Aloha...my name is Jolene, at the moment I'm a full-time parent and a part-time HR Consultant. I've been married for over 15 years to my husband Rich, an RN. We have a 4-year old son named Ryan, who sadly- is still unemployed.
We've lived in the Hawaiian Islands, Japan and California. Even though we' chosen to live in one of the most remote spots on Earth, we love to travel. So we do our best to live modestly throughout the year so that we can go on a few trips per year. Most recently we've taken our son to Alaska, Iceland, Spain & Morocco, with a visit to Peru (& possibly Bolivia or Ecuador) on the agenda for 2013.
My husband is the most amazing father/husband on Earth, but he's also smart, hard working and funny as hell. He likes playing the guitar, stand up paddle boarding, performing Improv comedy with his troupe, and recently earned his Masters in Nursing Administration.
Ryan (my little opihi sidekick) loves playing with cars, trains, singing and dancing. Every child has a true gift, and my son's appears to be vocabulary. He adores playing with his cousins, bartering with us for candy, riding his scooter and watching cartoons.
A few fun facts about me:
- I might be the only Asian on the planet who is neither musically inclined or good at math. I'd be the worst Tiger Mother too (dumb and lazy). However, I am very organized, pretty good at managing what money we do have, and played golf for almost 20 years (it paid for school)...so I think that's enough to hold onto my Asian membership card.
- I am nomadic at heart. So far, I've been to parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, Canada, Mexico and 49 states in the US (see my travel page).
- I love my little family of three and much larger extended family more than anything else in the world...I hope that I am defined largely by my commitment to them.
- Eating fresh, organic, locally grown produce from the Farmers Market or our garden.
- Cooking & baking...I'm so not good at it (impatient) and lack instinct, but eh. We'll survive.
- Being a flexitarian (we eat meat about 1-2 times per week). As a child, I never liked the idea of raising/killing animals for food, and we've become more health conscious...but I also know that I'd eat a live badger with my bare hands if I didn't get to indulge in the occasional bacon-wrapped sirloin.
- Basic cake decorating. I got hooked after watching Cake Boss (& visiting Carlos' Bakery)!
Vermi-composting. I'm a newbie at it, but so far, so good! I'm hooked.Somehow I have managed to kill off over a thousand worms in two separate incidents...need to take a break from the unintended genocide.- Distance running. I'm extremely slow (10 min/miles), and only manage to get out there twice a week, but I ADORE running half marathons (13.1 miles) and the occasional full (26.2). I occasionally dream of running one more ultra (my first and only was a 50k)...a 50-miler. I'm still trying to get Rich to buy into the dream too!
- Gay rights. I am heartbroken that our country legally discriminates against LGBT by preventing them from being able to legally wed. I praise the Obama Administration for the progress toward eliminating DADT and refusing to defend the DOM Act, but we have SO MUCH more to go. I'm a proud member of HRC and will always, always vote for equality for all.
- I love to read & write, and am a regular patron of the library.
- Financial planning...though post-child our budget decreased by 50%, I love the challenge of finding ways to save- I've learned how to make my own laundry soap, disinfectant, cook most of our meals, and work tirelessly to find creative ways to fun my son's college fund.
- I'm super, duper anal retentive. I love cleaning, task list making, Excel spreadsheets, budgets, goal lists, calendars, tidying, organizing...you name it! As you can imagine, this makes me REALLY fun to be married to...and not a nag in the least! ;-)
- I have three brothers that I do my best to try and boss around. I succeed about half the time. The other time they ignore me, which is the polite Asian way of saying eff off. ;-)
- I was thisclose to becoming a professional surfer. The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't actually know how to surf, and no one would agree to my request to 'kill all the sharks' so I could learn.