So its crazy to think we've been here 4 months already!! In some ways it feels like we've been here forever as so many things have happened, and in other ways it feels like we've only been here a month. But through it all the Lord has blessed us in so many ways. As a family we have become closer and Chloe and Cailee love it here so far. Though I can't imagine them not being happy wherever we are since between the Lord, Chris and I... well we set the stage for their little lives.
I will say one of the challenges has been living spaces! When we first arrived here, we checked into the Ala Mouana Hotel. Chris and I have stayed here previous times and they have always treated us well. They even gave us a suite at no extra cost which was a huge blessing! That enabled us to have something of a family life. I was able to cook our meals which allowed us to save alot of the perdium Chris was getting by not eating out every night. So we had our room and the kitchen/living area which became the girls room. I pulled out the couch once for nap time and once for dinner. With the bed put away we had a decent play area for the girls. We had an amazing view of the mountains and from our room balcony, the ocean as well. Being on the 26 floor... the fireworks on New Years Eve were fantastic! Best seat in the house.
Even with our good rooms, it was still cramped for two little girls. Cailee started walking over Christmas time! So most mornings we either walked across the street to the big park on the water. I either went for a run, or I let the girls get out and walk. It was such a beautiful park! Sometimes we went to the beach there. Other mornings we walked through the mall that was connected to our hotel. It is a fun indoor outdoor mall. Lots of little Koi ponds and trees. This was especially nice around Christmas time as I didn't have any wheels. So I was able to Christmas shop right there. The Lord knows our needs before we do! Wal-Mart was about a 10 minute walk and I did that a couple times. But my favorite times were when Chris and I would take the girls and walk down to Waikiki. :)
In total, we were in that hotel room for 2 months to the day. I even missed it after we left. Though who wouldn't with housekeeping coming on a daily basis! Its our joke now... if the bathroom needs cleaning Chris will ask me to speak to housekeeping about it. :) Living in the city was a new experiance for both of us and I did enjoy it. Though at times the endless sounds of sirens and police cars were annoying. During the time we spent in the hotel we were searching hard for a place to live. We had until Feb 2nd to find a place. That was when the military stopped paying for our hotel. We were praying and searching for something on a month to month bases as we were hoping and praying to make it on base in a few months and didn't want to get locked in a 6-12 month lease. This would cost us a place on base if it came to us. We looked at all sorts of places. Even looked at sharing apartments with others, renting out a room or two. We could do or live anywhere for a few months. :) But God had the perfect plan for us.
The very day it was posted on craigslist... we found a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1000 sqft house built around 2008 that was $1000 less than our housing allowance! Though it is quite a drive for Chris thru some nasty traffic... It has been perfect. With a pool less than a minute walk from our door and parks about a 10 minute run. We couldn't have asked for more! Especially after looking at places that were 1 bedroom condos. This place was huge after living in the hotel for two months! The girls love having a playroom for all their toys and I learned something about myself. I always thought I would feel cramped in 1000 sqft, but I find that I love having a place that I can clean in under an hour.
Anyway. We slowly watched our position on the wait list drop. Week by week we'd drop a position or two. When we were initially placed on the waiting list back in October, we were at 57 out of about 150. See they are building new military housing on base and we have been believing that God would provide us with a new base house. I had the floor plans on my fridge in Fl as I dreamed of living there. When we first got to base and checked in to the housing office, it wasn't looking likely that we'd get on base at all! Very few of the new homes that were being built were being assigned to Company Grade Officers (CGO's)which is Lt. and Captain ranks, but instead were being given to Field Grade Officers (FGO's) Majors and above. That was probably confusing sorry. But we continued to pray and believe that the Lord had a place on base for us.
Hickam AFB is beautiful. There are beautiful avenues lined with enormous trees and little parks all throughout. I love the parks for the girls sake. :) There is a beach too though I have yet to see it. Chris would be almost across the street from his work and even better... the Commissary and BX are also across the street from the Onizuka Village where all the new housing is being built.
Last week I was checking our position to find that we had moved from position 21 down to 11. Well that was exciting to find. I called Chris at work to let him know. That is the largest jump yet! So maybe soon! Chris plans to continue with his masters and told me yesterday that he needed to go to base to pick up some paper work, he asked if I wanted to go. Of course! I love anytime we are all together. With no traffic it is at least a 30 minute drive and Chris said he needed to be at the office at 9:15 for his paperwork. Well at 8:55 we are pulling up to the gate when I find that I left my wallet in my other purse! Which is why I never usually carry different purses!! But I did. So I didn't have my ID to get on base. I have never seen Hickam not at 100% ID check. But yesterday morning they were not... whew. I was ok. But it was close. We would not have been able to get on base. Or Chris would have had to leave me at the gate house. Not fun.
