We've made it, but at what cost?

So many times I have to remind myself that I've "made it."  Remember those college years where the world was ahead and it was wide open roads to whatever your goal would be?  Each person has big life goals, and if you don't have a goal, you usually have the task of getting a goal on your plate.  Many years are spent trying to achieve that goal whether it be to land a great job, or start a family, or buy your first house with a white picket fence preferably by a body of water.  But how many people think beyond that?  How many people think about what they will do once it all is achieved?  I used to think all those long-term goals would be attained by the time retirement rolled around so I never even considered it a possibility to look beyond.  Never did I think I'd been in my early 30's sitting back and saying, "Now what?!"

I'm not a millionaire by any means because that was never my life goal.  I wanted to finish college, get a great job, start a family, buy a house...  and it's crazy to think that I've actually done all of it already!  Along the way I tried to create mini-goals to keep life more exciting: don't just finish college, pay it off!  Don't just get a great job, work at a bunch of great job opportunities!  Don't just start a family, get married on top of a mountain and travel as a couple before becoming a stay-at-home mother to the most intelligent, beautiful and happiest daughter!  Don't just buy a house, find the perfect New England home in the most amazing neighborhood with amazing school systems!  Along with those came many other succeeded goals and all before I was in my early 30s.

We've made it, but at what cost?

First off let me begin with saying how happy I am: my goodness am I appreciative of who I've become and what I've accomplished!  Lately I'm wondering though what else to focus on for life goals since there is a big gap in front of me before retirement, how does one fill those life years?  What new goals do I put in there?  Has this been the cost of being bigger, BETTER, FASTER!?  So I've decided that now that it's best to take the time to be grateful of all these life accomplishments.  Enjoy the little moments with my family.  And I'm finally in a great place to stop worrying about "what's ahead" so that I can truly be present in the NOW!

Car Shipping

the.honoluluadvertiser.com

If we ever really do decide to move to Hawaii, it might be smarter to bring our car with us then to buy a new one once on the island , especially since our cars are already paid off. Shipping a car to Hawaii is ONLY through 3 shipping carriers:

1. Matson
2. Pasha Hawaii
3. Horizon Lines

From the research I've done so far, cost depends on:

1. Where shipping from - rough estimates for pricing:  about $1000 from west coast, about $2300 from east coast (quoted from NJ terminal in Edison), and $4500 outside the US
2. Size of car - you will pay more if car is over 21ft8in long, 8ft wide, or 7ft high (truck/suv)
3. KBBworth - market value  >  shipping costs
4. note - replacing a car on Hawaii is generally expensive and used cars suffer damage from salt water, intense sunlight, and humidity.  It's actually suggested to pre-wax car prior to shipping to prevent rust from salt water and salt air

Here is the general procedure to follow:

1. Make reservation at drop-off port
2. Remove ALL items from car!!  Exceptions are spare tire/jack, and maybe child car seat.  Must also remove after market roof racks and stereo speakers
3. Disconnect car alarm so battery doesn't die
4. At port, bring these documents: Reservation, drivers licence, car registration, title for proof of ownership (or a lien letter from lender), copy of all keys, contact info of owner picking up vehicle
5. Make reservation at pick-up port
6. Pick up car with drivers licence and paperwork for proof of car arrival
7. Save shipping receipt called "Bill of Landing" which is needed fro registering car in Hawaii
8. Take car to PMVI (Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection) at gas stations and auto repair shops for state-required inspection (note - need Hawaiian insurance first!!)
9. Register car in the new county you will reside in within 30days from picking car up from port

Bringing Your Pet to Hawaii: Part3

source

Poor Doodles needs to get her blood taken again because it was too lipemic.  Kansas State University (KSU) requires the blood serum sample to be clear so last night was her last meal and she couldn't eat this morning so the vet could take a fasting blood sample.  Fasting helped the centrifuged sample to turn from her prior sample looking like strawberry yogurt, to this sample now looking more like strawberry milk.  (Sample in picture isn't her's, I found a good example online.)

Luckily our veterinarian was able to contact someone at KSU who said they will accept the "dirty" sample.  Turns out it's an inherited problem with the breed of our dog - who knew!?  Doodles is a mix breed of miniture schnauzer and mini poodle.  Turns out that both mini schnauzers (dog) and Himalayan (cats) have a genetic predisposition for hyperlipidemia, which is causing the "cloudy" serum sample.  KSU said they would accept her sample (yippie, thank you!) so if you have this problem, you should have your vet work with KSU because they were very helpful.

While I was preparing for this appointment I also called Animal Quarantine in Hawaii and spoke to a very nice woman who worked there to verify if Daisy needed a 9- or 15-digit microchip.  She said the quarantine center has scanners that read multiple numbers, so Daisy's 9-digit AVID number will scan well with their AVID scanner.  She also suggested that the vet should scan our dog to verify that her true number is written on the paperwork sent to KSU.  She said many pet owners follow the quarantine rules to a T but still end up having their pet kept in quarantine when arriving in Hawaii for the simple mistake of a transcribing error of the microchip.  I'm grateful she gave that suggestion because I would never have thought to ask our vet to double check the numbers were written down correctly.  I trust our vet, but still don't want to chance poor Doodles getting stuck in a Hawaii animal quarantine for 120days due to a written number error - that would be terrible!  So I worked with her vet and we made sure all numbers were correct.  I love our vet!

Bringing a Pet you Hawaii: Part 2

I highly recommend printing our Form AQS-39 "Summary for Veterinarians" (found here) when bringing your dog or cat to the vet for their rabies titer test.  Unfortunately, like most vets, ours was unfamiliar with the process for appropriately bringing a pet over to Hawaii and I found it very useful.  But please note I still found our Countryside Veterinary Hospital to be  the most patient, comprehensive, and helpful vet!!  We highly recomend them to all our friends with animals.
The FAVN (Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization) titer testing measures the response of the animals immune system to the rabies vaccine.   $200 later for the testing alone + $60 vet visit and Doodles had officially given her blood for rabies testing.  Step one in the 120day quarantine process complete...  or so we hope!