Getting acquainted with the island

First let me apologize for being terrible at writing new posts. I am going to try from this point on to create a new post weekly (probably on the weekends). I promise to try my hardest to do this!

So, to the good stuff: island life. We have been here for just over 3 weeks and we are still in love with this place. Our first week was mostly like a vacation. We went to the beach, a butterfly/botanical gardens, and of course the zoo. See pictures below. All were very fun and we had a blast at each spot. The kids loved playing in the ocean. I do have an awful confession to make though: we have only taken the kids to the beach once since being here! I know we are terrible. Luke and I have been a few more times because we had been hiking and swimming with a friend before I started work. Great way to start the day! Too bad work has gotten in the way. 

There is just so much to do here. I think we will be tourists for the rest of our lives. 

Well it hasn't been all fun. Trying to get drivers licenses here is a real pain. Luke was able to get his, but I couldn't because I didn't have my marriage license to prove my name. Although my name is clearly stated on my SSN card and LA license! Hawaii has been ordered by the federal govt to supply copies of all info on anyone getting or renewing their license here because of immigration issues. Oh and the lines are ridiculous! 

The kids seem to be adjusting well. They love playing all day outside, which is a nice change. Porter and Zella have fallen in love with Uncle Chuck who lives across the road. Uncle Chuck has a dog to play with and koi ponds to play with the fish. He also just let the kids plant some pumpkins to be ready for October! He also makes great Mac-n-cheese!

I have made it through 2 weeks of work. I love my job although I am still trying to completely figure out what I'm doing :) it's almost like being back in graduate school and getting to do research projects all day long. I also have a wonderful office view. See pic below. Yes, I keep showing this off, but I am so in love with my view! This is good because I think I will be spending a lot of time there! The people I work with are wonderful. They threw a surprise party for me the other day just to get to know me. It was pretty cool. I'm hoping the honeymoon phase with my job lasts awhile!

I finally got my car so that will be nice. I am dreading going through the process to get it registered, but it has to be done within 30 days. Luke still doesn't have a job, but he has been writing and helping out with the kids. Weird to say but I actually like him not working right now because its nice to have him to get things done right now :)

Some of the best news is that my sister, Jenny Finnerman, has already booked her first trip out here. She will be arriving in mid-August and I can't wait. She got a great deal on a flight so keep your eyes open for them:)

Well, not much else to report on. I am going on a 6.9 mile trail run in the morning with my wonderful running buddy, Deborah Tom! I'm falling in love with trail running. By the way, I'm training for the Honolulu and New Orleans marathons if anyone is interested in racing with me! Honolulu is in Dec. and New Orleans is in early Feb. 

Ok. Well everyone have a great weekend and remember why we really celebrate Memorial Day! Thank you to all of our troops out there!

Aloha,

The Gleasons 

The Move

Moving to Hawai'i is no easy task! Deciding what to take and what to get rid of was not easy. However, we were pretty lucky in the fact that we were basically moving into a fully furnished house and didn't need much but our beds, clothes, and toys.

We had a huge yard sale and sold a bunch of our stuff, but even after that we had a huge amount of stuff we took to Goodwill. My wonderful family came to help us move and to take some stuff back up north. It was so nice to have my family around to help out. Not only was it nice to spend time with them, but I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to do everything without them. They are amazing. Below is a picture of what we had left stuffed into either one of two relocubes or a Uhaul. The relocubes were shipped to Hawai'i for us and my family took the Uhaul back to MI with them. It was really weird to see our old house empty. I guess a little weird and sad.

So our stuff was all packed up and then it was time for us to fly to our new home. We left bright and early from Baton Rouge Airport:

We had a very long day, to say the least. We ended up traveling for 19 hours. Had 2 layovers, one in Atlanta and one in Seattle. The kids were prett well behaved on all flights, but we were super happy to arrive in Honolulu.  Tutu and Koa were happily awaiting our arrival. We made it back to the house and I wish I could say we all slept happily that night, but as you know we have a 1 year old and an almost 3 year old...sleep is rarely happy.

So, we have been in Hawai'i for a little over a week and our cubes are finally arriving in 2 days! Will update on our adentures here so far in the next post.

Aloha!

The Gleason

Luke, Beth, Porter & Zella