The revival

My last post was nearly a year ago! Many things have happened!

I guess the hiatus was consciously spurred by a feeling that I no longer had much to say. But a cascade of events, thoughts, and conversations have spurred (inspired?) me to come back.

Lets begin with a re-cap...

Last September I moved to Seattle to begin a graduate program that I excitedly chose a year and a half ago...to discover, in a year-long, drawn out, ruminating process, that I don't know if it's actually the right program for me. So this year I'll be taking a leave of absence to try and sort that out. But back to last year:

I spent Christmas in the Philippines with the clan-family:

And then my mom and I spent two nights in Palawan at a resort with lovely blue water and a beautiful coral reef.

I also went shipwreck diving for the first time! But there's no photographic evidence of that adventure.

The rest of winter was an unsurprisingly gloomy, wet Seattle winter. Unfortunately my attempt to leave the gloom for sunlight on snow was a failure - the first day I took my skis out I managed to break my thumb.

A word to the wise: don't take opposable thumbs for granted. Particularly in dish-washing.

Fortunately, my thumb healed in time for a spring-break trip to Hawaii. Thanks to United's frequent flyer miles, and an aunt's (not mine) condo - I had to pay for neither travel nor lodging. (Score!).

I'm a big fan of the Big Island (this was my second trip there). It's rugged and beautiful, and as you'd expect in Hawaii, the weather was perfect. Plus the sea turtles were plentiful! I realize they are kind of cliche, but how can you not like sea turtles??