Settling In

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 We are finally settling into our new lives!



We went out picking up and turning in applications right away. We had interviews at Pineapple Grill, Outback Steakhouse, Plantation House, Hula Grill and one on one manager semi-interviews with many places while turning in applications. It was great experience for future interviews! I stopped in at Hula Grill a few times before I was able to finally talk to a manager as I turned in the application. And the timing was perfect! Apparently the day before I came in, they had just fired 2 employees! They told me to come back in at 3:00 for an interview! The first extensive interview went really well, the manager Vince was impressed by my past experience and ability to handle so many tables. I was honest that my alcohol beverage knowledge is quite low due to the fact that I just turned 21 and am not a big drinker. He went and got another manager to conduct my 2nd interview.That was with Will (who reminds me of my old manager Tony) and he was impressed by my high energy and personality. They then grabbed the General Manager named Orin to conduct the 3rd interview with me. We just kinda hung out and talked- he's awesome :) It was nice to get all 3 interviews done in one sitting and not have to come in multiple days! I got a call the next day at the beach from the Human Resources lady Christie offering me a job as a Daytime Barefoot Bar Server!! :)

Hula Grill is an oceanfront restaurant located in Ka'anapali in West Maui. It has a gorgeous outlook on the ocean and the sun sets directly across from the restaurant. I work in the Barefoot Bar which is named after the fact that many guests are actually barefoot because the ground in sand! We have a dinning room that has concrete as the ground but the popular (as you can imagine) seating area is in the sand. Have you realized after a full day of walking on the beach the next day you are sore in random areas? That's what happened to me after working for the first few days in the sand for a 5-7 hour shifts. My hip flexers, arches, calves, and "backside" were definitely sore!! How funny, wouldn't have expected to get a workout while at work!

View after dropping Jon at work

That same day, Jon went to his second interview at Plantation House and came home with a job! He was hired as a busser for the morning/afternoon shift. Plantation House is at the top of a gorgeous downhill golf course so you can see the ocean and the beautiful course from the restaurant!  The next day he went to a second interview at Pineapple Grill (where we had our in with Nane and Candy) and he was hired as a server's assistant for the evening shift. Pineapple Grill is also on a golf course. It was recognized as Maui's Best Restaurant in the Maui No Ka Oi magazine. His schedule has worked out for the most part with the schedules being fairly set. AND He still has his afternoons open to enjoy the Maui sun!

So we went out to celebrate our new jobs that we got in one week of arriving in Maui. God has definitely blessed us with these jobs and timing. We went to Umalu at the Hyatt.  It was delicious but my nachos were HUGE, and it was cold. I had to keep myself warm with the candle!

We bought a 2004 Honda Civic from the local dealership No Ka Oi Motors. It was underneath the price we were willing to spend and it drives well! it has little tiny dents and paint chips but it gives the car character and makes it obvious that we are locals since we don't have a sleek shiny car! We just picked up our Dodge Caliber that was shipped over to Maui last week, so finally we can get around to our jobs with out using buses or dropping off/picking up each other from work

Slowly but surely we got our apartment together:

We got a mattress and bedding.
 No need for a box spring or a bed frame... :) 

Microwave is very much needed.... for popcorn especially!

One of our few decorations (had to buy it behind the husband's back,
 he doesn't seem to think decor is important haha)

More decor

Futon



Fully equipt kitchen... except for a dishwasher. All hand washing :) LOTS of fun



Our Kmart cheapo dresser, but it gets the job done!

With my new Hula Grill server job, I had lots to learn. On my first day (picture shown on the left) I started by training with the hostess to understand the layout, then the busser to understand

where plates go, and proper cleaning. Then I shadowed a server, followed the food runner, and then began to take tables while under the care of the trainer. Every night I would come home and study the extensive food descriptions I was given in my training notebook, as well as their alcohol selection, T.S. restaurant policies, sauce ingredients, prices, etc. After working 10am-5pm I'd come home and study until about midnight and do it all over the next day. It was very stressful and overwhelming because I am new to serving  fish and alcoholic beverages so I had to understand those basics before learning the menu. What's nice is that I get a free meal before or after my shift, and 50% off for me and my family plus one guest (picture on right). Trying the different entrees is important to properly selling the menu when I have a personal opinion on the dish.



Studying...



I hadn't been able to update the blog because I was too busy studying but I just took my test yesterday so now I have time! I haven't heard back about the test but I believe I passed! I'm already on the schedule to start tomorrow serving tables on my own :) Whoooooopie!

On the other hand, Jon has adapted really well and seemingly effortlessly to his two jobs. He has had to memorize table numbers, adapt to using a tray to take food out and clean off tables, and keep his clothes clean and remain clean shaken- which is painful for him :( 



On the way to the beach



A quick walk down Hui F Road
down to the beach



Finally lounging on the beach

Jon has had his afternoons open mostly while I'm at work. But I had one day off to go to the beach with my husband, and after my test and today I was able to finally get some sun. It is a little embarrassing claiming I live in Maui when I am this white girl that looks like I haven't seen sun in months (which is true until now). We received one set of snorkel gear as a present from Casey, Jon's brotha (Hawaiian pronunciation), but we have yet to buy another so that we can both go snorkeling. But when we do, we plan on bringing our Kodak sport HD camera that can go under water (up to 10 feet) and sharing the video with everyone! Today there were turtles in Napili Bay (the closest beach to us, literally a 5 minute walk). A lot of the time they hang out on the coral close to the top of the water so when the wave comes back in they are revealed. Hard to get a picture of them because they are the same color as the coral and rocks but they are pretty big turtles. When Jon, Spencer, and I were in Maui in July, we were snorkeling with the turtles and we swam right on top to them. Sadly we didn't really understand how to work the underwater camera and missed many Kodak moments!



Chapel on the left that opens up to Kapalua Golf Course



We've checked out 2 churches so far in Maui. We tried out Lahaina Fellowship Church and Kumalani Chapel. So far I like Kumalani Chapel in Kapalua the most (Picture on the right). Their pastor is really good and it has a gorgeous location. But they don't have any young adult, young married, or college group which is what we'd love to get involved in. Hopefully we can find a church where we can get involved.

A few lessons and tidbits we've learned:

 

All food/restaurant employees are required to get a tuberculosis test
 because Maui is so close to Asia where TB is a problem

 

The weather changes so drastically so quickly!
About an hour before this is was clear blue skies 

    

Geckos are good, they eat the bad insects. free them outside,
DO NOT KILL!

 

 

There is a very sad reason this sign had to be put up on our street :(



Gnats are a big issue in our apartment. They fit through the screen door and end up in our bathroom because it's the brightest room/area. If I look at my phone at night with all the lights out, a gnat will fly over to my phone for the light. Happens almost every time. They come to the bathroom to die it seems like... We killed almost 30 in a row one night. Now we don't even try to kill them, they just die on their own haha





This is what we found scratched into the back of our futon... NOT JOKING.
Weirdest thing ever!!! Someone was a little angry the day they packaged this futon up.

I'm sorry we had to change blog sites on everyone. If i could, I would have kept the blog with wordpress. But it took me almost 4 hours to be just OKAY with the outcome of the last update. The formatting ruins all changes and deletes sections for no reasons. I was close to tears multiple times from the mere frustration of the blog. I tried again today for this new post and couldn't take it only 5 minutes into it. SO, please subscribe to this new blog, I will no longer be updating the wordpress blog. Remember to press the follow button at the top right of this blog to get email alrets when I update the blog! The new address is:

 http://russosinparadise.blogspot.com