To do list

I love making to do lists. Sometimes I write things on the list I've already done just so I can cross it off. Just makes me feel like I've accomplished something. So I've decided to make a to do list of things I'd like to accomplish during this next deployment. I always say I'm going to take up new hobbies or re-ignite my love for old ones but somehow the year always goes by with nothing done. I don't have a comprehensive list because I think of new things every day but here's a few things I've thought of.

1. Visit every farmers market on this island
2. Run at least one 5K and maybe even a 10K
3. Ride a wave on a surfboard at least once
4. Take the dogs on a hike at least once a month
5. Take a photography class
6. Visit every popular tourist attraction

That's all I can think of right now. These are all things that my other half pretty much has no interest in doing with me so it works out nicely. Anyone have any other ideas to add to my list? Now I just have to find someone who's willing to do this stuff with me....

torch party anyone?

Yup, it's that time again! The time for my husband to abandon me and leave 3-4 weeks before anyone else does. The date our stuff arrives on the island is only 7 days away from the date he's supposed to leave. I just hope the movers can get us our stuff before he leaves so he can at least pick out the stuff I'll have to send him.



We spent the first half of the weekend enjoying ourselves and the second half preparing for the upcoming departure. We got to go boogie boarding. The beach right by our house rents them out for $1/hour. I found out that boogie boarding makes me slightly nauseated and I'm too out of shape to be doing it! It was sooo tiring. It was a rush when I was able to catch one wave out of hundreds that I missed but I definitely need to start working out if I want to get out there again. We're going to try surfing next weekend. That should be interesting.



Got our Costco membership yesterday. We were able to save $50 with the coupon book they gave us but spent many more dollars on all the stuff we ended up getting. I'm happy with my $150 underwater camera. Won't be the best camera I ever own but I can bring it snorkeling with me. The sad part is, we didn't even buy any food. It was just the basic cleaning supplies you need to get a household started.



We haven't moved into the house yet but we were able to do all our laundry there yesterday. Unfortunately, the water heater sprang a leak and there was water everywhere when we got home from shopping. The management company hasn't returned any of my calls so we'll have to see how long this lease lasts for. The dogs were able to romp around in the yard as we shopped. I'm pretty sure they felt like they had been abandoned. The funny part is that they seem to have issues doing their business in new places. When we moved from Texas to Georgia they held it for a day because they didn't want to go in the hotel parking lot. As soon as we let them out of the backyard, they ran to the front to find a place to relieve themselves. When we got back to our hotel (which I'm pretty sure they consider home now), they ran out to potty like they hadn't gone in days.

Today has been a fun day of trying to get the water heater fixed, trying to find out where our car title was mailed and why I was charged $52 for a $15 lunch I had last week. And re-typing this post because there was an error and half of it was deleted.... Weekend please!

hula girls, farmers markets, and snorkeling!

We tried out the church by our soon to be home on Sunday. The people there were really nice. A little awkward because everyone was a hugger but very warm and welcoming. For mother's day instead of mother's wearing corsages, they were presented with leis. I didn't see many people our age but I might try out a women's Bible study next week when I live a little closer and might be able to hitch a ride. We even had a young girl do a beautiful hula dance during service. Made me wish I had a daughter who could learn to hula. Mother's day is becoming a little bittersweet as I start to question whether or not I'll ever experience motherhood.

After church, we checked out a farmers market on North Shore. We only had a little bit of time before it closed so we had just enough time for me to get an awesome banana, strawberry and nutella crepe made by French men. Tim opted for the raw sugar cane...it was gross. Grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach for some snorkeling. We only had our regular swim goggles so we swam around, saw some fishes and swam with the turtles. Later on our friends let us borrow their gear and we got to go out again for round 2.

We stopped at a beach where sea turtles are known to rest and sun bathe. There was only one on the beach that day but it was neat to see it up close. There are volunteers there that rope off the area around a turtle so that people don't get too close and don't touch or disturb the turtles. Oddly enough, I didn't have my camera on me.

We finished off the day with a stop at Matsumoto's for some shave ice. Ice cream topped with azuki beans topped with a snow cone...could have added some condensed milk on top but decided to save that for next time. It was a delicious end to a wonderful day.

On Monday, Marissa took me to check out another beach. This one was nice and wavy. We got to jump off the rocks and float around on our noodles. Then as we laid out on the beach, these guys started singing and playing the ukelele. What a wonderful way to spend a Monday!

Now it's back to real life trying to get everything settled!

Things are looking good!

We sign for the house I described in my last post tomorrow! I'm still iffy about the size of the bedrooms. In reality, our bathroom in Texas was bigger than our master bedroom here. But I've decided if I only live on the lower level everything will be fine. So if you don't get claustrophobic easily, come on over to the islands for a vacation! We're only 5 minutes from a nice beach where beginners learn to surf and right down the street from that beach is a beach we can take the dogs to.

My car has arrived to the island 15 days ahead of schedule. Initially it was going to take 30 days because we just missed the cut off for the sail date prior. Somehow our car arrived to the port within hours of the ship leaving so it got put on the earlier ship and was supposed to be ready for pick up late next week. But they called today and told me I can get it tomorrow. The only problem with that is I have no ride to the port so I'll have to wait until next week anyways.

