Aloha for Japan
I love this idea and I love the shirt! What better way to show your support?
While I am also giving in other avenues like $10 texts to salvation army, etc... I just love this shirt and that it is being produced by people who have family in Japan. I can't wait to get mine so I can wear it!!
I hope maybe you will like it as well and maybe even get one yourself!!
Click here to look at the "ALOHA FOR JAPAN" shirt and the stores and websites where you can find them
Monday, March 14, 2011
Tsunami and a sunrise...
Well, we had an interesting weekend....
Friday, I got home from work, had dinner with Joey and then got out my computer to start building pages. We've been writing them all week.
Before I logged into Site Central, I decided to check Facebook and there it was on a friends status....
Tsunami Watch 2011
What?! Here we are, just over a year past our last Tsunami warning where we were woken up at 4am and told we had to leave our home and head for higher ground. That ended up being what we lovingly refer to as a "Baby Tsunami." This wasn't a warning yet so maybe nothing would happen... we have plenty of watches that never turn into warnings...
We turned on the TV and flashing across our screen were the devastating pictures from Japan. WOW... this is no Baby... that was at 8:45 pm HST.
So we were captivated and glued to the TV for the next hour hoping that we wouldn't have to pack and leave like last year... I flashed back to the stress of that day and I sooo didn't want to do it again.... but as I watched, I realized it could be so much worse. Japan had no warning... If we got hit, it wouldn't be for at least 6 hours so we had plenty of time to get to a safe place.
At 9:45 we were officially upgraded to a Tsunami Warning. We would definitely be impacted at around 3:15 am... the sirens would go off shortly... so we started packing up everything we could. This part went much smoother than last time. We remembered everything we wish we had last time... snacks, etc.... and none of our family was awake b/c it was the middle of the night in Georgia and it would be hours before they woke up and found out... so we didn't have all of the interruptions like last time and we would wait until we had already evacuated to let them know...
Sorry, we love you guys... but it was soooo hard to get things accomplished last year with texts and phone calls every 5 seconds... ;)
We got everything packed up and loaded into our cars.... this year, we also have Max... he could definitely tell something was wrong and that we were stressed. He would go back and forth between me & Joey and just stare at us like "what the ????" Especially when I started packing up his toys and food. ;)
Looking back, it was pretty funny.
Around 11:30 we had everything we needed in the cars and we started up the road. We wanted to go to the park where we waited last time but since it was the middle of the night, it was closed.
We ended up in a gas station parking lot.... we bought some coffee (it was gonna be a loooong night) and they said we could wait in the parking lot. We put the top down on the convertible for a while but then it started raining....
Finally, the park opened its gates and we headed over there. Joey started to put up his little one-man tent but it started raining so we never ended up using it. We waited in the car...
12 am..... 1 am... 2 am.... listening to the radio about the few places between us and Japan to see what happened there and what we might be in for.
They expected Haleiwa and all of the North Shore (where we live) to get hit pretty hard. Waikiki was supposed to be a disaster... then it came... 3 am... water started receding Kauai, the one Hawaiian island that was supposed to get hit before us. More waiting...
Water started receding at Diamondhead (next to Waikiki) over 300 feet, reef completely exposed.... it's about to hit... the first 2 waves were only about 2-3 ft... There would be more... and history has taught Hawaii not to be too quick to run back home. The Tsunami that destroyed Haleiwa before started with 2 ft waves... later, 19 ft waves came and wiped it out.
We decided to take a nap and we would check the radio peridoically to see what happens. This could take HOURS... and they told us it would. We were delirious at this point. Sleep never came. It just wasn't going to happen and then the sun started to come up... I had been awake for 24 hours.
We did get some bigger waves but thankfully, the destructive waves never came for us...
Maui and the Big Island got destruction with waves over 8 ft but nothing like what happened in Japan.
8 ft waves is nothing for Hawaii... we see 50+ ft waves in the winter... But these are different... they don't stop when they get to shore....
At around 8 am, they downgraded us from Warning to Advisory. This basically means "we think it might be over so you can go home but keep an eye and an ear out... we may just tell you to run again."
Our roads were still closed so we went and got some McDonalds and hoped they'd be open by the time we were done eating.
