Happy New Year the 2018 edition!

Happy New Year y'all!  I don't know about you, but personally, I was kinda glad to see 2017 end. In my immediate life, things weren't all that bad, but it was a rocky year at large. Looking ahead I wonder where this year will lead.

I don't really do "resolutions". Instead, I make plans. Do you have plans for this year yet?  I do. Some large, some small, and knowing myself, most won't come to fruition. Am I lazy or am I just so laid back that I realize it is all small stuff...and I don't sweat the small stuff. My first plan was to end the old year and ring in the new with local hikes. Nixed. Two very good reasons why.

One:

 And to be honest, I've hiked in weather this cold and even backpacked. I've got the gear and know how to keep myself pretty warm.

But as luck would have it I ended 2017 and began 2018 with a touch of a stomach bug. Just about the time I think "Whew, that's over..." then I run back to leave tribute to porcelain god. I hope I'm tributed out... and glad I wasn't out on a trail either day. I'd have a frost bitten hiney for sure.

So, yeah, I didn't make my first goal of 2018, but I'm okay with that. I just hope I can get this over with today. We go back to work tomorrow...lucky us. Too cold to take the kiddos outside, we've been off for two weeks AND we have a full moon tonight. Yay me.

The nonexistent hike from today is part of a grand plan for this spring. I decided back in the fall that I wanted to do two things this year: 1) backpack during spring break and 2) walk the Derby mini marathon. The hike today was my to begin my prepping for the mini.

Uh oh. I hope this stomach bug isn't an omen for the new year. I really don't need a shitty year that's for sure because I have some cool things planned so far. Between now and April I need to really work on training for my backpacking trip. I'm planning about 5 days somewhere on the Appalachian Trail. Where?  I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking either back to Springer Mountain or jump up the trail to Virginia and hike the section with wild ponies through Grayson Highlands. Decisions, decisions. At the end of April I have the mini marathon. 13.1 miles through the Louisville area. 

In June one of my oldest friends and I are crossing a bucket list trip off. We're  headed to Prince Edward Island to visit the place that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to write her Anne of Green Gables stories. 

After that I don't know what I'll be getting into yet. I started working on a quilt last January with my mother.  That still isn't finished. I had a nasty bout of tendinitis back in the spring and summer that I am still recovering from. Carpal tunnel as well and fingers just don't have the dexterity they need to handle a needle for hand piecing/hand quilting. I did manage to make a machine pieced/machine quilted for a friend's first child. I'm also toying with the idea of crocheting a temperature afghan. Heard of those?  Basically you crotchet or knit a row or three every day and the color yarn you use depends on the day's temperature.

What do you have planned for 2018?  Are you going to go somewhere new?  Learning something new or just keep on plodding along steadily?

No, I'm not dead.

Hi y'all!  It's been a while. Things have gotten kinda crazy the last few years in my personal life. What crazy person decides to go back to school for a Master's while working 50+hrs per week?  Me that's who. I'm not going to go back and cover the last couple of years...I'm too lazy at this point to do so, but I'll try to give you a quick recap

Th biggest news in 2017 was that I graduated with my Master's in Early Childhood Education. Hallelujah! Praise Cheesus that is OVER!  You'd think I'd get a nice hefty pay raise but nope. Nada. So why did I do it?  Simply put it helps me be a better teacher. I learned a lot. And being in school, while hard, was also very satisfying.

