Hawaii Highlights.

1. renting bikes and riding across the North Shore. I jumped off of a rock with a little boy, who subsequently was able to shut his naysaying sister up. hijinks.

2. hiking mt olympus. the bottom looks like washington, but you end up hiking through the jungle, traipsing over roots, scurrying up mudslides, and darting through poky bushes. the trail runs right on top of the ridge, and gave belly quivering views of the entire mountain range.

3. lighthouse trail. easy peasy paved road up, views of makapu'u beach and humpback whales.

4. snorkeling by electric beach. twice. turns out if you make friends with the crew, they let you come back just to hang out.

5. kokohead. 1200 steps to the top, panoramic views of waikiki and honolulu.

aloha aloha aloha.

It's Mine!

Docs are signed, money transferred, keys in hand. I am now a bona fide home owner. It's not quite real to me yet; particularly since I have pawned off all of the work since finding this little cottage. I didn't go to the home inspection, I faxed docs, I didn't do the final walk-through, and I wasn't there for the signing. I must really trust my people, huh? Now for paint samples. I am surprisingly giddy about this process. I feel like because I am young and single, I don't really have to take this house THAT seriously. I can paint the walls bright green and buy that Skymall wall map I have always wanted. and I will!

Got a Plan?

I'm pretty much perpetually on the (no plan) Plan. It's fun. However, society and the man force me, at times, to hunker down and arrange some things. and then God laughs.

let's recap the last few months of plans, shall we?

I PLANNED to be working in NYC after Kansas City.

I PLANNED to be ecstatic with all of my friends forever.

I PLANNED to have good weather while driving across the nation.

I PLANNED to have pie on my birthday and end it with an intact vehicle.

I PLANNED to pay less for my house.

I PLANNED to go to Europe with Lindsay.

I PLANNED to go to Thailand to play with the girls and eat rombutan.

I PLANNED to hate the weather here and get fat in response to the depression.

Instead?

went to hawaii and had an epic time. got the house i wanted in the first place. am dancing about in the great Seattle weather. will probably go to europe in the fall for oktoberfest instead. will go see my grandma in China this summer. got extended here until early July. will take August off to play. learned to make peace and let go. started to appreciate my state like never before. learned to love the rain (!!).

I still win! See? the (no plan) Plan will always work itself out.

One , Two, SKYDIVE.

It should be of no shock to anyone that I have a really long bucket list. Someday I might post it, but for now it feels safe and sweet to keep it to myself, tucked safely away in the email drafts folder to be edited, added, modified. While I may or may not commit to all of such items, there has always been one that was non-negotiable: I wanted to go skydiving.

Mind you, my short stature and genetics (?) have combined to create a vortex of height phobia. I hate ladders, my knees wobble whenever I'm close to a railing, and I was always the one on the ground handing my dad christmas lights, while trying to not let him hear my voice quiver just watching him climb onto the roof.

I also hate that girl. She's fussy. She's a whiner. She is not fun enough.

So I have stifled her my entire life. Gritted my teeth and looked over the edge of the Statue of Liberty's crown, force myself to jump off of rocks, decided to hold tree pose at the top of everything I hike or climb no matter the terrain. Well kids, I think I may have gotten over it this time. I completely buy into the idea of chasing your fears, and this one was immensely rewarding. I mentioned it to Tim and Crista the first night I arrived in Hawaii, kind of giving myself the option to cop out. But as the spectacular week went on, I knew that I had to top it al off with a gigantic leap of faith.

Crista and I got all harnessed up, climbed into the plane, and it took off. I was totally fine, already feeling like a badass. But then, one of the dive masters opened the door, and leaned out, pointing to something I didn't dare move my head to look at. Oh boy. My dive master pries my fingers from the handle on the side of the plane and shoves me at the door.

"Look," he yelled, "I don't get to go skydiving again...... until tomorrow. So quit the silly and let's have a really fun jump!" and then he shoved me out of the plane.

The first five seconds were sheer terror. No words.

The rest of the ride was unbelievable bliss.

You have to try it. Cowabunga, dude.

Love Love Love.

It's so odd.

Since coming to the Seattle area, I have been thinking about marriage and relationships a lot. I have caught myself watching couples on bikes, gazing at the twosomes out at restaurants, and really noticing all of the pairs around me. Wait for it, that's not the odd part; I know that there are couples everywhere. The odd part is that recently I have been noticing couples and instead of rolling my eyes or quickly darting past them, I've been admiring. oh no.

I was driving yesterday when I caught myself staring at the couple in the car in front of me. He was singing along loudly to the radio, she was giggling uncontrollably at him. They had their backseat packed to the brim with gear like they were going to go do something superfun together. I found myself smiling at them, at how much fun they seemed like. I couldnt stop gawking at these two, it was ridiculous and borderline intrusive.

Upon further reflection, I discovered the culprit of my recent bout of smush-tolerance;

I'm now surrounded by functional relationships. Gasp!

No detail is needed here, but it would be accurate to say that my examples of healthy, happy, functional marriages are not the most obvious. From where I come from, marriages are pretty much endured and relationships end more than they stay. Not just my parents, but my closest friends and relations as well. I don't know, it's just the reality of it. People aren't perfect, and marriages are messy. After all, does it really make sense for two smelly, flawed, humans to be together all the time without wanting to bash the other repeatedly? Furthermore, all of the cities that I have lived in since leaving Spokane boast large populations of contented singles like myself and therefore I have been surrounded by people who live like me. These facts, mixed with my own disastrous dating experiences have garnered me a somewhat apathetic view on love and marriage. Meh. If it happens, fine. But in the meantime, I certainly am not going to wait around chasing a pipe dream. I've got bigger fish to fry. My life started way before I meet Mr Ryan-Reynolds-meets-Jason-Mraz-meets-Mike-Rowe. I function very much on the avoidance of apple cart disrupting. I have rigged my life to play exactly how I like it, and have learned to crave independence while being perfectly lonely.

The difference, now, is that I am around so many delighted relationships. For some reason, most all of my friends and family who live here all still like their others. I've been third/fifth/seventh wheel at every social event I go to, what the heck? Racking my brain, racking my brain..... nope, no single friends here. Just people who love the one they're with, who play and laugh and excite each other to no end. The worst part is, they make it look easy! Where the hell are all the fits of rage, the bruised feelings, the lying, cheating, and neanderthals?! Therefore, a theory has been brewed:

Seattle makes people love each other. Awww.