Hmm 20 New Years Resolutions?!?

1. Would love to go to church at least once or twice a month.
2. I want to loose 10 pounds! 
3. I want to finish reading the twilight series.
4. I want to make a baby :) Like really make one!! 
5. I want to live somewhere other than here.
6. I am going to recruit people to work for chris so he doesn't have to work so much.
7. I would love to become a better cook! 
8. I want to take a photography course or join Maui Camera Club.
9. I wish to pay all our debt off in 6 months?!? 
10. Sell the dang saturn!
11. Horseback ride at sunset in Maui.
12. See a dolphin.
13. Whale watching trip.
14. Camping on Lanai.
15. Go to Kauai.
16. Go to the Big Island.
17. Go to one more luau.
18. Get up early every day - instead of lazing around. Find more things to do.
19. Get my wedding album.
20. Be better at being just me and Chris. 

Letter to Santa.

So I wrote this letter to Santa (Dad) Christmas Eve and he responded in Bold and sent it back to me the next morning...

Dear Santa. 

I am not ready to stop writing letters to you just because I am married (GOOD FOR YOU!). So here it is.

Hmm What to say. WOW!! What a year. This year has been something in my life that I would never had imagined for myself. Living in Maui. Wierd. Ya know, you would have to shed several layers (I WOULDN'T BE THE SANTA YOU KNOW AND LOVE.) when you head out this way. I bet the presents would have little sweat drips on them coming from all that hear you carry on your face! hah.(ACTUALLY, I'M IN AND OUT OF THE HOT PLACES SO QUICKLY, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WORK UP A SWEAT.) Jk. But really! It's so hot right now, and the birds are chirping and the waves crashing. Christmas? Really? (ABSOLUTELY!  CHRISTMAS ISN'T BOUND TO COLD, QUIET AND DARK.) It sure doesn't feel like it....It's my first bizarre Christmas. Good for the fact that I am here with my Husband totally just soaking up each-others company. Totally selfish, and fun. (THIS MAKES SANTA VERY HAPPY.) Bad in the fact that were lonely. (I'M SORRY, SWEET GIRL.)  We miss our friends and family. (AND, THEY MISS YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND.) It's weird to have nowhere else to go and also that Chris has to work on Christmas. We have a pretty tree but it's nothing like a fresh cut mountain loved tree with gaps. (YOU'VE DONE A LOVELY JOB ON THE TREE.) We have cute stockings but no mantel. (WHILE A MANTEL IS NICE, GROWING UP - YOU DIDN'T ALWAYS HAVE A MANTEL EITHER.....NICE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT NECESSARY.) Thats about all the Christmas decor we have. Ok, So I shouldn't lose sight of what Christmas is all about, and I should realize that many people today can't even buy themselves a tree let alone food so Yes, we are grateful. (GOOD FOR YOU.  I KNEW YOU'D QUICKLY FIND THE BALANCE.)

Oh what to want for Christmas. Well I would love to know what the heck we are supposed to be doing this next year....hah Chris Im sure would love to know if this job is for him and if there are others out there that would allow him to support a family and be happy at the same time. I would love to know what we are supposed to do and where we are supposed to end up, cause then, we will be able to plan when to add a lil Evans into the equation. Hard part is not knowing. Totally just not knowing. Confusion too. (AS YOU KNOW, AS THE LORD SEES FIT AND AS YOU TWO CONTINUE TO LEAN ON HIM, HE WILL REVEAL YOUR "NEXT STEP" AT THE PERFECT MOMENT.) Tying to make everyone happy. (LIVE SO AS TO MAKE THE LORD HAPPY......THE REST TAKES CARE OF ITSELF.) You know what thats like. Except you can just put them on the naught list if you or others can't make them happy. Your whole goal is to make people happy. It seems like that is always what I am trying to do as well. It is exhausting. (YES IT IS.  YOUR FATHER STRUGGLED WITH THIS FOR YEARS. SMART FELLA BUT SOMETIMES - A SLOW LEARNER.) Then how do you know that after you give the good kids what they want for Christmas that they are then still totally happy and satisfied with your decision of gift that you gave them? Sorry, a little deep for a Santa letter? (NOT REALLY.  YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL SANTA ANYTHING.) Well anyway. Chris and I are happy where we are but we are not Satisfied. Something good will come along. God has brought us this far and taken care of us I am sure that his plan is what we have to rely on. (BINGO!) That will take patience. (And boy howdy am I NOT good at waiting!!!) So I guess I ask for Prayer for Patience for Chris and I. We also ask for prayer for any kind of signs that would make our future all the more clear like Chris getting a sales job offer somewhere else, or something like that -....? (ON THIS CHRISTMAS, I GIVE YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND WHAT YOU ASK.)Anyway. Guess we will be  waiting for you tonight as we will be sleeping under the Christmas tree. (FUN) You are so sneaky though we might miss ya. (BY NOW, YOU KNOW THAT YOU DID "MISS" ME.) So Happy holidays and Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to the most precious Baby Jesus ever. (AMEN) Thanks for always taking my letters Santa. (YOU'RE WELCOME AND, THEY BLESS ME SO.) Safe Travels! (THANK YOU.  RUDOLPH AND THE OTHERS ALWAYS TAKE SUCH GOOD CARE OF ME.)

