Hawaiian treehouse.

If all else fails, we can put this treehouse on a ship, shrink our bodies like in

"Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and inhabit this cute little number. 

Last weekend in Cali.

It is seriously hard to believe that this was our last weekend in Cali (for now.. as full time residents, not visitors). I think that amidst the packing, we managed to find some time for fun as well! Work & play, work & play.....

Friday was a visit from the moving company to assess our stuff. So far we are at about 3,000 tons to be carried overseas which sounds like, well, tons! Can it be?! Especially considering we have sold, gotten rid of about 2/3 of our furniture and bags & bags of winter clothes! Hmm. In comparison to many homes moving a full load of furniture, we do actually have very little. It will however be shipped (most likely) by boat, which will take about 4-6 weeks to arrive. Thank goodness I'm moving to a place where I can get by with a swimsuit, running clothes and a few simple outfits for a month or so. 

So that night after the moving company came and went and a guy came to purchase Andrew's treasured massage chair, we set out for sushi! Our favorite sushi place is what looks like a tiny hole-in-the wall basically. Of course, these are the best kind of places! It is always crowded at dinner hours and so much so on Friday night that we had to sit at the counter where the train goes round and round (no sushi on the train, just for display). Andrew ordered the 16 sushi platter- the real traditional stuff. I got the Snow White roll w salmon, spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado, cream cheese. (Yes, this is important information for you to know :)) 

Saturday we ran together (our last Saturday run in Cali, for awhile....) and continued the packing efforts. In the afternoon we got to visit our good friends and their new baby! Thank goodness our friends have these cute babies for us to love! Right now I am more than just fine with enjoying many friends' babies. 

This baby was one of THE dearest dolls I have ever laid eyes on. When Andrew first saw her laying on my lap he said "she doesn't even look real"! She was perfect. For me the "love em and leave " old adage applies. We get the baby joy and none of the baby worry :) 

Ok..then... THEN we went to a friends and family screening of Monsters University! My brother's girlfriend works at Pixar and was kind enough to give her four guest passes on the movie showing to Andrew & I and my mom & dad. We felt so cool and completely inspired to enroll in the Monsters U scaring school ourselves! 

What do you think?! 

Most scary scarer--Dad! Most friendly scarer--Andrew! Most coordinated colors with monsters- Mom! ???? ---Andie 

We capped off the night with a great dinner at Trader Vic's which is right along the water with gorgeous views and serves nice Hawaiian food. A goodbye dinner of sorts and an excellent time! My brother kept saying "who knows when we'll see you guys again." It made me kind of sad. We are not falling off the face of the earth! Hawaii is far-ish, but I know that we will figure out how to make fairly frequent trips home. 

The view at Trader Vic's! Night at sea. 

Monday was more running and more packing. Then we went to a friends Memorial Day BBQ! I dress in holiday attire for most holidays, so this one was no exception. To my surprise,I was met by a darling baby who was as festive as I was! 

We returned home to give away our bed to some very nice 20 something year old Presbyterian kids (we had just posted the bed for free on Craigslist)  We are happy that it (& other furniture) found a nice home! I've had this funny thought of pieces of our place are all in different homes- our bed, a table, chairs, side tae, etc, etc.. It's a fun, strange concept to me, to think of our little home dispersed to so many other little homes. 

..... Phew.... That's the weekend..... We move in 5 days! 

The uniqueness of the Bay Area.

This post could go on and on. I've been a Bay Area girl for nearing 20 years- 2/3rds of my existence. It's home.

From Los Gatos (my parent's domain) to Palo Alto (our current locale) to San Francisco ( my old stomping grounds) to everywhere in between, you can't go wrong! I think Nor Cal blends the best of the sun, the snow, the trails, the hills, the city, the little historic towns (LG, Saratoga, San Jose, obv San Francisco) and the more modern newly created town flairs (think Willow Glen, Santana Row, not a town, but you know...). This is like the least researched post ever! Who knows how long these places have been around. Packing has me in zombie state. Maybe that is what this post is really about.

Here's a little pic to illustrate Palo Alto charm. An uphill bike rack deal thing. Yep, that IS the official name. Cool, no?! ;) 

Ok, the point of the post is that I'm a Bay Area girl at heart. Cliche and true. 

 One day I'll be in Hawaii and maybe you will like my posts more then. Or, maybe you won't. Shame on you. 

