that I wish I could tap in to.  As I sit here and yawn while I drink my second cup of coffee, just thinking about the plans for the day involving my son makes me want to run to my bed and curl up and sleep.


I've found there are several levels of being tired and drained and then you reach a level of utter exhaustion where you just feel completely wiped out.  That's where I'm at right now as I type this blog post.  Exhausted.  The dictionary defines it as:

ex·haus·tion

noun /igˈzôsCHən/  exhaustions, plural A state of extreme physical or mental fatigue - he was pale with exhaustion

Can I just say that I miss having all the energy I used to have?  I'm 30 now and I can feel the energy progressively becoming less and less available.  Perhaps it's because I don't get enough rest lately but I think with age, comes further energy depletion which is why it's so important to eat healthy and exercise to try to retain as much energy as possible.

So about the 5 jobs thing...whether you're a working parent or not, you have one main job...being a parent.  Job #1....parenthood, is the hardest and most important job you'll ever have.  How you parent your child greatly affects the outcome of a human beings life and the world so you wanna make sure you do your best.  Being a single mom is my #1 job because I do it alone with my boy and I wouldn't trade him for anything.  I think it's easier now that he's older because he can clean up after himself and he can help with chores.  He's almost 11 and he's been a great help to me.

Job #2 is my "day job" in which I work as the Assistant Vice President to a corporation and though it is both stressful and time consuming, it pays my bills and my awesome bosses allow me the flexibility to still be there for my son and retazin gainful employment. The fact that I can leave the office at 2 pm to pick up my son and continue my reports and paperwork from my home office is such a blessing. The only downside to that is because I leave work at that time, I have a ton of catch up work to do at my home office which keeps me up late but it's so worth it.

Job #3 is being an aunt/babysitter to my two nieces, 2 years old and 5 years old, respectively. I pick the 5 year old up from school before I get my son and I watch all three of them until around 7 pm when my brother and his wife get off of work. I've been doing that for about a month now and boy oh boy did I forget how high maintenance a toddler is!!  They are like walking tornadoes creating messes as they go and she and her big sister are always taking each other's toys so I have to diplomatically help them resolve their issues all while cleaning up after them, helping my son and oldest niece do homework, taking them out for some fresh air, feeding them dinner and bathing them.  Man, even writing about it exhausts me!! Keep in mind all this is done while getting work calls and doing emails and sending proposals on my laptop.

Job #4 is running this wonderful website.  For quite awhile, jobs #1-3 monopolized so much of my time that I was neglecting What Jean Likes and just doing the Aloha Friday Blog Hop.  I've been working super hard and not only redesigning my page (to speed up loading time and make it look pretty) but also to provide content and share all the things I like, love and enjoy with all of you!!

Job #5 is kind of like two additional jobs in one but I'll just list it in the same category.  That's being a photographer. I spend my weekends when I'm not doing the "day job" stuff taking photos and then editing them.  Keep in mind that I primarily am a landscape photographer so I "chase the light" and drive all over the beautiful island of O'ahu to find something new and gorgeous to photograph.  I'm so lucky to live in a place with summer year round because there's always something to photograph.  I must confess that I sometimes long for cold winters or the rich reds and oranges that fall leaves bring.  So with photography comes the taking photos and the editing photos. I think though taking photos is challenging because you want to get it right in camera, the editing is much more time consuming.  I have to admit that I should be photographing my son and nieces more although when I watch them I get so caught up in everything else that photographing them slips my mind.

You know what though? I wouldn't trade the stress, multi-tasking and exhaustion for all the money or quiet time in the world.  I am so blessed and thankful for all that I do have.  It's wonderful to have the job, opportunity and family to cause my exhaustion. My life would be dreadful and dull without all those little energy suckers.  So if you wondered what I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving, it's all the blessings that God has given me in the forms of the jobs, people and tasks that leave me utterly exhausted. :)

About Andreane Fraser

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