What A Week!

We did a lot this week: 

Monday I had an interview at the Honolulu Club for a receptionist position. John was kind and drove us to town. We decided to rent a rental car for Monday and Tuesday since Zach also had an interview on Tuesday on the opposite side of the island. It was kind of funny when John dropped me off for my interview he said he use to be a member of the Honolulu Club and that it was a hoity-toity kind of place and that he could see me working there. 

I think the interview went well and I actually got a call back for a third interview on Monday (I had a phone interview before she asked me to come in and interview in person), now I just have to pass the typing test. Anyway after my interview Zach picked me up in our rental and we decided to hit the island. We’ve been trying our best to watch our spending, since we aren’t making any money at the moment but we thought it was okay to splurge this week since Thursday was Zach’s birthday so the rental car and tour of the island was his birthday celebration. He wanted Wahoos fish tacos so that was our first stop then we drove up towards the North Shore and of course we had to stop for Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice in Haleiwa, they were so good. Then we ventured on to Waimea Bay where we sat and watched the waves and continued to eat our snow cones. Then we stopped at Pipeline to watch the sunset. After that we continued on our drive along the coast and even stopped at Turtle Bay Resort to look around, it was fun to see where they filmed the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We love the North Shore, I wish we could live there…maybe one day. 

 Our adventure to the North Shore

On Tuesday we got up and did some work around the farm then drove to Kapolei for Zach’s interview at Costco. We drove around the area and checked it out but we weren’t too impressed, it was more desert-y and not much around the area. After that we returned the rental car and caught a bus back to Waimanalo. We are really starting to understand the lay out of the island. 

On Thursday for Zach’s birthday we walked to McDonald’s to get ice cream cones and then headed to the beach. What’s better than spending your birthday at the beach?

 Happy 27!

 

 

 

Another part of Zach's birthday playing with FIRE!

 Last night John took us on a full moon hike up Makapu’u point, which is the easternmost point on the island. The night and view was beautiful. 

 We are truly blessed to be able to have these experiences.

10 Days Down

We were talking the other night about how much more comfortable we feel on the farm. We wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 am every day and usually to the sound of rain or the birds chirping. We go up to the main house to fix breakfast and to do our chores then usually Zach and I go with John to help take care of the baby catfish. Here’s a little video. 

The whole catfish process takes about an hour then we head back to the farm to begin our day’s work. All the garden beds now have cinders put in them, now we are working on breaking down and washing bio-char (basically it’s charred chopped wood that may or may not be beneficial to plant growth). I began the bio-char work yesterday and let’s just say, I was filthy by the end of it. 

We both enjoy doing work, it’s good to feel productive and we love the food that is cooked and served here. We love taking breaks and going to the beach and we love the beauty that surrounds us. For me personally, I’m looking forward to cleaner feet and having our own space. 

The other day we spent the day in town looking at apartments, that whole process is interesting. We are realizing we have to have jobs first before we’ll be approved for an apartment so we’ve also been applying to lots of jobs; fortunately, we both have interviews this week…fingers crossed!! 

We are definitely learning a lot along the way…patience being the most important lesson so far. We are grateful for the set up we have right now, I don’t know how we would have gone about moving to Hawaii without the help of living and working on this farm. We are grateful for the support of each other (I am especially grateful for Zach’s attitude when I let frustrations get the best of me) and we are entirely grateful for the support and love of our friends and family. We know things will fall into place eventually. 

Until next time…

Our evening watching the sunset in Waikiki

And So It Begins...

For those of you who don’t know Zach and I are on this Hawaiian adventure together. It’s been 6 days so far since we landed in beautiful Oahu and started living in a tent. It’s been interesting for sure. For me I feel like this is Peace Corps part 2 and for Zach this is “exciting”. It took us a couple of days to feel comfortable here on the farm but I think we are finally settling in. John, the owner, is very helpful, kind, and full of knowledge, I think we got pretty lucky with the farm. The farm is still a start-up farm so we’ve mostly been working on getting the garden beds ready for planting seeds. Every morning we have chores to complete, mostly watering the WWOOFer garden and other plants and feeding the fish. The workload hasn’t been a lot to be honest; so far we’ve moved wood and pallet piles, Zach dug a small ditch, which he learned he doesn’t want to be a ditch digger, I helped John staple lining to one of the garden beds, John taught us how to feed and clean the tanks for baby catfish, he also taught us about Black Solider Flies and how to grow them to feed the chickens. The main project has been washing cinder (volcanic rock that is rich in nutrients and supposedly very helpful for plant growth). The process is scooping the cinder half way into a 3 gallon bucket with holes drilled out on the bottom then dunking and rinsing it in a large garbage bin full of water. After the cinder has been rinsed a few times then it’s dumped into the garden bed. There are eight 30ft. long garden beds and it takes about 2 hours to fill one garden bed with cinder. John is kind enough having us do one garden bed a day. 

We’ve been eating really well, one of the girls is the main cook and she cooks really good, healthy food. It’s nice we all eat together and they are overly generous with food. 

Living in a tent has actually been kind of fun. Our tent is located down a ledge from the farm so we are farther away from the main house. We have an air mattress to sleep on, which we are grateful for. However, we are finding out that we want our own place and are actively searching for an apartment. We have been to the beach every day so far and we love that! The beach is about 2 miles away and it’s beautiful and during the week it’s pretty empty. 

We traveled into Waikiki on Sunday to explore the city and kind of get a feel for the area. It’s very touristy and we figure we could probably get jobs pretty easily downtown. 

All in all we are doing well and are happy to be in Hawaii. 

It’s been a fun and educational first week so far. 

The garden beds looking out from the main house

The main house

Home sweet home

{I know from this picture our tent looks uneven but it's actually pretty level}

Waimanalo Beach, less than 2 miles away from the farm

It's so pretty here!

Hawaii x's 4

I have been to Hawaii 4 times and 3 of those times were to visit my grandma Sonia.

The first time I went I was 2 years old. I don't remember that trip but I love looking at the pictures. I look like I belong in Hawaii!

My grandma and me on the Big Island

 

Grandma, me, and mom

I was born ready for Hawaii

Me and dad, I love this picture!

The second time I went I was 7 years old and papa took me to see grandma, Aunt Cola, and Dana.

I do remember that trip.

I remember only wanting to eat rice, shrimp, and ice cream.

I remember grandma braiding my hair every night.

I remember Dana and I setting up a bird trap and catching a bird.

And I remember going out on a fishing boat and getting so sea sick. 

Dana and me with the fish we caught.

The third time I went was a couple years later with mom and Amie.

I remember the airplane ride.

I remember swimming in the warm ocean.

I remember going on a little hike.

I remember it raining a lot.

And I remember being so afraid of homeless people 

{there's actually a pretty embarrassing story from this trip involving me freaking out in a restaurant}

Hawaii has a lot of rainbows

Me and my little sissy. 

The 4th and last time I was in Hawaii was with Andrea when we were 15 years old.

We went to visit her sister who was going to BYU.

It was my first time going to the island of Oahu and we did and saw so much.

We went to Pearl Harbor.

We went to the North Shore and got Matsomoto shaved ice. 

We ate shrip from a shrimp truck.

We went to the Dole Plantation and to the Polynesian Culture Center. 

We hiked and jumped off the Waimea falls.

And we went snorkeling. 

It was a very fun trip. 

At the Polynesian Culture Center

And now, in less than 2 weeks I'll be going to Hawaii again, this time to live! 

I'm so excited for this new adventure!!