Details

Well, it's getting more real everyday. We have 6 days of work left, maybe 7 if they don't give us the half days for Christmas and New Years off. The plan is to rent a U-Haul on the 14th of January, fill it up with everything we don't want and take it to the Goodwill. We'll go back home and load up everything we are taking, say goodbye to the house and stay over at mom and dads. We will drive out to LA on the 15th, we plan on pulling into Hollywood the 16th. On the 18th we load up the cargo and jeep and head down to Winchester to stay with my friend for a couple of days. On the 22nd, at 1:30 in the afternoon, we leave for Kauai. We found a really cute place and are waiting for the background check to clear, as soon as we are cleared we will wire him the rent and deposit, once they get the money ($1600.00) it'll be ours! I'm really excited. It is so cute and perfect for us. We won't get to Kauai until 6:30 or so and we'll have to deal with the dogs getting checked out, luggage and car rental, so we may be sleeping on the floor the first night! Here is the ad

One bedroom / one bath “cottage in the sky” with full kitchen. A free standing one bedroom with full kitchen cottage in the sky on shared one acre. If you are looking for a quiet location, fruit trees, in upper Kapahi then this might be it. Modern, clean and good to go! The neighbors value the privacy that this property offers, so please do not drive by without calling first. Yard service, electric, water and aloha included. Only $808 / month

They replaced the mini fridge with a full size one.

Here is a rundown of the costs so far.

Airline tickets for Dan and I from California to Kauai $1000.00, we are flying direct so the dogs don't have to deal with layovers.

Dogs, $400.00 in vet bills getting them ready so they don't have to be quarantined. The Department of Agriculture wants $145.00 per dog for processing fees. The Humane Society of Kauai wants $200.00 per dog to come to the airport and clear them. $250.00 each for air fare. $100.00 for crates we will probably never use again.

2 Hotel nights while in California $107.00. Car rental for 4 days $573.00.

400 cubic foot (imagine a jeep wrangler squared off) cargo container $2800.00, $1055.00 to ship the jeep.

About $200.00 for the U-Haul.

Whew! Not including rent and 2 weeks of car rental in Kauai (until our stuff gets there) the grand total is $7,425.00!!!

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou

• Mele Kalikimaka - Merry Christmas. The words "Mele Kalikimaka" are a phonetic translation. When the missionaries and other Westerners first brought the custom of Christmas to the islands the Hawaiians had difficulty pronouncing Merry Christmas and turned it into words that rolled more easily off their tongues.
  
  
• Hau'oli Makahiki Hou - Happy New Year. The western Christmas and New Year fell during this same time of the year that the Hawaiians traditionally honored the earth for giving them plenty to eat. This period of resting and feasting was called Makahiki (mah-kah-HEE- kee). It lasted for 4 months, and no wars or conflicts were allowed during this time. Because makahiki also means "year", the Hawaiian phrase for "Happy New Year" became "Hau'oli (happy) Makahiki (year) Hou (new)"(how-OH-lee mah-kah-hee-kee ho).
• Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
• From Go Hawaii

How to Celebrate Christmas in Hawaii

Things You'll Need:

• Kalua Pigs
• Steel Guitars
• Hawaiian Cookbooks
• Leis
• Christmas Tapes Or CDs

1. Step1

   Purchase gifts for just about everyone you know. Hawaiians seem to be more generous than most people at Christmastime. It's a tradition to make sure that everyone is included.

2. Step2

   Attend church on Christmas morning, if that's an important part of your religious tradition.

3. Step3

   Plan a luau, which is an outdoor meal that consists of a kalua pig roasted in an "imu," or underground oven.

4. Step4

   Make Christmas leis for family and friends to wear.

5. Step5

   Enjoy the sounds of the Christmas bells, which are played on a steel guitar.

6. Step6

   Expect Menehune Santa to arrive with presents in his Christmas tree boat, or red canoe, dressed for the weather in shorts and Hawaiian shirt. His elves are said to paddle the boat to shore.

7. Step7

   Bake traditional Christmas treats, such as sweet potato cheesecake with "haupia," or coconut, frosting.

8. Step8

   Listen to Hawaiian Christmas songs like "Po La'i E" or "Silent Night."

   
   

   From how

   
   

   We'll be going Hawaiian style next year!! For now, we are riding the cold storm out!

Farewell Party

Saturday night Bill and Carol threw us a heartfelt, fantastic party. They were gracious enough to not put a limit on how many people we could invite, as a result about 100 people showed up. They spent a lot of time, thought and energy getting the house ready, in fact, when we got there they were so busy with last minute details, they hadn't taken showers yet! Carol quickly filled me in on what needed to be done and went up to clean up!

Deb, who gave us the gift of designated driver

was helping me when Goldie and Mitch showed up. Goldie quickly saw what needed to be done and jumped right in to help out.

