Soursop, Papaya, Kona Coffee and Tropical Life

I am happy to report that we a no longer a Nomad family. We took the long flights from Boston, to Salt Lake City to Honolulu and finally settled in our new home on New Year's Eve. The Navy has loaned us some wicker and floral furniture until our actual furniture arrives.  I'll take this uncomfortable furniture any day, beats staying in a sticky hotel right off a busy freeway any day.

layover in salt lake city, utah

The flights were uneventful. I am not fond of flying so for this, I am happy.  The girls were excellent on both legs of the trip. Fletcher, well, he was our wild card but much to my delight, he slept for 1/2 of both of the airplane rides which meant only 2.5 hrs and 3.5 hours of keeping him entertained so his loud screech or scream wouldn't startled any of the passengers near us. We went from some cold weather in Boston to arrive on a lush green, warm island. It was an amazing difference.

Kailua beach, first day here

 The first and second day here, the weather was pretty agreeable but since we have actually moved into the house, it's pretty much been raining and incredibly windy but yet, not too humid.  What I love is that you can drive up the Pali Highway, or head up the H3, drive through the tunnels and the other side of the island is sunny and a bit warmer. So the sun is never truly far away.  I am told this has been an unusually wet "rainy season"  so maybe in a few days it'll clear up again.




The house is really cool. It's mostly 1 floor but the master bedroom has it's own level.  From the master bedroom balcony, on a clear day, we can see the most amazing mountains. Watching the sun rise, you see the orange reflection on the mountains. It is absolutely inspiring.

Our master bedroom has such a green tropical view, and mountains just off in the distance

Our yard has beautiful lush trees, an Avocado tree, a Papaya Tree and a Soursop Tree (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/11/23/can-soursop-really-cure-cancer/) as well as a Kona coffee plant! We have had two Gecko's take up residence in the house already but they have disappeared from our view so maybe they decided we were too noisy.

Soursop tree in backyard

I walked the kiddos over to their new school yesterday. We searched the campus grounds for the front office and what a quaint little school! It's only a 1 minute walk from home, I told the girls they will probably hear Fletcher scream during recess time we are so close.  I filled out the 1,000 pieces of paper for enrollment but then we had to take a drive over to base to enroll in Tricare for this region and get TB shots for the girls. They are required before they are allowed to start school, so these lucky ducks get 2 extra days off and will probably start on Monday.

They are anxious and excited.  Such troopers.  It must be hard to get up and move every 2 years, have to make a new set of friends, find your way around a new school and worry if your teachers will be super nice. But they have such beautiful personalities that I am sure they will make friends quickly and as for teachers, I tell them to always be nice to their teachers because it's a tough job. I remind them that I sometimes get mad at them and I only have to deal with 3 kids...not 18+ children.

Well,  we have been on island now for 4 1/2 days and jet lag is still getting to me.  I've been trying to go to bed later each night but I still keep getting up very early in the morning.  At least it's not 3 a.m. like the first day here, at the hotel nonetheless.  At least now that we are home, I can relax, catch up on my posts, and have a cup of coffee before my chaos begins.

I am anxiously awaiting our HHG. I want to share pictures of our scenery but I'm so obsessed about editing that I wont upload them until I get my regular computer here. So until then, please keep coming back. I'll post more regularly now that we are connected to the interweb and I'll share photos from my phone until I can upload my pictures from my camera.

Have a beautiful, creative day!

In Between Homes

We officially moved out of Tennessee. I recently attempted to update my Facebook location as "homeless in America" but go figure, FB did not recognized my silly attempt at humor.  This is our 10th move in our 13 years of marriage. They are not getting any easier, if I must say, they actually seem to be getting harder.  3 kids now, means more furniture, more piles of messes and clutter, more to pack, donate, and junk.  I'm glad that the moving "out" part is over and I anxiously anticipate the moving "in" part at our new home in Hawaii.  But for now, I shall relish in my time at home with my parents and the daily visits of my younger brother.  Tomorrow, we embark on our new journey. A 14 hour traveling day with an 8 year old, 7 year old and rambunctious 2 year old. Should be fun! I look forward to sharing our adventures in Hawaii with all of you. I am a photo whore, so brace yourselves.

I am anxious to get to Hawaii and start feeling settled again. At least settled enough to be able to be creative again in more than just my sketchbook.  While here in New England for the holidays, my father gave me a nice instruction to watercolors. I cannot wait to explore the possibilities with this new medium, learn new techniques and create! I do miss my sewing machine(s!) and look forward to being reunited with them again.  And I most definitely look forward to finding some cool beachy bead shops and make some jewelry.  I have a little bit of ADD, so many things that I want to do and it's hard to just focus on one thing. Sometimes I feel like "Incredible Ned" by Bill Maynard when he says:




                           The art teacher smiled. She could understand Ned.
                      And she knew why those things had shown over his head.
                       “Ned’s an artist, she said. “That’s what Ned’s all about.
                      When your head’s full of pictures, they have to come out.”


Just like my head, my post today is scattered with random thoughts and musings.

So I will leave you with the things I cannot wait to dive into:

• unpacking our suitcases once and for all.
• basking in the warm sun that Hawaii will bless us with
• uploading my pictures from my Canon Rebel and doing some photo editing
• learning how to print out my artwork to sell on Etsy
• bead, charm shopping in Hawaii
• getting my sewing machine back so I can do some textile art that I can picture in my head
• learning and practicing my hand at watercoloring
• decorating the kiddos bedrooms (again!)
• making some beach and warm weather inspired jewelry. Who doesn't love a splash of turquoise in the middle of a cold long winter day
• seeing "our" new home
• Creating a new blog, learning how to make it looks whimsical and pretty like so many of the blogs that I highly admire look and creating meaningful, fun and dreamy tutorials to share.

Until then my friends, stay warm and Happy New Year to you and your families.