totallyjeneric

Eric is sleeping as I type.  This morning, however, he sleeps not upstairs in the queen-sized bed of our bedroom, but instead, on the twin-sized lower bunk of my bedroom in my parents’ home.  My mom is also asleep after a 12-hour shift, my dad is at work, and my brother on the way back to school on the East Coast.  Everything is so familiar, yet unfamliar at the same time.  The sounds of traffic and morning garbage-pickup are not new.   The bumpy rides in my family’s little green car along the Hawaiian-named streets are like they were eight years ago.  Yet now Eric is by my side.  Alongside the old, run-down buildings, there are new condominiums and retail stores popping up everywhere.  There are new traffic laws we must learn, prices we must get re-accustomed to, a new place to move into and make our home.  It’s fun and exciting, nerve-wracking and overwhelming.  I am still in a bit of shock, and I wonder what our new normal will look like once the dust settles. 

All that to say, we made it.  We are in Hawaii!  We’ve had shave ice at Waiola’s, eaten dim sum with my grandma, and been to Walmart (twice)–sign of a true local!  Haha.  I still can’t believe we survived last week’s madness of packing, selling, cleaning, goodbye-ing… I had not felt so overwhlelmed nor multitasked so furiously since the week before my wedding.  We definitely could not have done it without the help of many dear friends–friends who brought us frozen yogurt, who helped us pack & donate & throw things out, who received things that we were unable to bring, who lent me her car for an entire week so we could ship ours early (!), who helped sell my keyboard when our only interested buyer fell through at the last minute (!), who lent us a desperately-needed iMac box (!), who drove 2.5 hours with us to Jersey when we realized there was no way everything would fit into one car (!), and who rushed us to the post office so we could slip in just seconds before it closed (!).  Seriously, we are so thankful!!!  It’s as if every friend who served us and every prayer said on our behalf were pieces that God joined together to make our move possible; even one less piece would have made the puzzle incomplete and our move that much harder.  We marvel at the way things have fallen (and are still falling) into place better than we could have planned.  And now, 30 boxes, 4 check-ins, 2 carry-ons, 2 flights and 1 layover later, we are in Hawaii!!!  It is unreal.  It is by God’s grace.

Photos coming soon, once I find my camera cable.  Sending love & warmth from the Islands.  Miss you guys!!