Singing in the Rain

I had to run a few errands this morning and noticed a few things different.

1. It was raining
2. People drive the speed limit in the rain

It is very strange to see people actually going the speed limit. Mostly, they're hauling tail and going 10+ mph over the speed limit. You kind of have to go with the flow of traffic or get into the lanes which aren't moving. So it was really weird to be able to set my cruise control and not have someone riding my bumper.

I also got to see two of the famed Hawaii Rainbows. They weren't very clear though and I'm not sure if it was my fault or theirs... Either way, those were the first rainbows I've seen since I got here. When I was on Oahu in September of 2011 I got to experience them firsthand. Glorious, simply marvelous. They were so bright and so clear and full of ALL the colors... Simply lovely. I can't wait to catch one on camera for all y'all!

Also, just wanted to get on here and let you know I went on a casual date at "Coffee or Tea." Yes. This girl went on a date. It was alright. He is 6 feet 4 inches tall. Exactly one foot taller than me. It was weird because I'm not usually around guys that tall. Nice guy. I'm hoping we get to meet up again -- he would be good to hang out at the movies with. We hung out from noon to about 2:30PM (he had to meet up with some friends to play D&D. I'm being serious here...). He got a coffee, I got a honey black tea (yum!). We chatted for a little bit and then we walked across the street and headed to the mall (I will likely come back to this mall -- it was pretty cool!). Walked around some more. I had to use the bathroom and here's a picture I thought you ladies would appreciate!

"Keep Calm and Take A Tampon" cause they're free! 

That's really considerate of the mall people. Cause when you really need one and you're walking around in swimwear all day (like some stupid tourist), you don't exactly have $0.25 hanging around in your pocketless pockets, do you?

After the date I hit up Walmart and got something so I could get cash back so I can have bus fare on Monday. (Tangent: My cashier was cheering for the Seahawks; the guy in front of me wasn't. So I got to tell her I'm from Seattle so I really have a reason to be cheering them on; she was just cheering for them since they're "a new team." I was like, what? Lady, you're crazy! They've been around a while... and she's like, "Oh, I mean they're new to the Super Bowl situation, other than they won last year." I still thought she was nuts. I just smiled, took my groceries and change, and left.) That's going to be a fun adventure! I'm projected to get into downtown Honolulu at around 7AM and I'm trying to set up a quick lunch with a different guy sometime after noon. Heh. I know, I'm such a playa-playa. I'm actually looking forward to meeting with him. He's an uncle, like I'm an aunt and he works as a noodle chef. He works nights so I'm not sure of when exactly he's off at. But I think it'll be pretty neat. I'm also filling out new-hire papers at 2PM for my UHA job. Yay, JOB!!! I'll plan on catching the bus again sometime around 4:30PM or 5PM. I'm just checking to see how long it will take me to get too and from work. I may spend Tuesday in Honolulu as well, in case I want to tweek the times or something. So I'll definitely have some fun and/or interesting things for you in this coming week!

So... Yeah... This is me avoiding my workout for the day... I know I have to do it -- I've done 5 days straight with my 21 Day Fix workouts. And I will... I'm just procrastinating, that's all... Although, it is one of my favorites -- Dirty 30! It's a combo of weights and cardio. I'm just disappointed because I don't have any weights. :-( I could totally make some, with, like, sand or something. But I'm too lazy. Besides, I've been doing this for five days without weights and I've been sweating like crazy (yesterday's cardio left me dripping! I counted the drops as they fell to the mat... until I couldn't see anymore because the sweat was in my eyes and burning them) so I'm not too worried about weights in the very near future. Maybe that'll be my "congratulations on your first paycheck" present to myself: a set of 5 lbs weights. 

I'm such a freak.

Aloha!

LC

Shifting Gears

I know I just updated all y'all yesterday but I've got some big news...

I GOT ANOTHER JOB OFFER!!!!

No joke.

I went in for the interview at 9AM. I interviewed with one lady and she was all, "can you hang around for a bit? I have some people I want you to talk with..." And so I spoke with the customer service supervisors. And they interviewed me some more. I made them laugh, they made me laugh, and we had a good ol' time. I asked when I could expect to hear back from them and they said probably Tuesday or Wednesday. Perfect. That's before the Vault Job starts so I would have plenty of time to give them notice. I ran home, cleaned some stuff up, made some lunch...

