A Rose

Last night I went to one of the most beautiful Christmas services I can remember - the music, the message. It was at First Presbyterian Church in Kailua (also known as "First Prez") where you "experience God in the parking lot." (Ok, that's not their tagline, that's what a friend told us. He was right). Honestly, I see God all over Hawaii... this is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, let alone lived. For us, we live in paradise. And feel so immensely blessed to be here.

Part of any traditional Christmas service is the lighting of the final advent candle. A family came forward to tell their story of hope, faith, and the light (Jesus) during their dark times. She mentioned something about a rose... a prayer... God not answering her prayers... and not sending the rose back. I was completely taken by her story, but I didn't understand her references to "the rose." But at the conclusion of her story, she tells how God HAD answered her prayer by putting her son in jail, because that was the only way he would be off drugs.

So, the rose thing. There is a huge wreath that has lots of little roses. Every Christmas, Pastor Dan says a prayer to heal whatever hurts we may have - whether physical or emotional. And he prays. It was powerful. Then we take these little roses that are passed around in a basket. In one year, if our prayer has been answered, we send the rose back with our prayer and how God answered it. He adds it to the wreath. Cancer in remission, pets healed (no prayer too small!!), physical ailments healed, depression lifted immediately, miracles. Just a few of what those roses already on the wreath represented.

This family's story was a sad story on the outside, but a beautiful story of faith. A story of heartbreak about a mother's love for her son where drugs had completely taken over his life. Her and her husband were raising their grandchildren and describing the things they (the children) had seen. The year prior, at the Christmas service, her prayer was for her son to be off drugs. When it came time to return the rose to Pastor Dan, with a note telling how God had answered her prayers, she didn't want to return it. Because that year, her son had been put in jail; to her, God did not answer her prayer. However, when the deadline came to return the rose, she felt God in her heart. "Why didn't you return the rose?" "Because, you didn't answer my prayer." "In My time." In God's time... she knew then and there that God HAD answered her prayer. Her son was in jail, but he was off drugs. God may not answer our prayers in the way we expect, the way we think is right, but He listens, and He will answer prayers. 

The children, whose father was in jail, read my favorite verse. Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I was truly amazed at the pain this family had experienced and the amount of hope, faith, and love they had. I know God is real. I have a million things that have happened in my life, that I know he has had his hand in. I know it in my heart, I feel it. And you cannot argue with me that it's not real. He is the light in the darkness. He has been the light in my darkness. 

I know my prayer. It's a big one. And I have ENORMOUS faith that in one year, I'll be able to send my rose back. 

Mele Kalikimaka!!

Wa'ahila Ridge

I've been living in Hawaii for almost an entire month... and it's been like being on vacation. I've finally convinced myself that I won't actually be checking out of my apartment and leaving. Rob's schedule has been pretty awesome lately and we've had a lot of time to explore the island. I've been taking my camera practically everywhere... even just to buy fresh fruits and veggies from Chinatown. But we've also been hitting up all the touristy "attractions" and I've also had my fair share of shave ice. Oh and there are LOTS of wild chickens and roosters around this island. Apparently pigs too, but I have yet to see any. 

A short hike on Wa'ahila Ridge - I say short because the trail started to get steep and difficult (like having to use my hands... which I consider the next level of hiking...) so we didn't make it all the way up. But what we did see was great! It was definitely hot and muggy and it rained a little, which was seriously refreshing. Also, here's a link to a good blog/review from someone else that actually made it to the top. Don't worry, we'll try again!

Full moon hunt?? Someone's been reading a little too much "Twilight"

Trees with evenly spaced branches? How organized!

Obviously not the hike, but the drive home was pretty!

I know I've been lame and haven't updated with anything of real substance lately. We've been SO busy and unorganized and and and... yeah, just still trying to get things unpacked.

But I'll just make a quick list of (most) everything I love about living in Hawaii.

1. I get to see rainbows almost every single day. Beautiful colorful rainbows.
2. The ocean water is WARM and it is CLEAR!!
3. I've been surfing 2 days in a row - the last time I went surfing was in Tavarua where the water was also warm and clear. LA beaches = cold COLD water and yeah, you'll never see the bottom, even in an inch of water. I don't do wetsuits.
4. I've worn shorts and a tanktop everyday. It's November.
5. No one is really in any sort of hurry. People aren't so quick to blow the horn if you're not going as soon as it turns green.
6. The shopping is better than LA believe it or not. This could be a problem.
7. THE FOOD! Poke poke poke - no, not what Rob does to my stomach after I gorge myself - it's marinated raw ahi over rice. It's SO delicious that I fear I may die of mercury poison, so we've laid off the raw tuna for a bit.
8. UMMM... it's a tropical paradise. It's Hawaii. Do I really need to continue this list?

