Home is where the <3 is...

...so it's been said.

This week marks 8 years since I left my childhood home in The Bay to brave "independent life" here in Hawai'i.

I'm still alive.

I'm not (completely) broke.

...and I'm actually pretty happy.

Actually, it's been pretty fricken amazing...

This is one of those situations that, in hindsight, baffles me.  I can't believe I did it.  I can't believe that the person that I was at 21yrs old, had the will to make something like this happen.  The person that I am NOW, yes.  But the Eds-of-old??  How the heck??

You don't understand.  I lived a very comfortable life in my childhood home.  I didn't pay rent.  I had a car to drive. Granted, it wasn't my own, and it was never the most luxurious.. but it was still a means of transportation.  My mom cooked.  My brother, affectionately known as [Kuya], paid for school- and everything else that I needed.  I had a job after high school, but it was just for spending money.

Yes, I was spoiled- No... I was VERY BLESSED.

But I was NOT a brat.  I was (and STILL am) thankful for everything I had, especially since we didn't ALWAYS live comfortably.  Yes, there was a dark era.. but I won't talk about that.

So why did I leave my worry-free, laid back life at home?

I needed out.  I needed independence.  I needed to figure out who I really was.  There's the "me" that everyone has always known "me" to be... but maybe I was just slipping into that role?  Because it was comfortable to be what everyone expected you to be.

So I did the most out-of-character thing I could do:  I left.

It wasn't enough to just move out of my childhood home.  Moving out of the Bay Area wasn't enough either.  Staying in California meant that home would only be a drive away.  I couldn't have that temptation within reach.  

It was October 2000, and I was actually sitting at a football game when I decided where I would move.  I used to dance for SJSU, and we had a Home game where we played against UH...  (The sad thing was, the visitor side had WAYYY more fans than our side!)  But as I was sitting there, the thought popped into my mind:

"What if I just picked up and moved to Hawai'i?"

It was probably a few months before ANYONE took me seriously.  It wasn't until I kept telling everyone "I'm leaving in August," that my mom and [Kuya] finally realized, Holy crap, she's really gonna leave!

[Kuya] later confessed that there were bets going... for how long I would last before I packed up and moved back home.  He told me "I have the highest bid.  I gave you 2 years.  Prove me wrong."

8 years later...

I'm married.

I teach something I have a passion for.

I'm an LMT, in the making to become a great L. Ac.

I have friends who have become family.

I'm still inspired.

...and I'm still here.