Day 101 of Deployment....

I have been absolutely awful at writing lately. I’d like to say because I’ve been spending EVERY waking minute at the beach but in actuality, I do work. Albeit a part time job, but still.

I’m three months into deployment. I spent the first month pretty involved with the other boat wives (and ate a LOT of pizza), the second month I completely withdrew and didn’t want to do anything. I feel like I’m definitely coming back up from that. There’s a chart of the emotions that statistically most women go through during a deployment.

I refused to read the article for fear the psychology major in me would try to replicate the emotions needlessly. Instead I’m doing my own thing and enjoying my own therapy: the beach. The beach has been comfort to me. Other than the beach, I have been working. Actually, my position with the non-profit I have been working as a temp with has gone so well that they are going to take me on as a permanent employee! Pretty exciting. And comes with a pretty decent raise. I really enjoy working there though I adore my boss and she is leaving so I’m not sure how that will change things. I just believe everything will work out the way it should.

My sister and niece came out to visit and stayed with me just over a week. I thought it was going to be a relaxing, laid- back trip (her words!) but we ended up getting up early every day (same time I get up for work and earlier some days- though for them it was like sleeping in with the time difference) and we did a TON of stuff. 

It was awesome though. We had such a crazy week that we (and by we I mean mostly her) took over 1100 pictures. And broke two waterproof cameras. Thank God for my iPhone because it became our only camera and actually took great pictures.

Some of the highlights of the week- Paradise Cove luau, and driving around the island from Waikiki to North Shore and back down through the middle of the island to ‘Ewa (the west side isn’t really worth going to since it’s not very pretty and has a lot of homeless camps). We of course went to Matsumoto’s World Famous Shave Ice in North Shore. We snorkeled in Hanauma Bay- one of the best snorkel sites on the island, also a preservation. We snorkeled with sea turtles on a snorkel and sail trip in Waikiki. Amazing! I almost swam into a 3 ½ foot turtle floating on the surface that I thought was an overweight man drifting. Of course that was the day my waterproof camera broke. Just before we saw the turtles. Hmph.

We did a sunset (booze) cruise with the same boat, the Outrigger, the next night. Highly recommend. It rained hard but cleared up in time for the sunset. And we got to observe some military guys hitting on some young Australian tourists. Pretty fascinating, especially after a few more drinks.

We took a train through the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Yup, that Dole. We also did the “World’s Largest Maze” at the Dole Plantation. It’s a huge maze made up of tall bushes. You have to get all the way through but you also have to find stations that are set up throughout the maze that have stencils in them so you can stencil the design onto your score card.

The record to get all designs and get out is 12 minutes. We were in there an hour and a half. At high noon. Whew!

Saturday we visited Pearl Harbor. I didn’t take a ton of picture there and it honestly had me pretty emotional. I hope that’s the last trip I make there though it was really beautiful.

I had an amazing time with my sister and niece. We called it Camp Aloha- girls only. Even my dog is a girl. It was a blast and it was so nice to have my family come out and support me here- plus it gave me a reason to get the house looking pretty.

Back to the beach.

I am a worrier at heart. I take after my mom who STILL mentions every time I talk to her to “Watch your drinking! You know it’s not good for you.” Even though I constantly tell her my sorority days are over and I literally have a glass or two of red wine with dinner every other night or so. So actually, Mom- red wine IS good for you in moderation which I swear I do! Sigh.

Anyway I stress about little things. Missing Nick. Having my boss leave. Work. Etc.

I’ve been trying to make beach trips during the week after work. It’s the perfect time since it’s not too hot about 3 or 3:30 and I can stay for a few hours and relax.

Today I had to go in early for a conference call so I got out at 1pm and got to the beach by 2:30. While I was there I read (Eat Pray Love- so addictive!), and napped, and relaxed. It got me thinking.

What is it that I love about the beach so much? It’s not the water so much. Honestly I have a horrible fear of drowning and of not knowing what’s below me if I can’t see bottom. As clear as the water is here, the lagoon I was at today still gets really deep and I can’t see the bottom and get a teeeeeeeny bit freaked that a shark or something might come up under me (we actually saw one when we were at Pearl Harbor- cliché with it’s fin sticking up out of the water and all) but I relaxed in knowing there were snorkelers closer to the entrance of a lagoon so the shark would go after them first. Morbid I know. I probably could have said they would have seen a shark before it got to me. Ah well.

I didn’t grow up at the beach. I lived in Baltimore a lot of my life and the closest beach is good ol’ Ocean City, Maryland, which is roughly a 3 hour (or less if you decide you like getting speeding tickets) drive from Baltimore.

As I lay there today thinking I finally realized when it was that I grew to love the beach so much.

When I was 21 I lived in Ocean City for the summer with an old flame (which didn’t burn very brightly). I worked a lot and worked some long hours while I was there. But every week the two of us would have a day or two off. Amidst our fighting, I would seek solace at the beach. 

Even if it was only for a few hours I would be content to be at the beach by myself because he didn’t like to go. That was my time of peace and reflection. It was my calm in the middle of a storm of a relationship. I could just sit and meditate on the waves and soak in the glorious sun.

The summer after we finally broke up, I waitressed and had lenient hours. I drove the 3 hours to the beach almost every weekend for weeks. Literally. I racked up so many miles on my car that summer.

Even if it was just for the day (which it usually was) I would drive the three hours there just to spend some time relaxing, drifting off into that uber-relaxed stage where you’re not entirely sure you’re asleep but don’t remember being awake as I listened to the waves. To me it was worth it. (The tan didn’t look too bad either though I’m much more careful about my sunblock usage now.)