I have so much self confidence that even if this is my vain space of the net, I'm content. I'm so vain, I do think that song is about me. 

The most special of special teachers.

So here is the thing: All teachers are special, right? Sure. Well then, Special Education teachers are beyond measure the most Special of the Special.  (all these S's are capitalized to show just how special)

(..... and p.s. I know ALL teachers are the best.)

Now THIS group (pictured here) is the very most Special of the Special in Special Ed and that, my friends, is really about as Special as anyone may come: 

I met these three about two years ago as I began a teaching position at a great, yet challenging non- public school in Palo Alto where multiple school districts send their  most challenging students to be taught for a time period (long or short). Many of these students have severe behavioral challenges that lead them to a more restrictive setting with a specialized (see, there's that word again) staff to meet their educational needs. This group of teachers is TOUGH! They have seen the worst of some students and they keep loving & teaching them anyway. That is actually a huge life lesson that I took away from the staff at this school. Something horrific would happen one day--- a student hits you in the nose, kicks another student in the shins, spits in another staff's face and pees in the schoolyard (you laugh, but it has happened). That day you are probably a little frustrated with the kid. Ok, maybe "little" is an understatement--- you may be quite frustrated with this particular kid on this particular day. Well, that school day ends, the kid rides the bus home, you go home and when you both arrive back at school the next morning you (mostly) forget about the day before. It's forgiven and you start anew. Now of course you try to learn from each of these experiences and make them opportunities to teach your kids responsibility for their actions etc. Seriously  though, I was always struck by this profound concept of moving on. Wouldn't life be generally more pleasant if more of us would just move on... It opens the world up to more of the good stuff. 

A baby shower of one of our teacher girls! 

 One of our many fun-filled happy hours (diet cokes for me!) 

                                I will always hold a "special" place for these girls in my heart. 

Insanity ensues.

This. 

Also, our cars are shipping to Hawaii and our (oldish) leather couch was taken to the dump (it was in bad condition, trust me). Meanwhile, I'm barely maintaining sanity. 

It gets worse before it gets better.

...or so I would like to believe...

I am betting that the "better" part is weeks away, but in the interest of a minute away today, here is my blog post on the state of affairs at the Rich place today....

First a photo:

Today I: 

-Cleaned through the cars (which will be shipped tomorrow) 

-Cleaned through another closet 

-Threw away another 4 trashbags full of random "stuff" 

-Put together another 3 DI (Goodwill) bags 

-Took all the pictures off the walls (after this photo) 

-Stood by watching Andrew sell both electric bikes (one of which he has ridden to work daily for the past 7 months) 

-Drank Diet Pepsi instead of Diet Coke when in desperate need. 

I probably did a few other unproductive things which I will not report here and now. A blog is for my version of the truth, thank you very much! 

Until next time friends..... 

Time flies.

Time truly does FLY when you are having fun! I feel like my little sister, Paige, just got into town and she is already gone :( how did that happen?!

Presenting "welcome home" baked goods have become somewhat of a tradition upon Paige's returns home. In addition, when I first met Paige's now husband, Korey, for the first time (well during that same day), I made him a key lime pie. I know it sounds silly and maybe it was, but I was just trying to show my approval. What?! If baking something that looks like it was made by a kindergartner doesn't show love, then I don't know what does.

That one time that I made Korey key lime pie on the day I met him to show that he was "in" with me. Sweet, I know. For those of you who don't have laser perfect vision (who could read this from so far away?), then I will help you out, it says "I heart Korey" with red frosting which melted, then I traced over it with white chocolate chips, which later also melted ;) (maybe kindergartners could do better...but you know what, it IS the thought that counts, ok?!)

Paige and Korey holding my latest creation. PN hearts KN.  Even sweeter and more clever than my first pie created in the picture above. Having Korey become part of the family made me more willing to attempt this masterpiece. Look out-- when they have babies, there is no telling what the baked goodies may look like!

Alright, that was a tangent. One more thing though while I am at it.....regarding baked goods, I may make clever ones, but the true expert on the baking is Andrew. I don't even want to tell you how good his treats are because then you will ask for them and he is not accepting orders on them right now. I will say that his banana cake 6 and peanut butter cookies get rave reviews. He is Mr. Humble, but I promise you, they are the BEST. 

