can I get an [aloha] please!

I know, the suspense is killing you! What is this very, very exciting new step in our journey?! 

drum roll please......

Derek and I are....Wait!  I can't just spring this news on you, dear readers!  What kind of writer would that make me!?

You must experience it just like we did::  

As Derek and I walked into the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, we immediately felt five pairs of eyes lock onto us!  Some of Derek's family was in a little huddle on the other side of the room, and their eyes were glued on.. US!?  We made our way over to them, only to be told 'We've gotta talk...' and promptly whisked off to the kitchen.  At this point there's some interference and I was separated from the pack!  I made a valid attempt at polite conversation with said interference, but I must admit I was fairly distracted as I see the conversation beginning without me!  I watch as Derek's curious expression turns to disbelief which, after a bit more enlightening, transforms into a huge grin!  And, need I mention, I am about to lose my mind!?  I was able to manage a fairly smooth exit from the current conversation and rejoined the pack as they were exiting the kitchen.  I'm telling Derek, in no uncertain terms, to start spilling the beans when they announce that the service is starting and everyone needs to come in and take a seat!  In the seven steps it takes to get to the sanctuary Derek gives me the short-sweet version::  His cousin owns six acres of coffee trees in Hawaii and would like us to live over there and manage it! and then Derek's moving in to take a seat!!  Okay, so his version was pretty sweet, but WAY to short for my taste!  I needed details! And I managed to get a few out of him, amidst the singing of Christmas carols and the lighting of our candles.  But he really didn't know enough to elaborate.  

After church we went to his Uncle and Aunt's house for eggnog and as soon as his cousin walked in we pounced!  We didn't understand how or why this idea was being presented to us, but after more discussion we realized they were totally serious!  They didn't have the time to maintain it, and the people they'd left in charge had taken advantage of them.  So, they needed someone they trust to go over and reclaim the land, and they thought we'd be the perfect fit!  

We spent all of Christmas break mulling it over.  We were ecstatic!  We couldn't believe it was for real.  Every free moment of the next week was spent on the internet; reading about Hawaii, watching you-tube videos on coffee plantations, listening to ukulele music on Pandora :)  At any given moment Derek and I would look at each other, know the other one was thinking something Hawaii related and just break into a huge smile!  The idea completely took over and started blooming in our minds!  We prayed, we talked to family members, we prayed some more... and the excitement just kept growing!  We kept saying things like 'Yes, it's crazy... but wouldn't it be crazy NOT to do this?!'  and  'Honestly, how many people are presented with an opportunity like this?!?!' 

The next weekend we met with Derek's cousin again to hash out more details.  We found out we'd be living in a green house without running water and that the jungle would be our bathroom.  We found out we wouldn't be getting paid until harvest time rolls around [September-December].  Yet, our excitement continued to grow!!  Nothing phased us! 

We have been craving a new adventure for SO long, and after having so many doors close on us we had finally surrendered to God's plan & just living on HIS timing... and then, out of nowhere, this just falls into our laps?!  It felt so right.  We had SUCH a peace!  Even the idea of 'roughing it' was appealing to us.  The last few months we'd been throwing ideas around of how we could 'simplify' our lives; ideas ranging from giving up Facebook for a month [okay, I'm the only one that really has that addiction] to moving out to my parents cabin in the woods where we'd have to snow shoe up the driveway when it snowed!  We didn't know what we were after, just that we were desperately craving simplicity and a quieter life; a life less cluttered and distracting.  We knew we needed to get 'real' again.  And even though it's Hawaii and at first glance seems anything but simple and 'back to basics', this idea was starting to sound more and more like what we were after!  

New Years Eve 2011- we'd known about this idea for all of one week, but we knew we needed to make a decision!  [It may seem rash, but that's just the kind of people we are!]  We prayed together, then decided to take a walk and if God hadn't changed our minds by the time we got back we were booking tickets!  Granted, we're in the mountains, in the middle of the night, in December... our walk wasn't all that long!  But, we strolled through the winter wonderland, talked it out for the thousandth time and came back even more convinced!  We toasted in 2012 with champagne and two tickets to Kona, Hawaii!!  

That was 53 days ago... and we only have five days to go!!