Making it Complete
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!
Another situation that led us into making this decision was the fact that our landlord at 10th Avenue was going to be selling the house we were living in, so rather than staying through the sales process only to be told either the new owners don't want renters, or that the rent was going to be raised, it seemed like the right time to move. Renting a furnished apartment just didn't seem to make sense anymore, so thus the decision to ship over our belongings!
I had a little time off between the regular school year and summer school, so Will went back to Oakland to work out of the Cali office, and I joined so that we could sort through our storage unit! We spent a whole day sorting through things, setting aside many things that we just don't need anymore. We were happy to be able to give many things to a friend of ours and the rest to the Salvation Army. And now I don't have so much to sort through once it arrives in Honolulu! Which will be three to five weeks they say, yikes!
So that brings me to the next thing: we have an awesome new home, but nothing in it! We went ahead and got a new bed since we'll need one for our guest room anyway (yes, we still have a guest room!) and ordered a new couch (but that's not arriving until the end of June/early July either! It's times like these when you realize you really do live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!) We've got a small desk and a couple of patio and camp chairs, but everything else is in boxes on the floor or on a boat in transit. Luckily we've got enough kitchen stuff so that we can cook (we bought a few things while we were out here and I got a couple plates from Goodwill). We also brought back three suitcases full of things from Oakland, like silverware and camp chairs, but we can hardly wait for our things to arrive!
While we were in Oakland we strolled around Jack London Square and had some wine at Curruti Cellars, the winery we used to belong to.
We also got to spend some time with a couple of our lovely friends and their children. It was wonderful!
On a lazy Sunday we enjoyed brunch at the Lake Chalet on Lake Merrit and visited the awesome Oakland Museum of California. They had just opened an exhibit on the Pacific Islands! And they had a whole floor dedicated to regions of California, focusing on the climates and natural habitats and animals of the areas.
On Monday we had blocked out the whole day for our things to get packed out of our storage unit by the moving company. Much to our delight the guys were very efficient and we were done before lunch time! We took the rest of the day to go play around SF! We took the BART in and had tacos for lunch at the Ferry Building. We stopped to get some Starbucks then it was off to explore!
One place on our list of "To Dos" that we never got to was visiting Twin Peaks, right in the middle of the city. It's known for its 360 views of the city and Bay Area on a clear day. We hopped back on BART and the bus and arrived at the bottom of Twin Peaks. We climbed up and were treated with gorgeous views. It was a spectacularly clear day and we could see every bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way up and down the coast, and to Mt. Diablo in the East Bay!
After a hike we were in need of some libations SF style! We went to Robberbaron winebar in an area of Russian Hill we hadn't gone to before. It was just what we were hoping for out of an SF winebar.
For dinner we finally got to go to a restaurant that Margaretta had given us a gift card for over a year ago! It was a carnival themed restaurant!
On Tuesday it was time to go home, and by home I mean our new house in Honolulu! Here are some pictures of how it's looked for a couple weeks and how it will look until our things arrive hopefully sooner than later!
We have some great outdoor space too and I'll get pictures of that up once we get it a little spruced up! We can't wait to have you visit us in our new home!
Here's a view of the sunsets we get treated to every night! (Don't mind the grid from the screen. It's much more spectacular in person, I promise!)
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!
Another situation that led us into making this decision was the fact that our landlord at 10th Avenue was going to be selling the house we were living in, so rather than staying through the sales process only to be told either the new owners don't want renters, or that the rent was going to be raised, it seemed like the right time to move. Renting a furnished apartment just didn't seem to make sense anymore, so thus the decision to ship over our belongings!
I had a little time off between the regular school year and summer school, so Will went back to Oakland to work out of the Cali office, and I joined so that we could sort through our storage unit! We spent a whole day sorting through things, setting aside many things that we just don't need anymore. We were happy to be able to give many things to a friend of ours and the rest to the Salvation Army. And now I don't have so much to sort through once it arrives in Honolulu! Which will be three to five weeks they say, yikes!
So that brings me to the next thing: we have an awesome new home, but nothing in it! We went ahead and got a new bed since we'll need one for our guest room anyway (yes, we still have a guest room!) and ordered a new couch (but that's not arriving until the end of June/early July either! It's times like these when you realize you really do live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!) We've got a small desk and a couple of patio and camp chairs, but everything else is in boxes on the floor or on a boat in transit. Luckily we've got enough kitchen stuff so that we can cook (we bought a few things while we were out here and I got a couple plates from Goodwill). We also brought back three suitcases full of things from Oakland, like silverware and camp chairs, but we can hardly wait for our things to arrive!
While we were in Oakland we strolled around Jack London Square and had some wine at Curruti Cellars, the winery we used to belong to.
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| Recognize this spot? It's "our" spot! |
We also got to spend some time with a couple of our lovely friends and their children. It was wonderful!
On a lazy Sunday we enjoyed brunch at the Lake Chalet on Lake Merrit and visited the awesome Oakland Museum of California. They had just opened an exhibit on the Pacific Islands! And they had a whole floor dedicated to regions of California, focusing on the climates and natural habitats and animals of the areas.
On Monday we had blocked out the whole day for our things to get packed out of our storage unit by the moving company. Much to our delight the guys were very efficient and we were done before lunch time! We took the rest of the day to go play around SF! We took the BART in and had tacos for lunch at the Ferry Building. We stopped to get some Starbucks then it was off to explore!
One place on our list of "To Dos" that we never got to was visiting Twin Peaks, right in the middle of the city. It's known for its 360 views of the city and Bay Area on a clear day. We hopped back on BART and the bus and arrived at the bottom of Twin Peaks. We climbed up and were treated with gorgeous views. It was a spectacularly clear day and we could see every bit of the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way up and down the coast, and to Mt. Diablo in the East Bay!
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| It was really windy up there! |
After a hike we were in need of some libations SF style! We went to Robberbaron winebar in an area of Russian Hill we hadn't gone to before. It was just what we were hoping for out of an SF winebar.
For dinner we finally got to go to a restaurant that Margaretta had given us a gift card for over a year ago! It was a carnival themed restaurant!
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| Menus |
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| Popcorn for an appetizer! |
On Tuesday it was time to go home, and by home I mean our new house in Honolulu! Here are some pictures of how it's looked for a couple weeks and how it will look until our things arrive hopefully sooner than later!
We have some great outdoor space too and I'll get pictures of that up once we get it a little spruced up! We can't wait to have you visit us in our new home!
Here's a view of the sunsets we get treated to every night! (Don't mind the grid from the screen. It's much more spectacular in person, I promise!)
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