At around 8:30 we were told that the roads to our home were open again and we could head that way. YAY!! So we went home and tried to lay down... Then the banging started. They are re-doing part of the building that we live in. The walkways are part of this and there happens to be one about 2 feet from my door. This is the one he decided to work on this day, so it wan't a distant banging that's just annoying. It was the kind that you cant even drown out if you put in ear-plugs... as if he was in my room banging as hard as he could right above my head. Great... I havent cared at all about the construction, I know it has to happen... but TODAY???? We've been up ALL NIGHT. We just want to sleep... he didn't stop until after 7pm. So i was awake for over 36 hours before I ever got a wink of sleep.
It was a stressful 12 hours, to say the least but our home is safe, our jobs are safe (both of which were in danger.) and WE are safe.
My heart goes out to Japan.
We have a lot of Japanese visitors here on Oahu. Yes, they are great for tourism, but it is more than that. Hawaii has had a long-standing relationship with Japan. I have only known this for a couple of years.
At Skydive Hawaii, most of our customers are Japanese. I have started to love the little bit of their culture that I have had a glimpse of. They are kind, caring HAPPY people and the genuinely care for others. I started to recognize why anime is the way it is... They really do always have HUGE smiles, constant giggles and crazy clothes...
I have grown to love it... and to see their happy faces replaced with ones with such desperation is just so sad and it breaks my heart.
I think we could all learn a great deal from how the Japanese people as a whole live their lives. Even in crisis, they are not stealing, looting etc. You know that would not be the case here in America. We are a culture all about "ME."
Please, if you can, give something to the relief effort. This is the biggest earthquake ever to hit Japan and the Tsunami has caused such devastation. They think there will be at least 10,000 fatalities and over $300 million to rebuild (and that is a conservative #)
Click here for CNN's list of reputable organizations helping Japan
Friday, I got home from work, had dinner with Joey and then got out my computer to start building pages. We've been writing them all week.
Before I logged into Site Central, I decided to check Facebook and there it was on a friends status....
Tsunami Watch 2011
What?! Here we are, just over a year past our last Tsunami warning where we were woken up at 4am and told we had to leave our home and head for higher ground. That ended up being what we lovingly refer to as a "Baby Tsunami." This wasn't a warning yet so maybe nothing would happen... we have plenty of watches that never turn into warnings...
We turned on the TV and flashing across our screen were the devastating pictures from Japan. WOW... this is no Baby... that was at 8:45 pm HST.
So we were captivated and glued to the TV for the next hour hoping that we wouldn't have to pack and leave like last year... I flashed back to the stress of that day and I sooo didn't want to do it again.... but as I watched, I realized it could be so much worse. Japan had no warning... If we got hit, it wouldn't be for at least 6 hours so we had plenty of time to get to a safe place.
At 9:45 we were officially upgraded to a Tsunami Warning. We would definitely be impacted at around 3:15 am... the sirens would go off shortly... so we started packing up everything we could. This part went much smoother than last time. We remembered everything we wish we had last time... snacks, etc.... and none of our family was awake b/c it was the middle of the night in Georgia and it would be hours before they woke up and found out... so we didn't have all of the interruptions like last time and we would wait until we had already evacuated to let them know...
Sorry, we love you guys... but it was soooo hard to get things accomplished last year with texts and phone calls every 5 seconds... ;)
We got everything packed up and loaded into our cars.... this year, we also have Max... he could definitely tell something was wrong and that we were stressed. He would go back and forth between me & Joey and just stare at us like "what the ????" Especially when I started packing up his toys and food. ;)
Looking back, it was pretty funny.
Around 11:30 we had everything we needed in the cars and we started up the road. We wanted to go to the park where we waited last time but since it was the middle of the night, it was closed.
We ended up in a gas station parking lot.... we bought some coffee (it was gonna be a loooong night) and they said we could wait in the parking lot. We put the top down on the convertible for a while but then it started raining....
Finally, the park opened its gates and we headed over there. Joey started to put up his little one-man tent but it started raining so we never ended up using it. We waited in the car...
12 am..... 1 am... 2 am.... listening to the radio about the few places between us and Japan to see what happened there and what we might be in for.
They expected Haleiwa and all of the North Shore (where we live) to get hit pretty hard. Waikiki was supposed to be a disaster... then it came... 3 am... water started receding Kauai, the one Hawaiian island that was supposed to get hit before us. More waiting...