So what have I been doing since I graduate? I so wish I could list the grand ways I've been using all my newly found extra time but:

I did have some adventures this year. I spent Derby in Florida with an old friend.Yes, we wore Derby hats and went to a Derby party. FYI...Derby parties outside of Louisville aren't really Derby parties. Maybe if they are held by someone from Kentucky or interested in horse racing...but not by a civic group. Who in their right mind has a party with no non-alcoholic drinks?  Mmmhmmm. I don't mind a drink or two, but not when I'm the DD. Apparently at this civic group's Derby party DD's were supposed to be dehydrated instead of drunk and we had to pull out the bitch card to get a soda from the premium pay bar mixer section. Crazy. But on that trip I also got to go to a little town called Tarpon Springs. They're well known for their Greek heritage (read tons of yummy food) and their sponge docks:

It was pretty cool for this landlocked country girl to see the sponge boats. Also picked up a nifty barnacle arrangement to use for decorating my bathroom:

The highlight of 2017 happened in June. After a couple years of nagging, I finally convinced my father to start looking at knocking things off his bucket list. Visiting the Holy Lands is at the top, but not to be rude, is not a place I really have any desire to visit. Next up on that list was an Alaskan Cruise. All I can say is wow. Let me give you a picture tour:

We boarded our cruise boat in Vancouver, BC:

If you haven't been to Vancouver, you REALLY need to go. This city is AMAZING and I am not a city girl!  I NEED to get into those mountains across the bay and explore this beautiful countryside.

1st Port: Ketchikan

You know all those Alaskan programs on cable that show the magnificent countryside?  Yeah, the wild areas are that pretty...the populated areas, not so much. Very poor, very derelict with rusting vehicles and broken junk in yards and abandoned along the roads. Very reminiscent of what most people think Eastern Kentucky looks like. The highlight of Ketchikan was the visit to the Saxman village and seeing the awesome totems. For anyone around Indianapolis, if you go the Eiteljorg museum downtown you will see two totems by Nathan Jackson, this villages master carver. If you visit Saxman, you can watch this craftsman at work...very cool!

2nd Stop was Juneau:

1st view of the Mendenhall Glacier

Mendenhall Glacier

Juneau was filled with a whale watching cruise. We didn't see orcas but did see gray whales and a giant sea lion colony. Mendenhall Glacier was gorgeous and I got to see my first ever icebergs!  Did you know that glacial ice appears blue?  It does, because the compressed ice filters out all spectrum colors except the blue.

3rd Stop: Skagway

In Skagway we took an "expedition" into the Yukon territory. Basically we boarded a tour bus and drove through the mountains. I saw my first wild black bear on the side of the road. Ironic that with all the back country hiking and backpacking I do in black bear country I have to go to Alaska to see one!  The rail trip back to Skagway follows the trail that the gold miners followed when they set out to seek their fortunes. There are places that the trail is no more than 2 ft wide on the side of cliffs!

Cruising Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier:

I really wish I had taken notes while I was snapping photos. I can't remember which glacier is which. Sorry. Note to self, you need to go back to Glacier Bay National Park and visit on foot!

Transport from Seward to Anchorage Airport:

You can walk on these glaciers!!! I didn't have time. 

Exit Glacier at Kenai Fjords National Park

Before you get too excited, all the following animal photos were taken at the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. https://www.alaskawildlife.org/ They take in abandoned or injured animals that cannot be released back into the wild.

Yep, those are grizzlies!

I call this moose Sam.

This lil wolf doesn't look so scary huh?

News flash folks, Santa's reindeer team is all female. Only female reindeer retain their antlers in the winter.

From the top of Alyeska Ski resort

And for the end of the year my parents and I decided that instead of spending Christmas alone at home that we would travel. My mom has wanted to see the gulf coast of Florida for a while so we rented a condo at Madeira beach. We didn't do a lot during this trip, we mainly just immersed ourselves in the sounds of the surf while watching dolphins from our balcony!  Arie Dam Condo 401...you can find it on vacation rental sites, it is an awesome HUGE condo!

So that was the quick highlight of 2017 and as you can see, I am very much alive. I traveled almost 4,800 miles this year!  From Alaska to the Florida. Not to shabby if I say so myself.  2018 is just hours away and I have a priority goal to blog more often...seems like I've said this before, but hopefully this year I'll stick to it!  What places did you travel to this year?  Did you cross off any bucket list items?