2013. Done & Done.

2013. Gone. Done. Adios.

2013, you weren't my favorite year.
You weren't my least favorite year, no, that was 2007.
But, compared to more recent years past, there was a lot to live up to, and you just didn't make the mark.
So, I can't blame you 2013, I just wish you had stepped up your game.

There were incredible highlights, like that time I went to Hawaii with my parents and went snorkeling with my dad and a pod of wild dolphins jumped and spun along side our boat...

And then...AND THEN they joined us for a swim in Honolua Bay.
Hands down, no question, best moment of the year.

And in 2013, there were no new countries visited. No new states either. Most of the year was spent along the West Coast exploring.
NorCal, SoCal, CenCal - is CenCal a thing?

I adventured locally. Baked a lot. And spent a bit of time changing things around to make my house even more of a home.

I caught both sunrises and sunsets. Many, many sunsets.
Each one, reminding me not to worship the created, as incredible as it is, but the creator - who is more incredible than these mere samples of His glory.

As I reflect on 2013 here in these first days of 2014, and I begin my daily quiet times in the book of Genesis, I am reminded that as in creation, "God saw that it was good".

Despite 2013 not being a milestone year, one necessarily for any record books other than my own, God still saw that it was good. 

I ended 2012 and began 2013 reminding myself that the Lord does not waste anything. He redeems it all, as he showed me at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012, for His glory, and our good.

Funny how he has been stringing these pieces together. Sanctifying me each year, He is the one writing the story.  Teaching me. Slowly.

And as I begin 2014, I don't know what the Lord holds in store. I don't know how next January's post will read. What lessons I will learn.  But I know that it is in the hands of the Almighty God. All knowing. All powerful. Infinitely loving.

So on these crisp January days of 2014, where the trees are mere skeletons, and the ground is parched longing for rain that hasn't come, where the skies are hazy and smoggy, I need to cling to Jesus for 2014. I want to set my heart on things above. Because I long for belonging. I need to long for Him. And he has made me his own. I belong to Him. He loves me. He has chosen me. And I want to remember that all the days He has for me this year.  I have been chosen by the Almighty God. And in the end, at the end of the day, the end of the year, the end of my days, that is all that matters.

Hau`oli Lā Hānau: Happy Birthday, Old Guy!

Let's go back to Hawaii, shall we?

Mom and I woke up early Sunday morning, however dad had already left on an early morning bike ride. It was his birthday, after all.

So we sat on our Lanai, she sipped tea, I sipped coffee, and we both ate Cheerios.
I worked a bit on my travel journal, which in turn, becomes this blog.

We decided to explore a little bit around our hotel while waiting for dad to get back from riding, and we found this cute hut with a game that is a Hawaiian version of Checkers.

It was actually a lot of fun, but mom ended up beating me pretty badly. Which is good, since I had beat her during giant yard checkers a few days earlier.

When dad got back, we headed up to the Royal Lahaina to book our Snorkel trip for later in the week.
It was a bit of a jaunt, and I was hungry, so we sent dad back on foot to get the car to pick us up, and take us to lunch.
Extra special treatment for the birthday boy.

We had lunch at a restaurant on the water, Koa's.
Dad was thrilled about turning 63.

Mom is thrilled he is older than her.

We explored a bit more, and my hair decided to go Island Style, a la Monica Gellar.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to spend a quiet day beside our whale shaped pool.

And beside some reptilian friends.

These two make retirement look hard.

After our busy afternoon of reading and resting, we moved our dinner reservations back a half hour, so I could be sure to catch the sunset.
My favorite part of every day.
(I think it was my mom and dad's favorite too).

It did not disappoint.

This also did not disappoint.

And neither did the Banana Volcano Eruption.
How do you say hallelujah in Hawaiian?

Happy Birthday, dad!
So glad I got to spend it with you.
In Hawaii.
Not a bad way to start the next revolution around the sun!

Classic Ka'anapali

After the Sunrise at Haleakala and before the Road to Hana, we had a regular day along Ka'anapali Beach.

Any regular day in Hawaii is a spectacular day in my book.

Dad got up early to ride. Mom and I had coffee and tea on the Lanai.

My parents were VERY nice to let me crash their vacation and ocean view room.

I also think it was VERY nice of me to offer to join them. 

Mom and I decided to explore our hotel a bit. 

My most favorite thing was the plumeria trees, and all of the blossoms littered below.

I grabbed one for my hair every day.

There was also a giant checkerboard, which I was dying to play.

So mom and I decided to give it a gander.

I miiiiight be a liiiiiitle competitive. So I basically dominated this game. And mom ended up forfeiting. But a win is a win.

Then I was feeling courageous, so I ran to the room to get my swimsuit on and I was going to try stand up paddle boarding. By the time I got back to the beach, conditions had changed, and it was too rough for SUP, so they denied me. I am not sure whether I was more disappointed or relieved.

And slightly annoyed at the thick layer of sunscreen I had unnecessarily sprayed on. Oh well.

By this time dad was back, and we were ready for breakfast. Lunch. Brunch.

We headed over to my favorite spot, Leilani's. 

I have an anti-from-the-ocean-policy when it comes to food. However, there are a few exceptions. 

Fish & Chips and Fish Tacos.

Apparently these were award winning Fish Tacos. And, they were. I got them again a few more times, too.

And you can't go to Leilani's without getting Hula Pie. 

It's literally against the law.

And you don't want to get thrown in jail, right?

Hula Pie with a side of Lanai.

Oh, so good. 

And then they give you a receipt for a free one the next time you come back.

It is just a downward spiral from here.

But you gotta do it.

After brunch, we headed back to the hotel to spend some time by the pool, relaxing, and resting up for the next meal. (Oh, vacation.)

I found a spot in the shade. And made one of my dreams come true, a drink in a coconut.

I was kinda hoping for it to be in one of those fuzzy coconuts, with the meat still in it, but this was not a problem either.

And while I read, and snoozed, this guy practiced his uke on a bench nearby.
I'll tell you what.
Almost no bad sounds can come out of a ukulele. It's just so relaxing.
Even when a beginner is repeatedly strumming the same notes.
(It's the singing that can really make it a harrowing experience. At least in my case).

After a fun afternoon of just being lazy, as you should be in Hawaii, we headed back to Whaler's Village for happy hour.

This guy checked us out along the way.

And a happy hour it was.

I love the way he smiles at me.

One of my favorite things about our hotel was that with the ocean view off our lanai, we also had a mountain view out our front door. Every single day, except one, I caught a rainbow as we came and went. This was one of the more vibrant ones, I love how low it was. 

Dad and I decided that we needed to head to the grocery store so that we could pick up some snacks and drinks and bug spray (oh man, how I wish I had used it) for the Road to Hana in the morning. 

So we hustled, and got what we needed. Catching a few more rainbows in the process.

And then I was very concerned we weren't going to make it back in time for the sunset. So along the way back, I made him pull over into one of the beach front parks along the highway.

As we waited for the sun to sink into the ocean, my dad started noticing turtles! Surfing in the crashing water below us! SO many turtles. I have no clue how many there actually were, but I would have guessed 50-100, if not more. They were all along the surf against the rocky wall.

It was so hard to capture these little big guys. They had the perfect camouflage, almost the same color as the water, and their shells blended with the rocks around them.

Their heads, rumps, and flippers would pop out of the water as they surfed each wave, and it was nearly impossible to catch a picture of anything that looked like more than a rock.

And then the sun did its thing and sunk down below the horizon, and did it quite beautifully. 

God is good.