Blue Angels.

For those of you that are not aware of my love for a man in uniform it is a love that runs deep. I can trace it back to the first time my dad took me to tour a fire engine when I still had diaper booty. I do not discriminate with my love for a man in uniform but I do have my preferences. I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by military while on the island. Not only do I have friends in the military but I work with several families that live on military housing. I even have my own personal army ID to get on base.  

I got to experience the highlight of men in uniform yesterday while on the Marine Corps Base: the BLUE ANGELS. Words can not describe how amazing it is to watch these pilots maneuverer the skies.  So here are some pictures.

Ben met some woman who thought he was her son's roommate from the academy. He was not but the woman was extremely friendly and snuck us in for a better view of the show. She also "required" us to all get together for a picture for the moms. So here you go mom.

This morning i am sitting on my front yard for a very pathetic yard sale. In hawaii you do everything you can to get money. We also save our recyclables and turn them in for cash money. We are in Fake it till you Make it mode.

Stairs of Doom.

Last weekend I conquered Koko Head. It is a hike up the side of a crater to some fantastic views around the island. I had been hearing about Koko head hike by several people around the island. It is not a typical hike but rather you walk up railroad tracks that act as stairs.

On my way up the hike i passed people on their way down that were crying and having to cheer their friends on to make it back down. I also saw people on their way up that were sitting on the side shaking their heads in disbelief of what that were doing on a saturday morning. These steps were very reminiscent of my 5:30 am runs up Harvard stadium every wednesday during college. I am not sure if it was my burning thighs, the unpleasant memories of 530 morning work outs or the meals I forgot to eat before attempting the hike but I did not find this to be an enjoyable adventure. The views at the top were beautiful but you can get similar views from other locations on the idea with significantly less effort.

Down was a lot easier than up as long as you did not let gravity get the best of you. Once i made it back to the trail head (which was a baseball diamond) I found a random parking meter. Perhaps that is for the people who do not dare Koko head.

I think was also effected my enjoyment during the hike was the shooting range that was on the other side of the crater. It is more challenging to enjoy the views when you can hear the rounds of shot guns going off in the background. 

I am still undetermined if I will conquer that hike again. It is a fantastic work out if nothing else.

Work got the better of me this week. I had to bring work home with me this week (not a fan). The only bonus of bringing work home was I got so close to 40 hours before Friday that I got to start my weekend at 3:45! My early departure allowed me to make it to the full moon concert in Kailua with Paula Fuga. She is one of my new favorite artists that I have learned about on the island.

This weekend the blue angels are in town for an air show. It is my plan to go see them perform. I saw them practicing while at work on Thursday. I felt like a little kid as I starred up in the sky with my eyes glowing in awe.

TGIF.

The prices of things in Hawaii are as outrageous as you expect them to be. Luckily my mother still thinks that food from home is better than where I may be living and she send me care packages with shippable treats. I received care package number two and ravaged through it while drinking my saturday morning coffee waiting for my homemade banana bread to cook. Besides having food sent in from my mother I have learned another trick for affording food on island.

After my big spending trip to the store I had to prepare for myself for another day of work. Luckily it was Friday and I was going to be doing some social skills work with a teenage girl. This social skills day involved a trip to the beach and a kayak on the pacific. I spent 4 hours chillin on a beach located on Hickam Air Force base while I watched jets take off less than a mile away.

So this work did not feel much like work, I do understand my life is  pretty ridiculous sometimes. I did have to go and do actual work after consuming some hummus and guacamole treats on the beach.

After another scenic drive home I was greeted by roach for a Friday night in. We watched guilty pleasure television and he pretended he was a 100 pound lap dog. And like any good Friday night date it ended with a good night kiss.

Work hard. Play hard.

It is very apparent that I have mastered the extracurricular activities of the island. I do also work here. Not to sound arrogant (because we all know I am not) but I am good at what I do. I think one of the reasons for this is because i have no shame. Here is an example:

I wore this for about 2 hours today because a little boy wanted me to. I read stories and ran around the house playing "wolverine" for longer than I did as a child with my brother.

An Officer and A Gentleman (actually 2)

Everyone knows that "aloha" mean hello and goodbye. On the island it is more of a way to live your life, to live with aloha. Here is how wikipedia defines it:
"Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, peace, compassion and mercy".

Even though my lieutenants are not local boys they surrounded me with aloha last week.

If you remember in my first post I am lucky enough to know to naval lieutenants on the island (Ben and Matt).

This past week has been slightly more challenging and exhausting for me. I have been working on the other side of the island which may not seem far but it means I have to wake up a lot earlier than I would like. That month of not working and enjoying slow leisurely mornings on the mainland is kicking my butt now. I have to pass by town (Waikiki) on my way across the island so I opted to take advantage of their central location and crash for a few days. There were a few other factors in this decision but the driving (gas $) was very influential.

I was instantly greeted by my officers with bags full of fresh groceries from the commissary. We all had our designated stations for dinner. I made the salad, Ben made the fish, and Matt the smoothie appetizer (not pictured).

This was the perfect healthy meal for me considering all I had eaten that day was half a banana and half a bag of cheese puffs. The other problem with my car being my office is no matter how committed I am it is very challenging to eat healthy on the road. Maybe I can meet some truckers for lunch and we can start a work out routine.

