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!

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.

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...)