places we've been in 2010.

Happy New Year's Eve! One of our annual holiday traditions is to sit back and reflect on everything we did and accomplished throughout the year. It's often easy to focus on what you didn't get done, didn't do or achieve, so we find this little ritual really rewarding. 

We have a notebook and write everything down... vacations, promotions, personal wins - paying off credit cards, learning new skills, cooking more, etc. Nothing is too big or small. I encourage you to try it this year. I guarantee you did and accomplished more than you think. Talking about it and seeing it all in writing helps end the year on a high note and leaves us inspired to do even more next year. 

Because the blog is our family's little online diary, I decided to visually recap the places we've been in 2010. 

 

 

 

 

...and we're currently in southern california for the last couple weeks of december...

maui.

some memories, inside jokes & photos from our recent trip to maui.

it's aloha friday. 

you don't come to maui for the food. 

(we had a heck of a time trying to find tasty meals). 

beep, beep who's got the keys to the orange jeep?

jawz taco truck for fish tacos and burritos. 

it's always windy in wailea... 

...it's always sunny in lahina. 

the hunt for the perfect cheesy hawaii souvenirs for the kids... 
a shark tooth for huntie & flower puka shell necklace for syd.

hawaiian shaved ice. 

bikini blonde lager beer. 

rum drizzles on pina coladas.

secret beach.

waterfall hike in tevas & keens. 

cruising the road to hana & the bumpy back way thru mars. 

getting lost on the way to dinner every night.
lots of reading, snorkeling and swimming.
boom.

overall, it was a really great, super relaxing trip.
a great way to celebrate my 27th & our 1st wedding anniversary.

{quick stop during our road to hana day}

{our favorite lunch spot}

{birthday lunch... fish tacos & shrimp quesadilla}

{view from the "queens bed" at our hotel pool}

{pina coladas at the grand wailea beach}

{my birthday. finally got to read a new book}

{early morning before our catamaran to molakini for snorkeling}

{danny's masterpiece on secret beach}

{danny ting the snorkel king}

{our pool at hotel wailea. loved}

{the giant japanese-style spa overlooking the ocean}

{love the disco balls in the hut - ready for a beach party}

{a patio with a view. that horseshoe island is molakini}

{decided to take the road less traveled home from hana. mars.}

{huntie modeling his maui souvenir - a shark tooth necklace}

...more photos in the slideshow...

(roll over the top black area to speed up the slideshow, play, pause, etc.)

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

hau'oli lā hānau.

....that's Hawaiian for Happy Birthday. Yup, today I start my 27th year. This past year will be a tough one to beat but I'm ready for the challenge! Celebrating with my hubby in Hawaii is a pretty damn good way to start.

My wish list for the day is beach time, tropical cocktails, fish tacos for lunch & sushi for dinner. Have a happy Labor Day weekend!

{few photos from yesterday's Road to Hana adventure}

aloha.

Well, I'm glad we hung-up on the airlines when we were about to cancel our flights last night because.... we're saying aloha!

Syd's AIHA prodedure went great, everyone at the office was playing with her and her spunky self is shining through! Grandpa Schramm (my dad) has arrived to watch the grandpigs around-the-clock while we're gone and we can leave knowing that Huntie and Syd are in the best possible hands while we're away. A thousand thanks Dad for flying out to be with the kids - means a lot!  Grandpa's here! Grandpa's here! Check out Syd's purple camo wrap! 

So.... we're off to Maui to celebrate Our First Wedding Anniversary and my 27th Birthday! 

We spent our honeymoon exploring Europe so we decided to shift gears and do something easy, relaxing and tropical for our first anniversary. It's been a busy few months and we really don't have anything planned and we're thrilled to just go with the flow and relax in Wailea. We're hoping to get in lots of snorkeling, exploring in the Jeep, hiking (ummm, D bought me these hiking water shoes. jealous?) and catching up over lots of fruity, tropical cocktails with umbrellas in them.

...aloha...

our home for the next week