Transition

This week is a transition for me. A definite leaving behind of the old and getting ready to embrace the new.
-I have exactely one week left at my job. I've been here for the past 2.5 years, which is certainly the longest time I've ever stayed at a job. It'll be odd leaving it behind.
-I'm trying to finish up my Master's Module and get ready for a season of no school. Well, no formal school. I'll be learning plenty from the babe once she's here. :)
-Changing the house around. Turning the guest/craft/office room into HER room. Getting the living room kid friendly with no loose wires anywhere, and plenty of soft blankets and toys for her play with.
-My pregnancy has suddenly gone from easy to "Are you kidding me? Get this thing outta me."
-And slowly, our January weather is changing from summer to fall. Finally. Well, at least it got here, however late.

Like I said in my last post, time is certainly elusive at moments. But I think that's just part of her mystique. While seemingly random and haphazard at times, she's the model of consistancy. So, I'll just take this time and try to make the most of it before my life is REALLY changed.

Around 6 weeks to go.

Time

Oh, time. You're so elusive. I apparently get to spend 24 hours with you every day, but I'm pretty sure you've been skimping out on me the past couple weeks. I still have piles of dirty laundry to wash, clean laundry to fold, christmas presents that need a home, and a very messy room that is supposed to hold the babe in less than 50 days (oy.). Oh time, where have you gone....

Now, I'm sure that this lack of time has NOTHING to do with the fact that Jon and I just watched 'Long Way Round' and 'Long Way Down', in their entirety, in just one week. I mean, that's just a coincedence. Ahem.



But honestly, 10 episodes of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman travelling from London to NYC, on motorcycles, across 8 countries, including areas like Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Siberia...I mean, that's just pure entertainment. What could be better? Oh wait...



Ewan and Charlie travelling from John O'Groats to Cape Town, that's what. I mean, the tip of Ireland to the tip of South Africa, with another 16 countries thrown in the middle? Oh man, it's like this was made for Jon and I. And can I just say, I've always wanted to go to Africa because, well, it's there. But there were few countries that really held my interest, and most of them were in North Africa (Morroco, Egypt...). But now? I can not WAIT to go to Uganda and Rwhanda. You hear all these horrible things about them; they're famous for completly the wrong reasons. But then you see them and they're phenomenal. Oh Africa, how you're calling.

But in the meantime, well, I'll satisfy myself with the books of the account (obsessed much?) and will use every candle I blow out to wish that they do a trip through South America (oh please, oh please, oh please). Does telling ya'll that negate the wish? Hope not.

Mele Kalikimaka

Could it be? An actual blog post on a vacation! Surely you jest! Well, it seems the impossible has happened. This isn't the whole trip, I've actually skipped over my favorite section of the trip (but fully plan on posting about it...), but this is better than, well, I've ever done. Jon and I had a blast on our trip. It was so nice getting away from it all and we will fondly remember this trip. I hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas as well...and are ready for a new, shiny year. 2009! Wow!



Sunset at my favorite beach.


Chillaxin'


This awesome country store in the ranch land where they have elk burgers. Yum!



Just enjoying ourselves...


Sorry for the blur, but it's far away, nightime, and raining cats and dogs. But still, it's lava and that's just cool.


Surfboard fence. Um, that's awesome.


Crazy road.


Looking into the Haleakala Crater.


At Julia's Roadside Stand, home of the the best banana bread on the planet. And a cool dog.



Painted Eucalyptus. They're soooo beautiful.


Nice view on the crazy road to Hana.


At Laulima Farms, coolest smoothie shop on the planet. Yes, that is a bicycle powered blender. I know, amazing.



Enjoying the fruits of our labor. Ummm, so good.


A smaller waterfall on the way to the bigger waterfall. But it's still lovely.



Bamboo Forest. So peaceful.



Enjoying the stream and waterfall after our hike (why did I hike?)



I totally am in love with Banyan Trees...


The perfect way to end a day. And a blog post.

Cocoa, quilts, and a bit of rain.

I love winter. I love cuddling up in front of the fireplace with a cup of cocoa, covered in quilts while a snow storms blows outside creating a wonderland. Granted, I don't have a fireplace, and there's certainly no snowstorm...heck, not even snow. So for now, the rain will have to substitute for the snow (at least we finally have rain!), quilts, and that cup of hot cocoa. Or maybe, a Starbucks Gingersnap Latte. Oh my.

Well, this was going to be a fun Christmas post with lots of pictures of all we've been up to, but our computer that has all the photos is wigging out, so you'll just have to do without. But it'll still be fun.

Jon and I did our Christmas tonight and it was so fun! We just got small gifts, so I got him a couple Jeremy Camp CD's, and he got me some Starbucks mugs I've been wanting, a gift card to there as well, and "The Tales of Beetle the Bard", hooray! After that we read through all the things in our Thankful Jar. It was wonderful! We had so much fun reading through them and seeing all the things God's blessed us with. And it was fun to see when ours coincided. It's DEFINITELY going to be a Christmas tradition...and will perhaps resurface outside of the holiday season.

So, now it's time for some holiday knitting and a bit of relaxing. And perhaps that cup of hot cocoa. So, you guys all ready for Christmas?

Team Edward?

I was just talking to Parker about Twilight. He was making fun of the movie and I tried to defend it by saying, "Come on Parker, you don't even know what the movie's about!"

His response? "Everybody that's seen the preview knows what it's about. It's about gay vampires pretending to be straight!"

Well, that's one theory...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Well, it's officially Christmas time. It's past Thanksgiving, it's December, and rumor on the street is that Parker even called it. So yes, it's Christmas.

So, now that we're in the holiday season...how the heck did we get here? Did the year fly by for anyone else or was that just me. I can't believe it's December. Oy.

My goal this year is for Jon and I to do something holiday-ish every day leading up to Christmas. Yesterday we started off with a bang and went to the mall where they have the Festival of Trees. Now people, this is something that's actually cool at our mall. I know, shocker. Anyway, various business and groups from around town put together decorated Christmas Trees with gifts galore and you can buy raffle tickets to win them. One tree has a huge flat screen, and another has a laptop, Wii, and Playstation 360. There are about 25 or 30 trees there with every theme imaginable. Yeah, totally sweet gifts for $1 tickets. It's so fun to see all the decorations and imagine winning some totally awesome prizes. It's on until Decmember 13th, so go check it out!

Tonight I have a fun surpise planned for Jon and I for Christmas goodness, but more on that later. We actually did the same thing last year, so I think it'll be the start to the Christmas season each year. Technically, we should've done that yesterday, but we had Heroes, and that took priority. :)

Yesterday as I was praying during my quiet time God was laying thankfullness on my heart. We have so much to be thankful for and I think I tend to ignore it, or just take it for granted. I don't want to be an ungrateful person, so I decided a Holiday Thankfullness Jar would do the trick. Every night, Jon and I are writing down something we're thankful for, and dropping it in the jar. Then, on Christmas we'll read them all and be able to look back on all God has blessed us with. I'm pretty excited about this, and definitely see it becoming part of our Christmas Tradition.

So, with that in mind, two questions?
1: What holiday traditions do you and your loved ones have to celebrate the season?
2: What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love, family, food, blessings, and more food.