House Jumping (Hawaii Apartment)

Well we're here.

In the (praying temporary) apartment that is... if you want the address, please e-mail me I love getting mail other than bills!

The moving company snapped our platform bed frame in two, broke 2 bookshelves, and a mirror. We are sleeping on the futon in the guest room for now, looking for bed frames that cost close to the same amount as our old one for the claim to go through. We are almost lucky that the two bookshelves broke... two less items to fit in the small apartment and we should get the money for them. We have 4 massive boxes ready to be donated. It's probably a good thing to downsize, right? I may not have the prettiest house, the latest fashions, trendiest decor, or most up-to-date appliances, but we have what we need- plus it's got to be moveable every 3-4yrs! Makes you reconsider purchases and the things you keep tend to have true meaning. We bought a few new items though... a new bathroom set since we are now a 2 bathroom household, haha! I also treated myself to a small ice cream maker today... can't wait to try it out!

The apartment itself is nice, we're only 1.5mi from the beach and within walking distance to local shops & eateries! We get cool trade-winds in the morning & evening so we have yet to use the window A/C units (a very good thing, electricity here is outrageous!). The kitchen is small but has more counter space than the one in Maryland, no dishwasher though. There's a stackable washer & dryer the same size as the Maryland one. We have pergo wood floors & tile, a pretty nice size lanai (patio). The living area squishes our dining/family rooms together, and the guest bedroom is at best a small box (the queen futon takes up most of the space). Both of our cars park in the garage (the 1st floor) this is huge for around here most places assign one spot and you pay $50-100/mo for the second car or fight for limited street parking. We also have a small storage unit downstairs for our "toys," aka- ice chest, body boards, camp chairs, & corn-hole set.

The problem we have with it ...the upstairs neighbors.

The family that lives above us is so inconsiderate of others it boggles my mind. Honestly it sounds as if there are elephants walking running across our ceiling, sometimes our ceiling fan even shakes, which also confuses me because it’s right above our dining table (where is theirs?). I believe the older son is home-schooled, and school begins between 4:30 & 6am… with “home etc.” aka, breakfast, always including a blender and the banging of dishes in the sink. This is followed by an early morning (around 8am) “music class” aka, u'kulele & singing lesson… really bad singing. Then some sort of history DVD which blares out of their TV. There is usually a fight between him and his teacher (dad) at some point during the day, the mom joins them for lunch, the little sister screams and cries whenever she doesn’t get her way, and dinner is just as loud as breakfast. Their conversations are so loud and prominent that I know both of the kid's name, the age of the son and what grade he's in, the fact that the mother is jealous of a friend losing 20lbs and she feels that she needs more dietary supplements, and that they are on food stamps. I feel like an eaves-dropper, but I hear all of this from anywhere in our apartment other than the bathroom! Then… the kicker… they play music ALL NIGHT LONG. I only got 4hrs of sleep last night, I was such an angry person today, I’m not an angry person… *sigh*

Everyone has advised us to "kindly remind them we live below" but I don't see it helping, I also have a hard time thinking I can speak to them kindly when by the morning I'm so angry with them.

I have decided that apartment living is not my thing. I keep telling myself "it's only temporary...it's only temporary... the good outweighs the bad." But it's hard when I'm so cranky from lack of sleep =/

Once we get everything straightened out, a bed frame, and some pictures up I will take photos for you all to do a "virtual tour."