Our Hawaii Trip this Summer!

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to let you guys know about our trip to Kauai that we had this summer. We stayed on the Northern part of the island of Kauai, which is very green and beautiful. We stayed in house called Bamboo Hale, in the jungle. We had a river running right by the house, and all night we could hear the water running, because there were only
screens on the windows...no glass! It was very peaceful. It was my first time in Hawaii. My parents, and Joel and Missy came with us.

So, what did we do the whole time? Well, we went to many different beaches and went snorkeling (it was my first time). We didn't see any turtles, but my dad and Kevin went on a Napali Coast Tour and Kevin got to swim with a turtle. I was jealous. We also went on a kayaking trip on the Wailua River, and hiked to a secret waterfall, where we went swimming. That was probably the highlight of the trip for me.


We also got to go to a luau at the Sheraton and Kevin ended up being called up to the stage to dance with a hula girl. He also had to hula in front of the whole crowd. It was funny....hehe.
So, we had a great time. Although I did get the stomach flu and got my first bee sting on the beach, on the 4th of July, it was a great trip!

-RP

One Month Down...

As of today Rachel and I have been in the Bay Area for exactly one month! For anybody who doesn't already know, we moved up to the Bay Area from San Diego and are currently living at Rachel's parents in Redwood City.

It's been a busy first month! After a grueling 10 hour drive, in a 24 ft rental truck, with a speed limiter set at 60 mph, we arrived on July 23rd at around 11pm. The next few days we spent unloading and arranging all our stuff. Fortunately Rachel's parents (Jon and Martha) have a large garage and have graciously allowed us to pack everything we're not using in there.

Over the last few weeks we've done a lot of activities

We took the dogs to the beach.


We went to the SF Zoo where I rented and used a wheelchair...I have a new respect for people who have to always use one! (I twisted my ankle a couple days before at the beach)


We went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and rode 75 cent rides.


We went to a Giants game where they beat the Dodgers.


For Rachel's birthday we spent several days doing the 49 mile drive around San Francisco.


And we went to the Renasaince Fair in Golden Gate Park, with FULL CONTACT JOUSTING!



In case you're wondering how we have so much free time...we moved up here without jobs. However, Rachel had been applying for school counselor jobs and I planned on doing freelance video editing.

On the Wednesday we drove up, Rachel had a phone interview. On Thursday and Friday she had two more interviews in San Francisco. By Friday night she had a job!! We were only here TWO days! She just started this week at a middle school in the Sunset district of San Francisco - AP Giannini (and no I don't know the right way to pronounce it).

I was fortunate to get a couple contacts up here before I left San Diego. In particular, I sat in on the interview for someone applying to my old job. Turned out he had moved down to San Diego form the Bay Area. He ended up referring me to a couple of his old clients. One of which I've gotten work from for a couple days a week. Another I might be doing work for in the future. I've also met with several other companies, most of which are interested in giving me work. In fact one in particular is hiring me all next week and potentially for the next month...by the way that company happens to be Lucasfilm! Somehow I was able to get my resume and info passed along through an old co-worker, to a friend of his at Lucasfilm, who forwarded it on to the guy who interviewed me. In fact, there is the potential of a full-time position opening up there for me in the future if everything goes well! If that (and of course Rachel's job as well) is not an answer to prayer then I don't know what is!

-KP