As the sun sets..

There's something emotional about watching the sunset; whether it be the indescribable palette of colors filing the sky, or the official marking of another day come and gone. Growing up it seemed ever meaningful when attending summer camp and spending so much time outside in nature. After a busy day outdoors, watching the sun disappear behind the lake had a calming and yet overwhelming effect.  This feeling was ever profound each night as we watched the sun set in Hawaii.

Our first night watching the sunset happened our second night on the island (night no1 we fell asleep at 6:00pm Hawaiian time)! We were sitting at the beach-side bar and started talking to the bartenders and a few others about what we overheard as the "green flash". Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing, but it's very common among Hawaiians. The explained to us the green flash happens right as the sun is setting or right after it falls below the ocean. While we looked for it each night, I believe we only saw it once or twice (at least we think so). A few of the locals told us right as the sun starts to disappear on the horizon make sure to never blink or you could miss it as it appears green only for a few seconds or so. 

The locals would get so excited with the anticipation of the green flash it was amazing. It was so interesting seeing how enthusiastic everyone seemed over a simple sunset. But again, it took us back to our childhood memories and all the emotional ties we felt with our own experiences of sunsets and the feelings it brought. It was moments like these that we found so amazing; learning about things people were so passionate about that we never heard of. We're so excited to really embrace the Hawaiian culture and want to learn and experience as much as possible from every person we meet while we're there. I hope to be pushed outside my comfort zone and grow in many ways from this adventure!

 A few of our "green flash" nights...

At our resort watching from the beach.

Watching from atop Mauna Kea volcano.

 
 Aloha!
Jen and Mark

You're moving to Hawaii?!

The reactions we first received when we told people we were moving to Hawaii were priceless. They ranged from; "Is that a joke?!", "Wow! That's awesome!!" and "Why?" Quite frankly after this winter I felt bad even talking about it! 

When people initially asked us why we were moving there it was hard to pinpoint an exact reason why we chose it. It's almost as if Hawaii in a sense chose us.

Our talks of Hawaii started April (or so) of 2013 when we were planning our honeymoon destination. After talking (and sometimes even arguing) back and forth about locations which included; Paris, Italy, and Ireland to name a few.. we finally agreed on Hawaii. Living in the United States, Hawaii is definitely the perfect place to vacation when looking for an experience similar to that of a foreign country without the stress of passports, etc. 

So without further discussion we agreed on Hawaii, the Big Island in particular. It had everything we were looking for; adventure, relaxation, resort amenities and prime snorkeling/water activites. Within days we would have endless daydreams about our soon coming honeymoon. Without either of us directly discussing it we soon would spend countless weekends joking about living there. I think it really did start our as a joke but soon came so much more than that. Looking back it seems crazy... we were having really in depth conversations about how amazing it would be to make that our home (before we even visited it)! We say often it's almost as if Hawaii choose us. I remember vividly driving down Douglas Avenue and seeing a University of Hawaii bumper sticker on the back of a pickup truck.. little things like that would constantly appear to us as mini signs from God that we had to do this. 

So as our wedding weekend approached (that's another blog entry :)) and ended we were off to Hawaii! It was everything we had ever dreamed of and more (except for the 1K Mustang accident :))! Some of our favorite memories; Watching the sunset and star gazing at Mauna Kea- the highest point in the U.S., snorkeling and encountering a honu (turtle) face to face, visiting the Kona Coffee plantation, and having a 50.50 experience of adventure and relaxation. Our favorite part of the island was by far Kona! It's a very populated part of the island with a small town feel located on the Western side of the Big Island.

Freezing at the top of Mauna Kea! It was crazy to see this side of Hawaii. While on the island we were able to see all 8 of the world's 13 climate zones located on the Big Island.

Enjoying Akaka falls on Marks 27th birthday. This was one our favorite days of our honeymoon exploring the parks and waterfalls of the island.

Watching the sunset 15K feet tall atop Mauna Kea!

Volcano National Park with my hunnie!

He let us try so many different variations of coconuts and even gave us lessons on the best ways to cut a coconut and the best ways to enjoy it!

Dinner at the Fairmont Orchid on our last night on the Island. We were so sad to leave. We would have never dreamed that one year from that day we would be LIVING in Hawaii!

After our Honeymoon is when our real planning began! The past four months have been a complete whirlwind with all our Hawaii planning.. It seemed extremely overwhelming and nearly impossible to do but when we broke down each task one by one it actually became possible! By far our biggest obstacles were figuring out what to do with our condo and getting the animal paperwork figured out (we were so shocked and overwhelmed by the necessary steps needed to fly our dog and cat to Hawaii)... but as any animal lover knows there was no question whether or not they came with us.. they are our "babies" after all! After a lot of planning and a few gray hairs we listed our condo for rent through Remax and found a perfect tenant. As far as the animals go it all eventually worked out with a ton of paperwork and patience.

Now we are currently living in a spare bedroom of my very generous mom and step dad's house until we're ready to go! We found a lot of help from different blogs and websites online (We found this very helpful!) and hope that one day we can be an outlet to others who wish to follow their Hawaiian dreams. If there's one profound thing we've learned with this crazy journey is there is no dream that is unattainable. Even when things seemed overwhelming, by breaking them into smaller more manageable tasks it slowly started coming together.

We'll be starting on our journey in Oahu, more specifically Waikiki. It's been a crazy ride but we are weeks away from living our Hawaiian dream!

 

Aloha!
Jen & Mark