Bill and Carol had decorated the house in a Christmas/Hawaiian theme. As you came into the warmth of the house, an aloha sign greeted everyone at the front door. There were lei's for all and they got really pretty ones for Dan and I. Sean and his wife Jen also brought us some nice ones. The food table had a grass skirt around it and real pineapples for decoration. Outside on the deck (lanai in Hawaiian) was a blow up palm tree with a kiddie pool like base that held ice and beer. Christmas lights were on the lanai as well as in the house, along with a beautiful Christmas tree. The garage was cleaned up and outfitted with a space heater and the staple ping pong table was ready for games. With plenty of food, music (Dan and I made a playlist on our Ipod) and people everywhere, everyone was in high spirits. It was so crowded that it took forever to get from one side of the kitchen to the other! We were humbled by the turn out and a realization sank in that we are leaving behind a lot of good friends. We are so grateful for the people in our lives. Generally you don't know how you impact people but there were so many warm wishes, thoughtful admissions about our relationships, declarations of how we inspire both by living our dream and by the obvious love between us, that we were hit to our core.

In fact Megan brought tears to Dan's eyes as she told him how much he would be missed and what an inspiration he is. She came by me later and told me the same thing. I was struck by two things, how well she picked the words to describe how she felt, what she said was really beautiful (unfortunately, I can't recall it, just the emotion she left me with) and how hard it was for me to accept. I don't feel worthy of all the accolades!

Bill and carol had their daughter Katie design a card for everyone to sign. So much warmth and love, it makes me realize how lucky we have been to have such great people in our lives!

Just beautiful!!

A "Conversation" with Gracie

Today is the day after the going away party Bill and Carol threw for us. I will post about that in a different post because it was full of friendship, love and joy, this one is not. Like I predicted, no one from my family came to our going away party. It made me sad because a lot of people came to send us off and I wanted my family to be there. Not only to share in the joy we felt from everyone but so they could meet some of our friends

I'm blogging this incase I start to miss my family, this will be a reminder. We got to bed around 3am last night. Deb had taken us to and from the party because she knew we would be drinking and wanted to make sure we would be safe. This morning we woke up around 9 and I made German apple pancakes breakfast. Deb bought us a book for our new Kindle's for us to read on our trip and gave me a little clip on light. We looked at last nights pictures and enjoyed each others company.

Today is Paige's birthday and they are having a party for her. I told dad yesterday that we wouldn't be going to Paige's party because we'd probably be out late. After Deb left we were watching TV, in and out of sleep, when I got a text from Gracie.

Gracie: Hey when u comin over

Marta: We aren't going to be able to come over today honey tell Paige happy birthday for us

Gracie: r u drunk see u in 5 years

Marta: Why are you being so rude? Why would you say something so mean?

Gracie: Well u r not common to Paige's b day

Marta: You didn't come to our going away party and I'm not being mean to you

Gracie: Well we were making christmas cookies at my grandmas

Marta: I guess we all have our good reasons

Gracie: Sorry we had 200 cookies to bake and yes u r see you in 5 years I guess

Marta: I guess we won't come over for Christmas then.

Gracie: Well if you can't make it here than how could u make it to Christmas but I guess I will still love you

I'm flaming pissed right now. Really? I imagine my folks over there feeding this nonsense to everyone. I don't even want to say how I really feel about this whole thing and now they are putting the kids in the middle. Dan already doesn't want to go over there for Christmas, but the whole reason we are delaying our move is to spend the holidays with my family. It makes me wonder why I want to do this. Oh yea, Guilt.

Gracie: I guess I am sorry totally sorry

Marta: It's ok honey, I know you just want us to come over. I know you are just responding to what the adults in your life are saying. We love you, we love all of you and just because we can't come over today doesn't mean we don't and it doesn't mean we won't see you till 5 years from now.

My family has a great way of making me feel like an ass!

I Hope

The other morning Dan and I were driving to work - in the Arctic chill - the jeep was cranking out warm air and the iPod was on shuffle. A Dixie Chicks song came on and it made me feel hopeful and the chorus kind of embodies why we are going to Kauai and what we are looking for so I decided to post it. If you click on the header, you can hear the song. I don't know who did the video, but I like that they put tropical pictures during the first chorus!

Sunday morning, I heard the preacher say
Thou shall not kill
I don't wanna, hear nothin' else, about killin'
And that it's God's will
Cuz our children are watching us
They put their trust in us
They're gonna be like us
So let's learn from our history
And do it differently

CHORUS:
I hope
For love, joy and laughter
I hope
We'll have more than we'll ever need
I hope
We'll have more happy ever afters
I hope
We can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery
I hope, I hope

Oh Rosie, her man he gets too rough
And all she can say, is he's a good man
He don't mean no harm
He was just brought up that way
But our children are watching us
They put their trust in us
They're gonna be like us
It's okay for us to disagree
We can work it out lovingly

For I hope
For love, joy and laughter
I hope
You'll have more than you'll ever need
I hope
You'll have more happy ever afters
I hope
And you can all live more fearlessly
And you can lose all your pain and misery
I hope, I hope


There must be a way to change what's going on
No, I don't have all the answers, but
I hope
For more love, more joy and laughter
I hope
you'll have more than you'll ever need
I hope
There'll be more happy ever afters
I hope
We can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery, we can lose all the pain and misery

I hope, I hope


I hope
I hope
I hope

Wanted: Good Vibes

Please send good vibes this way, Dan is calling about this house!!!

Update: Sounds good but there are 2 problems. No washer and dryer would have to go into town to do it, 5 minutes away and NO KITCHEN!!!!! Just a kitchenette. Can I learn to cook all of our meals on a grill? We could get one with a burner. After all it's grilling weather all year round. No baking though. Dara, what would you do? Live beachside and have your cooking compromised or find something else?

Before and After

Before

After

1/3 of the move is paid for!