We played games as a whole family ( I know, there are SO many of us) There was also some Thai food from Thai Spice involved and that is a Knudsen family favorite. 

The gang--- minus the parents and plus the dog.

Saturday, Paige and I spent the whole day together--- WIN! I'm sure I drove her nuts but I sure had a good time doing it. We shopped, talked, walked, talked (maybe sampled some yogurt at a few places) you know- the usual. 

On Sunday, we celebrated (mourned?) the move a little more with Icing on the cake Banana cake (2nd to Andrew's, but like I said- he is out of baking commission at the moment :( hopefully the baking returns when the move is complete) 

.......on a little bit of a more serious note, as we all parted our ways-- and four separate cars pulled out of my parents place, I was in my car on my own and had this wave of sincere gratitude and awe for the life that I have and the people in it. Andrew and I often say that one year ago we would have had no idea that today we would be here (and two weeks from now living in Hawaii). Honestly though, it is nothing short of divine that Andrew and I married and are now here. 

I would say that it is a miracle and it is, but I have a little story about what a wise, old man once told me about miracles which I will share in my next post.

Sisters and such weekend

This weekend is full of adventures with this little one who I call sister.

More to come.....

The Aloha farewells begin.

First, let's talk about the word "Aloha", shall we? Does it mean "hello" or "goodbye"? It can mean both! Traditionally in the Hawaiian language it can even mean affection, peace, compassion and mercy-- that's a lot of love all rolled up into one word. Additionally, Hawaii is often referred to as the "Aloha state", perhaps to capture the loving feeling which the aloha spirit, if you will, represents.

So, if we use Aloha in its form where as a goodbye send off, then tonight was the beginning of these type of "Aloha farewells" before the Hawaii departure. 

This one was with my best high school girlfriends (minus one who is living in New York right now --- boo!) I have known these girls for 18 years. They are the ones who you keep coming back to because they are solid rocks. Mind you, we have all had our ups and downs, but at least one of us is sane to help the others out at any one time ;). Actually, all of our personalities are quite different. It's a fun balance for sure! Who doesn't love their friends they have known since 12 years old?! 

Countdown continues

Mother's Day shenanigans.

I have a mom and mother-in-law who rock! Seriously. Happy Mother's day to them and all the moms who rock my world and teach me tons about the beauty and challenge that is mothering.

Today I'm just going to blog it up with photos. Life is too splendid to spend my time writing today. 

Andrew and I with his (almost) 94 year old Grandpa Ivan! He is as dear as he looks. Maybe even more dear. 

This is Andrew! Oh my....heart. melt. 

We spent 3 hrs in a broken down car (driving it, stopping it, charging it, waiting, repeating it) It was obviously an exhausting process, as evidenced

Andrew's mom is a very good mom! And darling too, no?! She amazes in many way, including raising five boys and looking about 30 years younger than she is! 

Family--isn't it about time?

The title of this post is based on an old, classic Mormon ad series in the 90's I think and it was pretty clever. They had scenarios like where a father realized it was more important to play baseball with his son than spending time working on his computer in the house. The tag line at the end is "Family, isn't it about time?"

I think it is about time.... And here we are in Monroe, Utah, Andrew and I because it was about time that we get out to see his mom and grandpa out here and because being a family is about the actual time we spend together! 

When the Hawaii move became official, it felt like a mad dash to figure out how we could see as many family members as possible in a few short weeks. My sister in law texted me telling me that they'd like for us to get to them in Vegas and the only weekend that didn't work for them was Mother's Day because they would be visiting Andrew's mom that weekend. Lightbulb! If we get out to Monroe that same weekend, I thought, we could see Andrew's mom, Andrew's grandpa, Andrew's brother and his family too! WIN! It took some quick moving and shaking  (we made flights on Thursday afternoon to leave Friday) Then, we surprised Andrew's mom! When we walked in the house her face was first confused.. Then shocked... Then happy?! She had her hands over her face just laughing (I think it was joy, not terror, but, you know... I hope..) Our 6 year old nephew literally dropped to the ground and stayed there for almost 5 minutes. Later he told us that he had "fainted" from the excitement. 

We like being a big deal. 

p.s. We love all the kids, however  the youngest was just the most willing to be in pictures with us today! 

Buying boxes & busting beats.

This blogger has been buying boxes and boxing up life...

