Maui: Phase Three

Kara had her baby!!!!!!! Samuel Greggory Wu. :) :) :) I am an auntie.... I haven't talked to her since right after he was born, so I'm dying to catch up more, hopefully this weekend.

Things have been crazy here. And by that I mean I've had a limited existence because I've been working my butt off and spending every free second with Isaac. Having him leave for Seattle a few weeks after we started dating isn't the most ideal situation, but it has been good (though exhausting) to get used to being in a relationship while we had the chance to actually be together. Now we have to figure out this long-distance thing and eagerly look forward to seeing each other this winter :)

So, what have we been doing? We had dinner with his family (intimidating but it ended up being fun. His mom is Filipino--though third generation Hawaiian--and she made yummy Filipino food), ate lunch with his cousin/best friend Maile, went hiking with Josh and Brady.... We've hung out in all these crazy romantic settings--cliffs overlooking the ocean, waterfalls, sunsets and full moons, crystal clear water full of turtles, patios lit by tiki torches and strings of lights--it almost makes me laugh because it's so ridiculously surreal. I don't feel like I'm in a dream or anything, though, because our relationship is very grounded. We have a solid friendship, realistic expectations, complete awareness of and guarding against the possibility of getting carried away with each other. I'm excited that he's pursuing what God is calling him to (going to school in Seattle, getting involved in a community there. He wants to study economics and whatever will help him learn about community organizing), and I also want to plan for my future by figuring out how God wants me to use my writing. Anyway, he left early this morning, and I miss him A LOT. Which sucks but is good--I'd worry if I didn't miss him. My time in Maui is definitely shifting in a new direction once again; feels like a third phase.

Speaking of plans, here's my tentative plan (made keeping in mind James 4: "Now listen, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."): Live in Maui until December, trying to stay involved in the community here, finding some writing/editing projects, researching grad school options; spend Christmas in Portland and then a month or so in Portland/Spokane/Seattle; volunteer as an English teacher in Thailand for a couple months; visit Minnesota next summer; pack up my stuff and drive it in my new car (i.e. my parents' old car) back to the West Coast, and live/work/go to school (?) there. All very vague, but it makes me feel good to have SOME idea.

Our brakes are going out again. The brake pedal is so soft that once you come to a stop, it slowly depresses all the way to the floor and then gives out, so that unless you throw it into park really fast, you'd keep rolling. Sometimes it works to pump the brake, too, but that doesn't allow for a very quick or clean stop. I'm a little worried.

Here's a pic of me and Isaac. He's pretty cute, I guess ;)