No air conditioning...and THANKFUL!

Can you believe it? I never thought I'd say that while living in a warm climate. Hawaii has a predictable 80-85 temperature on a daily basis. We live on the windward side of the island, so we get a bit more rain - and obviously more wind - than the eastern side. The clouds will blow in briefly and it'll rain for about 5 minutes really hard each day and then stop. Just enough to water the vegetation and keep it green and lush.

I love not having air conditioning because there's something really amazing about fresh air blowing through the house every second of the day. And it really is fresh...blowing right in from the pacific ocean. We have so many huge windows in our house and we love it!

Our little plantation home was built sometime in the 1930's - before Pearl Harbor. It's OLD. But old means character. And character is totally us. Most of the home is in its original state. It has been updated here and there, but still has preserved details. The original doors, cabinets, knobs, etc. The wood floors creak when we walk, but I can't help but wonder whose feet walked along these floors in the 1930's. What was life like on the island then? This home has many stories to tell, I'm sure.

We're also living out the truth of "need" vs. "want." Starting over with everything from silverware to furniture really made us re-evaluate what we needed on a day to day basis. For instance, I have two pans for cooking and one pot. One of the most ridiculous things we ever owned prior to moving here was an entire set of pots and pans. Who needs a 16 or even 20 piece set of cookware?! I never used half of it. I only dropped those pieces on my toes while trying to shuffle around them for the pieces I really needed in order to cook.

Speaking of meals, we are on a tighter budget than usual. Island life is pretty pricey. Gas especially. But we are getting by on our Honda Pilot (love the Pilot) and Aaron purchased a bike to ride the 4.5 miles to work. We are fortunate to live a short 10 minute walk from the beach and another short 10 minute walk the other direction into downtown where shops, boutiques, restaurants and grocery stores are located. We have a Whole Foods and a store called Down to Earth. I love both, of course! We aren't eating out much - if at all. I have to know what's in my food because of my health concerns, so it's better for me to cook at home. I actually love it. I've learned to be really creative with meals and I'm mastering tasty dishes like curry, fish, vegetarian dishes, baked goods (wheat free), etc. I just made the most amazing banana choco-chip bread recipe that called for sorghum and teff flour instead of wheat/white flour. I also use soy/dairy-free choc. chips. YUM!

I could end up sounding like a broken record saying this all the time, but we truly love it here and feel SO BLESSED. We have such wonderful neighbors. They are a mix of native Hawaiian, Japanese, Tahitian, Chinese, Caucasian, etc. We love the diversity and the open hearts and lifestyles. Since everyone leaves windows and doors open, it's very much a community feel here on the island. We've already been invited to a family gathering next door where we were served an amazing feast. I'm excited about all the relationship we will have with people here. Again, we feel so blessed.