yearning inside to swim with the tide and taste it, alright

Still pretty tired and I have tons of work to catch up on, so naturally I’m updating. It’ll take me a while to get pix up on Flickr.

Maui was more amazing than we could have imagined. Red, white, and black sand beaches, craggy sea cliffs, lush meadows and rain forests – each place was more beautiful than the last and all the colors more vivid than anywhere else. Everyone there is mellow, laidback, and cheerful and it’s easy to see why.

We lived the good life, hopping from one beach to the next, snorkeling, hiking, soaking up sun, and eating lots of delicious seafood, driving around in our little rental car listening to oldies or Hawaiian music and seeing rainbows almost every day we were there.

Living in a bathing suit, driving from one gorgeous beach to another, al fresco dining – a girl could get used to that kinda lifestyle, with the beachy look of wet tousled hair and pink cheeks to make her look good with no makeup and no effort.

Went to a luau and drove the Hana Highway, including mile and miles of unpaved roads that are unbelievably narrow and winding. Not for the faint of heart, but the scenery was totally worth it.

The B&B we stayed at was just perfect, a blissful and tranquil place tucked far away from tourist hordes, in a beautiful house with incredibly gracious hosts. The Boy and I have decided we want to be them when we grow up.

The wedding was beautiful and S. was without a doubt the most gorgeous bride in the history of brides. It was so good to get to spend time with her and help her get ready. There was a windy but lovely ceremony on a cliff overlooking the sea and a relaxed, intimate reception.

On Sunday we got up very early and drove up Mt. Haleakala to watch a spectacular sunrise. And there, at 10,000 feet above the sea, in the House of the Sun, the Boy asked me to marry him, and not being a fool, I said yes, yes and yes. Leave it to a geologist to propose on top of a volcano. In our last remaining hours of the trip we souvenir shopped, went to the Iao Valley, and then hung out at the beach watching kitesurfers. Best. Easter. Ever.

Turns out the Boy had been planning the proposal for months and it was completely without shock that I found out that our friends, especially J., already knew all about it. J and the Boy are ever the partners in crime, luckily for me, crime means making me happy, and they’re quite good at it.

Hence J pumping me for information about rings, asking me when I thought the Boy might propose, making sure I had no idea it was coming, and I’m sure laughing at me every time I said I had no idea what kind of time frame the Boy had in mind for us getting that serious.

It was so hard to leave. Being near the ocean makes me happy all the way to the core. I’ve never been able to adequately describe the soul deep peace I feel with sand under my feet and the sound and smell of the surf surrounding me.

But having been to a destination wedding, the Boy and I now like the sound of doing the same thing. J picked us up from the airport and she caught us up on everything that had happened while we were gone and was giddy and bubbly and excited about our engagement, all of which made me feel right at home and happy to be here.

someday somebody's gonna ask you
a question that you should say yes to
once in your life
-old 97s