 That's not really  blog-worthy.

 But, here is something that is.... (Hopefully) 

Packing playlist: 

--Underdog- Imagine Dragons 

(this was Andrew's theme song when interviewing. The underdog got the worm this time! Oh, that's the early bird?! Hehe.  STILL.) 

--Help! I'm alive.- Metric 

--Diane Young -Vampire Weekend 

--Wildest Moments -Jessie Ware 

--Can't Hold Us- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (one of this years best. Macklemore is amazing.) 

--Tiptoe -Imagine Dragons 

--L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. -Noah & The Whale 

--Keeping The Faith -Billy Joel 

--Gold on the Ceiling -The Black Keys 

--King & Lionheart- Of Monsters and Men 

--One More Day -Les Mis soundtrack 

--Rewrite -Paul Simon 

--Hanging Around -Counting Crows (oldie but goodie) 

--a couple fun mixes from the Pitch Perfect soundtrack. I don't like the movie as much as I like the music! 

--Do it Anyway -Ben Folds 

--Top of the World -Imagine Dragons 

--Buffalo- alt J 

--Mountain Sound -Of Monsters and Men 

--Don't Stop- Foster the People 

--The Weight -The Band 

--Love Interruption-- Jack White (I've been crazy for this song since my first listen! Like, obsessed. Jack White generally- totally talented!) 

There's my Top 21. You may have noticed repeats of Imagine Dragons and Of Monsters and Men--both newer groups I've seen live in the past year. I like learning of new artists and it is fun to see them get big! Last year Imagine Dragons was playing at Provo's Rooftop Series sponsored by cjane  (one of my favorite bloggers, www.cjanerun.blogspot.com) and couch surfing in cities trying to "make it". This year they are playing to sold out crowds in San Francisco! :) 

Rock out. 

DDR.

this is a reader incentive reward.....  click the first video then the second..... ENJOY! 

The Greatest bread. Ever.

 I admit, for about half our Hawaii trip while Andrew was interviewing I was pretty hesitant on the Hawaii move. It's difficult to feel a sense of normalcy when you are cruising Waikiki day after day among people doing all things vacation. And, in one of the most laid back, chill places on the planet at that.

The second part of the trip, on the weekend, we got real. We drove out to our friend's place on the North Shore and played all day on the beach. You know, things that are more day to day reality ;) Saturday we ran an 8 mile loop around Diamond head that gave us a better idea of the Kahala and Diamond Head areas. While I don't know that either is an option for us to settle in, it did feel more resedential and doable as far as creating a life in Hawaii. 

To guarantee that life on an island would be manageable for me, Andrew not only assured me that Costco exists, but also took me there to experience it for myself. Costco is one key to life, no?! YES! 

 On our way back to the hotel from Costco I spot a Great Harvest Bread Co. location. My head about exploded! "Andrew, TURN right here," I screamed. Yes, I did raise my voice to a decibel high enough that it can be characterized as a scream. I get pretty excited about things like this. 

THAT my friends is when I knew that I could move to Hawaii, when I knew that they bake the greatest bread on earth right there on the island.  (I also know this bread on the island will make my mom, my sister and my aunt even more apt to visit yours truly. I even brought my mom home a little loaf of blueberry/white chocolate bread to give her a little sneak peek of trips to come.) 

The present of presence.

Here's the deal: there are many (like many, many) things that I need to work on. This particular one may even be one that I have improved upon (maybe?) in the past couple years, but it definitely needs some work. I have trouble BEING where I am. There are times that I'm with family and I'm also writing emails. Or I'm at church and I'm making notes about errands. I've been at a friends house  where I'm working on creating teaching materials and writing lesson plans. You get the idea.

The people with whom I enjoy spending time with the most are the ones who make me feel like I am the most important person in the world while I am with them. I realize that these kind of people make each person feel that way. You can see it in their eyes. They are engaged in the things you are saying and truly interested. You feel valued, appreciated, like they are indeed tuned in 

Passionate athletes are ones that I see to be completely 100% plugged in to the sport in which they are training/competing in. Other thoughts may come, but I'd guess that block those out. They they are "all there", "in the zone"....  

 To be fully present in both the activity  and the people who you are with is a gift to them and to yourself, and it is a practice which requires practice. 

I will keep practicing. 