Kamaʻāina

I am kamaʻāina. I have made it to Hawaii and the family is together - husband, cat, and myself. Many more details to come being as I have a lot to share. And not even just about moving to Hawaii, but November in general has just been crazy! My in-laws came to Baxter-sit. My brother came for a visit. I went to Virginia to visit family and now I'm officially moved into my apartment in Hawaii. Sure, there are a few more boxes to be delivered, but I AM HERE. I LIVE IN HAWAII. Seriously, I can't get it through my head that I don't have to leave in a week. This is not vacation. This is my life. 

Evolution

What we bought off Craigslist...

Sanded... 

Primed...

Painting it red!

Still painting...

Our "new" entertainment center!

WHEW!!

That's all I have to say!

Things have been a complete whirlwind the past few weeks. I've been busy packing up our apartment in California and I ran the LA Rock-n-Roll half-marathon with two of my favorite super stew friends! We had a BLAST! (Another post).

Currently my in-laws are "Baxter sitting" for us while we're both in Hawaii getting our apartment furnished. I'll be back on the mainland for the next few weeks - my brother is coming for a visit! We have a few things planned... Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, dinner with my friends... and RUNNING! Which leads me into the next week... I'll be headed back to Virginia with my little brother to see family and friends AND run an 8k race with him!! I am SO excited about this! I love the run and I'm so glad I get to share this experience with my little bro! So yeah, I'm staying busy and have a busy few weeks coming up.

But back to present: furnishing our apartment has been an adventure in and of itself. Our apartment in Santa Barbara was furnished mostly via Craigslist and then we moved it all to LA. But we are not moving that furniture across the ocean so time for new stuff!! Well, new to us stuff. We did buy a new bed, but so far we've racked up a nice brown microfiber couch, an Asian-esque dining room table, an entertainment center and two tall matching bookcases (they came with the entertainment center) all from Craigslist.

I actually bought a dresser as well, but ended up hating it after we got it home. Good thing we only paid $40 for it and then sold it for $60 the very next day on Craigslist! Yep, making money while moving in! I am a pilot's wife, you know.

The entertainment center was also kind of a bust... the stain just didn't go well with the color of the couch. But, we decided since we weren't busy enough (sarcasm!!!), we needed a project! Our entertainment center is now RED! Not 'cranberry zing,' or 'red delicious,' or all the various colors of red... it's just, red. And as I type, Rob is putting the third and final coat. The bookcases will be next, but that'll have to happen when I'm out here permanently.

And let me just add, Ross is the most fantastic store there is when it comes to decorating an apartment. We have picked up some of the coolest things. Blackout curtains for our bedroom since we have one giant window from wall to wall for only $7.99.... exact same brand sold at Target for three times that much! We just happened to pick out a discontinued color. We've also picked up bathroom towels, clothes hangers, a 16-piece dish set, wine glasses and regular glasses, a "bath-in-a-bag" - includes: shower curtain, liner, and hooks to hang them on the rod with, and a few other various household things.

Costco has been a huge lifesaver as well. Not only can you enjoy a hotdog with a soda for $1.50 after shopping, you can also buy a 25lb bag of rice and a 32" television all in the same trip.

That about sums it up. I'll post pictures of our red entertainment center project later. I am most excited about this. So basically, our apartment is small, but just so awesome. We have great views of Diamond Head, the city, and we can even see a little bit of the ocean. I will leave you with a photo taken out of my window this afternoon.

"Priceless Artifact"

A few weeks ago when I was out in Hawaii, I had the opportunity to take a tour of Oahu from 2,000 feet in THE original Hawaiian Airlines airplane. I couldn't get over that Hawaiian Airlines actually has the original airplane and makes this tour available to employees. I mean, this is the original airplane that started the company in 1929! That's AMAZING! What's even more amazing is to see how far aviation as come since then. I have this .pdf file of the history of the Bellanca that I wish I could post here because it's so interesting - and I don't think it's because I'm a huge aviation dork, it's just REALLY interesting to see where it all began for Hawaiian.

As Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's CEO, says, "it's impossible to put a price on the plane other than to say the result is a priceless artifact."

