Problems

Sometimes life is not as perfect for us as you might believe.  Contrary to popular belief, we do not get to spend every waking moment on the beach.  (Dan's "job" keeps getting in the way of that plan.)  Sometimes it rains.  Like, for more than a few minutes.

We now have a new set of problems.  Problems we didn't see coming.  Problems we are trying to take in stride.  We're learning to deal.  I'll try to give you just a glimpse at the hard side of life on the island.

• We never get to enjoy soup.  Some rare mornings I'll wake up to lots of rain and clouds and gloom and I'll get really excited.  It's like we take our "winters" one rain shower at a time.  The problem is that by the time the soup or chili is ready to eat the sun has come back out, and it is once again 80 degrees and sunny.  I mean come on.

• We no longer can just go to the beach.  First, we must endure a longer than necessary conversation with a 3 year old boy who has very strong opinions about WHICH beach to go to, based on the type of waves he'd like to play on that particular day.  I wish I was kidding.

• We can no longer be happy with a mere snow cone, now that we have seen the light that is shave ice.  Blue Coconut, Vanilla and Cherry.  Cream on bottom.  In a cup.  No beans. So yum.

• Facebook gets incredibly dull around 5pm.

• While we're on the subject of time zones, yes.  We still get calls and texts around 4-5am on a regular basis.  It's 5 hours, Central Time Zone.  Write it down.  

• We must break this habit of calling them "flip-flops."  They're "slippers" here.  Once you try to make the change, "flip-flops" really does sound silly.

• We can't get to our favorite ice cream shop in December, because that part of the island turns into Secret Service Land for the Obamas' Christmas.  This means we must brave the area known as "downtown Honolulu" for a double dip of Coconut Delight on top and Oreo on bottom in a waffle cone with a side of Mochi.

• The only pro sport here (other than surfing) is the Pro Bowl.  Yeah.  The Pro Bowl.

• We are starting to not completely hate Spam Musubi.  I'm not going to lie.  This worries me a little.

• Shoes feel awkward now, since we really only wear them to go to church.  And even then, the kids take them off again when they get to their class.  I can't tell you how many times I've driven to wherever I'm going only to realize that I wasn't wearing shoes.  Really.  It's happened a lot. (Pic below is how you know if someone has company.) 

• The time takes to answer the question, "Mom, is this a donut?" To your 3 year old who is about to eat a malasada is not worth the change in taste that will take place if you allow said malasada to cool off.  Therefore the answer is, "just eat it, buddy."

• The weather is always pretty much the same, and yet there is a huge difference between 72 and 78 degrees.  Come on, weather guy.  This isn't the Midwest.  Within 10 degrees isn't going to cut it here.

• It's not "soy sauce," it's "shoyu."  You'll remember this, too, once the Hawaiian lady in the hair net behind the deli counter at Malama Market scolds you.  And she will, too.  Also, I'll save you the trouble.  They do NOT have chop sticks.  You will eat your california roll with a fork and you will like it.  

• No one sells sunblock in large enough packages.  The same goes for aloe.  Our kid has no pigment, whatsoever.  He's white, or he's red.  While this makes it incredibly easy to pick him out in the group of kids on the beach, we're probably going to need to add a new envelope labeled "sunscreen for Axel" to the budget.

As you can see, our life is not without its troubles.  Prayers and encouragements would be appreciated.

Please don't un-friend me.

The Halfway Mark

For the last year and a half we have lived in paradise.  This means we're already half-way though the 3 year commitment.

. . . I have no idea how to finish the above paragraph.  My mind is hopping on and off various emotional trains so quickly that my fingers can not possibly keep up.   My reaction to that statement is more facial expression than words.  (Which is incredibly difficult to blog.)  It kinda looks like this:  Three parts sadness, one part anger and two parts denial.  A dash of excitement about what will come next, a pinch of panic, and then a smidge of sadness.  Yeah, I know I added sadness twice.  And even so, the excitement part is gaining.  Not that we want to leave this incredible place.  I'm sure we would remain extremely happy here for years to come.  I'm just not sure that we're ready for our adventure to end just yet.  This whole "opening yourself up to possibilities you haven't yet imagined" thing is addicting. 

So what happens next?

We really don't know.

One year from now we'll have to start answering "what next?" "where next?" and "when next?" questions.  If you were hoping for something a bit less wishy-washy than the first part of this blog, then I'm sorry to disappoint you.  Because today, we have no idea how to answer those questions.