I will also mention that this genre of blog is in title about Hawaiian life for the Andie and Andrew Rich family, but it may veer elsewhere, ESP now, before the Hawaii move! 

My little sister gets a kick out of my sometimes fairly eccentric outfits and has made a request for a outfit post or two. Even for comedic relief alone, the request may be granted at some point in time. Stay tuned... 

Love you, Paigey... You're welcome. (We'll see) 

Now go be where you are, be all there. 

Hawaiian kids.

... Ok, quell the excitement now, there are not Hawaiian kids which WE have produced in the near foreseeable future. We do, however, have nieces and nephews! These three pictured below lived near us in Palo Alto so they are the Rich family nieces and nephew I know the best. Thank goodness I married a guy whose siblings have children. That is how I became an immediate aunt, and I highly recommend aunthood. It has some of the perks of parenting with zero struggle or frustration. Some favorite activities with these munchkins are trips to 7-11 for ring pops, biking in empty parking lots, dancing to pop songs in the living room and other general playfulness.

On our last visit to Hawaii for Andrew's interviews we got very few souvenirs. Perhaps in the hopes that we would be back, but mainly because we didn't want to carry lots back to the mainland. We did get these Hawaiian outfits for the kids. They are of the dress up variety. Their mom says they can wear them over their swimsuits this summer to get good use out of them--perfect!

Without further ado, please behold the cuteness of these guys. They kill me, I just love em so much!

Logistics.

Now the real fun begins.

Swirling around in my head are things such as the following:

---What do I do with all my warm J.Crew sweaters?
(I have already taken about half of my wardrobe to the Goodwill!)

--- Is there an Ikea and HomeGoods stores on Oahu?
*this is actually my Mom's (first) question! We have joked with her for years that she should be in the business of moving people in and organizing their stuff! She has a real knack for arranging smaller spaces after her help in moving kids into college dorms, post-college places, and married housing too.
(Ps--The answers to the above questions re Ikea- NO, HomeGoods- yes!)

---Will we ship a car out there?
(Now we have this emotional battle going on inside of Andrew regarding his need to keep his cool souped up Jeep. No really, it is very cool and would be an ideal Island type car. One issue is that I don't/ can't drive a stick shift. We would need a second car. Stay tuned to see how the car situation turns out. Pins & Needles, I know... ;)

---Where will we live?!
(Um, this is kinda the MAIN one, but a boring one to write about. I will definitely post pictures once we get there! and thank goodness we already live in a place where rent is astronomical, bc it makes this skyrocket rent not seem so crazy! )

---How can I possibly have enough time (I don't!) to see all the people I love here in California before I go?
(The answer to this is that it's all happening so fast and I won't be able to see everyone I want to see. So, there will be plenty of trips back home. Also, everyone can visit! Please, pretty please VISIT!)

I'm not great at logistics. I am more the
"Oh, it'll all just come together" person. (My little sister, the serious planner person can attest). Perhaps my laid back attitude will fare me well on the Island.

The things you miss the most

ONE of the things that we will miss most in California is the sweet little Primary class which we teach at church each Sunday. They are 7 years old and you should see how cute they are AND not only are they seriously darling, they are whip smart. Nothing gets by these guys. I love that they ask "on the ball" questions all the time.

Also, they are quite an affectionate crew. Today, one of the girls was sitting with Andrew and had her head on his shoulder. It was sweet.

The couple who will take over the class in our absence came to class to check things out today. It is also a husband/wife team fairly newly married/no kids. I was pleased that our kids will be left in good hands. As I was teaching, a kid came to the board and wrote up this (in picture) "Welcome New Teachers". See what I mean, these guys are little gems!

Children are the most lovable beings on earth (& the most challenging at times). I always feel grateful to be among them.

The Countdown Begins...

This afternoon, a sunny Saturday, I found Andrew with a stack of Post-Its writing colorful numbers on each one.
I thought for a second and asked,
"Are you numbering your items for selling on Craiglist?"
"No," he replied, "This is a countdown till we move to Hawaii!"

Oh.

(And oh Andrew, you crack me up! )

The World According to Andie

Andrew has now read the blog.

It's hard to say how it was received on his end. Though he had always encouraged my interest in blogging in the past, now that it has actually happened and he is featured in said blog, maybe he is not so sure. Nonetheless, he has confirmed all facts to be accurate as posted and looks forward to what more I may come up with to write in the future...