Love Katherine Beth.  (LOVE TO YOU AS WELL.  SOMETHING THAT GOD, HIS SON AND YOUR FAMILY BELIEVE VERY, VERY STRONGLY - YOU ARE SPECIAL!!!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS, KATHERINE BETH.)

Fabulous WhirlWind!

Aww! Tigger the Reindeer! 

Love him to death!

Whats Christmas without PJs? 

Our Christmas Feast! 

Time, where have you gone? Oh Man, have we been busy. Chris and I have been working so much, and missing each-other often. He will work in the morning and I at night or visa-versa. We haven't had a day at the beach in like a month or more! That is so weird. Christmas Eve I was soo busy trying to get all these things done while Chris was at work. I had some home-made gifts to do and then needed to wrap everything. I felt I had dishes and laundry and standard clean-up that needed tending to. I also wanted to make Christmas sugar Cookies for our old neighbors and landlords. AHHH!!! hah...I just couldn't do it all...Yikes. I wasn't able to make the cookies and the house is definitely not flawless. The important things though, got accomplished! Ohhh so wonderful. Chris came home from work and we brought the mattress out into the living room, turned on our christmas tree lights and started watching our Christmas Movie. We had one gift to open from Santa (me). It was a Christmas Book called "Ke Ahiahi Mamua O Kalikimaka, Twas the Night before Christmas". It's So cute!! It has two pages in the beginning that tell you the traditional story of the Night before Christmas story, and then It tells you the same story in Hawaiian, Phrase by Phrase, Illustrated according to their culture. Chris loved it, and I do too! We went to bed and woke early to our neighbor cats talking to each-other quite loudly. We got up and started to open our stockings!!! YAY! Tigger got to open a stocking too! We had to put a reindeer hat on him, it was too cute! We opened our stockings and got some very fun, yummy and cool things. Then we still were not quite hungry so we opened presents! Chris and I got each-other jammies. We had blueberry muffins and OJ for breaky and then I made a Turkey Breast Roast with Corn and Rolls and Stuffing for a late lunch with Sparkling Cider. YUM! It turned out so well! I was excited! Then Chris went to work, which was too weird. So I didn't like the day much past that point except that I got to see the sunset, talk to my family and share a Shave Ice with Chris. So Weird, Christmas in Maui. I like it and I don't. For a once and a lifetime thing, hopefully, it was an experience and fun and happy. I love Chris and I couldn't imagine a better person to spend all these adventures with. I think tomorrow we might just be able to go to the beach! We will see.....Aloha!

Hudson.

Hudson and I after walking around! 

Playing with the reflective ornament. 

Hudson and Mama. 

Hudson and Dad. 

The Happy Family. 