It is possible that we'll begin making plans to move in December of 2014.  It is possible that we will stick around for one extra year.  It is possible that we'll stay for 3 more years.  It all depends on what jobs surface at what times.  

Where on earth we'll be moving is anybody's guess.  Remember the game we played as kids where you spin the globe, close your eyes, and then stop it with your finger to determine where you will live when you grow up?  (What?  You mean not everyone did that?)  Yeah.  It kinda feels like that.  If Dan decides to stick with the Warrior Transition Battalion thing with the Army, then we can narrow the possibilities down to a hand full of locations.  There is also a strong probability of PHS positions opening in numerous VA hospitals across the country.  This could open a literal world of possibilities for us.

After having just returned from a three week family immersion trip, I will say that it would be wonderful to not have to sit on a plane for 10+ hours to be able to love on Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunties and Uncles and Cousins.  When we first moved, Axel would ask if we could "go see cousins tonight," having no concept of the distance between said cousins and himself.  But he's starting to get it.  The goodbyes are harder when he can feel the difference between "see you tomorrow," and "see you at Christmas."

If it was just Dan and me, I think I'd love to make a list of exciting places to live, and every 3 years we'd scratch another one off.  But that's only be fun because we have roots.  We have a place we'll forever call "home."  I'm not yet sure where that place will be for our kids.

But it would be nice if that place had really fresh mangoes.  Here's to another year and a half in paradise!

The Do's and Don't's of a Hawaiian Vacation

At least once a month we have someone email, call or message asking for any advice we have for them while they are planning their vacation in Hawaii.  I'm not going to lie and tell you that I always create a custom, personalized list of things to do that I think that they might particularly enjoy.  Most of the time I'm copying and pasting from the last email.  (Unless you're someone who emailed me with that question, and you are reading this post now - I totally personalized yours.)

From this point on all questions relating to a vacation in Hawaii (specifically Oahu) will be forwarded a link to this post.  Here ya go.

The Do's and Don't's of a Hawaiian Vacation:

DO - Come to Hawaii.  If I haven't yet convinced you of this with all of the adjectives I've crammed into these posts describing how spectacular this place is, and you still haven't budged on the post about the $10 airfare, or been lulled by the thought of free lodging, then honestly, I don't know what to do with you.

DON'T - Spend your entire vacation in Waikiki.  Really.  Don't spend much of it there at all.  Odds are if you aren't staying with us or you don't have over $400 to spend on a hotel room each night, then your hotel will be in Waikiki.  This is okay.  It's just where they all happen to be.  It's as if the Hawaiians conceded this small plot of land to the hotel industry just to keep all the tourists out of the way.  It's amazing to me how great their plan works.  Waikiki should only be used as a place to sleep at night, and the occasional dinner out.  Let me be clear.  Waikiki does not equal Hawaii.  If you came to Hawaii and the only beach you spent time on was Waikiki, then you did NOT come to Hawaii.

DO - Rent a car.  And expect to pay more for parking each night than it costs to actually rent the car.  The alternative is a cab, which will be more than both of these things combined, or one of those Island Circle Tour buses.  If you take the bus tour then you will get to see most of the highlights of the island, but only for about 5 minutes at a time.  And with about a hundred other people.  It's like you're bringing Waikiki with you.  When you rent a car make sure you have the GPS.  Yes, even you die-hard map people.  Maps just don't cut it here.  Honolulu is notorious for intersections with no street signs, one-way streets, and roads that randomly curve in and out of residential areas for no reason whatsoever.  Besides, it will take you forever just to try to pronounce the street names on the map.  Seriously.  Get the GPS.  Your marriage will thank you.  Use Priceline and name your own ridiculously low price, or if you're a Costco member, they have some pretty great deals, too.  Then drive to a beach that you won't have to share.

DON'T - Try to see all of the islands in one trip.  You'll remember seeing things, but you won't remember where you were when you saw it, and you certainly won't be able to spend enough time at each place to enjoy it.  Unless you are planning on coming for at least 3 weeks, narrow it down to one . . . maybe two islands.

DO - Ask us before you buy any tickets for excursions or tourist attractions.  There are two reasons for this.  One - We can typically get you tickets through our travel office than you can find anywhere else.  Two - Lots of times you'll pay someone for something that you can actually do for free.  For example, there are tours you can book to go swim with wild dolphins, snorkel with exotic fish, or spend some time at a "secret beach."  These are things that you can do for free.  There are NO PRIVATE BEACHES on the island.  They are not taking you somewhere you would not be able to get to on your own.  You can go to any beach you can find, unless it is on a military installation.