Andrew would like it to be known, however that this blog is: "The World According to Andie" and that is his quote verbatim.

So, with that, read on, dear readership.

Of Boomerangs & stuff

Ever hear of the boomerang effect? Yes? excellent, then you will follow this.

It seems to me that the boomerang here is the Hawaii job. Andrew threw the Hawaii job back at em in Spring of 2012, by Spring of 2013 that boomerang came right back to Andrew with another job in Hawaii. The boomerang definitely walked its sorry self the mile or so from Straub hospital to Queens and then tapped someone with the big guns on the shoulder to be thrown back to Andrew Rich in Palo Alto, California.

Andrew takes Hawaii.... in style! 

 Actually, Andrew was alerted to this particular new job posting even earlier than Spring, it was February of this year. Andrew was mildly interested, but also knew that the hospital was quite a bit bigger than his current site at Lucille Packard Children's hospital. There would also be many more employees to manage over and perhaps even more departments of which to cover as well. However, Andrew took the leap and applied after I gave him the "AOK" to do so. Let me tell you though, dear reader, Andrew was applying all over the map at this point in time-- Nevada, Michigan, Utah, little towns in California of which I had never heard. I was pretty much game for anything, but partially because I did not know how serious he was about any of the places or the positions themselves. You see, Andrew can have a bit of a boyish wanderlust about him (and I LOVE that about him!) Still, I figured all of these would pique his interest for a millisecond and then he would move on. When Hawaii was in the queue again, I thought a little bit more of the same, that he would be interested in this for a day or two and move on.

Shave Ice Hawaiian style after interviewing

The process to the road of interviewing IN Hawaii took TWO months! Andrew applied, spoke to a screener on the phone, had a formal phone interview, submitted an updated portfolio, blah, blah... you get the gist... finally (after a lapse which we have chalked up to their moving on "Hawaii time"), he is asked to come to Hawaii to meet the Sodexo team at Queens, as well as to undergo formal interviewing with the COO of the hospital and other head honchos there whose offical job titles I have certainly forgotten by now.

I hid in Andrew's suitcase and secretly joined for the trip, just along for the ride-that's me!

All went well, and after the inteviewing portion of the trip, we got to play with friends who live on the Island for part of the year! We then stayed at a great resort. I went out stand up paddle-boarding, Andrew applauded me from the shore, camera in hand and then went to Spam Jam in Waikiki (though we ate NO spam).  The following day we were on our way home (after a very brief stop at the swap meet where Andrew and I lost each other and don't make me tell that story! It is still so maddening)

THIS is our friend's backyard on the North Shore of Oahu.... Seriously.

We return to California late Sunday night.
The next few days go something like this:
We tiptoe around conversations at home and over text during the day,  trying not to say too much of anything about the Hawaii position when all we want to know and all either of us EVER thinks about is "Did you get the job or not?!"
We almost could not take it anymore, until...
Andrew rode his bike home from work on Thursday and stood over me where I was writing an email. I could tell that he wanted my undivided attention, so I looked up and he said
"I GOT IT!" He was grinning ear to ear. We knew what that meant (that we are moving to Hawaii) and we began the happy dance and all that jazz.....come on, we all know you do that too...

Sealing the Deal.

...Little did I know that one year almost to the date of writing about life being this crazy journey that here I am on that crazy journey WITH Andrew, like sealed to him forever and ever. We still have moments where we look at each other and think "HOW did we get here?!" (It is a good "how did we get here?!", where we giggle and are kinda pleased with not only ourselves but the higher power that no doubt had a hand in this.)

Here is a little bit of how we got here.... My disclaimer in the last post is now proving false because here I am again, posting about our la-la-looooove story. Ugh, hmmm. Oh well! Get over it, are you going to be a reader of this blog or not?  We will now separate the real readers from the other phonies out there.You are either in or you're out, so make a commitment and I'll just get on with it already.......

OK then, you are still here.


Thank you!

I will bullet point this section- nice and easy does it:
-Andrew returns from Hawaii over Memorial Day weekend
-We begin a "just friends" type of friendship that really is indeed friendly but nothing more
- The first time we spend time together Andrew brings over a big red bowl of my (favorite) gala apples!

