One door closes, another opens

Wow, today mom and I were going to go into Madison but we decided against it. We drove to Columbus where I got gas and we slid all over the road on the ice. I haven't driven in icy conditions in a while plus it was all of -4 degrees at 11am today. Better to come home and keep warm by the fire. This is a major change from the cool 70 degree weather I was whining about in Hawaii a few weeks back. However, it worked out well as I am still packing and staightening things out for the big move.

A new curve ball as of last night was that the SUV I was going to buy (the ugly colored one) was sold. Now I am basically back to square one and I am running out of time...

I made it back to Wisconsin on Friday night. The plane ride was very smooth. I made some new friends and had very short layovers. Mom & Bob picked me up and straight to Tumbleweed we went. Once home I opened Christmas presents from Kyra, Jen, Beth, and Mom & Bob. Lots of cool things... thanks!

Saturday we spent the day car shopping. The first SUV we looked at is probably going to be the one I end up with... however I don't love the color. I am still looking...

Granny & George came over for breakfast this morning. We had a nice visit then mom and I headed to Beaver Dam. Day one of shopping... and I only walked out with 5 pairs of shoes :-) After shopping I went to visit Laura & Ryan. I'm happy to be back seeing family and friends.

As a bonus on the way home from the Hoffman's, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets ever. The sky was lit up in pinks and purples.

Not that I had any doubts... but they loved my paper. Plus I think I may have a few connections with public relations professionals in Denver thanks to BJ!! I am very excited!!! It was a great day and now I am at the airport awaiting my flight back to the mainland!

At 5:15pm (Friday) I will be landing in WI! I hope to see everyone!!

My life in Hawaii is almost over, in less then 24 hours I will be on a plane back to Madison, WI. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. Before I go on about my day, let me answer a few lingering questions from yesterday's post.

1. We have not heard on the apartment, there was some type of family emergency so the guy should be back tomorrow to run our paperwork.

2. BJ Whitman (my client) thinks that my paper is... I quote " My first read..........I am very impressed. You were able to capture to put historical information into perspective....Thank you so much for a job well done." Therefore, my defense is still on for 2pm tomorrow afternoon. I'm nervous as I need to be ready for a 10 minute presentation but I think it will work out great. Plus I won't have to fly back here to defend, if I come back it will be because I want to!

Ok on to this evening. I must say I have a tremendous amount of friends here in Hawaii and they are awesome. Heidi came over after work and helped me clean my apartment a bit... I gave her everything she would take - dishes, chairs, the tv, a box of food, plus more. We loaded up Gretchen's car and headed to dinner in Waikiki.

A group of us (11 total) ate at the Yardhouse. I knew ahead of time that because of my defense tomorrow I would have to call it an early night. Yet there were people and places I needed to see. So after a wonderful dinner, half of us headed to Nashville. It was pretty dead but I was able to have a few good laughs, buy a t-shirt and leave my mark:-)

Plus, the night doesn't end there... unfortunately, Lynn left her car keys in a cab and we spent a good 30 mins trying to call every cab in Hawaii... to no avail. Amanda and Lynn took a cab back to Kaneohe to get her spare set of keys.... bummer. The cab even had leopard print seat covers, one would think we could locate it.... hopefully she has luck in the morning.

Needless to say, it was a memorable evening, with good friends, cmany of whom are already planning to come visit us in Denver. They made Hawaii better... good friends go along way.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

I must admit after a rather sleepless night today urned out to be pretty good. I have three major things in the works...

1. A potential job interview in Denver ~ I need to call them to set up an interview
2. We applied for an apartment today ~ We should know tomorrow if we are approved
3. I think I am set to defend my paper on Thursday ~ I will know 100% tomorrow

Aside from those great things I have been plugging away around the apartment. Cleaning, throwing things away and packing. I can't believe how much junk has accumulated over the past two years. I set up a time to check out of the apartment, 6pm on Thursday night. My flight out of here is at 11:50pm.

Big day tomorrow... cleaning, meeting Dr. Barnum, creating a presentation for my defense, working on my thesis with Heidi and then dinner with friends.

Only two full days left on the island... *tear*

It was a sad day as my beloved Pack failed to beat the determined Giants. I must say that if we had to lose to a team in the playoffs, I'm glad it was the Giants. Eli Manning and his team have been playing a tremendous second half of their season. After keeping up with the Patriots a few weeks back then beating the Cowboys and now the Pack. I think they will put up a good fight in the Super Bowl.

As for Brett, many people are saying he needs to retire, that his performance today looked like the way he played a couple seasons back... but he has had an amazing season. The Packers surprised everyone and with such a young team, they will continue to do well in the future. Hopefully Brett comes back for one more year!

I decided to take a drive up to the less crowed Walmart in Mililani for a few things... Hawaiian stuff and also cleaning supplies. Upon leaving there, I couldn't help myself so I drove up to the north shore. It was a beautiful day... Balmy and 78 degrees. I looked in all the shops at the North Shore Marketplace....even making a purchase. After leaving I drove to the Dole Plantation where I walked around enjoying a dole whip ice cream. I looked at all of the pineapple plants out side learned all about Mr. Dole. I was a total tourist and loved it.

After returning home for a bite to eat I headed to Ala Moana Beach Park to catch some rays. It was breathtaking. The temp was perfect the water was a brilliant blue and the sun was shinning. I may try this tourist thing again on Monday..... but until then, GO PACK!!