DON'T - Roll out of bed at 10am and still expect to see Pearl Harbor's Arizona Memorial that day.  Be in line at 6:30am.  I suggest doing this early in your vacation while you're still a little bit on Mainland time so it doesn't seem quite so early.  Here's how it works:  The gates open at 7am.  Once they let you through the security (no purses, bags or strollers of ANY kind allowed in), you proceed straight to the ticket counter to pick up your tickets.  They are free, and they're on a first-come, first-served basis.  (So don't fall for any "Pearl Harbor Ticket Package" deals you find online.)  The first tour is at 8am, and they run every 15 minutes.  If you're in line at 6:30, then you'll probably be on the 8:00 or 8:15 tour.  If you don't get in line until 7 or 7:30, then you'll be behind all the tour guides picking up tickets for the hundreds of people on the bus tours that day.  You'll probably get a ticket time for around 2pm.  If you're in line at 9 or later, then you might not get a ticket for that day.  It's nice to be able to get there, do your tour and have the rest of your day.  There is an audio tour for $7.50 that is totally worth it!  While you're waiting for your turn for the ferry to take you over to the memorial there is a large museum-like area that gives you an amazing perspective on what that day was like, via your audio tour.  Count on spending between one and two hours walking around with your audio tour.  Don't come to Hawaii and skip Pearl Harbor.  We might have to smack you around a little if you do.  

DO - Spend a day exploring the Waimanalo coast.  This stretch of beach makes Travel Channel's Top Whatever beach list just about every time.  It's always incredibly beautiful.  Spend some time on the sand (that feels like flour), and then stop at every single lookout point on your drive south back into Honolulu.  If you're here sometime between November and April, then count on seeing some prime-time whale shows.  There are a couple hikes in this area, too, with breathtaking views of the Windward Coast, Waikiki, and even Molokai (another Hawaiian Island).

DON'T - Feel like you have to go to a Luau.  Yes, you're in Hawaii.  Yes, "Did you go to a Luau?" will be one of the first questions people will ask you when you get back home.  No . . . . it's really not that life-changing.  It's cool to see the dances from all of the different Islands of Polynesia, especially the Fire Dancers.  The food is alright, but you can get this same food (only better and cheaper) about a hundred other places on the island.  If you really want to see the dancers, for about a quarter of the price of a Luau you can purchase a seat around the pool at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Friday nights for the traditional Luau-type entertainment, which is followed by fireworks over Waikiki Beach. We highly recommend seeing the fireworks over Waikiki on Friday nights, anyway.  (One of the only reasons we'd send you to Waikiki.)

Photo Credit: Anna Ritter

DO - Spend a lot of time on North Shore.  The huge waves are only around during the winter, but North Shore is always a must.  It is the perfect opposite to Waikiki.  It is one of our favorite places to be in the world.  In fact, I already devoted an entire post to it.  Bring cash, and leave your make-up at your hotel.

DON'T - Buy pineapples at the airport to take back home.  3 pineapples for $40 is NOT a good deal.  You can buy them at Costco, Safeway, or any other grocery store on your way to the airport.  As long as there are no bruises or bugs you're cleared to bring them back with you, checked or carried-on.

DO - Get Shave Ice from either Aoki's or Matsumoto's on North Shore.  DO get the ice cream in the bottom and DO get the $.25 plastic cup.

Photo Credit: Heather Cook

DON'T - Call Shave Ice a "Snow Cone."  Just don't.

DO - Tell us you are coming.  DO ask us questions.  DO let us tell you about some great little hole-in-the-wall places to eat.  And just so ya know, telling us you're here does not mean that you have to set aside time to come and see us.  Really.  We get it.  You don't pack swimming suits and sit on a plane for 9 hours just to see people you know when you land.  We are still starry-eyed that we get to live here, so talking about it has not lost any of its joy.

At least, it hasn't for me -- You don't see Dan with his own blog gushing repetitively about the same things.

As Promised: The $10 flight to Hawaii

14.  That is how many $10 round-trips have been booked from the mainland to Hawaii (and vice-versa) since we've been here.  14 flights that we and our family members have made that cost next to nothing.   How?  Well, now I'll tell you.

 But first - I have a few conditions.

#1 - If you were ever a part of our Financial Peace University class, please stop reading.

#2 - If I was ever your high school Personal Finance teacher, please stop reading.

#3 - If you are currently in our Financial Peace University small group . . . . well, then you already live here so this probably isn't going to be beneficial to you.  Stop reading anyway.

#4 - Would someone please cover Dave Ramsey's ears?