-We ran together most days that week. The key to my heart is to run with me. Everything else is secondary fluff.
-One day it dawned on me, "Maybe you have a crush on Andrew. He is so great!" (in that moment I also thought, who uses the word crush anymore... well, it described what was going on perfectly!)
-Andrew and I had both wanted to see the movie "Moonrise Kingdom" which was directed by Wes Anderson. We are fans of his work. So, Andrew asked me to see it one Friday night. I agreed and somewhere in there the understanding hit my brain that this could be a date, no, this was a date! :)
-the next morning I called Andrew up first thing and said
"get your running clothes on, we are going to run 13 miles!" He was ready to go in 20 minutes....

The rest, as they say... is HISTORY

We were married in the Oakland Temple on the first day in September 2012.

Life Unfolds....

Here we go again..... 

Disclaimer: This is NOT a blog centered around the relationship of Andrew and Andie, however I thought that laying a foundation would help us get started with the story of  how we got to Hawaii. From there, our adventures in Hawaii will do the talking, or rather, the blogging.... 

Andrew and his buddy Brandon in Honolulu Spring 2012

Though Andrew and I had been acquaintances for years, we really did not know one another. We were the type that would pass by a hallway at a weekly tutoring program we volunteered at or at church on Sundays and exchanged one line pleasantries and that was about it. We really were not on one anther's romantic radars. At the beginning of 2012, Andrew was helping to coach a girl's powder puff football team on which I was playing. I remember raving about the mint dipped oreo cookies he had made. In fact I was sure that Andrew was trying to get dates, but now that I know Andrew, I know that it is just very him.  When I was grieving a loss, a death of a former student, Andrew rallied the football girls to send flowers and wrote me a personal email. I still get tears in my eyes when I think of how much that simple, kind gesture meant to me. It stopped me in my tracks.... this is a guy who barely knows me, how thoughtful. In May of 2012 Andrew moved to Hawaii. I thought it odd, I mean, "Who would move to Hawaii?!" I didn't even know what Andrew's career was. That was that. Well..... 

I got a text from Andrew a week or two later where he expressed liking a Facebook status which I had posted about running through trials in life, or something to that effect. I always worry that I post too much about running, but it is an integral part of my existence. In a subsequent text another day, Andrew asked if I would be willing to give him advice regarding his decision to move to Hawaii permanently. I told him to email me the specifics of the decision and I would give him feedback as best as I could. I still felt like, since I did not really know him, I could not adequately advise one way or another. 

Andie did a lot of running while Andrew was in HI

In the email where Andrew described the decision he explained that "It just seems weird how the door seems to keep opening to HI." He also had the attitude that he wouldn't take a job in Hawaii because I think Hawaii is perfect, but it was a good opportunity. My reply was something to the effect of it not being the best idea for a single, Mormon guy of his age (ah-hem) to be heading to an island for a number of years, but I ended the email with: 

" Life unfolds my friend. It's a crazy journey."

Little did I know.... 

A & A

Here is the beginning of our blog journey.... And our Hawaii journey.
I've considered blogging for years. My mom blogs, my sister blogs, and you know....what feels like 2/3rds the females in the U.S. blog  and listen, I am a FAn!  I was no short of quirky blog-worthy material. Now though, NOW is when this blog begins....

I promise to get to the where, why and how we are moving to Hawaii, but first....


Here is a synopsis of the main characters of which this blog will center:

My name is Andie. I  am married to Andrew. Andie and Andrew, yep.. We think it's quite something too. I love the young people and the old people of the world most of all. I am silly ( like I have many different types of laughs, can barely contain my excitement around cute puppies and babies and wear mismatched outfits more often than I maybe should ) Some favorite foods are Brussel sprouts and gala apples. I am still scared of the Disneyland's Matterhorn monster! (It could come to life!)

 Is that dog loving on me or am I loving on the dog more, you be the judge....

and Andrew. He is the best baker. His banana cake VI recipe, out of this world! Arguably even better than our favorite bakery's version of banana cake. I will end that argument, his is the best! Just like Andrew, he is the best. Believe me, if you knew him (& maybe you do) you would feel the same.
Case in point, look at Andrew biking his niece and nephew in tow--- best.guy.ever. 

 

Here is the beginning of our dating....it is also about a month before we got engaged---

when it's right, it's right! 

That is enough for today.... there is more, much more to come... 
btw, we are moving to HAWAII--- I will get to that part...