Because we were 15 minutes earlier Chris wanted to drive through the new housing and see how they were doing on the new construction phase. We drove around a bit. Again I voiced how nice it will be to be across the street from the commisary! Chris pulled into one of the driveways, I thought we were turning around since we'd reached the end of the road. But then he shut off the engine. "How about this house?" he asked me... I couldn't believe it! We made it on base! He had found out the night before that we had a house and decided to surprise me. I am so thrilled.
It is 3 bedroom, 2 bath, single story and 1663 sqft. It is perfect for our little family. It is brand new never lived in. God has the perfect plan. He provided the month to month rental so that we would be able to move in! We have been in this rental for 2 months now. No other lease would have been this short. We are supposed to give a 30 day notice to our landlord. But he told us we could leave the end of this month. So in two 1/2 weeks we are moving on base!
Praise the Lord! Well I am off for now.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Goings on between Florida and Hawaii
The month of November got off to a busy start as we began preparing for the movers to come pack up all of our worldly possesions. Weeks began to get busier as I was trying to anticipate what would need to be done before the movers came. This move was much different from our move to Florida as we did some of that ourselves. This move however was more complicated. See we were planning a road trip out west. The movers were coming the second week of november and our flight was not ready to for us until the 3rd. Which left us some time without any of our things. So we decided to fly out of Los Angeles while stopping to visit family along the way. We knew we wouldn't get another opportunity like this again.
Chloe and Cailee spent the night with our dear friends the Witthoefts the night before so that they wouldn't be underfoot, which was a huge blessing! The movers were to be arriving at 8:00. However at 6am we hear the fire alarm from the fire department on our street. Chris being a volunteer firefighter took on in the van. I stepped outside and saw the black smoke. In the three years Chris was a firefighter, he had yet to fight an actual fire... so I grabbed my camera and headed off to follow the smoke. It couldn't be far. It was a brisk 20 minutes walk before I found the fire. There were maybe 4 fire engines there from the surrounding communities. There was a huge hustle and bustle. Everyone running around. It was an older home... built in the 50's. Poor older couple. After a few candid shots I headed back. I planned to grab the van and head out to pick up some pastries or something for the movers. I walked back only to remember that Chris had the van at the station. So I walked back to the department, couldn't find his keys... Anyway. After several trips I finally made my way to the store... no doughnuts. Went to the doughnut shop... closed... strike two. Stopped one last time on my way home at a little placed called 'Say Cake' and bought some rather pricey but yummy pastries. The movers showed up on time... still no Chris. Oh well. Anyway. I never ment to go off on this tangent. The movers came and went in three long days. Chris had a flag football tournament during these three days to make things more complicated. They won it all. Proud of my man and his team. I will miss those frosty nights watching them play.
We spent our last few nights visiting friends and saying our goodbyes. We will particuarly miss our game nights with the Witthoefts and all our fellowship with the McBrides. We were finally off. I drove our van and Chris drove the little car we had purchased for this trip. We made our way to Saucier, Mississippi to spend a few days with Chris's great Aunt and Uncle. They have property in the country and boy did we enjoy time in the woods, fishing and Chloe had more fun riding the tractor and chasing the cat.
From there we made our way to New Orleans to drop off our van at port. It was being shipped from there. The rest of our trip was spent in our little car, pulling a small uhaul trailer. I enjoyed our time together. The girls did pretty good. We drove to Dallas from there and spent 4 days with my Dad's parents. It has been almost 10 years since I was there. My family lived there for a couple years so it was fun to be back. Lots of memories. Chris and I took the girls to Kidsville park where I used to play. They had fun. So I did. My grandparents set out a beautiful little thanksgiving dinner for us since we were not going to be able to spend it with them. One highlight was going to see the Dallas Cowboys statium. It was huge! The down side was dropping my camera and breaking off the barrel. Oh how I cried. The rest of the tour was shot for me. I was hoping to take pictures of our journey. Not to be.