The pilot gave us phenomenal narration of what we were seeing all while the wind was blowing through my hair. Yes, windows open! And being that I clearly have the best husband in the world, he let me sit in the cockpit so I could get the best view. And of course, we saw a rainbow. 

Windows open!

Diamond Head

Honolulu

Not the PIC... 

Moving to Hawaii: Renting

I'll just start off by saying that finding an apartment in Hawaii is nothing like trying to find an apartment on the mainland. Since moving to California in 2005, we have relied on Craigslist for everything! Finding our apartment, furnishing it, and just any other random thing we needed, we always turned to Craigslist. So when we found out for sure we'd be moving to Hawaii, I started scouring Craigslist for apartment rentals. Surprisingly, I did not have very good luck... I was actually pretty amazed at how little was posted compared to when we were moving to Los Angeles. (Yes, I know that over 3 MILLION people live in Los Angeles alone where as less than 1 million live on the whole island of Oahu...but that's not the point.) And having a pet doesn't necessarily help. Renting in California is the same way... it's not like my experience on the east coast where you just have to pay the extra fee per month and it's no big deal. Apartments here and in Hawaii either allow pets or they don't. Mostly, they don't. Whatever, Baxter is coming with us, so it's not really an "issue" necessarily.

BUT this is two sided... finding a (good) apartment may not be easy, but it's a part of why I LOVE Hawaii so much. Let me explain. Hawaiian's seem to be very family oriented. They look out for each other; there's a strong sense of community. They don't NEED to post on Craigslist. Word of mouth works just as well and it's really all about who you know. We've already gotten a lead on an condo to rent from someone Rob has met while out there.

On our side, moving from California to Hawaii doesn't really produce "sticker shock" for us. It's expensive to live here... it's expensive to live there. When I moved here from the east coast, I couldn't believe how expensive it was... but that's worn off. You just accept it. From what I've found, it runs about $1000/month for a studio (in the areas we're looking), and about $1700 for a "nice" 1-bedroom apartment. Of course there are areas where the rent is cheaper... but living in town or close to town is important to us, so we're paying for that too.

Our friends that live in Hawaii have been so gracious to let Rob stay with them while he's in training offered us some advice. She works in real estate. She said, "choose to rent uncomfortably so you're motivated to buy as soon as possible..." It's GREAT advice because quite surprisingly the cost of buying a condo isn't astronomical. The cost of buying a house, different story. However, Rob's parents did caution us that the HOA/maintenance dues can run up to $1000 a month or more. WHOA! And it's true... we went to a building to see if there were any vacancies on their "bulletin board" and ended up speaking to one of the property managers. If you were to buy a condo in that building, your monthly maintenance fee is $1500. That blew our minds. So right now, we're looking at smaller units to 1) live "uncomfortably" and 2) to save money in hopes that we'll buy something in the next year. I guess we'll see what happens... it's ALL an adventure. But one thing is for certain, even when I visit Hawaii, I feel like I'm home.

High-rises are standard for condos & apartments.

The Dalai Lama tweets?

Either way, this is golden: 

"Lack of contentment sows the seed of envy and aggressive competitiveness and leads to a culture of excessive materialism."

There's Riff-Raff in the Riff-Raff Room!

There's Riff-Raff in the Riff-Raff Room! - The Ellen DeGeneres Show

So, here's my 5 seconds of fame...I'm in the purple dress. I do think they showed us with the final product as well, because my aunt made mention of it this morning. What's funny about that man is that I saw him back there and was thinking, "he looks a little out of place...umm..." But when you live in LA, anything goes, so it really wouldn't have surprised me if they told us he was the head designer for Levi jeans. Ha!

Update:

Here's a screenshot from the show! There's me and Leah!

I went to Ellen!

Ok, so my friend Leah invited me to go to The Ellen Show with her... I was so stoked because it's damn near impossible to get tickets to see Ellen! Well, we had standby tickets, so I never actually got into the audience, BUT I think what ended up happening was MUCH better. We were waiting out in the hallway and were approached by two people working on/with Ellen's show. They asked if we'd like to model/get fitted for jeans. Hmm... think about it think about it think about it... YES!

So they bring us to the back as everyone else waiting to go in the backstage/holding room (?) throw us daggers with their eyes. No worries, they came back their too. They had the whole back room set-up with Levis EVERYTHING. We got fitted for jeans, got filmed being measured, tried on a few pairs, got to keep TWO pairs, and then went back to the platform to show (while being filmed) the "finished product." Since I wore a dress, they gave me an Ellen tank top... and THEN gave me another super cute Levis' top. The gal leading us through made it sound like we'll be on the show tomorrow... now, we didn't actually walk out there and model the jeans (there were actual models that did that... they're all so skinny... sigh...) but we were filmed in our new jeans! So I guess I'll see tomorrow if I made the cut!