Water started receding at Diamondhead (next to Waikiki) over 300 feet, reef completely exposed.... it's about to hit... the first 2 waves were only about 2-3 ft... There would be more... and history has taught Hawaii not to be too quick to run back home. The Tsunami that destroyed Haleiwa before started with 2 ft waves... later, 19 ft waves came and wiped it out.
We decided to take a nap and we would check the radio peridoically to see what happens. This could take HOURS... and they told us it would. We were delirious at this point. Sleep never came. It just wasn't going to happen and then the sun started to come up... I had been awake for 24 hours.
We did get some bigger waves but thankfully, the destructive waves never came for us...
Maui and the Big Island got destruction with waves over 8 ft but nothing like what happened in Japan.
8 ft waves is nothing for Hawaii... we see 50+ ft waves in the winter... But these are different... they don't stop when they get to shore....
At around 8 am, they downgraded us from Warning to Advisory. This basically means "we think it might be over so you can go home but keep an eye and an ear out... we may just tell you to run again."
Our roads were still closed so we went and got some McDonalds and hoped they'd be open by the time we were done eating.
At around 8:30 we were told that the roads to our home were open again and we could head that way. YAY!! So we went home and tried to lay down... Then the banging started. They are re-doing part of the building that we live in. The walkways are part of this and there happens to be one about 2 feet from my door. This is the one he decided to work on this day, so it wan't a distant banging that's just annoying. It was the kind that you cant even drown out if you put in ear-plugs... as if he was in my room banging as hard as he could right above my head. Great... I havent cared at all about the construction, I know it has to happen... but TODAY???? We've been up ALL NIGHT. We just want to sleep... he didn't stop until after 7pm. So i was awake for over 36 hours before I ever got a wink of sleep.
It was a stressful 12 hours, to say the least but our home is safe, our jobs are safe (both of which were in danger.) and WE are safe.
My heart goes out to Japan.
We have a lot of Japanese visitors here on Oahu. Yes, they are great for tourism, but it is more than that. Hawaii has had a long-standing relationship with Japan. I have only known this for a couple of years.
At Skydive Hawaii, most of our customers are Japanese. I have started to love the little bit of their culture that I have had a glimpse of. They are kind, caring HAPPY people and the genuinely care for others. I started to recognize why anime is the way it is... They really do always have HUGE smiles, constant giggles and crazy clothes...
I have grown to love it... and to see their happy faces replaced with ones with such desperation is just so sad and it breaks my heart.
I think we could all learn a great deal from how the Japanese people as a whole live their lives. Even in crisis, they are not stealing, looting etc. You know that would not be the case here in America. We are a culture all about "ME."
Please, if you can, give something to the relief effort. This is the biggest earthquake ever to hit Japan and the Tsunami has caused such devastation. They think there will be at least 10,000 fatalities and over $300 million to rebuild (and that is a conservative #)
Click here for CNN's list of reputable organizations helping Japan
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Weekend's over ALREADY??
Well, this weekend is just about over and I'll be back on the work grind tomorrow.
It rained all weekend so it was a good thing I had something to keep my mind occupied. It felt like time just flew by. I guess it does when you're having fun!
I got 3 pages live this weekend plus my disclaimer and privacy policy pages. Joey has one in the works and I will start writing more tomorrow. I think I have decided that I will just start writing content, choosing the pictures afterwards and then, once I have everything chosen, build the page. Especially now that Joey has decided to write content...
So I will probably write/proof-read/edit pages through the week and then build them on the weekends when I have more dedicated time at the computer. So it may be next weekend before I have anymore new "live" pages but there will probably be a few in the works this week. :)
I am inching my way towards that 20 page mini-goal before I can start submitting my site to directories and then monetizing.
Maybe I will even be making a dollar or 2 by this time next month. :)
Off to bed for me. Early morning full of taxes tomorrow.
It rained all weekend so it was a good thing I had something to keep my mind occupied. It felt like time just flew by. I guess it does when you're having fun!
I got 3 pages live this weekend plus my disclaimer and privacy policy pages. Joey has one in the works and I will start writing more tomorrow. I think I have decided that I will just start writing content, choosing the pictures afterwards and then, once I have everything chosen, build the page. Especially now that Joey has decided to write content...
So I will probably write/proof-read/edit pages through the week and then build them on the weekends when I have more dedicated time at the computer. So it may be next weekend before I have anymore new "live" pages but there will probably be a few in the works this week. :)
I am inching my way towards that 20 page mini-goal before I can start submitting my site to directories and then monetizing.