The reason we have been able to fly for free (other than the military cargo plane thing), and people have come to visit us for free is by working the credit card system.  Turned off?  Keep reading.  You'll be surprised.

No.  We have never carried a balance over to the next month.  We have not paid a dime of interest.  We do not get phone calls from telemarketers, or an abundance of junk mail.

We do get free flights.  A lot.

Here's how it works.  You sign-up for a credit card that has a stellar miles bonus after your first purchase, or after you spend enough on the card in the first few months.  Then you wait for your miles to appear in your account.  Then you find a flight, and use the miles to pay for it.  Then you fly to Hawaii for free.  No, I'm not kidding.  No, I'm not getting royalties from any credit card companies.  It does work.

Where does the $10 come in?  The 9/11 security fee can't be paid for with miles.  Thus, the airlines pass this right along to you.  I'm thinking you won't mind.

Here's the card we like the best:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

This is the card we love and will probably keep using for as long as we live here.  (Make sure it says "preferred" because there is a "Chase Sapphire Card" that isn't as good.)  The yearly fee is waived for the first year . . . and odds are you won't need to keep it open that long, anyway.  After spending $3,000 on the card in the first 3 months (Yes, I know that's a lot . . . we'll address that later) you receive 40,000 points.  These points go into your "Chase Ultimate Rewards" account.  From the account you can turn the points into miles on United (or use it for a number of other rewards).  The point transfer is straight forward.  1 point = 1 mile.  1 round-trip ticket to Hawaii from ANYWHERE in the continental US on United is 40,000 miles.  Now, if you and your spouse both sign up for a card, then you have a free round-trip for 2.

Here are some tips:

1.  Be flexible with your travel dates.  Even though they say that every seat is an award seat and there are no blackouts, this doesn't apply to flights to Hawaii.  When you're working online to book your award seat, play around with the calendar feature.  Some days on the calendar there won't be an award flight, and sometimes it will cost more than 40,000 points round-trip.  But you WILL find one for 20,000 each way if you keep trying.  Sometimes there won't be any when you check in the morning, and then there will be several if you check in the evening.  I don't know why, but it's good to know.  We flew home for Christmas on award flights . . . . so it IS possible.

2.  Start this process EARLY.  It will take up to a couple weeks for Chase to process your application and actually get around to mailing you your card.  Then you have to spend the $3,000.  Then you have to wait up to 6 weeks for your points to show-up in your account.  At that point you can immediately transfer the points into United miles and book a flight.  However, you'll have waaaaay more options if you're booking a few months out, rather than last-minute.

3.  If you currently have a Chase credit card that is linked to an Ultimate Rewards account (not all of them are), then you might get approved for the card, but they won't give you the 40,000 points.  However, if you close the Chase card you currently have before applying for this one then you will still get the points.

4.  Trying to figure out how you'll be able to spend $3,000 in the first 3 months?  Here are some tips:

• Time this process around a major purchase you know you'll have to make in the next few months.
• See if your church allows you to pay your tithe online.  (When we get to heaven we can all ask God if it was alright to earn airline miles off of our tithes.)
• Buy a Wal-Mart gift card for the amount you know you'll spend there, anyway.  Just make sure you can pay off the balance on your card at the end of the month.
• Ask a friend if they have any major purchases that they'll let you put on your card (and then pay you cash.)  Even swiping your card for their groceries will help!
• Donate money to your church or a charity.  You're getting a free trip to Hawaii.  Give a little back.  :)

What's the catch?

We haven't found one yet.

In fact, this is not even close to the only way to score free flights.  If you pay attention to what cards out there are offering by way of their sign-on bonuses you can score many free flights.  Each card changes their promotions every few months, so the deal I described above might go away at some point.  A few other cards to score free flights with?  Watch for these deals:

Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa (no, they don't fly to Hawaii, but this can still be a great deal) -  When I checked their site today they were only offering 25,000 miles as the sign-on bonus.  Wait until they offer 50,000.  As a point of reference, I flew from Kansas City to Sacramento (1-way) for about 6,000 points.

United Mileage Plus Explorer Card - Today they are offering 30,000 as a sign-on bonus.  Sometimes it's 40,000, and sometimes it's 55,000.  Typically to score the 55,000 offer you have to already have some United miles already.  So this is a good one to get AFTER the Chase Sapphire Preferred card above.  On United, it's 40,000 miles round-trip to Hawaii.

