I Love You, California!

We are starting to make small victories around the house. Our belongings are well on their way to Honolulu by boat, and we're adding some personal touches to our house. Out front we have a few plants and flowers, and just today we picked up our couch that was on back order, unrolled the rug we got last weekend, and assembled the coffee table that arrived this week (gotta love Amazon prime - they include Hawai`i in their free shipping which is really hard to come by!). We still have a ways to go, but it's starting to feel more like a home than a house. My first hibiscus flower! The girls like to look out our front door. The living room is coming together. Hopefully our shipment of belongings will arrive in the next week or two and then it will really feel like home!

On Saturday Will and I had been invited to a couple different events. We started the morning at the Hawai`i Agricultural Research Center (HARC). Will has a test planting site there and is working with several of the people who work there. They had a summer program during the week where high school students come to learn how to plant and care for cacao. From there they harvested it, make chocolate, and then had to develop a storefront and marketing plan for their product. On Saturday morning they presented their work so we got to see their storefronts and sample handmade, local chocolate! We had another event later in the evening on the North Shore, but had lots of time in between so we went to Turtle Bay to enjoy some of the island's best Mai Tais and fish tacos. We enjoyed relaxing in the sun, watching surfers, and taking in the beautiful scenery. Crashing the set for "Hawai`i Five-0!" Later in the evening we attended the North Shore Chamber of Commerce 30th

You're probably wondering what we're up to these days other than moving and trying to get settled into our new home. Well, Will has been busy getting ready for another phase of planting on North Shore and I've been teaching summer school. I have a wonderful class of 12 fourth graders who just need a little extra bump before starting school again in August. I teach in the mornings and have my afternoons for yoga, beaching, errands, and living a more relaxed life than during the school year. I absolutely love it! It doesn't hurt that my students are sweet and write me notes all the time . . . After work we like to come home and enjoy the view and occasional, seemingly random, fireworks shows; all right from our living room. We really can't wait to have you here to enjoy our new home!

Will turned 32 on Wednesday! We went out for a nice dinner at a new restaurant in our neighborhood that has already become a new favorite. But for the big celebration we took a day to get back to exploring our island home. There are two little islands called the Mokulua Islands just off the coast of Lanikai Beach, on the east side of Oahu. Lanikai is probably my favorite beach that we've been to, so we go there frequently. We always relaxed on the beach, looking out at the two little islands, wondering what it was like over there. We knew that one can rent a kayak or even a paddle board to get over there, so what better thing to do for a birthday celebration than kayak to the little islands! We started our day at Pa`ani Wai in Kailua to rent our kayak, tossed it in the back of the truck, and we were on our way! We found a great parking spot and headed to the beach. Here is Will checking things out before we launch off to the islands. We took our time paddling.

When we moved to Hawai`i we weren't sure exactly how long we'd be living here. A year? Two years? Forever? Now that would just be crazy . . . Now that we've been here for about a year, we've taken the time to reflect back on how things are going, and the short answer to that question is: Great! We both have jobs we really love and are doing well in those jobs, we love all the activities the islands have to offer from Mauka to Makai (that's mountain to ocean), we love the lifestyle of the islands, and most importantly we are happy! Despite missing our friends and family (which would also be the case if we lived in California) we feel completely at home here on Oahu! With these things in mind, it's hard to see a solid end to our time in Hawaii. We're sure it will be another year or two at least, and who knows what the future holds! So we decided that it was time to head back to Oakland, clear out our 10x10x10 storage unit, and get our things to our new home!