Now if only our HHG could arrive in the 3-4 week window everyone else has lucked out with. It's supposed to take 60 days but everyone I talked to said it's taken less than a month because it's not prime PCS time yet. It would be awesome if we could get our HHG right after we move in, especially since we couldn't fit our air mattress in our luggage. We get to stay in a hotel until our HHG reach our house but I'd hate to be paying for a hotel and rent at the same time. If it all works out the way I plan (which let's admit, it never works out the way you plan it), we'll only have stayed in a hotel for a month. We're ready to move out. The cramped quarters are forcing all 4 of us to snap at each other.

We're also going to try out a new church on Sunday. It'll be 10 mins from our new neighborhood. I know someone who goes to services there now and loves it. She's trying the Bible study tonight. Since I don't have a car yet, I'll have to wait until next week for that.

I can't wait to actually start living here! I went out to lunch with a friend yesterday and as we were cruising around the island in her convertible, I breathed in the ocean air and thought...I live here! Now to get my Costco membership!

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....

deranged puppies, housing hunting and microwave meals...oh my!

We made it! On Monday, we spent the whole day scrubbing the house before inspection. Everyone told me not to worry about it because our houses were gross to begin with, but of course I didn't listen. I probably spent about 12 hours total scrubbing the stove and oven. The lady didn't even look at them. As I was wiping down the counter tops, she walked through the whole house and told me everything was perfect. She actually told me to stop cleaning.

We cleared post, shipped our car and got a rental car and a hotel room for the 13 hours before our flight. The rental car was much smaller than our Pilot so it was a pretty tight squeeze. Good thing it was only a 15 min drive to the airport. We got to the airport around 4:30AM. I thought I'd have a chance to let the dogs relieve themselves one last time but the dog park was located at another terminal. So the dogs were loaded into their crates for the next 18 hours. The people at the ticket counter had never done a military ticket or pets before so that was interesting. They were supposed to charge us for our extra bag but after trying to charge us for all the bags and counting the dogs twice they gave up.

The flight itself was long but uneventful. They were supposed to tell us when they loaded up the dogs but we had to wait until we got to Salt Lake City to find out whether or not the dogs made it. Our flight made it to Honolulu about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. That was nice. We got a rental car but still needed the assistance of a friend since the dogs have to leave airport property without ever stepping foot out of their crates. I could hear Scout howling from outside the animal holding facility. She didn't stop shaking until a few hours after we got to the hotel. Denny was fine but a little clingy. I was pleasantly surprised that there were no accidents inside the crate.

We're now staying at a hotel that is a little on the dumpy side but allows dogs and even has a tiny dog park that the dogs can do their business in. We even played a little fetch today. We don't have a kitchenette but we have a tiny fridge (no freezer) and a microwave. Sadly, we're already sick of eating out for every meal so we went to the commissary and bought some foods that can be microwaved. Tim is ecstatic that almost every meal on the island comes with rice!

We went to the housing office only to be told there are no prospects for us living on post. They didn't even give us a number...just told us to start looking off post. They even tried to find us a dumpy 2 bedroom. I'm glad that didn't pan out. So the house search starts today. So far the biggest problem is the dogs and the second is that rent is super expensive for these dumpy little places. The good thing is that Tim's willing to commute because there isn't anything available close to post. I think today we'll just kind of drive around and see what's available. Wish us luck!

Time is a flying!

This week has gone by soo quickly. With trying to meet up with people one last time and getting everything done, we've been exhausted. I can't believe we're almost done with this short phase of our lives. Our bags are packed but unfortunately we've had to unpack and repack them since we're still living out of them. The house is halfway clean thanks to my wonderful husband. He swept and mopped almost all the floors as I was packing and organizing. Today will be the bathrooms and kitchen and then we're done. We've been sleeping on an air mattress for 4 nights so far and I am ready to get to a hotel room. I know Tim is because we only have 1 blanket and I hog it every night.


It's sad that I've just only started to meet my neighbors as we're leaving but they have been wonderful! We've borrowed all kinds of things from them and it's just nice to take a short break from the craziness and stand there and chit chat. I've had to watch a child for a few minutes here and there, but nothing I'm not already used to. I even got to go out for a little girl time with one of my neighbors. She just had her third child a few months back so girl time is hard to come by for her.


The dogs are going crazy. They can't figure out why we no longer sleep in the bedroom and have closed off that side of the house completely. They're getting used to sleeping in their crates every night. I think if we had carpet they would just sleep on that but the linoleum/tile stuff is not working for them. The fence has been taken down so they can only go out one at a time and there's no play time in the backyard anymore. Thank goodness the dog park is still available to them.

Last night my friends threw me a little goodbye party. It wasn't much of a "party" because 3 people couldn't make it so it was just the 4 of us but we had a blast! We actually stayed up until 2AM just talking. Unfortunate for Tim, since he had to come pick me up at 2:30AM. He was invited, he just had plans with some of his friends. Most of these girls I've only known for a short period of time but I'm really going to miss them. I wish we had met earlier on in my time here but I know the more time we spend together, the harder it would be to leave.

Tomorrow we move out of our house and head to Atlanta. I can't believe it's really happening! I've decided to really make an effort to post pictures when I start blogging again. Not sure it's going to happen in the first few months since I'm pretty sure I packed the camera cords but I'm going to try. As I was reading through some blogs yesterday I just realized how much more enjoyable pictures make it. I'm also going to change the web address because this blog really isn't about us. It's all about me. Don't worry, I'll give y'all a heads up when I decide to do that.

Bye Bye South! You've treated me well for the past 4 years. I hope they have sweet tea in Hawaii!