Here I am staring out at Oahu from the window that spans my 26th floor apartment; green, rolling landscape dotted with houses to my right and the colossal machinery of Honolulu harbor to my left. Unfortunately, directly in front, my view is co-opted by another looming apartment building. It is roughly 40 stories of lanais and tinted glass--which means I really only see the inhabitants when they come outside to watch the sun sink into the shimmering Pacific. The best part of this panorama is the way it makes me feel: that I am living the life I always imagined, even if it's in a way I never pictured.
Quick version: I live in Chinatown, Honolulu; my family is close; I have a job I love that challenges me more each day; I live with a wonderful, caring boyfriend; I am getting a masters degree in urban planning, or as I sometimes call it "place fixing;" I have an apartment where I can host friends and family; oh yeah, and all this is in Hawaii.
Long version:
Chuck, Krista, Teldyn, and Naelahl live less than 20 miles away, and we make it a point to see each other at least once a week. I like to see the kids as often as I can since they change and grow so fast! Chuck and Krista know they've got a babysitter when they need one, and Teldyn always seems excited to see his "Auntie Nikki," which I adore.
I walk to my job at PHOCUSED where I was recently promoted to operations manager. I love the diversity of tasks and the increasing responsibility I have in helping this health and human service advocacy organization ensure that essential human services receive state funding. I recently helped design and give a presentation for the Governor who is apparently very enthusiastic about a project we're working on to increase collaboration between nonprofits and state agencies to improve service delivery.
Walking to work is not only great because I don't have to endure the traffic horrors of Oahu but because I get to go home for lunch. This means I save money, I eat more healthily, and best of all, enjoy it with Jarrett. He's an amazing cook too. Living in an apartment building with Asian families means that we often have some wonderful smells wafting through our building around meal time, and there have been a few fabulous occasions where the delicious aromas were emanating from MY apartment! That's gotta be one of the best feelings after a day at work. I love being so close to my job, campus, restaurants, stores and city life in general. I discovered a few years ago that I'm more urban than I thought.
I am enrolled at the University of Hawaii to receive my Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, and I'm really enjoying it. This semester I'm doing a practicum which is not an internship but rather a project where our class will provide research and marketing tools for the Hawaii Community Development Authority's to develop an area of Honolulu. We're hoping to construct a message that will make clear the connection that in order to "keep the country country" (a common slogan out here), we must keep the city city. We hope to present a vision of Oahu that stresses urban density as a means of preserving Hawaii's natural beauty. I will be focusing on the messaging around affordable housing.
Too often people feel that in order to live in a city they have to go without green open spaces. But one of the reasons that Jarrett and I chose the apartment building we did, is because it has a garden deck the size of a city block. There's a walking path, swimming pool, duck pond, many barbecue grills, and even a sand box. I think weekend reading sessions by the pool helped me maintain my sanity last semester. We've also had two barbecues so far for our friends and family, and Teldyn incessantly asks "can we go in the poo'"--lucky for him, the answer is usually "yes." I really don't feel like I gave anything up to live like this... well, at least until it's time to pay the rent. Haha! Still, totally worth it.
So that's where I'm at these days. And while this may not be the life I dreamed of as a kid, it doesn't get much more dreamy than this.
Quick version: I live in Chinatown, Honolulu; my family is close; I have a job I love that challenges me more each day; I live with a wonderful, caring boyfriend; I am getting a masters degree in urban planning, or as I sometimes call it "place fixing;" I have an apartment where I can host friends and family; oh yeah, and all this is in Hawaii.
Long version:
Chuck, Krista, Teldyn, and Naelahl live less than 20 miles away, and we make it a point to see each other at least once a week. I like to see the kids as often as I can since they change and grow so fast! Chuck and Krista know they've got a babysitter when they need one, and Teldyn always seems excited to see his "Auntie Nikki," which I adore.
I walk to my job at PHOCUSED where I was recently promoted to operations manager. I love the diversity of tasks and the increasing responsibility I have in helping this health and human service advocacy organization ensure that essential human services receive state funding. I recently helped design and give a presentation for the Governor who is apparently very enthusiastic about a project we're working on to increase collaboration between nonprofits and state agencies to improve service delivery.
Walking to work is not only great because I don't have to endure the traffic horrors of Oahu but because I get to go home for lunch. This means I save money, I eat more healthily, and best of all, enjoy it with Jarrett. He's an amazing cook too. Living in an apartment building with Asian families means that we often have some wonderful smells wafting through our building around meal time, and there have been a few fabulous occasions where the delicious aromas were emanating from MY apartment! That's gotta be one of the best feelings after a day at work. I love being so close to my job, campus, restaurants, stores and city life in general. I discovered a few years ago that I'm more urban than I thought.
I am enrolled at the University of Hawaii to receive my Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, and I'm really enjoying it. This semester I'm doing a practicum which is not an internship but rather a project where our class will provide research and marketing tools for the Hawaii Community Development Authority's to develop an area of Honolulu. We're hoping to construct a message that will make clear the connection that in order to "keep the country country" (a common slogan out here), we must keep the city city. We hope to present a vision of Oahu that stresses urban density as a means of preserving Hawaii's natural beauty. I will be focusing on the messaging around affordable housing.
Too often people feel that in order to live in a city they have to go without green open spaces. But one of the reasons that Jarrett and I chose the apartment building we did, is because it has a garden deck the size of a city block. There's a walking path, swimming pool, duck pond, many barbecue grills, and even a sand box. I think weekend reading sessions by the pool helped me maintain my sanity last semester. We've also had two barbecues so far for our friends and family, and Teldyn incessantly asks "can we go in the poo'"--lucky for him, the answer is usually "yes." I really don't feel like I gave anything up to live like this... well, at least until it's time to pay the rent. Haha! Still, totally worth it.
So that's where I'm at these days. And while this may not be the life I dreamed of as a kid, it doesn't get much more dreamy than this.