Maybe I will even be making a dollar or 2 by this time next month. :)
Off to bed for me. Early morning full of taxes tomorrow.
Friday, March 4, 2011
WHEW!!
What a busy week!
I feel like I've been neglecting my website and my blog. I have been working late every day and by the time I get home I want nothing to do with a computer.
But my traffic keeps getting higher (YAY!) and even google is referring people. I am steadily over 20 unique visitors a day... from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and others. US, too...
Hey, go Bing, type in Oahu. This is my keyword with the most competition. I was #3 yesterday and today I am #5!!! I am competing with sites that have been up for a while and I am beating them!! With only 5 pages!
What's my secret? The CONTENT!! That's all! And SBI taught me all of it!
Joey went and took pictures of some of our favorite beaches today while I was at work so this weekend, I will be concentrating on writing about those. I hope to get 4 or 5 pages live this weekend. I am sooo excited!
Tonight, I added Content 2.0 to my restaurant sites. This allows visitors to write their own reviews and it will automatically create a new page on the site (so all I have to do is approve and I will have more live pages!!) You can also suscribe to the newsletter that I will start putting out with updates and/or to the RSS feed that will automatically update you when I add a new page.
In other news, my bosses have officially asked me to be a manager and told me that they will be sending me to Vegas for training in July. Yahoooooo! Then I will be going straight to Georgia to visit the family and friends for a month. I LOVE Hawaii but I miss my family terribly so I am so happy that I will get the chance to see them for a while. My last trip of 10 days just wasn't enough. I am so glad that I have great bosses that are allowing this to happen.
Check back to the site on Monday and expect to see a LOT of changes and additions.
Aloha!
I feel like I've been neglecting my website and my blog. I have been working late every day and by the time I get home I want nothing to do with a computer.
But my traffic keeps getting higher (YAY!) and even google is referring people. I am steadily over 20 unique visitors a day... from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and others. US, too...
Hey, go Bing, type in Oahu. This is my keyword with the most competition. I was #3 yesterday and today I am #5!!! I am competing with sites that have been up for a while and I am beating them!! With only 5 pages!
What's my secret? The CONTENT!! That's all! And SBI taught me all of it!
Joey went and took pictures of some of our favorite beaches today while I was at work so this weekend, I will be concentrating on writing about those. I hope to get 4 or 5 pages live this weekend. I am sooo excited!
Tonight, I added Content 2.0 to my restaurant sites. This allows visitors to write their own reviews and it will automatically create a new page on the site (so all I have to do is approve and I will have more live pages!!) You can also suscribe to the newsletter that I will start putting out with updates and/or to the RSS feed that will automatically update you when I add a new page.
In other news, my bosses have officially asked me to be a manager and told me that they will be sending me to Vegas for training in July. Yahoooooo! Then I will be going straight to Georgia to visit the family and friends for a month. I LOVE Hawaii but I miss my family terribly so I am so happy that I will get the chance to see them for a while. My last trip of 10 days just wasn't enough. I am so glad that I have great bosses that are allowing this to happen.
Check back to the site on Monday and expect to see a LOT of changes and additions.
Aloha!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
It is.... WORKING!!!!
So, I logged into site central (SBI homepage for building sites) to work on some new pages.
I am not really supposed to expect traffic yet so I haven't gotten to the point in the action guide that tells you to check it... but I figured... what harm can it do just to see? I'm sure I haven't gotten any views... except for my family and friends I've sent the link to. I KNOW you've looked at it right?? ;)
So I clicked it. Traffic Headquarters... and there it was... 53 visitors in the past FOUR DAYS!!! That is amazing!. You see, they tell you not to expect good traffic for a couple of months after you start linking back to your site. I haven't started putting out links...
I submitted my sites to Google, Yahoo & Bing 4 days ago. Yahoo and Bing have brought in 40 visitors since then.... to my little 4 page website!!! Can you believe it?!?! I can only imagine what it will be like when I get the site built up. Google hasn't sent me any yet. My site isn't big enough and doesn't have enough content.
I can't start monetizing until I have 20-30 pages up and at least 20 visitors a day... this is supposed to take months! But guess what!! I had 23 unique visitors yesterday! and they clicked on my pages over 50 times!!