American Airlines AAdvantage Cards - This one is for the advanced mile-getter only, but it's a way to score BIG miles.  It's actually possible to apply for 2 cards at one time and earn the sign-on bonus twice.  Do a fair bit of research before trying the 2-card trick.  It's possible to earn as many as 100,000 miles this way.  On American, it's 35,000 miles to Hawaii.  Yeah.  We're talking almost 3 round-trips.  Like I said, do your homework first.  Or, you could just apply for one of them and settle for 50,000  miles . . . which is more than enough for a round trip - without the research - and still a fantastic deal.

That's $10 to get you here.  Accommodations?  Oh, come on.  You know the answer to that one.  Expenses once you're here?  We'll leave that for another blog on another day.  But come on.  If you're flying free and staying free, then how much does it matter?

On a completely unrelated note, it's about 2pm here now.  I really wish we had a Sonic . . .

Hoali'i Kumulani Makakilo Kapolei

It started innocently enough.  "I wonder what's out there. . . "  If you're anything like us, this thought creeps in from time to time.  The walls get a little closer.  The ceilings a little lower.  The bathrooms a little scarce.  One MLS search later and you're in the full throws of House Fever.

This was the beginning of what is now our most favorite place in the world.  Our new home!

We're renting.  Dan wouldn't consider buying.  Something about our last home being brand new at $42 a square foot and not wanting to make the jump to $400+ a square foot.  I don't get it . . . but whatever.  Yet again we scored what we think is an incredible deal.  If we ever have to pay fair price for housing it will be a sad day for the Stanleys.

Here's how it works in Hawaii.  The owner of a home lists it with a Property Management Company, who then advertises the home.  It is usually posted for a week or two while they wait for people to make offers, based on the asking rent of the home.  At the end of the two weeks they compile all the offers and credit checks and present them to the owner, who then chooses the new tenant.

Here's how it works for the Stanleys.  We look for homes outside of our price range.  Then we tour the home and become convinced that we could never afford it.  Then we shoot in a major low-ball offer and expect to hear nothing about the home ever again.  Every once in a while we score big.  I have no idea how the owner is making a dime off of us and our silly offer, but here we are!

How it actually worked this time was we made the offer and a couple days later left for Christmas on the mainland.  Brilliant planning our our part.  We got the call in the middle of Big Family Christmas #1 that they had accepted our offer.  We about choked on our mashed potatoes.  They wanted us to move in on January 1.  This would be the day after Dan arrived back on the island.  The kids and I wouldn't arrive for another week after that.  Not only was our then current house NOT packed up, but the Christmas decorations were still up.  (If you've ever been to our house around Christmas, then you know what an ordeal that is.)  We negotiated to move in on the 11th, and Dan spent his week home alone packing the entire house.

On a side note, this was the easiest move I've ever had.  I now plan on being absent for the packing portion of all future moves.

 The kids and I landed in Hawaii on the 8th, we moved in on the 12th, and our first guests arrived on the 14th and 15th.  We're officially insane.

"Why?  We thought you loved your house!"  We've heard that a lot.  Truth is we DID love our house.  When it was just us.  However, we had company 9 weeks last year, and we already have company coming for 7 of the weeks this year.  We expect to have more when it's all said and done.  We LOVE company.  We also love not having to share a bathroom with a potty-training 3 year old boy when company is here.

The new pad is off-post.  We live in Hoali'i Kumulani Makakilo Kapolei.  Hahaha.  I just love saying that.  Makes me sound authentic Hawaiian.  It's just our street, subdivision, community and city.  Our new address actually is:

92-243 Hoali'i Pl.
Kapolei, HI 96707

Makakilo is an area built on the southern-most foothills of the Waianae Mountains.  This means we have a view.  And oh golly do we have a view.  We're talking Diamond Head, Honolulu, Pearl Harbor and the Ewa Plain all framed by the Pacific in one panoramic sweep.  Did I mention the sun rises right over Diamond Head this time of year?  We've taken a picture just about every morning.  Here are a few of the best ones, courtesy of Myra, my sister-in-law, who is our first official guest in the new place.

Come.  Come see.  We promise you your own bedroom with en suite bathroom.  No sharing with a potty-training 3 year old boy.  No sleeping across the hall from two toddlers who like to wake up in the middle of the night and yell random things to each other.  A view better than any you'd get from Waikiki.  Whale watching while you eat your breakfast.  The best weather on the island.  (You'd be surprised the difference 40 miles can make!)

Now accepting reservations for 2013-2014.  Your time is running out for free Hawaiian lodging.  You've already let one year slip away.  And if you came to visit us before, then it's time to come back.

Next blog on how to score free airfare . . .