And oh, we still got to watch the show, just on jumbo TVs... I could see in the actual area where they were filming a little bit, it was just up the stairs. But seriously, I got to watch the show and (kinda) participate. It was a lot of fun! And bonus: once they were finished taping, we got to leave because we had all our stuff! But the audience (200+ people) had to stay behind and get fitted for their jeans. And I'm not sure where they were going to do that, because it was 108 degrees outside.

In all seriousness, it was really generous for them to give away SO much stuff! I left with two new tops and two new pairs of jeans! Rock on!

Moving to Hawaii: Bringing your Pet

I had NO clue what an endeavor it would be to bring Baxter to Hawaii. I did know that Hawaii is rabies-free and that animals arriving had to be quarantined. I really really really didn't want to have to quarantine Baxter in Hawaii, but c'est la vie. Once moving to Hawaii started to become a partial reality, I decided do some research as to what I had to do to bring our kitty with us. 

The good news: I don't necessarily have to "quarantine" him. The bad news: I have a four page checklist with seven separate points and several sub-points of things that have to be done to qualify for "direct-release" at the Honolulu airport. Direct release=no kitty jail. I went cross-eyed the first time I read it and I had to read it out loud. Repeatedly. And also, we started this process early, even before we knew we'd be moving to Hawaii or not because we knew there was a lengthy waiting period. 

Step 1 - Rabies Vaccinations

No problem, right? Wrong. Since Baxter was rescued, I knew that he had been vaccinated by Jiji (Baxter's foster mommy), but this checklist requires at least TWO rabies vaccinations in his lifetime. So, we went to get him vaccinated, again. About a year had passed since his first & second vaccination, so even though he had received a 3-year shot the first time, I don't think this would be considered "over vaccinating" him. Also, what the hell else was I supposed to do? That's what they require. 

From the latest vaccine, there's a 90 day waiting period to enter Hawaii. 3 months. The least of my worries. 

I also had to track down all the info from his first vaccination - which Jiji so graciously helped me with. It wasn't exactly easy, because the state of Hawaii is very specific in the information they want (date vaccinated, type of vaccine, etc.). I actually had to email the people over in Hawaii (the government, I guess?) with a lot of questions about the paperwork I did have. Surprisingly, they emailed me back rather quickly. So yeah, the vaccine stuff is straight. I think. I hope. 

Step 2 - Microchip

All pets must be microchipped. Baxter microchipped. Check! So, if he gets lost, you can scan his neck, and up pops my information! Fancy. I like it. 

Step 3 - OIE-FAVN Rabies Blood Test

This was a little confusing trying to explain to the vet. Luckily, here in California the vets are pretty familiar with the "moving to Hawaii" procedures, so really it was just confusing to me. They knew exactly what needed to be done. Basically, they drew blood from Baxter (I'm pretty sure he hated us that day), and sent it away to some lab in Kansas. Your arrival date in Hawaii must be 120 days (4 months) after the lab receives the results. But not more than 36 months after.  And then there's all these other fancy instructions, like the paperwork must have the microchip ID number and say Hawaii as the destination and... and... cross eyed. 

THEN, there's the website through the State of Hawaii government website where I could actually check to make sure Baxter got a passing test result. It was only updated every Friday and it was a million page long PDF file. Searching by microchip number is the only way you'd ever find your pet. I think by week 4, Baxter was on there and good to go. This is where we got the date of November 18th - the first date Baxter would be eligible for direct release at the airport. Arriving prior to that date would result in him being quarantined until the 120 days are up. 

Step 4 - Waiting Period
And we wait...

Step 5 - Paperwork! 

There's a buttload of paperwork that needs to be submitted. The tricky part is, the original health certificate they require is only "good" for 10 days. So right before I leave, I need to hit up the vet for this nonsense. 

Step 6 - Turning in your Homework

Now it's time to submit all the paperwork. And it has to be received in Hawaii at least TEN DAYS prior to your arrival. Remember the expiration date I told you about on the health certificate?? So yeah, everything EXCEPT the health certificate has to be mailed off and received at least 10 days before kitty lands in Hawaii. Oh yeah, there's also some paper I have to get notarized I keep forgetting about. Crap.

Step 7 - Who the hell knows... 