And they are clicking through on the links I post (none that make $$ yet and YES the search engines know when it's an affiliate link)
So now all I have to do is get the 20-30 pages up and if my traffic stays up, I will be good to go in NO time! Time to do it all is my only obstacle right now.
I am so excited and this has definitely fueled my fire!
So, if you were wondering.... the keyword tools and research that SBI supplies really DO work!!
I am getting completely free traffic!!!
I am not really supposed to expect traffic yet so I haven't gotten to the point in the action guide that tells you to check it... but I figured... what harm can it do just to see? I'm sure I haven't gotten any views... except for my family and friends I've sent the link to. I KNOW you've looked at it right?? ;)
So I clicked it. Traffic Headquarters... and there it was... 53 visitors in the past FOUR DAYS!!! That is amazing!. You see, they tell you not to expect good traffic for a couple of months after you start linking back to your site. I haven't started putting out links...
I submitted my sites to Google, Yahoo & Bing 4 days ago. Yahoo and Bing have brought in 40 visitors since then.... to my little 4 page website!!! Can you believe it?!?! I can only imagine what it will be like when I get the site built up. Google hasn't sent me any yet. My site isn't big enough and doesn't have enough content.
I can't start monetizing until I have 20-30 pages up and at least 20 visitors a day... this is supposed to take months! But guess what!! I had 23 unique visitors yesterday! and they clicked on my pages over 50 times!!
And they are clicking through on the links I post (none that make $$ yet and YES the search engines know when it's an affiliate link)
So now all I have to do is get the 20-30 pages up and if my traffic stays up, I will be good to go in NO time! Time to do it all is my only obstacle right now.
I am so excited and this has definitely fueled my fire!
So, if you were wondering.... the keyword tools and research that SBI supplies really DO work!!
I am getting completely free traffic!!!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Homepage is LIVE!!!
I wrote my homepage today!!! WOOOOO-HOOOOOO!!! Can you feel my excitement??
Take a look, read it, give suggestions. Does it flow well? Should I add or take away??
Keep in mind, this is only the text. I am still working through and will be adding photos throughout the page in context and wrapping some of this text around it... I'm still deciding what photos to add.
I also will be adding navigation bars on the left and some more photos down the right column along with some other stuff... bullets on the list at the bottom, etc. gotta learn the html for all of this... Step-by-step I will be working through all of it...
But go read it and tell me what you think! Would this make you want to click on my nav buttons to see what else I have to say??? (once i show pictures of the beautiful eaches) Or just click away?
All feedback is appreciated
I have 2 days off now so I will steadily be adding and tweaking stuff so check back often!
Take a look, read it, give suggestions. Does it flow well? Should I add or take away??
Keep in mind, this is only the text. I am still working through and will be adding photos throughout the page in context and wrapping some of this text around it... I'm still deciding what photos to add.
I also will be adding navigation bars on the left and some more photos down the right column along with some other stuff... bullets on the list at the bottom, etc. gotta learn the html for all of this... Step-by-step I will be working through all of it...
But go read it and tell me what you think! Would this make you want to click on my nav buttons to see what else I have to say??? (once i show pictures of the beautiful eaches) Or just click away?
All feedback is appreciated
I have 2 days off now so I will steadily be adding and tweaking stuff so check back often!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
OAHUsecrets.com
We have a winner! Discoveroahu.com
But as it turns out, it's taken :( As are the other favorites. So I spent a few hours tonight searching avalaible names and using a list of "helper" words I found on SBI (seriously, this program has everything!) and I decided on....
OAHUsecrets.com.
I am happy with it. I even think I like it better AND it is available in .com, .org, .net, and a host of others so that when I can, I will buy all of those and direct them all back to my .com :)
Now on to the good stuff. Tomorrow I start writing my pages! I am actually going to start putting content together. In a few days (or weeks, who knows) I will actually have a site for you to look at! :)
But as it turns out, it's taken :( As are the other favorites. So I spent a few hours tonight searching avalaible names and using a list of "helper" words I found on SBI (seriously, this program has everything!) and I decided on....
OAHUsecrets.com.
I am happy with it. I even think I like it better AND it is available in .com, .org, .net, and a host of others so that when I can, I will buy all of those and direct them all back to my .com :)
Now on to the good stuff. Tomorrow I start writing my pages! I am actually going to start putting content together. In a few days (or weeks, who knows) I will actually have a site for you to look at! :)
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