At about 1:25PM I got a phone call from the temp agency asking how my interview went. "Oh, right! I was suppose to call you guys to let you know what I thought and how I think it went! I thought it went pretty great. They said they'd make contact sometime before Wednesday." The lady on the phone was all, "Oh that's very lovely. By the way, I'm calling because they want to hire you. Could you start Wednesday or Thursday?" Excuse me, what?! I can start NOW! Let me just drive my happy self back into town... Of course I didn't say that. I used my cultured words and was all, "Wow. That's the quickest anyone has ever hired me before! Sure, I'd love to start work on Wednesday." She said, "Great." And let me know they were going to send me some paperwork over.

It's not that I'll be making more money per hour (which I will) or that I'll have my weekends off (I would have at the vault position) or not have to really work overtime (which could have been very likely in the vault). It's that they're more focused on wellness instead of healthcare. I'm getting the vibe they want to only have insurance for people as a last resort -- get healthy so you only have to do preventive exams instead of open heart surgery. Check out this video from their website:

Dennis, the call rep? Yeah, we met. He interviewed me. :-) 

They also have some pretty nice benefits including a FitBit, Costco membership, 20 days of PTO per year, bus passes (and the bus will practically drop me off right in front of their doors!), and they pay you for two hours out of the week to workout. Who does that?! Oh, also, you know, and my medical and dental benefits. I get those too. You can check out the full benefits here. 

Yes, it's a temp-to-hire job. Which means they could say they don't want me at anytime during the two or three months I'm initially working there. But honestly? Why wouldn't they keep me? Also, they're investing a lot of money in me, training wise so unless something horribly horrible happens, I guess they're stuck with me.

Excuse me while I go work on my Hawaiian cities and street names... You gotta pronounce them right or locals won't trust you much, will they? ;-)

Aloha!
LC

Caught One!

I RECEIVED A JOB OFFER!!

I should be more excited than I am. After all, it was one of the ones I was hoping would call me back. It's the vault position with American Savings Bank.

• Pros
• not really working with the public
• basically doing my own thing all day long
• guaranteed forty hour work weeks -- usually getting half days on Thursdays/Fridays
• paid holidays and my birthday OFF
• very nice benefits including dental and vision which start the day of hire
• $60 to go toward parking
• ASB has been in the top 5 for the past 6-ish years as one of the best places to work in Hawaii
• lots and LOTS of space for growth -- they do reviews every 6 months or so
• I get to wear comfy clothing, like jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt
• lots of potential for overtime (yay money!)
• Cons
• pay for me starts at $10/hour
• for those paying attention... YOU CANNOT LIVE ON $10/HOUR IN HAWAII UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO GET A SECOND JOB TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR INCOME!! And after working 40 hour work weeks, I'm not entirely sure I'd like to give up my weekends in the land of sunshine...
• it's in downtown Honolulu so parking is evil unless I want to take the bus (in which case the entire $60 would go to the monthly bus ticket)
• Mondays are usually very long since we will be closed on the weekend -- we stay until everything is done, even if that means 7PM
• traffic
• lots of potential for overtime (sometimes you just want to only do your 40 hours...)

So. Yeah. That happened. I went ahead and told them I'd take the job. I finished my drug test and background check today, so, assuming I pass both, I would start on 2/2. The lady I spoke with said the guy I interviewed with was really excited I had gotten through the interview process and was offered the position.

Funny story... Since I hadn't heard from ANYONE I interviewed with as of Tuesday, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with a Temp Agency. I went in for the interview/testing on Wednesday and then went hiking at Diamond Head (pictures to follow, my lovelies!). After I finished my hike and was making my Shakeology in the car, I got a phone call from ASB. They wanted to offer me the job. I hemmed a little because during my testing, the lady said I had placed phenomenally high. And she wasn't kidding. I am "Advanced in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Received 8,769 KPH in 10 key; 12,194 KPHY in alpha-numeric; and types 67 WPM." And here I was thinking this was one of my worst typing days... She pretty much said they were super excited I was there and I would be very, VERY easy to get a job somewhere. She had never seen an alpha-numeric or 10-key as high as my scores. I also don't know how long she's worked there for... So, yeah... That could just be her being a newb but I don't think so.

