2016. It’s been a year. As a country, it’s been a roller coaster. For many of my friends and family, the year has had moments of joy, frustrations, loss, and disappointment. But then again, isn’t that life?

As I sit and reflect about the year that is quickly coming to a close, I've had all of the above. But I'd like to think that ultimately the highs outweighed the lows.  Robb and I shared Hawaii with one of our daughters and 6 of our grandchildren in February. Our 10th grandchild was born during the summer.

Robb and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, and we took our first cruise to Alaska, which has given us the traveling bug. To continue our celebration, we are taking our first trek to Italy in May.

I picked up my writing again in June and entered the Pitch Wars contest in early August. After being selected, I spent the rest of the fall editing and am currently finding a home for my novel, Derailed. I’ve started my next book in the Kelly Pruett series and I’m training for a 130-mile team relay in August 2017. Robb aspires to compete in Lava Man in Hawaii, a miniature version of Iron Man. And we are both determined that next year we will golf more, laugh more, work less, spend more time with family, and travel more. And for me – always write more!

I think it’s easy to see what didn’t go right in life. Things that didn’t go as quickly as we hoped, or turn out how we planned. But I think it’s far more important to celebrate all that went right. If the law of attraction has any merit, and I think it does, focusing on the positive will only bring more positive. So I choose to hang out in the good vibes place as long as I can.

So thank you 2016 for a wonderful ride and here’s to 2017. A year of dreams come true, love, and peace for all of us. Cheers and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year!

My question for you:  What is all that went right for you in 2016?

P.S. Here are some highlights of my year and of course Ms. Bella!

hawaii-family-pic

baby

pw

bella-in-frost