Four Years and a Crowd in the Bar

On this day four years ago Bryan and I arrived in Hawaii with nothing more than our two suitcases each and good attitudes. We didn't have suntans, we didn't have jobs, not even a car, or a favorite restaurant. Most importantly, we didn't have friends here.

Life develops and days go by. And it gets to the point where you don't really need to celebrate the exact day you moved to Hawaii four years ago. But here's a testament to how far we've come...

A few days into our Hawaii living Bryan and I had dinner at a restaurant with a live band. As Bryan's personality and Hawaii's hospitality would have it, Bryan ended up singing on stage. I shared it here on this blog, and maybe over the phone with a few friends on the mainland. There was no one else to share it with.

Tonight Bryan will be performing at an Open Mic night at a local dive bar. I invited a few of his friends, a few of our friends. Word got out and a few other friends invited themselves along. I think we may have as many as ten people joining us tonight. Ten friends willing to spend their late Monday night at a dive bar. We have come a long way.

Friends at the bar, that's how you know you've made a home.

To Maui in Seven Years

There's a story you may have read here before...

It's the one about the girl at a party on a roof. She meets a boy. A nice boy. He's friendly and animated and keeps saying hi to her. She thinks he's a nice guy but she's there to party with her friends. Fate and a best friend guide her to giving this nice boy her phone number. What follows is years and years, chapters upon chapters of this story.

When we started this story we had no idea where it would go. It may have ended right on that roof. Or if not then, maybe that one time he wore that horrible shirt to her company party. Or when she flipped out about a roasted chicken in the car. Lucky for all of us, and for you, dear readers, the story continues.

Seven years after the story began, the girl and the boy are headed to Maui. Never saw that coming on the roof, huh?

***
Yep, we're off to Maui this weekend. For no reason, actually. Just to get away. But I really like that it coordinates with the upcoming seventh year anniversary of us meeting.

Here's to stories that will take to you Maui and beyond!

And We've Come Full Circle

I'm a total Olympics geek. I love to watch the opening ceremonies, the awards, and the awesome bios of all the athletes that have overcome such odds and made their own destiny (could I have been them? Was there some fork in the road so many years ago that would have lead me to Olympic gold?)

Anyway, I'm such an Olympics geek that I happily spend my Friday evening hunkered down on the couch watching the whole opening ceremony until I can scrutinize each of the country's uniforms (US usually sucks, African countries are typically delight).

Four years ago I suckered my then boyfriend into watching the 2006 winter Olympic opening ceremonies on a Friday night when he likely would have rather been drinking beers with the guys. Tonight I've done it again! We'll be stationed on the couch with pizza and beer. Haha, he's a sucker and I'm a lucky girl! Not so much has changed over the last four years...

A Decade of Life

Last night I sat down and finally wrote (typed) a few resolutions. Every new year I make resolutions. I never look at them again throughout the year. Most of the time I don't even remember what I resolved to do by the time March rolls around. Yet, I sure do seem to do a lot, don't I?

Following the footsteps of other bloggers, here's much of what I did in the last ten years. TEN YEARS!:

- Moved from a purple room in China Heights to a yellow room on Jackson Street, and eventually in to a ridiculously large beige room.
- Cried when the mechanics told me my beloved Prelude would drive no more, invested my precious money into the car, and drove it for at least five more years
- Had a hell of a good time at my first job
- Took a second job, and eventually a third one (turned down a few in the process as well)
- Bought my own laptop and began my Mac addiction
- Met life-changing, life-filling friends
- Made lasting friendships
- Met Bryan on a rooftop on Polk Street, saw him play on stage, said hi, talked on the phone, went on our first date
- Dated two other guys briefly but chose Bryan as the clear winner
- Traveled to Greece, Italy, New Orleans, New York, Boston, Hawaii, Hungary, Czech Republic, London, Fiji, Sydney, Vegas, Bali, Tokyo
- Joined my first gym, then a second, then a third - you'd think I'd finally feel comfortable going!
- Learned to throw a clay pot, climb a rock, paddle a canoe, dance the hula, and attempt to surf a wave
- Fell in love
- Moved to Hawaii
- Moved in with Bryan
- Wore a pair of shiny pink pants - and more than once
- Partied so hard orange tuffs of carpet appeared in the living room
- Honestly left a part of my heart in San Francisco
- Watched the sunrise in Maui
- Paddled with whales
- Visited every Hawaiian island
- Went to many beautiful weddings of even more beautiful friends
- Met friends' babies
- Starting blogging about things like gold shoes
- Said yes and accepted a gorgeous ring
- Hiked the Na Pali coast and kayaked it the next year
- Laughed so hard and so often
- Spent a lot of time in deep thought
- Got married, had a day I will remember forever
- Became an aunt
- Grew up a lot
- Became one of those people that says "I can't believe it's been ten years already!"

Many of you were with me over the last ten years. What else did I do?

OhMyGod, LikeTotally!!

Once upon a time I didn't live in Hawaii and I wasn't as poised and sophisticated as I am now *sarcasm*. I was once a Junior High kid at a friend's house with nothing to do and in the company of a very creative and persuasive friend.

And this is what happened:



I love this picture. I cannot get over it. I'm on the left, of course, in one of my all-time favorite sweatshirts - it has a dinosaur in that puffy paint stuff that was popular. My friend Kari is in the middle. She was the instigator and she's getting married in a week and a half! My friend Rachel is on the right. It was her house and she's already a mom to three boys.