We might have friends!

So, last weekend we went to a Sig-O's barbecue. (Yes, I went from being a "dependent," the military's term, to being a Significant Other at dh's grad school, which they shorten to Sig-O. Some day I'll just be a wife. Just maybe.)

Anyway, at this barbecue, we met other people whose significant others are attending the Owen School and therefore, MIA most of the time. (Like today for instance, DH has been studying for like 5 hours now and it's 2:30pm). One of the couples that we connected with has the husband in grad school and then the wife is here. The husband is a former Marine, so he and DH can relate pretty easily. The wife is a former high school and college soccer player and is currently unemployed (much like myself, except she's not looking for a job. But then again, she doesn't get weird rejection letters in the mail like I do either.) She and I hung out the other day - we went out for lunch and then came over to our condo to go swimming in our pool. It was nice. They are Christians too and attend a local United Methodist church.

This afternoon, we're going to pry our husbands away from the library and go to a wine tasting at a local wine store. And then they're coming over for dinner. It's nice to know people :)

Cute Baby Things

This site has a bunch of cute baby booties and blankets. We don't need them... but if you do, all of the money goes to a family adopting a baby from Ethiopia - sounds like a good idea to me!

Excitement in the Music City

I've been really excited three times this week.

1. When I found the silverware in the box marked "book's." Clearly, I should have known that "book's" also meant "general kitchen stuff" like cookbooks, tea, and all of the silverware you own. I found it on Wednesday. That's not too bad...

2. When we finally got internet in the house and I can finally stream KAPA radio on my computer. I love KAPA. Its wonderful Hawaiian music and horrible jawaiian music make me feel I'm back on "my island."

3. Today, when I realized I get to go to hula. Yes, it is far from being the Halau I so dearly love, Halau Na Pua O Uluhaimalama, but still. For some reason, hula makes me feel like I'm home, even in a room of complete strangers. Yes, the steps they do are just slightly different from how Em taught us. Yes, I know Debbie, Shirley, Diane, and Shelly aren't going to be there. Or Mrs. Woo, or anyone familiar. But just practicing hula makes me happy. I get to connect once again with the Hawaiian culture.

Less than an hour 'til hula :)

Update on us...

Our condo has officially been ours for a week now. Our household goods (aka all of our stuff in military-speak) were delivered on Monday. We're still unpacking and trying to get 3 bedrooms worth of stuff into 2 bedrooms worth of space. That and we're trying to "simplify our lives" as DH says, and get rid of a lot of our stuff. We'll just see how many wetsuits he plans to get rid of... anyway, we had our first dinner at home last night and it was nice not to have to go out after 2 months of eating out all the time!

DH started orientation this week. Aaaah, orientation, with all of its icebreakers and get-to-know-each-other goodness. It's been a busy schedule. I wonder what the school schedule will actually hold.

I'm in the process of looking for jobs. It's interesting... to say the least. I'm trying to be optimistic and realistic at the same time.

Goodness, jobs are so annoying. The whole process of finding one is particularly frustrating. It's exacerbated by the fact I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Compounding this frustration is the problem that I don't know what I can do with this expensive degree I'm trying to pay off. Add to that my fear of committment - that just as I sign away my life on the dotted line, a better deal will come along and blow raspberries in my face, taunting me that I am such an idiot for settling.

So, I interviewed at one place at the university to be an administrative assistant. They told me I was overqualified and asked me why I wanted to stoop down to take the job. Repeatedly. It's kind of frightening when they do that. They said that I obviously was headed toward something. I just wish I knew what that was. I'm guessing it was teaching Latin American studies?

And then I turned in an application for a retail position at a mall and they offered me the job right away. At $9/hour, working nights and weekends (the only chances I'll have to see my student husband). Plus I'd have to dress business casual, and no, those new khaki pants from JCrew that are so cute don't count (therefore, most of my wardrobe).

Did I choose the wrong things before? Why can't I find a job? Should I go back to school (prolonging my lifelong affair with academia) and study become something useful to society like a nurse or engineer or architect? Grrr. It might be easier if God just hit me on the head with a 2x4 and inscribed on my head what I'm supposed to do.

But it's the weekend. DH has one activity tomorrow to finish off orientation, and then classes start on Monday - woohoo! Hopefully we'll spend some time by the pool and continue to set up the house. Ok... that's it for now :)

Aloha!

So... I have a lot of pictures...

I have a TON of pictures from Greece and Turkey. I mean, an absolute astounding amount of pictures. But hey, when are we going to be there again?

So, if you want to see pictures, check them out on my other website. I don't think I can post all 500 pictures (that's only half of them) on here...

You know you're back on the mainland when...

You go out to eat at restaurants two days in a row just because you can. This week, we went to Alehouse twice for lunch (they have killer wings) and Olive Garden twice for dinner (for their Tour of Italy platter). There are some things that Hilo just didn't have....

By the way, if you haven't had the Tour of Italy platter, TRY IT! It has lasagna, chicken Parmesan, and fettuccine alfredo. DH and I split it after having salad and breadsticks. It's wonderful. Go get it.

How old?

DH and I visited some friends in Dallas when we went through. Kelly (guy) and Lisa have a 3-year-old daughter named Gracie. She kept asking us all kinds of questions. One was "how old are you?" I responded five, as I figured, old is old... Her mom, Lisa, added "but she has a niece that is three years old." Gracie immediately looked at my knees in astonishment. Lisa quickly amended her statement - Miss JulieAnn's COUSIN is three years old. I just about died laughing.