After dinner Matt went to bed to read and Ben and I watched trashy television.

The next morning I woke up to what is now becoming the traditional Hawaiian rainbow. This one threw in a twist and was a double!

I am still waiting to catch my Tako. It WILL happen and i WILL be a brave girl.


While on the topic of aloha check out my roommates charity to help feed the hungry on the on island.
http://www.thealohacollective.com

Takos for jodie

I am sorry for the delay between posts but the internet will not be connected at my house until thursday. I am still sitting at startbucks doing all my work emails, downloads, facebook updates, and of course this blog.

The trouble with the delay is things happen and I forget about them before I have the time to sit down with my latte at what is now becoming 'my' starbucks. I have been doing my best to take pictures of events to help prompt me when I do sit down to type.

For that reason this will be a pictures post.

I embraced my inner Pretty Woman and went to my very first polo match. It was more of a tailgate with horses than women in hats and men in seersucker pants.

Anther first was my first skin dive competition. 62 teams of 2 went out very early in the morning to see who could catch the most fish. There was even a team of two deaf men (I was too nervous to go up to talk/sign with them). I did however see some tako (octopus) and learned that to kill it you have to bite the eye. I have a goal to catch my own tako and be a big brave girl and bite the eye.

My house also ended up with a Parrotfish.

In case you were wondering why there is a rainbow on the state license plate it is because there is a rainbow EVERYDAY here, no joke.

A third first. I made an island inspired bracelet complete with puka shells.

And of course the dogs. This is how I have been sleeping the past few nights. That small space on the right is what they allot me for sleeping.

AND the most important thing that happened this week is that I received my first package from my momma back on the mainland. I sat at the window and patiently waited for the mailman to leave so i could retrieve it. What I really wanted to do was run out to his truck and rip it from his hands like a little kid on christmas morning.

Aloha friends.

Two week notice.

I am reaching the end of week two and nothing of huge significance has happened of late. I am starting to get into more of a schedule and am even able to drive a few places without using GPS. This is a huge success considering there are still places in Florida that I need GPS to arrive without getting lost.

I did go to my first Cross Fit class with a roommate. I have been told they have competitions a few times a year with a cash prize. It is Johnny's goal to convince me to join his team and when the cash. For those of you that are not familiar with cross fit here is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

CrossFit describes its strength and conditioning program as “constantly varied, high intensity, functional movement,"[3] with the stated goal of improving fitness (and therefore general physical preparedness), which it defines as "work capacity across broad time and modal domains."[4] Workouts are typically short—20 minutes or less—and intense, demanding all-out physical exertion. They combine movements such as sprinting, rowing, jumping rope, climbing rope, weightlifting, and carrying odd objects; they use barbells, dumbbells, gymnastics rings, pull-up bars, kettlebells, medicine balls, and many bodyweight exercises.[5][6][7] These elements are mixed in numerous combinations to form prescribed "Workouts of the Day" or "WODs".

I am not sure I have been converted yet but I will be returning for at least one more class.


I have also taken to escorting the dogs during walks or runs. They are not quite up to my fitness level and take a little longer to recover.

The biggest news that has happened in my life is that I found cheap round trip tickets to the island and my parents (hopefully my brother) will be out to visit in november! Time for me to explore and find the best places to show them.

aloha.

Wheels

After getting a place to live the next thing to check off was purchasing a car. I had no idea what a nightmare this was going to be. This will be the clif notes version of the car disaster.

1. Find a car I like (2003 mini cooper)
2. Test drive car
3. Write check for car
4. Have salesman follow me in the mini cooper to turn in the rental car
5. Turn in rental, salesman leave, get in newly purchased mini
6. Turn on mini at rental location to see "Service Engine" light illuminated
7. Call salesman to inform him of the light-no answer
8. Call dealership to inform them I would be returning the car the next day
9. Return car to look for a new one
10. Almost buy new car due to pressure from external sources
11. Four hours later find a 2010 Dodge Caliber
12. Leave dealership with the Dodge
13. Look at car online to see salesman charged me significantly more than the online listed price
14. Return to dealer the next day to get $ back
15. 2 Hour later and a lot of persistanse I received half of the difference
16. Decide it is better to walk everyone than ever buy a car again
17. BEER

Tsunami

Aloha,

It already feels like I have been on this island for a month while in actual time it has only been a few days. In these few days I have successfully acquired a place to live and started my job. I have not so successfully purchased a car. This was the first time I have made such a larger purchase on my own and it is not an experience I want to duplicate.

First the good. My "interview" with roommates was splendid and although I have only lived with them for 5 days I could not have asked for anything better. They have offered assistance on picking up furniture after I buy it and have even helped me look for beds, dressers, etc. I am currently sleeping on a borrowed air mattress from one of them. The real beauty of this situation is that all four of us are moving into the house at the same time as no one has claimed anything yet. It is a group effort in settling into our home.

One of the girls is even from AUSTIN (moved here 5 months ago). The other two have been on the island for a while. My absolute favorite part of this house are roommates 5 and 6 of the house.

All roommates are amazing and have really helped make my transition smooth. We have done starbucks outings for internet, bar hoping, and late night movies. Next on the list is my first Cross Fit work out. Be prepared to hear how that adventure unfolds.

This first week on the island has felt like a tornado of events. Time to hit my partially deflated air mattress.