06-11-2003, 11:11 PM
Thanks for the invite, I'll share as well.
My husband's brother has lived in Hawaiian Acres for almost 30 years, and the whole time were married, hubby and I said we'd go visit someday. We never actually made it, though. We were living in Oregon, basically where our parents set us down.
After 13 years together, we finally made it to Hawaii. My cousin, who lived on Maui, was in a construction accident, and not expected to make it. He was on life support, so anyone in the family who could go and hang out with his immediate family while they waited, did. Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in the BI and visited hubby's brother. With flying in/out of Honolulu (stayed in Waikiki for a few days due to a sinus infection on hubby's part), we got a basic idea of what different parts of different islands were like. Sitting on a lanai in the Hapuna Prince hotel in Kona, we decided.. we'd be nuts not to move here.
I won't speak for my husband, but for me, I loved the plants, the weather, the isolation, and the way the culture seemed to be celebrated. I'd always said my dream house would be out in a rural area, where we could have privacy and not have to manicure our lot daily. I have always kept as many pets and houseplants as I could fit into a house, and I could see that east Hawaii was a good place for that. Finally, I run a home business (web design and pet care site) and I could move it out here with no trouble.
We sold our house in Oregon, and moved into a rental in downtown Portland while we waited for our house in HPP to close. It took two months longer than anticipated, but worked out in the end. We never saw our house, except in a few emailed pictures, until we drove up in mid-May. We'd made good decisions, apparently, as the house is everything we want. The neighbors are polite and friendly, even though we're haoles, and we're still living in a state of shock that everything here could be better than we anticipated. When our dogs get out of quarantine this Saturday, our family will finally be complete.
I really value the lush plants, the quiet small town communities, the privacy of the jungle, and especially the way the whole house can be left open to the outdoors, letting in the sights, sounds, and smells of the jungle, and the touch of the tradewind breezes. Coming from Oregon, we're used to rain and actually enjoy it. It'll surely be a few years before we're accepted as kama'aina, but we can keep our heads down and be respectful, and will hopefully be surprised by the aloha we're hearing about and are just starting to experience.
Being a web developer, I have the whole moving process documented on our personal web site.
If anyone wants a look at the intricate details of our move, it's all here.
We're lucky to live Hawaii!
Steph
My sites:
http://www.bairey.net
http://practical-pet-care.com
My husband's brother has lived in Hawaiian Acres for almost 30 years, and the whole time were married, hubby and I said we'd go visit someday. We never actually made it, though. We were living in Oregon, basically where our parents set us down.
After 13 years together, we finally made it to Hawaii. My cousin, who lived on Maui, was in a construction accident, and not expected to make it. He was on life support, so anyone in the family who could go and hang out with his immediate family while they waited, did. Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in the BI and visited hubby's brother. With flying in/out of Honolulu (stayed in Waikiki for a few days due to a sinus infection on hubby's part), we got a basic idea of what different parts of different islands were like. Sitting on a lanai in the Hapuna Prince hotel in Kona, we decided.. we'd be nuts not to move here.
I won't speak for my husband, but for me, I loved the plants, the weather, the isolation, and the way the culture seemed to be celebrated. I'd always said my dream house would be out in a rural area, where we could have privacy and not have to manicure our lot daily. I have always kept as many pets and houseplants as I could fit into a house, and I could see that east Hawaii was a good place for that. Finally, I run a home business (web design and pet care site) and I could move it out here with no trouble.
We sold our house in Oregon, and moved into a rental in downtown Portland while we waited for our house in HPP to close. It took two months longer than anticipated, but worked out in the end. We never saw our house, except in a few emailed pictures, until we drove up in mid-May. We'd made good decisions, apparently, as the house is everything we want. The neighbors are polite and friendly, even though we're haoles, and we're still living in a state of shock that everything here could be better than we anticipated. When our dogs get out of quarantine this Saturday, our family will finally be complete.
I really value the lush plants, the quiet small town communities, the privacy of the jungle, and especially the way the whole house can be left open to the outdoors, letting in the sights, sounds, and smells of the jungle, and the touch of the tradewind breezes. Coming from Oregon, we're used to rain and actually enjoy it. It'll surely be a few years before we're accepted as kama'aina, but we can keep our heads down and be respectful, and will hopefully be surprised by the aloha we're hearing about and are just starting to experience.
Being a web developer, I have the whole moving process documented on our personal web site.
If anyone wants a look at the intricate details of our move, it's all here.We're lucky to live Hawaii!
Steph
My sites:
http://www.bairey.net
http://practical-pet-care.com