As I was at the beach today I was reminded of that. I will never be an amazing swimmer and unfortunately not a mermaid (my six year old self just cried out, “NOOOO!”) but at the beach I can just close my eyes and just be. I don’t need to try to be someone I’m not. I don’t need to impress anyone. I don’t need to talk to anyone. I can just listen to the waves and relax and just breathe and drift off…

On the drive home today I was in a state of bliss. I always seem to accidentally time my leaving the beach (which is only about 15-20 minutes away from my house) so that I’m driving back home at sunset. All around me are the trademark Hawaiian clouds- low and wispy in the sky. Colors of powder purple and dusty pink that make me think of the smoothest, silkiest twirl of cotton candy. 

The sun setting pinkish orange across the mountains in my side view mirrors, and oldies playing on the radio (somehow it just seems perfect to listen to them at these moments).

I’m amazingly fortunate to be living in paradise and to be so close to something that comforts me so much when I’m by myself and don’t have a best friend close enough to talk to. I just know that time will continue to go by but hopefully more quickly now that I’m already at over the 100 day mark. Hopefully before I know it Nick will be home and we’ll be able to see this island- and all the other ones close by!- really soon.

Until then, I have my beach and I have my bliss. So I’m okay.

“You were given life; It is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.” 
-Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

Oh my goodness! Things have been super busy lately!

My sister and niece came to visit me on Saturday. It got off to a rocky start since they were actually supposed to have gotten in on Friday but became stuck in LA overnight and were able to get a standby Saturday morning. It was such a bummer to miss out on basically a day since they were so exhausted from the two days and 35 hours worth of traveling.

We managed to have a great day beach day at Ko Olina on Sunday followed by a luau on Sunday night at Paradise Cove at Ko Olina...kind of cheesy but fun nonetheless. And yummy drinks.

I had to work all day Monday due to a quarterly board meeting as well as having two of our chapter employees in from LA visiting so there was a lot to be done. But I have the rest of the week off and am already having a blast. I can't wait to post all of the pictures on here later this week! In the meanwhile, follow me on Twitter as I update on all the places I'm going and I'll post pictures frequently too!

It feels so good to be at the beach in paradise. :)

Based on the three shows I have watched on the Travel Channel about Hawaii,  I have already started compiling lists of things that I want to do in Hawaii. Obviously there's not a huge rush since we'll be there for three years but then again I have had lists for Charleston and now that there's only a month and a half left I feel the need to catch up on them.

There are incredible things to do and see in Hawaii. From kite surfing, the two live volcanoes on the big island, a frigging HUGE zipline (Hawaii's largest that uses 2 1/2 miles of cable and has 8 separate ziplines spanning hundreds of feet overtop of rainforest), the only royal palace in the US, the coral reefs, cliff diving (awesome!!), bungee jumping (I hope they have that somewhere there), SNUBA-diving (kind of like scuba diving but good if you're not certified- you're still hooked up to a tank but the tank is above water attached by a huge cord). All these things remind me that I really want that new awesome waterproof (and probably more importantly shockproof) digital camera. Especially since camera and I don't have the best of luck. I've spilled cosmopolitan on  one camera at crush party in college and hairspray on another while it was in my makeup bag during rush. Shockproof and waterproof are good things to have. Plus it's extremely important to document crystal clear water! How often are we around that? I don't know about you, but my big beach trips have mostly been Ocean City, MD (slogan: It's all we've got) and here at Folly Beach and Sullivan's Island in Charleston. Better but still definitely not clear. I can't even remember visiting the Keys when I was younger. I think Puerto Rico's water was clearer when I visited back in high school but definitely NOT tropical paradise level of clear. And definitely not past a few feet.

So while I've been compiling my list for Hawaii, I'm also in the process of checking things off of Charleston's To Do list.
We're going to Myrtle Beach this weekend to meet up with some friends. Granted I've been to Myrtle before, but not since I was only living less than 3 hours away, and definitely not since I've turned 21. So that should be a fun one.

There are a ton of shirts I'd like to get from various bars around here. I love collecting random bar tshirts. I guess it started in college when we started going to crush parties at random bars. I'm already up to 5 Greene Turtle tshirts (an awesome bar chain in Maryland). I have some pretty random ones from California from various trips. Once from VA that Nick got me that has a funny gnome on it. A couple from Panama City, FL from last year when Nick was stationed at dive school there. I just think it's really fun to wear them a few states later and remember when you first got the shirt. And the ones that are awkward sizes and don't fit well or I've outworn (or stained) I thought it'd be cool later to cut out and make them into some sort of alcoholic patchwork quilt. Haha.

In addition to tshirts we also collect pint glasses. Those are the glasses we use every day. I love that they're all the same size and shape but they're not too matchy matchy. We have them from all over now. Some pretty funny ones. So we still have a few pint glasses and tshirts to pick up in the next month and a half.

In addition, I'd really like to do some of the touristy stuff. Walk the entire Ravenel Bridge (we have made it about 3/4ths of the way so far). Carriage tours, walk around Folly Beach shops, a ghost tour or two. There are so many haunted plantations and old jails from the Civil War here- I'd love to check some out before we leave.

How did everything sneak up on us? I can't believe it's already been a whole year since we moved here. I hope Hawaii doesn't go by that quickly! There's way more stuff I want to do and enjoy while I'm there.

And I am pretty sure by the time we leave Hawaii, about 78% of my tshirt collection will have become Hawaiian. :)