This part just gives me the hours of operation of the Animal Quarantine Facility/Customs and how much it's going to cost me to have Baxter direct released at the airport ($165)... 

And on a side note, you can't just bring any animal into Hawaii and call it pet. I'm pretty sure it's just cats and dogs only. No birdies, ferrets, or other rodents. 


(I noticed my pictures weren't showing up for some reason, so again, this is the checklist I am referring too...)

And OF COURSE our Baxter is worth it. 

Moving to Hawaii: Buying a Car

In case you haven't heard, we're moving to Hawaii. And moving across the Pacific is a little more complicated than moving somewhere that you can... oh, DRIVE to. Random fact: if you Google map how to get to Hawaii from Los Angeles, it'll tell you to kayak there, from Seattle. Shit you not. Maybe we should get a kayak with a trailer hitch?

We ended up selling the husband's car to Carmax (sad day!) because it was a 98 and although still drivable, needed some major work done. The work that needed to be done was going to be quite costly... more than the car was worth. We're still deciding on what to do with my car, but most likely we will ship it over to Hawaii right before I move out there. 

After scouring Craigslist for the past week, we narrowed down what we were interested within our price range. Our criteria was pretty simple: surfboards must easily fit inside. Top choices were: Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, any other small-ish SUVs we came across. We test drove all of the above and ended up with the 4Runner. We LOVE it! I love the way it drives - like a truck, and I just love the look. It's a 2002, and I definitely prefer the older body style. And only 77k miles! Makes sense if you think about, where are you gonna drive... you live on an ISLAND. Didn't even realize that 4Runners are really popular in Hawaii and surprisingly, not that easy to find. But we got a fantastic deal! And most importantly, it has Hawaii license plates! 

(not ours...)

Moving to Hawaii

So, it's official... my husband got this awesome job in Hawaii and we're relocating. He's leaving sooner than me, and now we're running around trying to sell all of our big pieces of furniture while he's still here. Thankfully, as reminded of last night, we have lots of amazing friends that would come over in a moment's notice to help me out if needed.

The main reason why I'm staying behind is because Baxter is "technically" in quarantine. Bringing a pet to Hawaii is an ENTIRELY different post. Four pages that includes a seven point checklist, with lots of sub-points, of things that need to be done and the timeframe they need to be done in. We're in the waiting period right now. Otherwise he'd have to be quarantined for up to 120 days in Hawaii...that's FOUR MONTHS! And that ain't free either (around $20/day)... it has already costs of hundreds of dollars for the required blood work and will cost us a few hundred more to even bring him there. So, just a note, if you plan on moving to Hawaii and want to bring a pet, plan on spending about $600 per animal. But there is absolutely NO WAY we'd leave him behind! As any pet owner knows, he is a part of our family and he really wants to be a hula kitty.

oh hai. i'm going to live here.

ALOHA! 

eat pray love

For a while there, it seemed like this was the only book passengers were reading. Usually a good sign when you're looking for something new to read! However, when I asked how it was, I always got the "eh..." response, so I just let this one go.

But tonight my husband and I had an impromptu date night - chicken wings and a movie! He let me pick the movie and "Eat Pray Love" was the winner. I really liked the movie, although it just reinforces the "me" mentality. It's all about me, me, me - we're all so darn narcissistic. "I'm unhappy in my marriage, let's get divorced, I need to find myself... wah wah wah." Don't get me wrong, I'm all about soul searching and finding the purpose of your life, and I'm *trying* to do that myself, but whatever. I liked the movie, and it basically sums up what I already knew: I really want to go to Indonesia and Italy, and not so much India. It is what it is. 

No news is good news?

Unfortunately, I wish I had more to report about the happenings of our lives. We've moved on from praying (begging) to God to let Hawaii happen, to just letting us know where/what we're supposed to do. Ok, that's kind of a lie because of course we're praying for it to happen. One thing is for sure, we're restless. I've been feeling for quite some time that my purpose is so much greater than what I'm doing now, which isn't much. But I guess until that is revealed to me (us), we're still here doing our thing. We do have some ideas we're keeping in the back of our minds. But more on that another day.

I ran a 5k!

Today I ran the Jet to Jetty 5k! I was kinda over paying $30 just to run 3.1 miles, since I do that anyway, BUT since it was a part of my half-marathon training plan AND along my normal route, I decided why not?! I'm glad I did - it was fun! And I needed an updated 5k race time. By the way I finished in 27:05 (an 8:43 minute/mile pace). I was pleasantly surprised!