Monday, August 22, 2011

ALOHA!....ugh.

Eight plus long, exhausting hours later, we made it to Hawaii. It is absolutely gorgeous here! My husband and I are currently living in a hotel and have been for the past 2 1/2 weeks. Holy cabin fever batman. I never thought I would miss cooking so much. And I miss my couch. The first week here was probably the most fun but also the most difficult. Jeff and I were at each others throats almost everyday. I don't even remember why. I guess I can try the best of my ability to remember the first couple days...

Day before departure:

We drove out to Raliegh, NC. Car packed up to the window, dog on my lap. We stayed at a really nice hotel that was dog friendly right outside of the airport. Since I took care of most of Bella's stuff, the only thing I was worried about was if they were going to keep her on the same flight because it's been so hott. I decided to call the cargo people at American Airlines to find out information on Bella's flight so we could have a back up plan. They told us that if the temperatures in NC, TX, or HI are 85 or above she can not fly. I got off the phone, checked weather in all places. We were fine except when we would land in TX, it was 90 something degrees. So I called back, talked to this really awesome woman. At first she didn't know how to help. So since I was already worked up, I started balling my eyes out. To my advantage, it worked. The lady could schedule Bella on a flight that left a half hour after us and went to Chicago instead of TX. Score.

D-DAY:

We woke up at about 4am. Got our things together and was out the door at 5. We had to take Bella straight to some cargo place. We filled out some paper work, paid her ticket, and then had to take her into this back room. Which actually ended up being a very VERY large backroom. It was picture a Home Depot minus everything in there. We had to put Bella in the kennel and then weigh her. The guy told us we could leave her there and they'd make sure she got on the plane. Jeff says "See ya Bella" and walks off. I sit there, start crying, Bella starts crying and I say, "It's ok baby girl, mama loves you. I'm so sorry you're scared. I'll see you in a little bit. Stay strong." Don't laugh, I freaking love my dog. It was depressing and I was an emotional wreck. We left cargo and Bella...and went to our terminal and got ready for the most excruciatingly longest flight of my life.

Arrival:

We arrived in Hawaii too many hours later. It was really neat flying over the mountains and the ocean. I was waiting for them to play the Jurassic Park theme song, but they never did. So Jeff and I sat in the middle of this aircraft and hummed it. Once we landed we got all of our baggage together and he had to go check in with his "Army Folk". After all that the hotel we were supposed to stay at apparently didn't have a room, even though I called months in advance to book it. So they gave us some other hotel in Honolulu. And by the way people. Honolulu is actually pretty ghetto. For my folks back home, picture Detroit with palm trees. Anyways, we unload all of our stuff, and head over to where we were supposed to pick up Bella. We pick her up, and holy crap...This place was like the pound. I am SO glad we did not quarantine her. Her kennel was filthy and she reeked of pee. Nothing is more embarrassing than having your new friends that you hardly know pick you up from the airport with your dog that smells like pee in a brand new scion. So we get to her house all the way on base because thats where Bella was going to stay. Then we get a call saying that the hotel on base DOES have a room for us. So Jeff had to drive all the way back to Honolulu reload our stuff, cancel that room and drive back. We didnt get to bed that night until after 11. It felt like I pulled an all nighter at this point. And then the next morning since I'm not used to the time difference, I woke up at 6am. I continued to do so for the whole week.

Day 1 up to now:

Things are going a lot more smooth now. I met a lot of awesome people. Jeff and I have a house. We move in at the end of September. Its very cute. Two story, two bedroom, one and a half bath, and a fenced back yard. We like going to the beach. I'm a little sketchy about going in the water, but I still love it. The scenery is amazing. The air smells clean and fresh. People here are happy. I can definatly call this place home for the next three years of my life.


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