Snow...or Lack Thereof

I already know I'm going to catch some flack for this post.
But I don't really care, because you can't really understand this experience unless you've lived it yourself.

I miss the snow.

There. I said. You can commence the hating now.

I've always been one who loved the seasons and watching them change. Fall is perhaps my favorite season, when the leaves are painted with the colors of a beautiful sunset before winter settles in.

However, I love the serenity yet unpredictability that comes in the winter months. The world looks so still when covered in a soft blanket of snow or sealed up frozen in a layer of ice. So dainty and pure. But there is great exhilaration found in a blizzard blowing all around you or snuggling up inside near a fire watching the snow fall outside the window. Not to mention all the fun to be had playing in the snow, sledding and building forts!

February 2010

That being said, I have missed the snow a bit this year. I know, I know, I'm crazy. But it nearly feels like there is missing time in my life. Like I fast forwarded too far...or I'm stuck in a perpetual summer time warp. Things felt especially incongruent when my birthday rolled around this month:
A warm sunny day just didn't feel right.
Wearing shorts didn't feel right.
I was driving with the windows down.
This is January right?
Very bizarre.

Is it possible to have a reverse form of Seasonal Affect Disorder, where the lack of seasons can negatively affect me?
Perhaps not officially, but I certainly believe that when you are used to one type of weather pattern and it changes drastically, it can mess with your internal clock.

Do not misunderstand to say that I am complaining about living in a tropical paradise! I love the fact that I can go to the beach year round and get a sunburn in December :) I've just come to realize how much a creature of habit I have been and how much adjustment it takes to move to a new climate. I already know that I will be a HUGE pansy whenever I come back to Ohio during the wintertime and I give you all full permission to make fun of me!

December 2011

For now, I'll just soak up the sunshine and treasure the warmth that most people dream about during these months.

A Prolonged Hiatus

First off, I must apologize. 
I started this blog with every intention of posting regularly. Somewhere between moving into our townhouse on Hickam, adopting an adorable dog, borrowing household items, preparing for our shipment, actually unpacking our shipment once it finally got here and preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, my blog simply hadn't stayed a priority. And for that I am very, very sorry!

Now that I feel as if things are starting to mellow out and become more routine, I am hoping I will have the desire to share with you the exciting things that are happening with us as well as my random thoughts and ramblings. Hopefully many of you have kept up with our lives through phone or skype contact, or of course via facebook as I feel this would be an entirely too long post to recount everything that has happened in the past few months. Instead I would like to write about the things I look forward to!

Two weeks from today my younger brother David is coming to visit us!
So. Stinkin. Exciting.
This trip came rather as a surprise to me at first. We knew my parents were planning to visit us in late February for a few weeks, so David and I were discussing the possibility of him coming with them to visit. However, we both agreed that it would probably be more enjoyable if he and my parents came at separate times. We felt that this way we would be able to better address different interests and levels of activity (and seriously, that is a long time for my poor husband to spend with my whole family, hee hee). I figured this meant that maybe David would come sometime later this year or next. But I was surprised to learn that February is one of the slower months where he works and he would possibly be able to get time off to come visit. Needless to say I was pretty excited :) 
We are thrilled to have him as our first guest to visit us for two weeks next month!
Then the craziness continues.
The day after David is supposed to leave, my parents arrive to visit for three weeks! I am super excited (I mean come on, who wouldn't be happy to see their parents after seven months?), but that means we will have house guests for five weeks straight.
Oy.
Despite this fact, I am sooooo looking forward to seeing some familiar faces out here and playing "tour guide" around my new island home! I will be so glad though to simply have time to spend with my parents without having to stare at my computer in order to do so. I am also excited for them to meet our Zeus and spend time with him. He is excited to meet his extended family :)

Look at that sweet face. Who wouldn't love him?

So, this what I am looking forward to in the next several weeks. I'm hoping to provide updates and pictures while they are here visiting to help chronicle their trips!

On that note, in case you haven't seen, I uploaded lots of pictures on facebook to help give everyone a better glimpse into a few of our experiences on the island thus far.  So check them out!

Game Day

 I think it's time to address the "Buckeye" aspect of this blog:

It pains me not to be able to watch Ohio State football this week. Unfortunately we do not get Big 10 network in our cable package here, so consequently I have spent my Saturday morning (I am up entirely too early) regularly checking ESPN's college football score page. Yikes. Who does that? Me apparently. An addict...

