taking some time to enjoy life!

After being completely obsessed with finding a place to live, we finally took some time to enjoy the island a little. The one thing we've not skimped on since being here is the food. We love the food! Maybe not the lau lau that was explained to me by our waitress as "fish and fat wrapped in leaves." Eventually I'll try it but her description made me want to vomit. I enjoy the Kalua pork and cabbage, teriyaki chicken, and unlimited sushi places. We went to one of those sushi restaurants that has the conveyor belt so you get to see everything and just take what you want. Tim loves that everything here is served with rice. I could probably do without the macaroni salad. I'm finding you sort of have to go out of your way to order fresh fruits and vegetables. We have both gained so much weight that we're embarrassed to wear bathing suits.

We haven't truly experienced the beach yet. We walked along Waikiki one night but Tim didn't want to get in the water because his feet are still messed up from ranger school. We took the dogs to this sketchy homeless area near industrial plants because we couldn't find a dog friendly beach. Denny was quite intrigued by the waves whereas Scout could have done without them. She kept climbing up on the rocks to get away from the waves but then they'd knock her on her butt. The other day we drove up the Leeward side of the island (west coast) attempting to find a dog friendly beach. We didn't find one so we pulled off to the side of the road, climbed down a brushy hill and found our own little lagoon. It was perfect for the dogs. Too rocky for children and protected on 3 sides so we just had to keep them from getting swept out to sea from one point. They had a blast! Denny chased the waves and almost got swept out on a few occasions. He wanted the big waves! Scout tried to jump over the waves so they wouldn't get her. The only part that sucked was there was no shade so I got a sunburn and we were up on what I assume were black lava rocks so the puppies were burning their feet when they came on shore. Next time we bring sunblock and beach towels.

We found a house we might live in. It's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath. A little small but everything here is small...or huge and in the ghetto. It's the first one we've seen that has a eat in kitchen so we can fit both our kitchen and dining sets....otherwise we would have to store one. We're used to the open floor plan so I'm a little disappointed that the kitchen is completely enclosed. There isn't much cabinet space so we might have to get some kind of island. The downstairs is all laminate flooring so we can leave the dogs inside or put in a doggy door and let them go in and out as they please. The yard is split in half so half of it is grass and half is a cement patio. A lot of the other ones we saw had only one or the other. Either a small all grass yard with no patio or a large cement patio with no grass for the dogs to even relieve themselves. I don't like that none of the patio is covered. Upstairs is tiny with no walk in closets or his and her sinks. We'll probably have to separate our master bedroom furniture into the 3 bedrooms. I think if the neighborhood was a little nicer we'd be more excited about it. As it is, it's not in the ghetto but it's not a great neighborhood either. I wouldn't be afraid to walk around during the day but probably not so much at night.

Our other option is to wait for on-post housing. When we got here a week ago, we were somewhere around number 7 on the waiting list but with no vacancies in sight. Our old neighbors at Benning who got here 3 weeks before us just got offered on post housing but can't move in until May 31st. So they'll have waited 2 months total. Which wouldn't be so bad if we didn't need our HHG before Tim leaves. There are a bunch of people PCS-ing as soon as school lets out but since they have kids and we don't...we don't even qualify for their housing. We're having a hard time deciding if we want to wait and see what happens with on post housing or just take this one. The problem with not taking this one is that the rental market moves really fast here. We will not find another house like this for this rental price that allows dogs. There were a couple where I made appointments to look at them but they were taken before we could even see them. But post is a good 30 mins away without traffic so Tim will actually have to commute and I'll have to make that drive anytime I want to use the commissary, gym or any of the on post activities. The only time we lived off post, we were right outside the gate and I worked there and I still didn't use the gym or commissary.

Decisions, decisions....so I'm hoping if God shuts the door on this house that it'll mean we should wait for on-post housing. It's sad, most people stay in hotels here for at least 30-60 days. We've been in this one for 10 days and Tim's already aggravated by my mess and the dogs are fighting with each other! We just need our own place and our own space. We have been able to cook a few simple meals in our electric skillet. Unfortunately our fridge can only fit either food or drinks and right now the milk is taking up the whole fridge.

Well time to do laundry for $5 a load. Tim accidentally wore one of his uniforms from ranger school to work today. Not a great first impression....