So it is finally real. My time in Hawaii is almost over, I leave one week from today, unless something happens. And last night it finally hit me that I'm leaving and soon.

Heidi, Gretchen, and Kristane came over last night for Alexis' last dinner in Hawaii. We ordered food from Bangkok Chef and sat on the floor of our apartment. Heidi also brought my paper that she edited. We reviewed it all, what a help she was... but I still feel like it is lacking.

After dinner the girls left and we loaded Alexis' bags into the car. It really is sad, not that she left but that she won't be coming back. Which in turns means I am leaving and won't be coming back. I really love it here... if I had the opportunity I probably won't be leaving but financially it is the best decision. Maybe a twist of fate will bring me back someday...

Yesterday, I was finally able to take mom to Tea @ 1024, one of my favorite restaurants downtown. Jeannie and Sharon met Mom, Alexis and I to enjoy tiny sandwiches and scones which were very filling.

Today, Mom, Bob and I went to Sea Life Park for a Sea Lion adventure. My friend Amanda knows people that work at Sea Life Park and was able to get us an awesome deal... employee rates!! Once we got to the park, we were able to walk around a bit. It is fairly small, but much nicer than I expected. We watched the sea lion show and then we had our encounter. The biggest surprise was that no one else was signed up for the encounter so it was just the three of us, three trainers and two beautiful sea lions. The girls were both 23 years old and blind (yes one almost ran into Bob and I). We were able to go into their enclosure, feed them, pet them, pose for pictures, and even get kisses from them. I can't explain how cool it was. Sea Life Park is one of only 4 places in the world you can do this. After our encounter we watched the Dolphin Cove show, which included a Wolphin.

*** I would like to thank everyone for the support at graduation. I have received cards and gifts from several people and I am very thankful. Thank you, thank you.

It finally came... today was my graduation from HPU... even though I am still finishing my final paper, I walked across the stage with my fellow classmates (most of them still haven't finished either).

I was slightly worried that I would not be receiving many lei's as my family isn't used to the tradition. But I was wrong.... I ended up with 24 lei's... Thank you to everyone. I received lei's from the following people...

Mom & Bob, Dad & Kristal, Grandma Nita & George, Aunt Debbie, Kyra, Alexis, Lynn, Lynn's Parents ( Jerry & Terry), Gretchen, Talsha, Sharon, Scott, Linda, Heidi, Kristane, Dr. Wee & Jeannie, Dr. Penny Smith, Manabu, Grandpa Fred, Amanda, Juliet, & Mimmi

It was an amazing experience. A Hawaiian graduation with a traditional Hawaiian Chant is truly something you only experience once in a life time. I have really loved my time here in Hawaii and I am sad that I will not see some of my friends and co-workers again. Everyone has touched me in a lasting way and I am thankful for that.

After the graduation ceremony, we headed home to open presents, then to the bar. We hit Mercury, our after class hangout and then down to Waikiki for a few drinks. Over all it was a great night.

I'm happy to hear that some of my family back home were able to watch graduation online. Thanks for staying up for it!!!

Monday was an interesting day where things just weren't going the right way for Alexis. There were a lot of issues including a loss of Ohio State.... but in the morning after running around a bit, I was able to borrow Alexis' car and pick up Dad & Kristal for a hike at Lanikai Hills. We also had dinner at the Yard House later in the evening and I eventually met Mom, Bob & Alexis for a ride home.

Today, we did some light shopping. Mom bought me a super cute BCBG dress for graduation and also a Coach purse as a graduation present. After shopping we went to the Paradise Cove luau. We had a group of 12 people including...

Mom & Bob, Alexis, Lynn
Lynn's parents (Jerry & Terry)
Amanda, Jeannie, Heidi, Scott & Gretchen

It was a really good time. There were tattoos, drinks, dancing and of course Chief Phooie. Everyone seemed to have a truly great time. It was really cool for my Hawaiian friends to finally meet my family.

Mom & Bob and Dad & Kristal arrived here in Hawaii Friday night after a full day of traveling. They all came for my graduation. For those of you who couldn't make the trip.... I will be walking at the HPU winter graduation ceremony on Wednesday the 9th. The ceremony will start at 6:30pm Hawaii Standard Time, (10:30pm central time). Follow the link below if you are interested in watching the ceremony online.

www.hpu.edu/livegrad

Day two of our selling adventure on Craigslist has worked to our benefit. We have now sold the following items...

Two dressers
Coffee Table
Bookshelf
Dining Room Table & Chairs
VCR
DVD player

Our couch is supposed to be picked up tomorrow sometime. Overall we are making most of our money back on the items... especially after using the stuff for almost two years.

The house is looking sparse... but once Mom & Bob and Dad & Kristal get here tomorrow night the place will fill up. They are bringing me additional bags to pack my stuff in. I think I will be able to move everything I want in the 8 bags I will have :-)

I spent New Year's Eve with my girls. Alexis and I met Lynn, Amanda, and Lynn's parents at Gordon Biersch for dinner. We had some laughs and then Jerry and Terry headed back to Kaneohe and we headed down to Waikiki. We had already purchased our tickets for the party at Nashville and we claimed a nice corner table to enjoy the festivities.

It was an eventful night... with good friends, dancing and fun. What a great way to welcome in the new year...