Happy

This is not meant to be a "braggy" post, so I hope it doesn't come across that way. But I wanted to write about a few things, and I figure not many people read this blog so it's all good. :)

Anyways, I was thinking today that I am so happy with my life and where it is right now. Life never turns out how you think it will. Maybe it does for some people, but it's definitely thrown me for a loop! But I really like where I'm at in life and am sooo grateful for the blessings I have. I'm a lucky girl. Sometimes you don't get what you want in life, and then you realize life is great and maybe even better without those things. One caveat: Yes, I wish I still worked at Artec with all my friends there. If I could change that one thing, life would be extra grand!

I am so super excited about the coming months. Next month I get to go visit Sharon in New Jersey/New York. Mary Poppins, Central Park, quality girl time, Grand Central Station (er, Terminal), and Carlo's Bake Shop, oh my!

Then in April Jack and I are going to Maui. Can.not.wait. Jack decided that we'd change things up a bit and that he would plan the whole trip this time. (Last time we went to Hawaii, I planned the trip and packed it full of things. He wasn't so sure about that - he's more of a relaxed vacationer, but then it ended up being the best trip he's ever taken. So I think he realized that there is more to do in Hawaii than just sit on the beach.) But I quickly vetoed. Planning is half the fun! But then I found out that "planning" to Jack means choosing what fun activities he wants to do, but not figuring out any of the logistics. So it's worked out well: he made a list of all the things he wants to do (and even did a little reasearch into what activities are the best), and I still get to plan all the details (and of course add my activities) and make up the itinerary. The hardest and most boring planning parts are done: airplane tickets, hotel, and rental car. Now I just have to work some magic and figure out how to fit in a million bazillion different activities into 5 1/2 days. I just have to tell myself that hopefully we'll live there someday, so it's okay if we don't get to do everything this trip.

Speaking of living in Hawaii, that's really what Jack wants to do next in his career. Which is awesome. Difficult logistically in some ways (how do you move across the ocean?), but I'm sure we can work it out. We never know what will be next, but hopefully it will be Hawaii...or New York. But Jack's not so sure about living in the cold, crowded northeast. I'm still working on convincing him just how awesome it would be. Here's how NOT to convince Jack: telling him there would never be a shortage of things to do and that you can always just go explore new neighborhoods. Yeah, apparently that doesn't sound exciting to a guy, going to walk around neighborhoods (but I still say he just doesn't get it, because he's never been there). So now I'm trying to pitch the broadway plays and restaurants, and how much cheaper it would be to fly to Europe from there. We'll see. New York and Hawaii are definitely polar opposites, but I love both of them.

And I'm still hoping to make it to Europe one of these days. I tell myself maybe we could do London/Paris as a "starter" trip, so that way it's a shorter trip and you can spend some time in an English-speaking country. But then if you fly all the way over there, isn't it worth it to go to Italy as well? Who am I kidding? Of course I'll want to do it all. But then that just seems like such a daunting (not to mention expensive!!) trip to plan.... One of these days, though, we will make it there. :)