Anyway, she told me University Health Alliance is hiring and she would request I get highest pay, which she indicated was $13.50/hour! That's $0.48 less than I was making on the mainland at Regence BlueShield. With that, I also am not having to pay $588 for my rent/utilities so I'd be saving quite a bit and be able to pay down some debt I have incurred over the last few years. Since it's medical (pretty much the same jobby I had with RBS), they should be offering insurance. It's full time, forty hours a week. Again, it's in Honolulu but I like this location MUCH BETTER than the location for HMSA. Funny, but it's actually a few blocks from ASB. No parking. I'm not sure if they have any form of compensation or not (good questions for the interview!) but it's right on a bus route, if needed. I have also figured out how to listen to books-on-tape on my phone, downloaded from Sno-Isle and Tacoma Public Library, so, yay! Something to listen to while I'm in traffic either on the bus or driving.

So... UHA contacted the temp agency and the temp agency set up an interview for me tomorrow morning. If UHA offers me the position in a timely manner, I'm taking it. Otherwise I'm going with ASB. I'd feel horrible saying, "Nope, sorry! You guys just don't pay enough." And let's face it -- $10/hour and you want me to count a couple all the money coming in and out of your VAULT? It's really not that much of an incentive to NOT steal (not that I would -- I thought about this long and hard while on graveyard shift at the casino... It's a lot of money to 1. get new identification, 2. get out of the country and to an non-extrodition country, and 3. live comfortably for the next 20 years [or whenever the statute of limitations expires]. I haven't thought about this at all! Not.).

On that happy note... PICTURES!!!

View from the walk-in parking (I only wanted to pay $1 instead of $5. It was totally worth it!).

Starting my hike. This trail was quite the teaser, all nice and smooth, and wide... 

... Because then I was walking hard up hill through switchbacks on LAVA rocks (I'm pretty sure... Hello! It used to be a volcano? Yeah, I'm pretty sure this was lava rocks).

 Catching my breath, part 1.

  Catching my breath, part 2.

  Catching my breath, part 3.

 Catching my breath, part 4. 

 Catching my breath, part 5. This Panorama was taken where they had some old guns (there weren't any sitting on display like the ones at Fort Casey in Washington State, which would have been 100xs awesomer!). You're looking at the East side of Oahu, where Hanauma Bay is located. Also, there was this little old man there, explaining things about how Diamond Head functioned as a military base in the World Wars. It was really interesting! He gave lots of tips about the island in general, too. He was snapping pictures for tourists as well. I don't know if he was a tourist or paid by the state or whatever, but it was really nice to get some history about this place while taking a break from the long hike up.

 I went through the side of the mountain and became quite clostrophobic. Not something I was happy with but at least it was cooler in here than outside! By this time, I had sweated through my shirt. No joke.

There were so many stairs... SO. MANY. STAIRS.

And also a spiral staircase which I thought I would whack my head on... I don't know how tall people could do it!

My first peak at the ocean, cresting those cursed stairs.

Another panorama. Cause they're awesome. You're looking South West-ish.

At the lookout, part 1.

At the lookout, part 2 (that's Waikiki over there).

At the lookout, part 3.

At the lookout, part 4. It's still a bit terrifying but exhilarating not seeing any land ANYWHERE in sight. My breath hitches each time I catch a glimpse of the ocean. I'm not sure that's going to go away anytime in the near future...

At the lookout, part 5. Diamond Head Park, looking toward the East side of Oahu.

At the lookout, part 6. Waikiki on the horizon. No, I cannot see my house from here. See those mountains on the left side of the picture? I'm up over yonder. 

At the lookout, part 7. My phone automatically thought this was an epic picture so it cropped the previous picture in part 6 and edited it for me. Which is awfully nice for a phone to do, thanks. 

Primp, Primp, Selfie! I'm not glowing... that's sweat, y'all! This was after I wiped my face off. I was dripping and it was burning my eyes...

My big head is blocking Waikiki...

Again with the blocking...

Shiny... With sweat... I'm glad I hiked around 3PM. The sun was out of my way for most of it and since we're on the coast, there was a lot of cool breezes. But, let's face it, when you're hiking and its 77F out, you're going to sweat. I don't care who you are.

Decending. Check out the staircase in the next picture.

Yep, these are the ones.

My shadow was looking extra sexy so it deserved it's own picture.

