. . . and then I'll put that box in a box . . .

We are up to our ears in boxes. Actually, the stack of empty and flattened boxes is probably taller than me, not that it takes much to do that. But the nice part about that is (1) the movers will come and get all their boxes, and all the paper they protected our stuff with inside the boxes, and (2) that means we've unpacked! Luckily Todd had a relatively light week last week and we were able to knock out the unpacking. It was long but actually a lot of fun--it was like Christmas opening boxes and finding things we packed nearly 2 months ago.

Here's what the house looked like last Monday, the night we moved in. And here's what it looked like last night, a week later. It's not fantastic or done by any means, but I love to see the difference.

And here's another shot, showing our awesome and amazingly large kitchen. I don't know how we fit everything in our other house.

Below is a slide show of what we've done since we got here, but I'll also add some commentary to a couple pictures.

Our first Friday we went to a beautiful peninsula in Waikiki and had a picnic of Korean food bought by our friend Sally, who has been our Hawaii lifesaver. Every Friday at 7:45 one of the hotels does a fireworks show that you can see perfectly from that spot. It was a nice introduction to Hawaii.

You can't really see it, but in the dead center of this picture is the bridge Todd and I exercised on every day while we were staying in Pearl Harbor. This is the view we got while we jogged/walked. It was phenomenal.

While we were in Pearl Harbor this aircraft carrier was in the harbor. It was so large and neat to see. Then one morning we woke up and it was gone. Good thing we got a picture of it while we could.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center one afternoon and were surprised when we didn't see all the different island exhibits. We were very poor planners. But not pathetic enough that we didn't take advantage of the half-off season passes. Or the yummy luau.

We've also been to the Laie Temple, which unfortunately is closed the entire time we're here because they're doing major renovations on it. Luckily there's another temple on the big island; it's not as easy to get to, but we can see a volcano on our temple trip--not many places have that. Random side--did you know the Laie Temple was the first latter-day temple built outside the continental United States? Neither did I. Ooooh, here's one of my favorite things so far--as you drive to the North Shore there are many random roach-coach type vans along the road that sell shrimp. They're the kinds of places where I wouldn't even think about stopping, except Todd heard from the other interns and residents that they're fantastic, especially one in particular.

We drove to the North Shore a few weekends ago and happened upon Giovannis, the shrimp place everyone said was the best. We were a little hungry, but we wanted to say we stopped, so we did. They sell the shrimp out of a bus, and they have heavy tarps draped above a bunch of metal picnic tables. But it was clean and it was packed. AND it was amazing.

(Yes, that white van in the center is where they made the shrimp)

When people come to visit we're going to take them to Giovannis, then get a slice of Ted's pies, then go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Giovannis was that good and that fun. The shrimp even still had their legs, which if you know me means I was quite freaked out. But only for a second. I felt like such an adult not freaking out about de-legging yummy shrimp.

And finally, after Giovannis we got a couple slices of Ted's pies and sat on Sunset Beach to . . . watch the sunset. It was gorgeous. I can get used to this.

Oh, and the pregnancy is going well. The baby likes the sound of the waves.

Mi casa es su casa . . .

Heh, remember that Adam Sandler CD that was huge in the early 90s? Scandalous.

Anyway, we got the townhouse! We're so excited, especially knowing we'll be able to unpack soon. We won't be able to move in as soon as we'd like because they're redoing the fridge, but it'll be no later than the 22nd, maybe earlier if they actually fix the thing.

Here's the front room with the absolutely huge lanai (not porch) that we're very much looking forward to using.

And here is my favorite part--the just refurbished kitchen. It's so spacious and pretty!

Also, this place is 1.8 miles (yup, we looked it up on the GPS) from the beautiful beach. Now THAT will be a great jogging route.

Hawaii. The state where you have to learn to use vowels.

We're here! And I actually have some great pictures (especially one of the bump on the beach; it's cute) but they're stuck in our camera and won't load on the computer. Our laptop doesn't play well with others--it is the old guy on the front porch who yells at the whippersnappers to get off his lawn. The laptop hates basically everything that isn't already and always connected to it. Mean laptop (but by the way, laptop, thank you for the free Internet access).

So, I have no picture updates for you. But I can give you a list of Hawaii thus far.

• This morning I jogged across Pearl Harbor. Four times (twice round trip). I could see the USS Arizona Memorial and hear the water. It was great. That is going to be my daily exercise routine and I am so excited for it.
• We have seen several rentals we really like, and have applied for one--keep your fingers crossed we get it. Because as nice as it is to be at our hotel, I really want a house again.
• Todd has a family friend who lives in Honolulu and she has adopted us and made the transition so much easier. Sally is such a great anchor here.
• My skin now has tint. Maybe I can actually get a tan. Oooh.
• Todd started his internship today. And it went well. Yippee! It's like we're real Army folks now.
• As I said before, I have a really cute pregnant shot of me on a gorgeous beach. We plan to go to that beach as often as possible.
• I am ever so slowly learning how to pronounce the names here. I'm still such a mainlander.
• We've been finding our way around the island with a GPS Todd's parents gave him for his birthday, and that has been the most useful thing. I highly recommend it for people who plan to move to a new place. Much less stressful. We're now addicted to our Garmin. I even give her positive affirmation every time she gets us where we want to go. She's our little British pet.

The 100% accurate (but not at all scientific) baby gender test

My sister and brother-in-law have a fun baby gender test--you make a cake that is half pink, half blue, then cover the cake with frosting so you can't see the colored sides. The dad spins the cake while the mom closes her eyes. With her eyes still closed, the mom places the knife on the cake. She then gets to open her eyes so she doesn't cut off her fingers, and she has to cut where she placed the knife. Whatever color slice she gets is the baby's gender.

They did this when Lindsay was pregnant, and she cut a blue slice months before she delivered Daniel. I think Maren even had a friend cut a blue and pink slice, and she had twins. So yes--it's a fabulous non-scientific test that has been correct the half dozenish times Maren and Rikky have done/seen it.

Maren and Rikky made us a cake last Sunday and it justified my recent baby quilt fabric purchase: I got a pink slice. So now we wait a couple weeks to see if their test can remain 100% accurate. I'd hate to be the one to break the trend. Especially with all the cute pink fabric I just bought (I know, I know, I totally tempted the Karma gods).