Being a Buckeye fan is like a disease, something from which you never recover. For me it onset early in life. As a baby, I was dressed in OSU onesies and every time I stretched both hands into the air my parents would say, "Touchdown Buckeyes!" Yep, I was indoctrinated.

But I loved it. We watched every game, every Saturday. You might say that my dad's "passion" (read: screaming, yelling, cheering, throwing things, etc) rubbed off on me quite a bit. I was hooked for life. I loved sports anyway as a tomboy growing up, but football always seemed to reign supreme.

You better believe that was an Ohio State football birthday cake. 4th grade, I believe.

As I got older though, things got rough every November during the OSU vs. Michigan game. Always intense. Always a battle. Always believing that the Bucks would pull through. This was particularly stressful to me as my best friend ever was...*gasp*...a Michigan fan!

Now, an uninformed onlooker might ask, 

"How in the world does that work?"

"Did you not speak that day?" 

"Did your friendship survive?!" 

Let me just say that we were very creative about our love each other/hate your team relationship. We trash talked, we joked, we even watched the game together at her uncle's house almost every year. I even lost a bet our Freshman year of high school that since OSU lost to Michigan, I couldn't speak for an entire day. Kind as she was, she even made a sign for me to wear that day explaining my predicament. Thanks Arika. But most importantly we knew that our friendship was more powerful than a rivalry that had lasted over a century.

Possibly one of my favorite pictures of all time.

I'm glad to tell you that this story has a very happy ending. My bestest finally saw the light and has converted from her heathen ways! She now enjoys attending Ohio State games with her husband.

Here in Hawaii especially, being an Ohio state fan is something that defines part of who I am. My love and passion for Buckeye football does not change simply because I live on an island where University of Hawaii is king. I am not a chameleon who changes dependent upon the environment (well, at least not in this case). I am a Buckeye by birth, coming from the great state of Ohio. And I intended to leave that mark on wherever I go.

OHIO on the Great Wall of China

Go Bucks!

An Outlet

I had been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, but never seemed to have the time, motivation and frankly encouragement that anyone would read my disjointed thoughts. However, there are a few people apparently who are curious about my adventures in "paradise." Since I moved to Hawaii from Ohio at the end of July, my life has changed dramatically. I had recently become a military wife, moved over 5,000 miles away from home and moved into a studio apartment in Honolulu, about a block from Waikiki beach. I live in a tourist spot.

"Great," I thought, "Lots of apparently clueless people squeezed into one spot right where I live." Quite a change from the formerly rural (but increasingly suburban) area of Ohio where I've lived all my life. No backyard to walk out into barefoot. No woods to disappear into when I need some alone time. (Can you say downtown claustrophobia?) Grandma's house isn't right next door to make me feel secure, warm and rooted. No changing seasons, causing me to miss out on my favorite season: Fall. No snowy winters or visiting the Columbus Zoo Wildlights. Horribly awful traffic all day, every day. Crappy coin laundry. Ok, I really need to stop complaining...

On the other hand, I've already had several experiences I never really imagined that I would:
Swam in the Pacific Ocean.
Watched an incredibly fast, but beautiful sunset.
Kayaked out to a small volcanic rock island.
Snorkeled coral formations with my husband.
Saw a freakin sea turtle up close (don't worry, I plan to see more and swim with them)!
Snuck into a neighboring hotel pool (it taunted me outside of our window for a looong time).
Shared one car and used public transportation.
Successfully cooked in what cannot legally be called a kitchen.
Saw my first hippo at the zoo (I love them).

Although Hawaii may not be what I am used to, I would not trade this incredible experience for anything. God has taught me to be content and thankful for all of His blessings, in whatever form they come. We are fortunate that sometime within the next few weeks, we should be moving onto base into our first house! I am so, so, so excited!!! It will be great to live in something that is not like a dorm room and for Brian to be so much closer to work. Even though we only live 12 miles from the base, it generally takes him nearly 45 minutes to get home. Living on base will also relieve some of our transportation issues and possibly enable me to look for a job. Yay! Even though we will have housing, we are still waiting to receive our household goods shipment (including all of our shower and wedding gifts) and probably won't receive the shipment until the end of October. *Sigh* But an empty house is still an incredible blessing.

I hope to keep updating regularly and share my adventures with anyone who cares to read. But you can also expect a good dose of ranting, reflection, and a touch of homesickness from time to time.