So I have this cousin, and she has this baby. His name is Hudson. He was born in March of this year! I had the hardest time being away from Kierstin during the pregnancy, birth and Lil Hudson's grow up time. I had three dreams of me bawling because i had just met Hudson for the first time. I had constant updates when Kier went into the emergency room about every hour or so until the babes decided to Grace them with his presence. Ohhh I just wanted to be there to kiss his lil cheeks when I saw photos of him on facebook. Hudson was one of the two main reasons I can home to Washington for a visit in August. I wanted to meet him desperately. I wanted to hold him and make him smile. When I rang the doorbell at Kierstins place, oh I had so many feelings stirring up in my heart. She answered the door and had the man in her arms. He was flawless. Guess what? For some reason I didn't cry. I also didn't get to hold him. I asked a number of times and she said that if he were to fall apart it would take forever to get him calmed down. So that week flew by and I headed home without my Hudson lovin. I was kinda upset about it actually. The time flew by and next thing you know, Chris and I were on the plane headed home for an early Christmas visit. Attempt number two. I had planned a photo shoot with Kierstin, Dave and Hudson so I headed on over. Again I rang the doorbell. Dave answered and we exchanged greetings. A few seconds later Kierstin comes down the stairs, looking beautiful as ever and practically gives Hudson to me. Ahhhh I didn't even care that he was about to explode into tears, I had him for a split second and that was all I wanted. Hudson didn't take to me very well during the shoot but he did okay. We were able to get an 1hr and 1/2 in. Towards the end Dave had to go to work so we gave our hugs and said our goodbyes. Later that night Kierstin brought Hudson over to the house to hang out! I kinda tricked Hudson to semi-walk to me and he did! Then I kinda quickly turned him around and had him sit so he could see mama and yet be next to me. Then I grabbed a reflective ornament. Oh he loved it. I was talking to him and he was just so content in my arms chilling. I also was able to walk him around the house (holding his hands, but still). Oh I just have to say that was one of the highlights of my trip home. God knew, and he saved that blessing of time just for me. So that satisfied my Hudson need for the time being. Oh I just have so much Love in my heart for that little man because I have sooo much love for his Mama. Sometimes falling deep and quickly in love with people, friends and family can be a curse, but just often enough there are blessings, things to treasure up in our hearts. 

Home for the Holidays.

Peter, Chris, Caleb, Dad

Michael, Me, Ava, Marmie

Tyler, Me, Mom, Chris, Dad

Chris, Jake, Aaron, Caleb

Jenn, Sarah, Me, Brittney

Peter, Roy, Stephen, Chris, Caleb

Ava, Maghan, Molly, Sarah, Me, Bailey

My Best Friend. Marmie.

Oh wow, what a joyous time we had visiting friends and family! Defiantly didn't feel like much of a RESTFUL vacation, hah, but it was so fun. Chris was constantly with his guys when i was with my girls or with Marmie. We were able to celebrate 2 beautiful christmas celebrations with the Adelstein side. One was with Aunt Vicki and Midge and Kelsey and Grandma and Grandpa and the other was with just our immediate family. Brrrr was it chilly! hah Chris and I had 6 quilts in bellingham! Oh man, we were reminded of how we miss and love our family and friends so dearly. Constant laughter and just ahh home. We also had a wonderful time in Colorado with the Evans side also! A christmas with them in their new home. We had several nice meals and spent a lot of time out of the house. We did some shopping! Ahh SHOPS! You forget how much there is when you are stranded on an island for a year! hah. We ended up getting a part for my mac fixed for free which was cool, and spent some gift card money! Mom took us to the Denver Mint. Thats where they make all the coins for the West side of the States. It was really neat to learn about. We also went to see the Air Forces religious area. What an amazing building! Oh and we went to Whits End! We both grew up listening to Adventures in Odyssey from Focus on the Family and it's all held in Colorado Springs, CO! Anyway. We had a fabulous time at home, although it went way too fast, it was so good. We were sorry we couldn't see everyone but such is life when you only have 4 days here and 3 days there. Merry Christmas!!!

Missing my Mister Cuddle Bug!

Ahh, I so feel like a mom (ish). I had the hardest time leaving Tigger at home, even though I know that he will be taken care of..10 days is the longest we will be away from him. He is my baby. I am completely attached. I know vacation hasn't even started but I will be glad to be back with him again! Shocker since his parting gift was attacking me out the door, i have scars to prove it! Gotta love em.

Girlfriends!

It was dark so I kinda aged the photo!

She is so cute!

