Our Spring & Summer in Hawai’i (mostly in photos)

Is it just me, or does it seem impossible that it is October already?  We are just a few days from our 1-year anniversary of arriving in Hawaii, and that doesn’t seem possible either.  

Patrick, Lillie, Chris & me at the Nutridge Luau (sorry for the quality of this one, the lighting was pretty terrible)

I thought I would give an update on our spring and summer.  The first 4 months of the year were dominated by visitors.  My pregnant sister, Lillie, visited in January for 2 weeks, with her husband, Patrick, joining for part of that time.  We had an absolute ball showing them around the island and taking them to our favorite places.  

It’s pretty awesome when your sister is also the best friend you’ve ever had

A few weeks after Lillie left, my Mom came to stay for 2 weeks.  Since Dad is not retired (yet), he had to stay home to work, but we had a blast with Mom.  It was so much fun showing her where I work and introducing her to the people we’ve met here.  

Mom, Chris and me on our snorkeling trip, overlooking Diamond Head!

After Mom left, we very suddenly lost our sweet Calli in March.  It was over very quick and she didn’t have to suffer for long, for which we were extremely grateful.  But I’d be lying if I said her death didn’t leave a huge hole in our hearts.  In 2010, Chris and I had 8 pets in our home (our 2 German Shepherd dogs, a foster dog, our 2 cats, and 3 foster kittens).  Over the years we have lost them all and now we just have 1 dog.  We’ll see how long we stay a 1-pet family.

We miss you, sweet Calli

In April, our friend Kristi (from Clemson) came to visit us.  We had such a good time that she decided to move here! 

Me & Kristi

Overlapping with her trip for a night was my brother, Michael, and his wife, Rebecca (who was also pregnant).  We realized that the 4 of us have spent very little time together without either their kids or other family around, and we had so much fun during our week with them.  Rebecca was truly in her happy place here (she’s a beach girl through and through), and Michael, being the foodie that he is, did the research to find all the best restaurants to go to.

Rebecca, Michael, me & Chris, also at the Nutridge luau (we love that place!)

Just 3 days after Michael and Rebecca headed back to North Carolina, I left the island for the first time.  Lillie was due with her baby on April 27th, so I left Chris and Rigsbee in Ewa Beach to hold down the fort while I flew to stay in Denver for 3 weeks to wait for my niece or nephew’s arrival. 

The night I arrived in Denver, just 3 days before Lillie’s due date. We didn’t know that we would be waiting another 9 days!

Lillie and I were out shopping on May 4th (still no sign of baby), when she suddenly gasped and jerked forward.  “Either my water just broke or I’m peeing all over myself!”  Even though Lillie insisted that we could still go on to Costco (where we were headed), we went back home where labor came on fast and furious.  “Just” 6 hours later, I watched in awe as my baby sister gave birth to her baby, Flora Jade Martin.  Lillie was absolutely amazing and it was an experience I will never forget, and will always be grateful to have been a part of.

Get used to lots of talks over beers with your aunt, sweet Flora

When Flora was 2 weeks old, I sobbed goodbye to the Elliot-Martins and went back home to my boys.  I was sitting in the San Jose airport and checking the departures board and found myself looking for a flight to Raleigh.  It was pretty strange, and awesome, to instead find the flight to Honolulu and know that I was headed home.  As hard as it was to leave, it was so good to come home to Chris and Rigsbee, who I think were both pretty happy to see me.

Prettiest sunset on the flight home

A few days after I got back, my cousin’s daughter and her boyfriend came to visit.  They did their own thing during the day, but we were with them most evenings.  It was wonderful to see them and welcome them here, although realizing my cousin’s daughter has now graduated college and is in grad school makes me feel every one of my nearly-40 years.

Our favorite spot for sharing drinks with guests - our front lanai

In June, I began studying for the Bar Exam in earnest.  I decided in March, somewhat on a whim, to take the Hawai’i Bar exam in July.  When it came time to actually start studying I questioned that whim very much, but it was too late.  A flood of memories came back to me as I was reminded how awful studying for that stupid test is and how much I hated it the first time around.  Spoiler alert, I hated it almost as much 13 years later.  Luckily, I found out last week that I passed!  

Views like this made studying worth it

In mid-June, Chris’ Mom, Lori, came to visit for a week.  We had planned her trip before I decided to take the Bar, so Chris took over the sightseeing duties and mother and son spent many hours exploring Oahu while I sat staring at my computer listening to mind-numbing virtual lectures.  I did get out of the house for one night when we went to see our first show while Lori was here.  We went to the Blue Note Hawaii and saw Wayne Brady live.  He is absolutely wonderful and it was a fantastic show.  We also loved the venue and have already been back.  We loved having Lori here and hope to get more of Chris’ family out here next year. 

Chris and his Mom

July was spent studying.  Chris took over cooking duties and we settled into a very basic schedule.  Chris would work and I would study all day.  At 6pm, Chris would send Rigsbee over to my desk to tell me it was time to go for a walk.  We would go walk for 30-40 minutes (by far the highlight of Rigsbee’s day), then Chris would cook dinner while I continued studying.  I would typically work until around 11pm, then we would go to bed and wake up the next morning to do it all over again.  

Hey Mom, is it time to go on my walk yet??

Finally, on July 27-28th, I took the Bar exam at the Hawaii Convention Center in downtown Honolulu.  I got to my car at the end of day 2 and just sat there crying for several minutes because I was so overwhelmed and exhausted.  I am so grateful that that experience is over and even more grateful that I passed!  

The good luck message I got from sweet Flora

The day after the Bar, Thursday, July 29th, I told Chris I wanted to spend at the beach.  We packed a cooler and snacks and sat on the beach all day.  It was absolutely perfect and just how I wanted to celebrate being free from all that studying.

THIS VIEW

We had a stretch of no guests and no Bar studying in August. During that time, on August 11th, we welcomed our newest nephew, Silas Elliot, to the family when Michael and Rebecca had their 3rd baby. I think most in our family had betted on Lillie having a little boy and Michael having his 3rd girl (neither one of them found out what they were having), but we were all wrong. Big sisters Adeline and Luci are absolutely overjoyed that they now have a baby brother. I will admit that it has been pretty difficult being so far away and not having been able to meet baby Silas yet. I cannot wait to get my hands on him.

The Elliot siblings - proud big sisters and baby Silas

We’re now working and hanging out with Kristi.  We celebrated my passing the Bar this weekend and Kristi has a big birthday that we’ll celebrate in a few weeks.  Our next visitors arrive in November.  On November 17th, my Mom, Dad and Aunt JoAnn are all coming to visit.  I am beyond excited and have already started booking things for us to do.  JoAnn is staying for a week (she’ll be here for Thanksgiving!) before heading back to NC.  Mom & Dad will stay another 2 weeks.  One of those weeks, the 4 of us will travel to the Big Island, which is the actual island of Hawai’i.  This will be our first time visiting one of the other islands so we can’t wait.

This coming Friday, October 8th, will be the 1 year anniversary of our arrival in Hawai’i.  It’s mind boggling.  I’m writing a post about the past year so be on the lookout for that!