Oh Forks, you have my heart.

I never expected to feel so relaxed.

I expected to have fun. I expected to giggle with my best friend like we were back in high school. I expected to catch Twilight fever (which I totally have, by the way - if I wasn't a Twihard before, I am now).

But peace and calm and beauty - they surround this place. And it totally caught me off guard.

The people are soo nice. They exude warmth and kindness.

I have heard of falling in love with a place, but I've never experienced it until this weekend. I drove home (back to Forks) last night from La Push in the rain and the dark. Normally those factors compose my least favorite driving conditions and I end up gripping the wheel, terrified, just praying for it to be over.

But I actually enjoyed the drive last night! Sure sure, our rental car handles really well and there wasn't a lot of traffic, but I think it was more than that. I think this place has tapped into something inside of me that's enabled me to let go of some of my fear.

That's exciting.

I think DC stresses me out. I like it there. But, Forks (and all of Washington, really) has inspired me to seek out little bits of calm throughout my normal days. I mean, really. If the woods is my happy place, I should definitely go for walks more often.

There isn't one chain restaurant in this place. And I was thinking - I don't know that I've EVER been to a town that didn't at least have a McDonald's or a Burger King. In my life.

That's crazy on so many levels.

Er, um. So I haven't said much about our actual trip. I'll make that my next blog. I'm not really in a "and then we did this, and then we did that" kind of mood.

Thanks for reading! Fun picture time.