Snorkeling Adventures (once again, forgot to post it)

I have decided that I need to take advantage of my time in Hawaii, so if that means going out alone and exploring without Nathan, than I need to do that. So, I decided I was going to go to Hanauma Bay which is THE place to go snorkeling here on Oahu. This place has an address so I can add it to my GPS system so... it's perfect. I think I'm scared of getting lost, hence why I don't like to just go out and explore but I'm slowly starting to get over this. Anyways, so I went there with my beach bag in hand, snorkel gear, and straw laying mat. I find a spot, lay down and after a while decide I am going to go snorkel. I loved just seeing all these amazing fish swimming all around me. But for whatever reason my mask wasn't sealing well because I changed the strap to it and water kept leaking in. So I had to keep clearing my mask several times while I was in the water. Trying not to step on the coral below me and trying to fix my masks while floating is kind of difficult I found out. Anyways, I decided to go to the shallow end one of the times to adjust my mask and this time I decided to step on the sand as this was much easier. I put my mask back on and look down to the water to see that to the side of me is a rock with an EEL just starring at me. This freaked me out at first as I could have easily stepped on this eel because it was so close to me. That would have not been a good situation... yikes. After way too many times of having to adjust my mask and getting irritated, I decided to clear it one last time. Well, this last time did end up being the last time because I lost one of my contact in the water! Anyone who knows me well, I am sooo blind without my contacts. Luckily, I only lost one or else there is no way I could have driven, like NO WAY. So, I swam back and drove back with only one contact in my eye. I made it back... after much panic.

Birthday Part II

So the day before my birthday we went to that wonderful luau but my birthday was not over. Nathan had something else planned which of course was another surprise because Nathan just loves surprises. I had mentioned to Nathan about this restaurant in Waikiki that has a large aquarium that I wanted to go to. He decided to get in contact with my cousin and her husband and their new baby boy to join us. He knew being away from my family had been tough on me so he decided that having some family around for my birthday would put a smile on my face, which it did.

So, we went to the Oceanarium Restaurant and sat next to the aquarium. It was so awesome to just see all these fish and rays swimming around. We enjoyed the scrumptious buffet. Then towards the end of our meal, a kid with scuba gear goes inside the aquarium holding a sign saying "Happy Birthday Bambina" and comes towards the table and leaves the sign there. Nathan always calls me Bambina so it obviously was prearranged, it was sweet. Then, our waiter comes over with a small crew to sing me Happy Birthday. He reads the sign confused as to what my name was and told him my name was Natalie. But even then... the serenade was funny because he could hardly pronounce my name, it was cute. Anyways, I got a cute cupcake and blew a candle for my 24th birthday!

Guess what? (oops I forgot to post this, it's old)

I've been job searching for something more dependable than the aiding position. It was not really working out as I had only been called a couple of times. So I was in search to find a job that would be full time. If I only knew how difficult it would be to find one. I was checking monster.com, hawaiijobsondemand.com, careerbuilder.com, the Honolulu advertiser, craigslist on a daily basis, several times a day... I submitted many resumes and nothing. I finally got a couple of call backs from two company's, this small alarm company needing an office clerk and Macy's had a cosmetic sales position. Having to go to therapy like 3 times a day, I was not able to do the office position because I wouldn't be able to go to therapy which was not an option. I decided to pursue the Macy's position. It was a long interviewing process, I had a 3 interviews for it total and in the end they offered me the position. I was so relieved... I was going to have a job, FINALLY.

As I was heading out of the door of the apartment to head to Macy's to sign all my official paperwork, I get a call. The call was from the vice principal of the school that I had done my aiding at. He told me that they had a long term substitute kindergarten position open and that they would love if I could take it. It wouldn't start till Oct 14th and would go on till December. I did not know what to say because if I took this job I would obviously have to wait even LONGER to start up. But subbing pays more and I wouldn't have to give up my weekends and work late at the mall. But I was nervous, I had an appointment to fill out my paperwork for Macy's but I am on the phone with the vice principal and I don't know what to do. So, I text Nathan and told him what was going on and he told me to go with the substitute job because it paid a lot more. At the time I was so nervous I couldn't do any calculations. So, while I headed to Macy's to sign paperwork I ended up having to politely turn down the position and decided to accept the substitute position instead.



It's going to be different going into a classroom that was not set up by me so I don't REALLY know where things are and since every school is different the"taking over" will be challenging because Texas and Hawaii have different assessments and curriculum. So, this is going to be challenging but I hope that it works out well.



I decided to purchase my ticket to head back and I will be heading back to Texas January 14th. I know I initially wanted to live in Hawaii for a year but things worked out a little differently then planned. I was not planning on not being able to find a job for months and being stressed about finances. It's definitely been an experience to say the least and I can say I lived in Hawaii and came here with only 2 suit cases and tried to experience Hawaii as much as possible. So, while I was hoping that Hawaii would become my home, it never did... because it is true, home is where the heart is... and so much of my heart is in Texas. But regardless I don't regret this adventure at all I think Hawaii is gorgeous and while most people get to experience it for a week, I will be able to REALLY live and experience Hawaii for over 6 months... now that's how you EXPERIENCE Hawai'i.