Hawaii craziness

Whew, its been a crazy few weeks.

Trying to decide where to start....

I posted a while back about those pesky critters on the island that I despise so very much.

Those damn centipedes!!

Joe was going to the bathroom one night a few weeks ago, and got bit, or should I say stung by one.

A big black one.

The master bedroom is on the 3rd level, and to get to the bathroom, we have to walk outside, down some stairs, unlock the door to the 2nd level, and find our way to the bathroom.

Now, at 4 am, when your eyes are blurry and stinging because your so tired, it can be difficult and a pain in the ass to say the least.

I try and hold it for as long as possible, but Joe cant do that.

We got a key chain with a small flashlight to make it easier to see where we were going.

Joe had just got back in our door, and all I heard was "oh crap, it bit me"!

I sat up and said "kill it"!

I knew exactly what it was.

He shined the light in the corner of our room, and there it was, a HUGE black centipede.

It got him on the side of his foot.

He proceeded to hit it like 10 times with the only thing we had in reach..a trash can.

The thing finally died, and Joe realized that the sting was pretty painful.

He couldn't go back to sleep, so he went downstairs to put ice on his foot.

I cuddled Hallie back to sleep, and was so paranoid that there were more.

I kept getting my iphone flashlight out and checking our bed.

It was CREEPY!!

I would post a pic, Joe did take some of it, but I am to scared to even look at them.

He said it was very BIG!

We had already been thinking it, but after the centipede attack, we decided that the house we were living in was not for us.

It was not the most kid-friendly house.

There was no yard for Hallie or Jalen to play, and the road was a dirt road, so bike riding and skateboarding were out of the question.

It was also very far out from anyone or anything.

I mean, there were people, but the closest town was 10 minutes, and Jalens school was 1 hour away.

The long bus ride there was getting to J, and I don't blame him.

So, Joe and I were on the hunt for a new place to live.

Luckily our lease was month to month so moving was an option for us.

One of my best girlfriends, Bridget,  from middle school and high school came out to visit me shortly after that.

I was so excited to have a friend come visit!!

She stayed in the studio apt downstairs, and we had a blast!

We went to a few different beaches, out to eat, drank mimosas, celebrated my 34th birthday, went to church, hiked to a waterfall, went on morning runs, enjoyed a girls day, and had a ball!

Joe really enjoyed having her there also.

It was fun for us all to see a familiar face, and have a friend to entertain.

Hallie got really used to Bridget being there, and would look for her in the mornings.

Bridget, the awesome friend that she is, even watched my kids for a night so Joe and I could go have a date.

It was her birthday gift to me:)

We hadn't got to go anywhere just the two of us in months, so it was really really nice.

We ate at Postcards Cafe in Hanalei, and it did not disappoint.

The fish I got, seafood pasta he got, and the chocolate lava cake was all so scrumptious!

So, leading into the events that unfolded these past few weeks....

It was Bridget's last day on the island, and we let Jalen stay home from school so that we could all take her snorkeling for her first time.

We headed up to Tunnels Beach at about 9 am.

Great time on the beach, good snorkeling(I saw a big sea turtle up close), and overall good morning.

We were headed back to the house, when something totally unexpected and frightening happened.

We were all in the car, 3 adults, 2 kids.

Some crazy man with an apparent case of road rage pulled up behind us, and proceeded to fly by us.

Mind you we are on a very small and narrow 2 lane highway.

Joe had his arm out the window already, just feeling the cool breeze.

As the guy flew around us, he kind of lifted his hand up, like "dude, what are you doing that for"?

Well, big mistake.

The guy slammed on his brakes, got behind us, stopped his car, got out and was pointing a huge gun at us.

This was not just any ol' gun.

This was a big black assault rifle.

Now weather or not it was real, we don't know.

At the time, it sure felt real!!

Bridget screamed "hes got a gun" and we drove off.

He raced in his car and proceeded to pass us again, as we all ducked thinking he was going to shoot.

Bridget layed over Hallie Rose (she was sitting next to her), I sunk down in my seat, Jalen crossed his arms and tried to melt into his seat as much as possible, and Joe said "hold on", as he slammed on the brakes of the car to get away from this crazy fool!!

Thank God he did not shoot, and drove off.

We pulled over and called the cops.

Long story short, they know who the guy is (its a small island), and turns out he lived 5 houses down from us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cops cannot do much until they catch him with the gun.

We felt like the signs were all telling us we were not meant to be living there anymore, and we were scared of that crazy guy.

Not to mention, another centipede was found in our bathroom the night before this all happened.

Joe had to use his ninja skills and kill it with a butcher knife.

SICK!

That day we all piled in the car to take Bridget to the airport, and never went back.

I take that back, Joe and I have been back (separately) to clean the house and pack up what little stuff we had there.

We found a condo to rent the day this all happened, and have been living there every since.

It is in a very nice part of the island, populated, and safe.

Its unfortunate that we had to go through such crap to get us where we are at today, but everything happens for a reason.

The condo has a pool just steps away, and it works out perfectly for Jalens school.

It is closer, and the bus comes here to pick him up.

We found a house that we really like a lot, and just found out yesterday we are the owners first pick to move in as tenants.

It is in this same town as our condo, on an acre of land and a very nice home.

The owner has not ever seen a centipede in his house, and assures us we will not see one either.

It has been a crazy ride the past month or so, but we are hopeful our luck is turning around.

We love Kauai and don't want to let a few random incidents give us a bad impression or ruin our time here.

So, that's the update on our Hawaii life.

Until next time......

Pray for light and love to follow our family <3

10 random facts about Hawaii

1. It rains, or at least sprinkles everyday, if not every other day.

2. There are no snakes on any of the Hawaiian islands.

3. There are little lizards all over, including in our house. Harmless though.

4. The locals have a lingo all their own, its called "pigeon".

5. Included in "pigeon", is the word "yeah" after every sentence..example: "Today was a good day at the beach, yeah". Or "I'm really craving tacos for dinner, yeah". lol

6. Bethany Hamilton, the girl who got her arm bit off by a shark and then became a professional surfer, is from the same town we live in. The beach where she got attacked is about 3 minutes from our house. And there is a new movie out about her story, called Soul Surfer. Go rent it!

7. Hawaii has very cool nights and mornings. We even use a down comforter at night.  It then warms up from around 11-5.

8. There are chickens and roosters all over the islands. There was a hurricane back in the 90's which washed out farms, and displaced the chickens and roosters. They are everywhere, and will definitely wake you up every morning at around 5 am, until you get used to them and can sleep through it.

9. The food here is very expensive! Especially on the North Shore. 1/2 gallon of coconut milk $7, box of organic cereal $6, block of organic cheese $7, dozen organic eggs $8, bag of organic tortilla chips $5..the list goes on and on..

10. Everyone here drives R~E~A~L~L~Y slow..if the speed limit signs states 25 mph, they go 15..if the speed limit sign says 35 mph, they go 25..if it says 50 mph(which is the highest it gets), they go 40..sometimes it can be really annoying, especially if your in a hurry to get somewhere. I just tell myself to chill out, and relax!