The Best of 2016

2016 was a whirlwind. We traveled, made a baby and sadly, said goodbye to Apollo. Here are our top 10 moments of 2016 in no particular order (except for #1).

Elijah
We have a kid on the way. Crazy. March 2nd is the date. Will he arrive early or late?

Apollo
After 8 years of awesome companionship, we sadly had to say goodbye to the best dog ever. It's amazing how much a dog (or any pet) can become such a part of your family, but when we sit back and think about all of the happy, proud, and hilarious moments we shared, it makes sense he was included in all of our family photos. Although the house is a bit cleaner now, we miss him every day.

Aloha, Hawaii
We took the longest plane ride of our lives to get to the beautiful islands of Hawaii but it was well worth it. We spent the majority of our time in Oahu but also gave the Big Island a visit for a day. We relaxed, luau'd, and enjoyed Hawaii's rich history and incredible weather!

San Diego
Jeremy surprised Asha with a tip to San Diego for her 30th birthday. We whale watched, relaxed on La Jolla beach, visited San Diego Zoo and ate our faces off. San Diego is definitely our kind of city.

Keep Pounding
Every now and then you just get lucky. This past summer, Jeremy won a social media contest to be a "Panther for a Day." The contest was presented by Miller Lite and the Carolina Panthers gave him VIP access at 2 days of training camp. Autographs, pictures, suite life, and lots of swag made for a memorable summer for Jeremy and his favorite NFL team. (Too bad the season didn't go as planned, but it's all good, we'll be back in 2017.)

Johnnyswim
Asha randomly bought tickets to a show one Friday night and it ended up being our new favorite musicians of 2016! A husband/wife duo won us over with their sweet melodies and similar personalities to us. We're pretty sure we would be friends with them.

Guts. Glory. Ram.
Pretty much every boy loves trucks. Including Jeremy. After searching and searching, he finally found the right truck (for the right price) - 2012 Ram 1500. If it's good enough for Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen, then it's good enough for Jeremy.

Race Series
Asha completed a 22-mile race series throughout the year, all while pregnant. Beast mode!

National Parks
We had the pleasure of visiting two more National Parks this year. Joshua Tree wow'd us with it's large rocks and desert features. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park had us ooing and ahhing over the fire that was ready to erupt below.

Kualoa Ranch
Who wouldn't want to visit the movie site of Jurassic Park (among many others)?! Kualoa Ranch in Oahu, Hawaii was our favorite spot. We had a thrilling ride through the ranch on ATV's which made the experience like no other. We'll never forget the wild boars crossing our way, Asha almost flipping over and the beautiful views of the ocean below.

Cheers to a new year!

All I Want For Christmas Is My Living Room Floor Back

I failed. [insert ugly cry here]

I failed to have our hardwood floors installed by Christmas like I had planned. In case you need reminding, we had a flooding issue back in July and have been living with a huge chunk of our living room carpet missing since then. Mama Bear is ready for some new floors.

Despite our limited space, we were determined to bring some Christmas jolly to the room regardless. We moved our regular Christmas tree spot from our living room to our kitchen. It wasn't the most convenient of places, but it worked. We turned up the Christmas jams and began decorating, reflecting on this year's ornaments of special travel memories and moments.

The perfect ornament for my pregnancy thus far

New App ornament because why not?

Our memory of our visit to Pearl Harbor.

Our visit to Joshua Tree National Park is one we won't forget! Spontaneous and well worth the trip.

Mele Kalikimaka! Our ATV ride at Kualoa Ranch was our favorite visit when in Hawaii.

From our whale watching adventure in San Diego this March.

Our baby, Apollo. Love him so much.

Our visit to the San Diego Zoo!

I will never forget visiting the Dole Plantation in Hawaii. The pineapple soft serve was AMAZING!

San Diego momento

Our first Hawaiian adventure was turtle sighting around the island.

This is from our island hop to Hilo at the Big Island. Made of Hawaiian straw and shells.

ALOHA! We can't forget how our most memorable tour guide said this so often.

We won't forget the time we saw Pele brewing at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Christmas Eve quickly approached as Jeremy and I prepped for a meal fit for kings and queens. We made a bragging rights meal of ribs, collards, mac and cheese, and sweet potato casserole that filled our bellies as we watched the last home game of the season, Panthers vs. Falcons. We opened gifts with Jeremy's family and headed to church where we were reminded that Jesus is the reason for the season!

Sleep came easy and Christmas Day was finally here. We celebrated quietly, just the two of us, as I'm sure next year will be a little more hectic with a little one.

Later that afternoon, we headed to my sister's house with my parents, presents and more food in tow. Keegan had a blast opening his gifts and playing football with Jeremy as we enjoyed a surprise visit from my aunts and uncles for Christmas dinner.

We are both stuffed, happy and grateful for the blessings given to us this year. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!