December 30, 2013, 11:28 CAT, Navarre, Florida, USA

This will be the first New Year’s I have ever spent out of state. I have lived in Arkansas my whole life, and although I have traveled quite a bit, I have never been out of state on New Year’s.  I have always wanted to be, and I have spent one Christmas in South Carolina, but not New Year’s.  That was one of the reason for this trip.  It is meant to be yet another check off the Bucket List, and I have many more checks to make after this one.

I do not want to rush this vacation, but tomorrow night I also plan to reveal my husband’s 50th birthday surprise Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona!  I bought it several months ago, and somehow I was able to hide the tickets in our checkbook register so that he would never know!  I’m not positive how I managed to do it, but I did it. So, I have waited several months and have it all set for tomorrow night at midnight.

I brought a small lantern, as the beach is dark. I have a book on Mediterranean cruising that I wrapped before we left the house. Unbeknownst to him, it has been on our bookshelf at home to several weeks. I also have a French card, as one of the stops on our cruise is Marseille, France, a place he traveled during his time in the Navy in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Finding this trip was not easy. I had to make sure he would be on the boat on his birthday, and I had to make sure the we went to Marseille. There were only like 3 cruises that met those criteria, and I picked this one because of the other ports it went to, as well. I can hardly wait to reveal the surprise!!

On our first New Year’s together, we were alone, as the girls were at their mom’s hour and my son was at his dad’s. This time, our youngest and only still-at-home daughter, 17, is with us.  I’m not sure if I want h to be there for the surprise or not, but I plan to tell her about it tomorrow afternoon so that she can help with it. I am so excited!

We are having a really good time so far. I hope 2014 is fabulous!  It will be the first year I am a lawyer from Jan 1 on, and changes are coming at work that I believe will make it an even Bette  place to be. I hope so.

As the sun sets tomorrow night, think about a lonely stretch of pure white beach sand, a lantern, and a surprise reveal on a long-awaited journey. My best to you all for a wonderful 2014!