This is about 20 miles away from Diamond Head on my way home. Check out those storm clouds though!

This concludes my photo narrative of my hike to Diamond Head. I started at 2:40 and got to the top by 3:20/3:30. I made it back to my car by 4:10. I totally took my time, too. There were lots of tourist, mostly Japanese, which was fun to listen to along the way. There was also this group from Illinois -- they were adorable! One would talk about the history of the fort and the others would commentate. There were also a lot of locals high-tailing up the hills in jogging apparel. One day, I, too, shall be able to run full-pelt up that hill. 

I highly recommend going. Go with other people or by yourself. Other people are more fun and can take full pictures of you without you're head blocking Waikiki.

Cheers!

LC

Waiting and Waiting

It has been four weeks since I last had a job.

It's so weird to not have one! It's rather disconcerting. I'm hoping it comes to an end in the very near future.

On the 8th of January I had an interview with HMSA. The interview went well, I think, but she said I was at the beginning of the interview process and they would get back to me in about two weeks. Two weeks will be on this Thursday and I've not heard back... After they told me that, I went home and applied for a couple of postings I saw off of Craigslist. One was for a vault position with American Savings Bank and another was for a teller position with Bank of Hawaii. Both interviews went really well and, again, I should be hearing back from them soon-ish. I'm going to call American Savings tomorrow to see if they've had a chance to make a choice.

I'm still on edge, though. I hate waiting, waiting, waiting for someone to get back to me! I know I'm a great employee (not to brag or anything) and I know I'm a great individual, too (my mamma taught me well). But the competition out here is fierce. Like, crazy-fierce. I'm scared that no matter how many interviews I go on, no matter how well of a charmer I am, I'll never get a job. Which doesn't work well for this little lady because... well... bills. Yeah. Needless to say, I'm very much so looking forward to tax returns.

That being said, I've got two more interviews tomorrow. One at a temp agency and another at a data-entry place. Both are in Honolulu so I'm going to make a bit of a day of it. I should be done with interviews after about 2PM. I'm thinking I'll change clothing, grab a bite to eat, and make my way to Diamond Head. I'd like to be there for sunset, which is about 6:15PM. I'm hoping to avoid traffic on my way home. I'll let you know if I'm successful or not!

In other news... I've started working out again. I'm starting this round with a weight of 191 lbs. It only took me four weeks to get back in the saddle. And boy-howdy! I didn't bring any weights with me to Hawaii (which I'm kicking myself for... I could have at least brought the let of 5 lbs weights) and I don't have any resistance bands, either. However, for not having any weights, the 21 Day Fix is totally kicking my butt! I feel it in my thighs, butt, and every single angle of my abs. I also feel it in my arms. I'm hobbling around like I did when I first started in May of 2014, when I kicked it off with using all of the weights. So... yeah... I'll keep you posted, of course! ;-)

So that's what I've been up to for the last two weeks or so, more or less. I'll be posting pictures soon from my Canon camera. I can't wait! I'm so excited to finally get back to photography with a real camera. :-)

Week Two

We are slowly but surely finding our normal. The kiddos were feeling better, except we found out Little Miss has an UTI, so she's been cranky. And Little Man has had a slight fever and is back to refusing baby food. I think he is on the edge of finally realizing his crib I'd for sleeping and that sleeping isn't so bad, but we shall see.
We got to go to playgroup this week, which you would think would be for the kids, but I really go for me. It's nice to let the kids play, but I love getting to chat and visit with all the other moms.
We went on a walk this week with friends and decided it's still a little cold to be walking. But we went up towards the temple, and it reminded me how much I love it here, despite the weather. The temple is huge blessing in our lives and I love to hear Little Miss talk about it.

Lately when she plays with anything to stack, like blocks or cups or the stacking rings, she builds a temple or a church building. And when we sing the primary song I Love to See the Temple, she tries to sing with us. I cannot get enough of it!

Our cable hasn't been working since the 6th, so I am very grateful for having your blue-ray player, so now we can watch the same 10 minutes over and over and over again. The complex managers are working on negotiations with the cable company, but until they figure it out there are quite a few residents that are unhappy about the situation. 

We made a project today after lunch.

She loved it! She has a book from the aquarium that's the Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark, so when I started to tell the story and got to the wolf she said "no, shark mom" 

I've been working on menu planning, trying to get some crocheting done, and trying to stay on top of the never ending stacks of dirty dishes and laundry. If I like how my crochet project turns out then I'll share the pattern on here, so stay tuned.

