Howz it?!

Howz it is a slang expression we have become very familiar with over the past few months. It's short for "how's it  going", "how are things?" Used very often in our work settings. So with that bit of knowledge.. HOWZ IT?

How are things here? (Thanks for asking by the way :)...

Life = good

Work= good

Church= great

Friends= great


So it seems like I would have little to type about. But I can think of a few things...

First, As many of our family members already know, Ben is going on a mission trip to Africa for 2 weeks the beginning of August. He is going with the youth group he has been involved with as a "leader." It will be quite the trip and one LONG LONG flight- around 24hrs in the air I believe. Swaziland is the country he will be going to. They will be working in orphanages and helping families devastated with AIDS.

Initially, Ben asked me if I would like to go with as they needed more "leaders." I  thought about it and thought "its okay, you can go. I don't even know the youth group or leaders." I was just making excuses. Some times its hard to get outside of your comfort zone. A few weeks later, I was invited by youth pastor Drew to come as a "medical personnel" on the trip. He told me "if we have a nurse on the trip, it gives parents peace of mind." I began thinking about it, praying about it, and even attended the first "orientation" session. I began meeting the youth and could see how God could use me.

 I was really excited about this amazing opportunity but unfortunately this would not last long. I found out that work was very stingy with my vacation days. Because I am a part of the HNA (Hawaii nurses association = UNION), time off is granted via "seniority" therefore, I was not granted time off for the mission trip. I was very disappointed and asked "Why not me, GOD!??" I am willing to go where you want to send me... I decided to stop questioning His plan and just realize that now is not my time. Since then, I have accepted it and began to support my husband and help him prepare for this life changing experience. I am very excited for him and to see/hear all about his experiences in Africa.

Another exciting bit of information= we are moving to a new place in April! Our contract at our cottage comes up the end of April so we began looking for a place that better suited us. We found a Townhouse in the town of Mililani. Yes we are giving up our 1/2 mile jaunt from the beach, but we will be in a more residential area, centrally located on the island. 30 minutes from everything essentially. North Shore, Work (for both of us), beach, church... This upgrade also means a full kitchen (yeah! no more toaster oven meals), garage, private lanai, two bedrooms/two bathrooms (to better host family and friends when they visit), washer/dryer in the unit, dishwasher (I have been married almost 4 years and this will be my first one :) I can hardly wait), closer to our friends, and one of the best perks... (drum roll please...) It's OLLIE friendly. I feel like I am going to be spoiled BIG TIME by moving into this nice place. Of course, there has to be a few negatives, right? Those would be a longer commute to church/work for Ben and its unfurnished. So we will have to scrounge up a few things such as a mattress, bar stools, etc but we will get it settled before anyone plans to visit. Below is a picture of what the outside looks like. Trust me more pictures will come once we get the keys!

So the next few weeks are exciting for the Christians. We will be moving, decorating/filling our new place (not with children), getting paper work/Ollie ready for the flight over, and anticipate our return home in June!

Thanks for being a faithful reader, even if I am not the most faithful writer :)

-Aloha,

Janell

I will PRAISE HIM in this Storm...

Some things in life will always live vividly in your memory. For the three of us, we will never forget where we were when we first got word of the Tsunami Warning that evening this March.

Brady was able to join in on the excitement as it was the last night before he went home. Brady and I were downtown Waikiki, walking down the main strip and checking out shops on the way. Ben met up with us at 9pm after his class was finished. We were just walking around and stopped in the Margaritaville shop. They had a live feed of a band playing in the restaurant upstairs. Suddenly they stopped playing. They said "some of us live on the beach and with the tsunami warning, we have to cut the performance short." I thought it was part of the "show".

We (Brady and I) didn't think much of it. Ben on the other hand was more concerned and began looking up the warning on his phone. We were soon told that the warning it wasn't a joke. Fear was yet to be instilled in us. We started walking back to our cars, about 1/2 mile away and it wasn't until then that we began to notice people leaving the once busy strip. The street performers, side walk shops, and tourists were suddenly packing up and scattering in all directions. Brady and I were yet to really be worried about this Tsunami excitement while Ben had a nervous look on his face.  What was a Tsunami anyway? Were we actually in danger?

According to my good friend Wikipedia, A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean. It wasn't until the moment we got into our cars and turned on the radio, that the reality of it all hit me. Every radio station was talking about the tsunami that was to hit Oahu at 3:00am. They were getting hundreds of thousands calling in, concerned about if their house was in the "evacuation zone." Evacuation zone?! What is that all about. What was supposed to be a quick 20-30 minute ride home turned into a stressful,  1.5 hr ordeal. People were fleeing from the coastlines to the middle of the island, and traffic was horrible. Everyone was trying to leave at the same time. To make matters worse, there was road construction blocking our "quick way to the interstate" and our cell phones were not working due to the system being overloaded with calls.  (Thanks AT&T :) We had two separate cars and were trying to call eachother to find another way home. But our calls weren't going through. Nonetheless, we made it home, unscathed around 11:15pm.

Once we got home, we looked online and noticed we were right outside of the "evacuation zone". We figured we would be close, considering we live a 1/2 mile from the beach. When we turned on the TV, fear really began to set in. Seeing Japanese towns get swallowed up by the water and the water cyclone taking out boats, cars, houses will forever live in my memory. That cannot happen here, can it?!

It was just about that time that our friends Brandon and Sheena texted us to make sure we were okay and that we were more than willing to spend the night at their house (which is in the center of the island, Mililani). Thankfully, Brady's phone was working so I called Sheena back and we began packing. Brandon and Sheena were so gracious to open their house to us as they just arrived back home at 9pm that night from a week long vacation. Inspite of the jet lag, no food in the house, dirty laundry, and just wanting to rest they invited us over. Thanks for being SUCH great friends and hosts :)

Packing. You cannot imagine how odd it feels to pack your "stuff" in two bags and have to "choose" what is important and what's not? What will stay and what will come with? We didn't know if the water would reach our cottage and possibly carry away our earthly possessions. We packed necessities and were told to prepare for possible power outages for days. Food (dry cereal, bread, fruit) was a necessity. We also packed a few change of clothes, back account information/check books, Bible, and brother Brady. The golf clubs, desktop computer, and bikes stayed.

We didn't sleep more than an hour or two that night. Our eyes stayed fixed to the TV as we watched the tsunami play out. We were expected to get the most damage of all the islands (along with Kauai). But when it was all said and done, there was minimal damage on our island. The Big Island (near Kona) got the most damage. The water crept into a shopping centers and caused a lot of damage to boats in the harbors.

We were so thankful to see the tides rise and fall and not much more happen than that! God kept us safe! He was our SHELTER.

Here is a video of what we were watching. It was hard to see what was coming since this was happening in the middle of the night. When we saw the water recede, we held our breath as we were scared of the big wave would follow. Thankfully it did not! 

As Brady said that night, "this was not on my list of things to do" :) He always knows how to keep the mood light. 

Hope all is well back home!

Have more updates on life, but will post them separately.

Take Care- Janell

PS. Once again, we have the 5 hr time difference between Hawaii and Central time after daylight savings  was observed on the mainland but not here in Hawaii. I'm not especially thrilled about this as it makes it harder to call home/plan Skype dates with the family.