10/11/09--  We have been in our new house for 4 days now. Our HHG were delivered 3 days ago- it has been long days filled with unpacking and organizing- as any military wife would know.  Our delivery of the HHG went very smoothly- nothing was broken, and for that I am shocked because I was just expecting something to be broken since coming to Hawaii is such a long move. I think I can finally see the end of the tunnel! All the boxes have been emptied and now I am starting to organize and try to "fit" our furniture into this new space- and buy a couple new peices if I can find what I am looking for.  I honestly LOVE this house. It was wellworth the wait. It is so BIG! Joey actually complained because he got "lost" upstairs. Ha ha ha. Having A/C is amazing! Having all this space is amazing! Its definitely a lot more work to move in with Chris deployed- but it sort of makes it fun because I get to surprise him with everything I have accomplished when he gets home!  Right now Joey and I are painting our desk- I will post pictures of this place once I get things put together a bit more.

9/15/09  We got to the island July 15th, 2009. Chris, me, three kids, 10 suitcases, a stroller and one dog named Stella. WHEW! Thankfully some people from Chris's boat met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel- What a BIG HELP! The first week in Hawaii was a BLUR. Thankfully we had shipped out van well ahead of time so it was on the island- Chris went to pick it up the next day. It really helps to have a vehicle- so, if your going to PCS here, I would recommend sending your vehicle early! The next big hurdle was finding a house. I had been looking on the Internet at the Forest City website and at all the beautiful houses. I was even looking at the various floor plans and picturing where our furniture would go..... NOT SO FAST!

We Went to the housing office and filled out a bunch of paperwork and they informed us that the neighborhoods that WE wanted had about a 6-12 MONTH wait!! So they showed us a house in Peal City. They even told us we were lucky and this was a house that was supposed to go to an 04 or higher. WOW! Lucky US! We drove there. The outside looked small, but hey.... maybe the inside would be amazing. It WAS a four bedroom! SO we went in..... First let me start off by saying that I am NOT a picky person. The size of a house really doesn't matter that much to me.... I even lived in a 300 sq ft 5th Wheel for a few months!! But this house was SMALL. And DARK. And SMELLY. The bedroom were about the size of a king size mattress. The bathrooms were old and outdated. I wanted to cry. Chris just wanted to sign the lease and move in already!... He just wanted to be done looking for a house and get our household goods delivered. I had to put my foot down. I told him that I COULD NOT live in this house. I would LOSE IT. The lady showing us this home must have felt sorry for me and told me the wait list for Halsey Terrace (our dream neighborhood) was really not THAT long..... So, we denied the Pearl City house. --- and I am glad we did because we know several people who have found mold in their Pearl City houses and have had health problems!---- We got on the wait list for Halsey Terrace and needed to find some a month-to-month rental. The official wait list for a 4 bedroom for Halsey is 6-12 months. I am hoping it moves much faster!

 Enter JUDY ANDERSON- phone number 808-235-0506 (leave a message, she'll call you back!) She was an answer to prayer, alleluia! She deals with a LOT of military who are waiting for housing or just need a short term rental. She showed us a lovely three bedroom apartment in Kaneohe, with a killer view of the bay. So, we signed on to rent Monthly from her. Our apartment is in Poa Kea Point, its a lovely place with a community pool/hot tub, pet friendly and has views that you would not believe. We love it here! Our neighbors have all been SO NICE! (well, except the guy who lives underneath us, I don't know WHAT his problem is!) We were here in our apartment  for about 6 weeks when Forest City called us at the beginning of September and told us a  4 bedroom was going to be available October 8th. We gave Judy our 28 day notice and are getting ready to leave Kaneohe and move to the other side of the island.  I am looking forward to 1) Getting our household goods delivered- I haven't seen any of THAT since April. 2) Air Conditioning and 3) Not having to drive all over the island to take the kids to and from school- we will be living close enough to the school to WALK there! and 3) Meeting other families with small children.