Our next stop was Odessa, TX to spend the evening with Grampa Dick. We ate a lovely mexican meal and enjoyed some relaxation. Grampa Dick joined us on our next leg of the trip on our way to Tucson, AZ to spend some days with Chris's grandparents there. We enjoyed the amazing views of the mountains. It was a wonderful time. Some highlights were taking ATV's into the mountains with Grampa Jim. I even managed to turn one over on Chris and I... had a beautiful bruise, the hot tub in the evenings was nice... we were able to see some of the most beautiful starry skies. It was nice to spend Thanksgiving with family. From there we made our way to Edwards AFB to spend a day or two before flying out. It was such a neat time to see the the country.
Our flight went ok. It was long and the girls did get fussy. We walked up the isle a few times and played with the girls across the way. But I was super happy to be done. It was much much later before we finally made it to the hotel and the girls were basketcases... but nothing that sleep didn't help...
Well my my I got carried away. I hope to blog more steadily as I get caught up to the life we are living now. And not so much details. But we are very happy in our new lives here and look forward to making more memories.
Chloe and Cailee spent the night with our dear friends the Witthoefts the night before so that they wouldn't be underfoot, which was a huge blessing! The movers were to be arriving at 8:00. However at 6am we hear the fire alarm from the fire department on our street. Chris being a volunteer firefighter took on in the van. I stepped outside and saw the black smoke. In the three years Chris was a firefighter, he had yet to fight an actual fire... so I grabbed my camera and headed off to follow the smoke. It couldn't be far. It was a brisk 20 minutes walk before I found the fire. There were maybe 4 fire engines there from the surrounding communities. There was a huge hustle and bustle. Everyone running around. It was an older home... built in the 50's. Poor older couple. After a few candid shots I headed back. I planned to grab the van and head out to pick up some pastries or something for the movers. I walked back only to remember that Chris had the van at the station. So I walked back to the department, couldn't find his keys... Anyway. After several trips I finally made my way to the store... no doughnuts. Went to the doughnut shop... closed... strike two. Stopped one last time on my way home at a little placed called 'Say Cake' and bought some rather pricey but yummy pastries. The movers showed up on time... still no Chris. Oh well. Anyway. I never ment to go off on this tangent. The movers came and went in three long days. Chris had a flag football tournament during these three days to make things more complicated. They won it all. Proud of my man and his team. I will miss those frosty nights watching them play.
We spent our last few nights visiting friends and saying our goodbyes. We will particuarly miss our game nights with the Witthoefts and all our fellowship with the McBrides. We were finally off. I drove our van and Chris drove the little car we had purchased for this trip. We made our way to Saucier, Mississippi to spend a few days with Chris's great Aunt and Uncle. They have property in the country and boy did we enjoy time in the woods, fishing and Chloe had more fun riding the tractor and chasing the cat.
From there we made our way to New Orleans to drop off our van at port. It was being shipped from there. The rest of our trip was spent in our little car, pulling a small uhaul trailer. I enjoyed our time together. The girls did pretty good. We drove to Dallas from there and spent 4 days with my Dad's parents. It has been almost 10 years since I was there. My family lived there for a couple years so it was fun to be back. Lots of memories. Chris and I took the girls to Kidsville park where I used to play. They had fun. So I did. My grandparents set out a beautiful little thanksgiving dinner for us since we were not going to be able to spend it with them. One highlight was going to see the Dallas Cowboys statium. It was huge! The down side was dropping my camera and breaking off the barrel. Oh how I cried. The rest of the tour was shot for me. I was hoping to take pictures of our journey. Not to be.
Our next stop was Odessa, TX to spend the evening with Grampa Dick. We ate a lovely mexican meal and enjoyed some relaxation. Grampa Dick joined us on our next leg of the trip on our way to Tucson, AZ to spend some days with Chris's grandparents there. We enjoyed the amazing views of the mountains. It was a wonderful time. Some highlights were taking ATV's into the mountains with Grampa Jim. I even managed to turn one over on Chris and I... had a beautiful bruise, the hot tub in the evenings was nice... we were able to see some of the most beautiful starry skies. It was nice to spend Thanksgiving with family. From there we made our way to Edwards AFB to spend a day or two before flying out. It was such a neat time to see the the country.
Our flight went ok. It was long and the girls did get fussy. We walked up the isle a few times and played with the girls across the way. But I was super happy to be done. It was much much later before we finally made it to the hotel and the girls were basketcases... but nothing that sleep didn't help...
Well my my I got carried away. I hope to blog more steadily as I get caught up to the life we are living now. And not so much details. But we are very happy in our new lives here and look forward to making more memories.
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