First, SOO Love Mrs. Langley. She is the sweetest, most feisty, generous lady. When I began to attend Silver Beach as Chris' Girlfriend, Joyce made a point to come up to me, after the service, and introduce herself. After that, we would see one-another at Church events and or Lynden Bender Fields for baseball and playing at their lake house. After Chris and I were married about 5 months we began our dream of moving to Maui. We were informed that Dave and Joyce have had a condo there since the 70's. So we made a date to specifically chat about our ideas and pick their brains. They informed us of a couple who rents out like  three places and gave us their number. I called and voiced our interest - and there ya go..in October we get a call saying we have a place to stay for a month if we want. We ended up staying at that restored garage for 6ish months! (massive side track but I thought I would give a little history!)
So the other day, Joyce called me up to go to the other side with her cause she needed to get some pumpkin pies! Oh I was so grateful for this offer. We had the sweetest chats in the car, we had fun at costco and then she said she was taking me out for lunch! We went to Buzz's Warf in Maalaea Harbor. We had a window seat, it was beautiful and had great food. It was so easy to talk to her. There was no judgement, no point the finger teachings, just pure fun and girl time. Ahh I loved my time with her. I have always loved the "Grandma" type, so wise and tenderhearted. Anyway. I just thought I would share this because it was such a huge blessing to me. I have had great need for girl time that is not just over emails or over the phone. Thank you Lord.

Surfer Girl

So ever since Chris and I came to Maui I know I wanted to learn to surf, but there was always something holding me back. I saw a surfing movie where a girl my age got taken by the wave and her head got smacked on the reef. I have already hit my head hard in a car accident and have been told if I do it again I might not come out of it. These are doctors words you don't tend to forget. So with biking and snowboarding you can wear a helmet and not look completely stupid, with surfing - thats just something you don't do. So eleven months into living here and I get offered to be taught to surf with a gal who works by me. So I grit my teeth and push aside the butterflies in my tummy and say yes. The night before I could barley sleep, I was so nervous. I even dreamt about surfing! So I met lisa at a cafe. We got to the beach and she began to show me the ropes and inform me on technique. Here goes.
We get in the water and begin to paddel towards the waves. The water was the perfect temperature. Trying so hard to keep myself grounded on the board I get beside Lisa and hold onto every word of her thick austrailian accent. She tells me to start paddeling and I feel like I am wobbling, flailling my arms, basically just making a splash towards the shore - the wave comes, and I biff it. Ok I can do this. "That wasn't so bad," I think to myself.  I paddel back out to her and prepare myself for another wave. "Staat Paddelin," I hear her say. I have better balence this time and try to paddel straight ahead putting strength into each stroak. The wave comes and I felt litterally swept off my feet. I was flying. It was just me and the water and my head never felt so clear. No worry in the world. No Fear. The wave carried me so far. That time i just rode it on my belly but it was fabulous. Paddled back again. Another wave was coming I got up on my knees and then biffed. Tried another and I got up! Completly balanced and riding the wave, I got up one more time and then it was pretty lame after that. Wow what an experience. I don't think I will take on anything bigger than what I did that day but will for sure be going again.

Polo Tournament

When I hear Polo Tournament I think hmm..."Pretty Lady" Ya know, dressed up in classic 50's style dresses, polka dots, beautiful large hats with a possible ribbon attached. I think of the men dressed in "Polo" shirts with slacks and nice shoes, cleanly shaven and smelling fresh ready to place bets on who will win anxiously paying attention because their money is at stake.  So here I am in Maui where several wealthy people reside, and I am invited to a Polo Tournament.  So I put on my jewelry, my semi-dressy grey and white stripped skirt and a white tank with my "grandma sweater" (as chris calls it).  I have done my hair especially nice and put on make-up all to try and fit into the "Classy" scene and am now ready to go.  Dave and Joyce pick me up and take me upcountry which is where the event takes place. As we start to turn into the driveway I notice several things that are nothing like the Polo Tournament I imagined. I see Cowboy boots all over, greasy messed up hair and sweat with jeans and tanks all of which I normally fit in with just fine!  All that fuss for nothing! No one was prissy - it was just like a family pot-luck of strangers! Everyone brought their camping/beach chairs to set up to watch the match.  Kids were running all over the place coming in and out of the main covered area for food.  Random people were walking around with a plate of cookies to pass out. There were women working together to make leis for the winners of the match. It was literally like a family gathering - everyone was so nice and welcoming! Such a different side of Maui to see! So the Match would start and then for some reason (I don't really know the rules of the game) the players would stop for what seemed to be 5-10 minutes at a time.  This amount of time is what the announcer would call 1 hawaiian minute (hah!). To start this waiting time off the announcer gave all the people in the covered area a whistle - and when he said "And there was a whistle!" everyone was to blow it! Very family friendly and very fun! The horses were exquisite and the game was intriguing to me! I have always wanted a horse and or to be a rancher so I just about had my jaw dropped the whole time watching this event! This lasted about 2 1/2 hours! So much fun and just such a different outlook on the game! We got back to Lahaina and went out to dinner with Chris cause he was off work! What an experience!

