Hiking 2016 - Burnt

One of my goals for 2016 is to hike more. This is a personal goal as well as a family goal, and so far, it's going well. We went for a hike yesterday. The kids had never been up Burnt Mt., which is one of my favorite hikes. It's kind of long, but it is beautiful and very remote.

It was an absolutely perfect day for hiking. We took our time and took lots of water and snack breaks. Everyone had a good time. We met a few people on the trail, but we had the top to ourselves. We spent a lot of time up there, taking in the view and enjoying a nice, cool breeze.

In total we hiked 5.5 miles. It's the longest the kids have hiked, and they were very proud of their effort. We had a nice conversation about perseverance and indomitable spirit (thank you TKD). These are the best family moments. There were also moments of grumpy attitudes, but I expect that when they're challenging themselves. By the end, we had all fallen at least once and were hurting, tired, and hungry. Everyone tried their best to stay positive, and we had a great day on the mountain.

Positive, Fun Resolutions

First snowshoe of the season!!

Winter is quickly becoming my favorite season, and it's mainly because of snowshoeing. I've been waiting impatiently for snow this year. I want to snowshoe a lot this winter. I think I only went twice last year because it was so cold. Here's hoping we have a lot of the white stuff and temps above 0 this year!

2016 has started well. Yesterday, I got up early for a walk with two of my favorite people, and we spent the morning sledding with all the kiddos. It was such a fun day. This morning was an early morning snowshoe and some more sledding later on.

I decided to set some resolutions this year, but I wanted them to be positive and fun.

• get passports for the whole family
• hike Camel's Hump with Andy
• finish my next book
• simplify my work life
• read at least 1 book/month
• more cooking/family dinners
• go somewhere new

This list makes me excited for 2016.

Last Day of 2015

Last day of 2015
2015 wasn't a bad year. It wasn't a great year. I feel like it was a transition year, which is not a very comfortable thing.

Things have been changing, and I see more changes coming in the future. I've done a season at my new job, and I can see where I need to cut back. This year has been a level of busy that I don't want to repeat. It was too much, and I want more time to spend with my family and just relax. Calmer in 2016. This is my constant goal. I know we'll still be busy, but I know I can make it a little less hectic.

I also feel like my writing "career" has taken the most miniscule step forward this year. Super tiny change, yet it feels like the biggest. I have a lot of writing plans for 2016. One is to finish editing my next book and send it out into the world. Really excited about it. This one has been in the works for quite a while - in one form or another.

I want to get back into training and running in 2016. I've got a couple race goals, a couple TKD goals, and lots of hiking and lifting goals. I want to be as active as I used to be, and I want to try new things.

Change is good, and it is constant. Looking forward to a whole year of new experiences.