2016 was a tough year in life, but it was a rocking year for adventures! This was the year I found several awesome outdoor ladies and I stopped hiking alone and started hiking with my gal pals.

LIFE

In 2016 the pixie dust of returning to school wore off and I was in the grind of things. Spring semester was wonderful with three PE classes but this last semester in Education was the hardest semester of college I’ve ever had.

This year I lost my grandpa which was a very hard loss to process. Life went on but there is this little piece of me missing that I know I won’t get back.

My baby sister moved away to Norway and we gathered together to wish her farewell.

Apollo has had an epic paw injury for four months and it’s cost us a lot of money and a ton of mental anguish to deal with.

I’ve been overwhelmed balancing school and life. I did well at the beginning of this semester by studying in Waterton and hiking afterward, but once I started student teaching my entire life became absorbed into that task. I’m a stronger teacher for it, but I’m mentally drained.

There was positivity in this year of course (most outdoors). I finally got into the classroom and began my slow path to becoming a teacher and I LOVE it!

I kicked off the summer season with an incredible eating tour of the Waterton Food Festival.

I learned a wonderful life lesson to help me manage my anxiety in stressful situations; “freaking out won’t change the situation.”

Overall, 2016 has been a tough year but it’s given me the capacity to deal with more than I ever thought I could. I’m an even stronger person now because of 2016.

TRAVEL

I didn’t get to travel as much in 2016 as I did in 2015. Student life means an empty bank account, but I still managed to fit in a little travel and a lot of fun!

New Year’s in SLC– I had so much fun kicking off 2015 in Salt Lake City with my brother and sister-in-law that I went back this year for more and it was amazing! It was all about boards, snowboards and surf boards. We did indoor surfing, checked out Park City Olympic Park, and had the most epic day of snowboarding I’ve ever had at Snowbird Resort.

Jasper– I was so lucky to have the chance to run the 10k in the inaugural Jasper Half Marathon and stay at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. Ryan was supposed to come too but a broken water heater the night before we were to leave meant he had to stay home and deal with it. I went to the most romantic hotel I’ve ever been to in my life alone. Ha ha! The race was great, the hotel incredible, and there is SO MUCH outdoor amazingness in Jasper! I’m hoping to get up there next year too!

Seattle– I only made it out to Seattle once this year to say goodbye to my sister! She moved away to Norway and so I had to see her one last time. We all went up in the Space Needle for the first time. Isn’t that funny? I lived there 11 years and never went, it’s one of those touristy things you just never do. And of course, it was classic Seattle with lots of rain and lots of coffee!

Summer Weekend in SLC– I HAD to make the trip down to Salt lake City this weekend to meet my baby nephew Liam!!! He’s the first baby in our family and everyone is really excited. Every trip down there I love SLC more and more. It’s got all the amenities of a large city and yet the mountains are literally right there. I could see myself in SLC one day.

Vancouver– This was my last trip of the year (not counting Christmas at the end of this week) and it was such a great/stressful trip! I drove to Vancouver to run my first half marathon and spent quality time with Leilani. Vancouver is such a beautiful city and the vibe there is right up my alley too. The trip was a little marred by a car break in and dealing with a smashed window, but I used Bruce’s advice and didn’t freak and had a wonderful trip.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

This year was all about girl power! I got to go on so many fun adventures with my friends!

Hiking

Bertha Bay, Cameron Lake, Old Fort Point, Maligne Canyon, Bears Hump, Donut Falls, Mt.Vimy, Iceberg Lake, Red Rock Canyon, Antelope Island, Bertha Lake, Goat Lake, Crandell Lake, Carthew Alderson, Bears Hump, Bertha Falls, Goat Haunt)

Highlights

Mt. Vimy – The best misadventure ever! Biking in a hail storm? Too fun!

Iceberg Lake- Rachelle and I hit Many Glacier and I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of this hike. It’s a must do!

Carthew Alderson

Being Board

I kicked off 2016 with indoor surfing on one day and snowboarding on the next!

I am fortunate to be a members of Blakiston & Company’s A-Team which means lots of Waterton paddle boarding! The weather didn’t cooperate much this summer, but I did manage to get out on the water with my girlfriends!

SUP in bad weather with Cat

Gorgeous girls day on the water

 

Mountain Biking

Besides biking to the Mt. Vimy trail, I only got out on the bikes once with Rachelle. It was a glorious fall day!

Camping

We did our annual Koocanusa camping trip where I finally learned that it doesn’t pay to eat like crap when camping and that I need to take steps to stay healthy.

FITNESS

I ran a half marathon!! I never thought it would happen, not in a million years. But with a lot of determination and sticking to a training plan, I completed my first half at Seawheeze in Vancouver.

Besides being a super fun race, the Sunset Yoga Festival was a great way to finish the day!

Other races I ran included the Jasper 10k and Santa Shuffle. I hope to run WAY more than that in 2017!

I lost 15 pounds this year! Thanks to kicking off my summer with the Bikini Ready Challenge and my half marathon training, I was able to take off enough weight to fit into my college skinny jeans. This semester a little of the weight crept back on, but not much.

But this semester, fitness and I have had a tumultuous relationship. It’s my fault, I keep making plans with fitness and then cancelling because I’m too busy with school and work. I tell fitness I’ll get up early and then I hit snooze, I say I’ll walk the walk and I ditch workouts to type away at my desk, and then I decided I just had to be okay with less during this particular time in my life.

Besides ditching fitness, I did a few other things such as pick up a new sport (I’m learning to play hockey with the Magrath women’s recreation league) and be on local TV to demonstrate how to use outdoor gym equipment.

 

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT 2017 HAS IN STORE!

What’s been the highlight of your year?

What are you looking forward to in 2017?