You see the table of food? Everyone just hanging out!

The announcer.

Dave with his whistle.

The BEAUTIFUL Leis.

Just the Photographer and the Rancher in me Loved this.

Oahu (White) 7-2 Maui (Blue)

EGGNOG HAS DECIDED TO GRACE MAUI WITH ITS PRESENCE!!

Yeah for my Eggnog 1 and 1/2 shot cut with non-fat 1/2 pump caramel latte!!! Even better, I had to go to the grocery store for some things not expecting it till the 17th and I just decided to check it maybe it is there yet and It WAS! One of my favorite ways to have it is by myself while shopping at the grocery store, so therputic! Love it. That just made my day. Now I am off to go to a polo tournament with Dave and Joyce Langley and going to have dessert with the Booklands tonight later on! What a fantastic day, Thank you for that Lord.

Eeeek Nervous!

So my little man, Tigger is at the Vet right now...the house is so quiet and I just don't know what to do with myself! He is healthy but it was time to get him neutered. I experienced the nervousness of a parent this morning not knowing what all was going to go down with his first Dr. Appt and all. I have been told that they are different after neutering....I don't like that part of it very much. What if he is a lame tired all the time, no fun cat? What if he is psycho crazy mad at Mom and Dad, I'll never be nice to you again cat? Ha I am sure that he will be just Tigger with the perfect amount of crazies and lovies that he had before! I wouldn't mind if he bit a little less! Anyway, I am just pacing and uneasy as we wait to pick lil druggy up from the vet. Poor Guy!

FABULOUS FALL

I am missing my first fall ever here in Maui, granted there are leaves falling to the ground and it's getting cooler (in the 70's), but I am still missing my Fall.  It is my favorite season getting all bundled, walking in the colorful parks and sipping on hot cider.  Since I cannot do any of that, I bake! When Christian and Nicole were here, for their last night Nicole and I made a Pumpkin Pie. Yummy! It turned out perfectly delicious! After they left, just in time for Halloween, I made my moms sugar cookies in shapes of Leaves and pumpkins and acorns, with home-made Orange frosting (would have done more colors but I didn't want to add to the dish pile...)!  Anyway, those would be two of my "Things" that would make it truly my Fall.  The other wonderful parts of this beautiful season I will just enjoy so much more as I get to have it again someday!

Only Us...Only Now...

Oh Geese....Today Chris and I went to the Post Office to send Tyler his birthday gift! Distracted before leaving the car we realized we locked our only key in the car. "Oh Crap....Well lets call Bill! Hon you have your phone?" ""There is my phone" (Says Chris pointing on the window to the inside of the car) And of course my phone was in there too...So we walk up to Ace Hardware looking for a Silm Jim.   Supposedly Slim Jims are illegal...So we walk up the LahainaLuna Hill to Bills house. Sweaty and cranky we arrive at his house asking to use his phone and phone-book.  Ahh now we have 20 minutes to walk back down and wait for the lock-smith to arrive at our car. The guy came and had our doors unlocked in like 30seconds. $68 Smackeroos for 30 seconds of HARD LABOR. Come on really?? Anyway - we had him make a 5 dollar hide-a-key for the door and headed for Home. Ahh What a day in the life of the Evans.

Christian and Nicole Visit!

It was soo great to have some visitors this month, not only visitors but house guests! Christian and Nicole (Brother and Sister from our Church Back Home) decided to have a vacation before going off to college and such, and picked Maui as their destination! We had a grand ole' time showing them our state, crashing pools, wading in the salty Ocean, snorkeling, shopping and just hanging at home!! 8 days trapped in a small home with not much sleep and a lot of sun and no alone time did wear on us a tad, but with a few tiffs aside we all got along really well!  I hope they had just a fabulous time staying with us - I know we enjoyed their company! Now it is back to reality as we were ourselves acting as if on vacation.