You know you live in Hawaii when:
PRO's (the goods)
-When you feel like you are on Vacation everyday
-When you get Kama'aina rates on all the tourist attractions
-When you forget its winter until you get on FB and see snow on friends profiles
-When its hot ALL the time although Im always cold-so weird, I don't understand this
-When its raining outside and there is not a cloud above you or near and its sunny outside
-When can get real shaved ice that is Amazingly good every other mile
-When you can wear your bathing suit to school (I should try it sometime)
-When you can drive what you want, work where you want, dress like you want and NO ONE CARES or JUDGES!!!! (its not about keeping up with your neighbor, 1 up)
-When you can walk to the beach from anywhere on the island ;)
-When every president in the world meets in Hawaii for APEC in two weeks!!! So excited to see what it entails
-When its JUST YOU AND YOUR HUBS and no one to bother you!
-When you have amazing people you've met (especially thru Chan's work) and it will be so hard to ever leave
-When all your professors wear flip-flops to class, kinda weird too but understanding
-When you have a firework show every week for the tourists and us too ;)
-When every single one of my girls in YW is a convert! Ohhh I just love it! And their testimonies are out of this world! Simply amazing!
-When I can help organize Girls Camp to be in November!!!!!!
CON's (the not so)
-When all my nice white shirts from WHBM are yellowed! Very upsetting!
-When you go to heat up your food in the microwave and you have a cockroach run across the inside-inside of the microwave door..How do they get inside to door? EEWYUCK!
-When you have baby cockroaches everywhere
-When you have lizards come inside apt often..whether they come in on their own or Chan brings them in to show me?
-When your bread, chips, and anything else goes bad in two days after the purchase (humidity) eugh! Hate it!
-When your hair is frizzy ALL THE TIME
-When washing your car is pointless
-When the whole island shuts down their roads for APEC and security galore everywhere is on LOCKDOWN but a once in a lifetime opportunity for Chan and I
-When you can only drive in a circle, sometimes I really just want to drive, not fly just drive home
-When you go to the grocery store and come home with 4 bags and $150.00 dollars later
-When you have no turning lane to turn from (they are non existent here) therefore...
-When traffic is slowed and stopped ALL THE TIME
-When you are the only blonde everywhere you go
-When you don't care what you look like because its too hot to care or your makeup falls off your face anyway
-When you always wear flip flops everywhere(Im getting sick of it)
-When hiking and the beach are the ONLY options to do here on the weekends
-When you pay 1,000 for rent a month and its a cement box of 400 sq ft- ERGH its so expensive! Im so over it.
-When you HAVE NO FAMILY or life long friends to see on a regular basis
-When you hear pigeon everywhere you go- SO BUGGY PEOPLE!!
-When its hot and muggy with no AC in our apt and we walk into an oven when we return home daily
-When you walk outside and there a bazillion wild cats and kittens everywhere you go on this island- and you feel bad for them
-When you wake up to the islands Tsunami sirens being tested the first of the month EVERY month at the breaking of Dawn and they are blasting
-When you smell weed on a daily basis from some neighbors lanai- irritating!
JUST STRAIGHT WEIRD
-When you go to McDonalds and you can order spam and rice
-When you hear "Ah Brodda, No Brodda, Ok Brodda 50 times in one short conversation with a local
Im sure I could go on and on about the pros and cons of living here. I just needed to make a list to weigh it for myself. Sometimes I need to be reminded of the goods and the not so's- but I do understand they come with anywhere we live or what stage we are in our lives and its up to us as individuals to CHOOSE. I am really working on living in the moment! I can often get in a rut of wanting to be home or just longing for my girlfriends, family, and the bubble of comfort of living in Utah. But I am so grateful for this experience of living here and the indefinite/unknown time that we will spend here-I love so much about our lives. I especially am grateful for Chandler and his job and the opportunities he has been given thus far. He is amazing. He is blowing me, his manager and boss away with his abilities, accomplishments, his organizational skills, and relationships he is building. Everyone in the office is drawn to Chan in a way that is indescribable. Everyone loves him. (We know a lot of it is due to having the Gospel and spirit in our lives). He is already killing it with selling Kaiser to small business'. He is so on track for being highly successful! We are blown away on a daily basis by our blessings.
For the first time in two and a half years of living here Chandler misses Utah and being home! I was so surprised because he has always been tough, and strong, and "this is our new home" mentality for 2 1/2 yrs and now I think its finally getting to him. Mostly due to hunting season. He is going crazy not camping, four wheeling, holding a gun, being with friends, and his dad around this time of year. Seeing FB posts about the hunt. He wants it so bad. But these wants we have now are just things we can get caught up in.. We are taking each day at a time and loving it. We will see how things go over the next few years as he finishes his MBA.