Cheers, 

Jessica

Week One

Well, all our stuff is in our new apartment, there are clothes in the closets, dishes in the cupboards, and books on the bookshelf, so why don't I feel moved in yet?
As the mom I feel this pressure (whether made up in my head, or something actually there I'll never know) that my family won't be happy here until I'm happy here. And, as the mom, what do you do when you're not happy? That's right, fake it till you make it! At least that's what I've been telling myself this week.
We like to start our week with a worshipful Sabbath, which didn't happen last week because of vomit and high fevers, so we were off to a great start there. In this particular week I learned that being a sick mom with sick kiddos is just about the worst job there is. (except the cuddles, the cuddles were wonderful!) When kids are sick it is amazing the things they forget, and you can't hold them responsible for forgetting or even get a little upset because they're sick. Little Miss forgot how to nap, forgot how to stay quiet while her brother naps, and potty training went as far out the window as I could see. All the while Little Man forgot how to not be held, forgot that he actually does like taking baths, and forgot how to stay asleep for a nap.
A lot of this week was spent on the couch, which is not my favorite place to spend my time with the kiddos, but as asick mama it is what needed to happen. The time on the couch also wouldn't have bothered me so much if our cable had been working. Before our last move I did a giant dvd purge and got rid of most of our movies, leaving us with just a handful. So with all that time on the couch spent watching and rewatching just afew movies over and over and over again, needless to say, it was a long week and now I'm glad it's over!

Cheers,
Jessica

A little background

So my goal for this blog is to write at least once a week, in order to keep up to date with Lisa and let her know what's happening in our part of the world. We are determined not to let an a few thousand miles and an ocean keep us apart.
A little background info for anyone new to the party:
Our little family consist of my husband Brett and myself, and our two littles; Little Miss, who is 2, and Little Man, who is 7 months now.
We live in the little town of Rexburg, Idaho where Brett is going to school at BYU-Idaho. This is his last year for his bachelor's then we'll be off to who knows where.
We have a boring little life here and if you're reading this hopefully we don't put you to sleep.
Despite our mundane life my goal is to share a variety of posts with you. From me you will probably see craft ideas, new recipes, potty-training goals, sleep training, gospel topics, and a lot of parenting stuff, a long with almost anything else.

Cheers,
Jessica

Some Things I've Learned...

Just a few things I've learned since moving to Oahu...

1. The drinking water is crap. Must. Buy. Water Purifier.
2. The driving population is crazy. You've got locals, military, and tourists... No one seems to understand the process of merging while in traffic. But they're all super nice about it, which I guess makes up for it slightly.
3. Everyone will go about 10 miles over the speed limit. Just go with the flow of traffic and you'll be fine.
4. Sunsets are brilliant, as always, on the beach.
5. If you have any experience with cash handling, people are going to call you for interviews. I've been here since the 5th... Today is the 13th. I've just finished a second interview (which I'm really, REALLY hoping I get the job for) and while I was in that interview I got a voicemail from another bank asking me to call them to talk about the position they're looking to fill.

That's my list, for the moment. I'll be adding to it as I get more and more experience as an islander.

Aloha from Oahu!

LC

Here & There

This blog is intended as a way of keeping myself and my twin sister appraised of our daily lives. It's an easy way for us to show each other what's going on in each other's lives.

We grew up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. The furtherest we've ever lived apart was her in Idaho and me in Washington. That's all changed January of 2015. I've found myself on the island of Oahu, surrounded by sunshine and palm trees while she's in Idaho, with temperatures in the negative numbers on a regular basis and snow piling up around her. As the crow flies, we're about 3,051 miles apart. This is going to be her husband's last year of school before he is able to start student teaching. From there, who knows where they'll go. But for the next nine months, we'll be keeping each other (and friends and family) connected through this blog.

Mostly I'll be posting pictures and little stories about what I'm learning about here on Oahu (like don't go to the beach without slippers [AKA flip flops] unless you're not exploring the rest of the beach; or how nail polish is useless against salt water). I'm single, no kids, and no pets. So my stories will definitely be different than hers; she has a husband and two adorable children. No pets though.

Aloha from Oahu!

LC