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Ryan and I went out last night. First to a barbeque at some stranger’s house, then to St. Mark’s Cathedral to listen to the monks sing beautiful harmonious hymns. That was amazing. Unfortunately, somewhere during the middle of the ceremony, an older gentleman sat about three or four feet from us and he reaked of urine. A human toilet. No exaggeration–it was quite distracting. Still, the singing was very moving.

From there, we went to the U-district of Seattle to acquire my favorite bubble tea beverage. Ryan and I played two games of Checkers while we were there and I lost both times. Miserably.

After leaving Pochi’s, we didn’t quite feel ready to go home. We decided to drive somewhere. First, I recommended we drive to Vancouver, Canada. Then Ryan suggested we go to Ocean Shores in Oregon. After considering all the options, we decided we would visit Alki Beach so to watch the sunrise.

It was simply a wonderful evening into morning. We kept reminding each other of how random we were behaving and I fell in love with that feeling. Stepping out of my daily routine, doing something different, and being abnormal.

On the beach, there were several spots reserved for bonfires. Eventually, a couple people left their fire and we took over. Poking and turning the coals was the only thing keeping me from becoming tired or falling asleep. I just kept tending the fire…

We got back to Ryan’s home at about 6:00 am. I slept in a spare bedroom until about 12:30 pm. After I returned home, I got a call from my mom. She was up around 5:45 am and saw that my car wasn’t in the drive and basically… freaked out. I hadn’t come home that night and I hadn’t left a note saying where I’d be. Needless to say, when I talked to her on the phone and told her what I had done with my evening, she was pissed.

In her words, “I don’t care how old you are. So long as you live under my roof, you abide by my rules.”

Okay… Four more months and that won’t be the case anymore. This has been a joyous day.