"What's Next?"

‘Sup guys?

Ya, I know. Haven’t really written in forever. My bad. I’ve done a lot of reblogging though, so that counts, right?

No, I know it doesn’t. Especially since I honestly mostly write for myself, and these past few weeks have been such a whirlwind.

Anyway things on the aina are pretty nuts and, well, pretty fantastic. It’s funny, a few times I’ve come back into contact with people after being MIA for a few weeks, I’ve been asked “So, your life out there looks awesome. Is it really?”

Great question. I’m not sure why, but some part of me, maybe the weird-used-to-be-around-screenwriters-so-let’s-make-a-story part of me wants to be like “No. I’m lying. It’s all a facade. I’m not even really in Hawai’i. It’s all part of an elaborate lie I’ve set up a lá “The Truman Show.”” (Future script?) Or maybe it’s the “don’t-brag-so-say-everything-is-horrible.” part.

The fact of the matter is, though, that my life in Hawai’i so far has really been pretty fantastic.

Now, I’m not some cheer-robot that never feels sadness (I am honestly concerned some people I work and interact with out here may really think this about me. I worry for the day they see the other side). Yes, there are some days that are hard. Yes, there are some mornings where I wake up, a little disoriented about what state I am in (24 years in a place will do that). Yes, there are some mornings/afternoon/evenings where I sporadically burst into tears because I miss my parents/brother/friends/former students/Mexican food/In N’ Out.

The thing is, my bouts of homesickness are normally about as quick and sporadic as rain here in Hawai’i: happens for about 5-10 minutes, then disappears again. A large part of that is knowing that, while I certainly do miss those things, what I really miss is the comfort of consistency. I knew my life in L.A. inside and out. Being in Hawai’i has been a whole new beast. After a sporadic bout of freak-out though, I’ve been generally focusing an caught up in a whirlwind of enjoyable stuff out here. It’s pretty great.

Anyway, it’d be foolish to believe I could catch anyone up on all the crazy facets of my life. So, three touch points:

• I am in love with my blender (and other health related topics).
• New things outside of my comfort zone are awesome.
• Place and space make a difference in the type of person you are (duh).

________

Hey guys, my blender is the best and makes me happy a lot.

Totally embarrassing, but absolutely true. When I moved out here, my friend Chris convinced me to invest in a Vitamix. I had seen him use it quite often to make us smoothies, but he insisted that I could use it for a number of other things too. Since my fantastic friends Noe and Larry have access to the Navy Exchange, I was able to get one at a reasonable price.

Fast forward to now: I use that thing every day. Sometimes twice a day. I drink A LOT of smoothies and juices. I now ingest more greens (Kale, mostly) than I think I ever did in LA, because I can mix it with a bunch of other things I really love and drink it while I drive to work. I can also make aioli, pasta sauce and pesto. WOO.

This has made me feel like a much better person, at least health wise. When you couple this with the fact that I now spend 4-5 times a week a hanging upside down as exercise, and I’ve morphed into this crazy-probably-eating-granola hippie person. It’s the best.

_______________________

New Things FTW.

I am not good at change. In case the fact that I have lived in a 35 mile radius of the place I was born for most of my life has not tee’d you off, there it is. Change and me are not old friends.

That said, these past few weeks have been a slap-in-the-face of change, and I gotta say, I kinda freakin’ love it. The person I have been back in L.A. for the past 7 years would look at the person I have become out here and probably be really confused. And gasp. And clutch her pearls. And be a little intimidated.

Some things that are new to me that are awesome:

• Hiking (Hey! Let’s do cardio and then see beauty and nature along the way and after!)

• My Job (Hey! We’re gonna pay you to do all the stuff you love (being excited about stuff, helping people, communicating, making newsletters, making lists and schedules, etc) with awesome people in a beautiful place!)

• The people I work/spend time with (Hey! People are really nice, many of the new people I’ve met here are delightful, and the new TFA-HI CMs and alumni I have worked with are super fun/welcoming/dedicated/flexible/funny/caring and really freakin’ inspirational!)

I do stuff out here. Like, go out and meet people and try and do stuff. Instead of just sitting in my apartment watching TV, I do stuff. To be fair, though, most of the credit for this goes to my amazing TFA-HI Ohana (staff and CMs alike) for being so loving and welcoming and including me in stuff and introducing me to more awesome people.

Still, though, it really hit the other day when I just struck up a conversation with the person next to me.I introduce myself out here. Putting myself out there like that feels completely terrifying and completely exhilarating.

_____________________________________

Being in Hawai’i has made me a different person

I would make a chart, but Tumblr makes that difficult. So let me lay down some facts for you:

Number of times I honk and curse at a person while driving:

• In LA: 3-20 times a day
• In HI: maybe twice in my 6 weeks here

Number of times I have worn jeans/pants:

• In LA: At least twice a week.
• In HI: I haven’t yet (and I like jeans. But it’s really warm).

Number of times I weigh myself (and thusly obsess):

• In LA: Daily. Sometimes twice a day.
• In HI: I haven’t in 2 weeks.

Number of times plans have been changed, and I’ve been like “No big we’ll figure it out.”

• In LA: N/A. I never did that. This occurrence would turn me into a rage-monster.
• In HI: At least 3 times a week. If not more.

Number of times I have thought, “Oh. Never done that before. Let’s try it!”

• In LA: N/A. See previous section. Normally, I would go, “Never done that before. Probably will go awry. Let’s not do that.”
• In HI: Every day. Because nearly everything is something I haven’t done before.

Number of times I have sat outside and just enjoyed life for a second:

• In LA: Maybe twice a month.
• In HI: At least 4-5 times a week. Maybe daily.

Don’t know what to add, folks. The facts speak for themselves.

_________________________

Alright, cats and kittens. That’s what’s up with CT on the aina. I hope your lives are equally crazy and equally mischievous and equally fun. I’ve been trying this combination recently. It’s pretty amazing.