In the spirit of love, I had to share this little story about our funny/crazy lives. We’ve been privileged to live outside the world of normal for long enough that phenomenal things happen right under our noses and we don’t always recognize it right away.

For many people, normal is the life of everyday. Work, family, school, routine. Our normal is waking up without any idea of what the day will bring. There’s an attempt at routine, but it rarely sticks. One “normal” for us is meeting new people on a regular basis and becoming fast friends. We’re lucky if we get to spend quality time with any of our long-time, close family and friends. Our normal doesn’t generally keep us in one place for long enough to do that, so we soak up as much as we can before we go.

Yesterday was an “ordinary” day in the life of Jake and Jill. But extraordinary because we got to meet up with a fan of our blog. This young man wrote to us awhile ago, though we’re pretty bad at checking up on such things like email and facebook since its difficult to have consistent connectivity. He was a fan of ours for some time and randomly spotted Bosco just a week ago. Long story short, we opted to meet up in person. He wanted to buy us lunch.

Now, this is not exactly a common occurrence, however we are always thrilled to receive emails or meet fans. And so we spent a few hours with our new friend, who has himself some pretty inspiring plans. Its not strange for us to sit down with someone who is more or less a complete stranger and have an incredibly enjoyable time learning about him as well as reminiscing. He reminded us of the dawn of our adventures and how much time and life experiences have gone passed. But more than even that, he made us realize how incredibly lucky we’ve been to meet people just like him. The people we meet along the way, throughout the experiences are what make those things even more special and memorable. It was such a treat and we were so honored to meet our new friend!

Today was another funny occurrence. It also happens to be Valentines day. Jake taught his very first “official” yoga class this morning. There was such a buzz about it at the community fitness center, that the class was full. And Jake was a huge hit! Everyone loved him (I mean who wouldn’t?)

One woman stayed after class to chat. Jake told me that she invited both of us over to her place this afternoon to make jewelry. It seemed random but then, random is normal, so sure, why not? A complete stranger who is only visiting for a week in this small town that happens to be where our boat is parked is inviting us over for a hangout. Sounds great!

And you know what? It was the most fun we’ve had in ages. Its as if we’ve been friends forever, the way we got along with one another. And on Valentines day to boot!

Our new friend made us a beautiful ornament from her jewelry kit. Actually, we all helped work on it. Then we proceeded to reminisce about our adventures. She shared with us some of her incredible photos of her travels, which has me aching to get back out there. And what started as a short little afternoon visit turned into a full day of fun, chatting, cooking, eating and enjoying one another’s company. It was completely random and completely amazing.

As we walked back to the boat (after dark) Jake and I couldn’t help but think how strange and wonderful our world is. Meeting up with complete strangers and becoming fast friends is our new normal. And why not? Its truly what this adventure is all about (for us)

On that note, I have to say that I [we] absolutely adore you friends and family. We can’t say enough good things about all of you. Those we’ve known forever all the way through to those we just met this week. Everyone from everywhere in the world, even if only for a short blip of time. It is you that make this life and world worth living. You make our journey so incredibly special.

So on this Valentines Day, I want to wish all of you the most happy, amazing, wonderful day, week, month, year….lifetime.

And, thank you!