The Big Move to Hawaii!

VIDEO OF OUR BIG MOVE TO HAWAII: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s30S2aP-3FE

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Aloha!

Well we did it! After months and months of anticipation, the time is here! For those of y'all wondering, Brad and I have moved to Hawaii because Brad got an internship for his degree in Construction Management with a company called PCL. How cool is that?! So since January we have been planning this voyage to come out to Hawaii with nothing but our suitcases...and live here for 6 months!

Sounds like paradise, right? Well, it is. But it did take a lot of work and planning to even get here. We sold my pick-up back in Idaho in order to earn a little more cash along with saving up money from my 2 jobs. We had to just take our necessaries like clothes and such, but everything else got left in a storage unit in Idaho, (all except for our dog and Brad's truck-which are in the care of family). So if you are the type of person that has a lot of stuff, moving to Hawaii like we are wouldn't be in the picture because once you get here, you realize all the stuff you had you took for granted. We of course made a couple Walmart runs once we arrived to get things for our apartment like an air mattress, pillows, a lamp, food, a pot and pan, etc. The bare necessities to get us going! And we really don't need a lot! We like to spend more time outdoors or working rather than indoors. But we still don't have things like a sponge, chairs, plates, etc. You gotta work with what you have!

We also had to do the 120 day wait to get our dog Kodiak here. What that is, is this: Hawaii is RABIES FREE. And to keep them that way, every animal has to undergo serious rules and regulations before coming here. So you basically have to have all their shots done previously, test their blood for Rabies, then wait 120 days before they come to Hawaii. If you try flying in with your dog BEFORE that 120 days is up, they have to sit in Quarantine at the Honolulu airport until the 120 days is up. And they also of course need a health certificate to fly. My Aunt Nicole, Uncle Tennessee, and their 2 kids have been nice enough to let Kodiak stay with them and their 2 dogs until his 120 days are over in May, then he can fly here to us! I felt like such an idiot leaving their house last week and I started to cry because Kodiak is like my kid, and I am missing him SOO much! Yes, I guess I am one of those people. Oh and all this stuff is expensive. SO, this means, we really love Kodiak in order to spend a couple grand on getting him here!

Here is a couple pictures of the trio at my family's house. Yeti is the big English Cream Golden Retriever (in training to be a service dog for my 2 cousins that have autism), Mushu is the little Jack Russell, and of course my Kodiak-the aussie/heeler mix. My aunt tells me they are a pack everywhere they go; they love each other!

So where do we live exactly? We live in the heart of Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii. Yes it is expensive, yes it is crowded. We sort of expected that coming here. Traffic, loud noises, bugs, it's all here. I sat on the phone with multiple realtors and apartment managers for hours before we could find an apartment that allows dogs, and a lot of them were rude when I said we were bringing our dog. They hate finding housing for people with pets because no one allows them! But I would always just simply thank them for their time and say we would try somewhere else. I knew it was possible. And it was! We found our cute little studio apartment on the 7th floor of a building


But, we don't like to dwell on all the expenses and crowds. We could talk all day about how expensive the milk is, but we won't. We like to keep an optimistic attitude and enjoy the moments! Get this, we are a 5 minute walk from the beach, right across the street from a bus stop and food market, and get a nice ocean breeze on our balcony. Yes, balcony!! How lucky are we?

Our first morning here (the day after we flew in), we got up super early because 6am was technically 10am for us-we are still adjusting. And we walked along the beach, looked in shops, basically acted like tourists because we haven't been here before! But we spent the rest of the day doing the moving in stuff, contacting our jobs, and walking around a ton to get to know the area. But seriously, we have fallen in love with this place and we just hope we continue loving it! That's all I will write for now because this is already super long, but we are just SO excited to be here!

Also, go see our Youtube Video we made the past couple days here! http://youtu.be/s30S2aP-3FE

Aloha!