How I Came To Live In Hawaii

How did I end up in Hawaii? I have a lot of friends who ask me that question.

After all, I started off in Middle-of-the-USA town; born in Springfield, Missouri. {That's where I get my stubbornness, love for banjo music, and why I think Shepherd of the Hills may be one of the greatest stories of all time.}

I grew up in the Deep South; the bayous and Bible-thumping, Saints-lovin' Louisiana, with a couple of years in North Carolina. {That's where I get my southern accent when I'm tired, a love for country music and crawfish, and why I think Gone With the Wind may be one of the greatest stories of all time.}

I went to college on the crazy West Coast in sunny California. {That's where I realized I am a hippie at heart, that I love '60's music, and that I should always live where the ocean is just a drive away.}

So...Hawaii? Oh yes...well, even though California is known for the warm sun, Stockton in the winter time is COLD and WET. Eww! In college I had 7 am classes, which meant getting up at 6-ish and walking out into cold fog so thick you couldn't see the other dorms. I'd cling to my thermos of hot coffee to make the shaking stop. OK, so it's not the snow drifts that I'm sure college students have to deal with back East. But it is still miserable to someone who dearly despises the cold!

My senior year, I had enough. My roommate (equally abhorrent of the cold) and I kept the heater in our room blasting non-stop from October to March. While this kept our room cozy, it made the Outside even worse! One particularly bad day turned out to be THE day; the day I made a desperate plea to God. I slogged my way through the cold pouring rain and glared at the miserably grey sky as I entered my room. The whole day had been freezing cold and wet, wet, wet. Terrible. I was soaked and cold. COLD! I stood inside my warm room and the first thing I saw was our dry-erase board that we used to leave each other messages. Still dripping from the Miserable Outside, I grabbed the marker and started drawing.

A palm tree gently waving in a warm breeze, on a small sunny patch of golden sand. Blue waves gently washing up on shore. A WARM and glowing sun shining down. With large black letters I wrote in the middle of this utopian scene: "GOD PLEASE SEND ME HERE!"

I didn't know where 'HERE' was, except that it was someplace permanently WARM! I meant that prayer, with all of my heart.

To make a long story short, as graduation approached I was in contact with a pastor here in Hawaii who invited me to move here for a few months to help out in the church. I had plans to go to graduate school in California, but figured 6 months in Hawaii would be great! My sister, Michelle, decided to move here with me. 6 months in Hawaii would be great, she also figured. We packed away our sweaters and came to Hawaii. We found jobs, a furnished apartment, and bought body boards that we used almost daily at the beach just a couple of blocks away. We helped at the church, fell in love with the local people, and embraced the delicious food. Michelle learned to play chess from an elderly man sitting on Waikiki beach. We hiked Diamond Head and ate fresh pineapple and coconut while watching surfing competitions on the North Shore.

6 months turned into a year. I had known Elton at college, but hadn't really considered him a close friend. But since he attended the church we were going to here in Hawaii, he and I started talking and getting to know each other better. He introduced me to Zippy's chili and the Pali Lookout. And after a year of dating, he took me to Waimea Bay and proposed. In April 2004 we got married.

So here it is, 8 years after I was shivering in a cold Stockton winter and begging God to send me to live someplace warm. See, God DOES answer prayer!

And that's how I ended up here in Hawaii. {Where I've learned to surf, appreciate ukulele music, adore Hawaiian and Korean and Chinese and Japanese and Thai food, and wonder how I ever lived without kona coffee.}

Olivia wanting to get into the water as soon as possible!

But look, warm sand. Waving palm trees in a clear sky underneath a shining sun...

Nice gentle blue waves being enjoyed by my son...

My handsome husband helping Liv swim.

WARM toesies in the WARM sand :)