2018 will go down as one of the best of my life, for one obvious reason- THIS GUY!!!!
But it was also a typical year full of highs and lows. Let’s have a quick look.
Tynan Tyrone
The best part of 2018 was the arrival of my son! This wonderful, big eared, content, little boy! He made the hard transition of becoming a full time mother easy. At eight months, he is still such a mellow baby who is sleeping pretty good (for the most part) and is rarely fussy.
He is loving, playful, and good natured and my little buddy. It’s so nice to have someone I can chatter away to all the the time.
Losing Grandma
As amazing as welcoming Tynan to the world was, it was bitter to say goodbye to my Grandma Helga just months before he arrived. The call that said she passed suddenly was devastating and I still struggle with missing her.
I know losing a grandparent in your 30s is common, but my Grandma was my rock since I was a child and losing her has left me a little…. what’s the word? When you feel like you’re floating freely like a helium balloon without the weight to keep you on the ground? That’s what it feels like.
Graduation
Another major life milestone I experienced in 2018 was graduating from the University of Lethbridge with my Degree in Education. It was definitely a lot of work (A LOT), and a lot of stress, but so worth it to finally be in a career I love.
And it felt so cool to graduate with my teeny 8 week old Tynan by my side.
Travel
I definitely didn’t get to travel much this year. Surprise! Surprise! But I had a few mini trips that were fun filled.
I road tripped with family back to my original hometown of Fort McMurray to see what the town looked like after the fires. We drove around and visited all the old spots, surveyed the damage (crazy). Tynan was only eight weeks old but travelled like a champ!
We also did a detour and stopped at the family farm that we grew up visiting before my grandparent’s retired.
In July, Tynan once more proved his travel-savvy by flying to Seattle with me to be present for the birth of his little cousin Clark, and to visit with family. We spent some quality time with my mom, welcomed baby Clark, visited his other great grandma, spent a day playing tourist in Seattle, and ate at A LOT of restaurants!
In September, we took the whole family down to Great Falls for Back to School shopping and a little bit of family fun! We saw mermaids, visited a trout hatchery, visited Great Spring Falls, and of course, shopped. The kids had such a great time that we plan to make it an annual thing.
Hiking
Six weeks after Tynan was born, I laced up my hiking boots and hit an easy trail with Samara, the Carbondale Fire Outlook in Castle Provincial Park. I was so excited that I had prioritized hiking and had gotten out. Little did I know, there were just a few hikes in store for me this year.
The next hike was a Canada Day trek up Turtle Mountain, again with Samara. We bush whacked up the side of the mountain and got caught in a storm at the peak. Ha ha!
On a very hot day, I attempted to take Tynan on his first hike to Bertha Falls. He looked the part, but shortly into the hike I realized it was too hot to have him out, so we turned around and spent the day in the shade by the lake instead.
A few days later, I had the most epic hike of the season when I hiked Highline Trail in Glacier National Park with Samara. This was an incredible hike that should be on every locals bucket list. It’s not far from Southern Alberta and the views are unbelievable!
My next hike was a relaxed hike with Tynan, Cat and her children on the Syncline Trail. It’s the same trail I went cross country skiing and snow shoeing on earlier in the year. It’s a perfect spot for taking kids and we had fun ambling along the trail and throwing rocks in the river.
In September, Tynan and I were joined by Rachelle and hit the Crowsnest Pass to hike to Window Lake. It was the first hike with Tynan that I actually completed. Hiking with a kid strapped to your body is much harder than I thought!
Bertha Falls once more eluded us this fall, as Cat and I we tried to get to it on a cool fall day. High winds forced us to turn around, but Ty really enjoyed being in a carrier that day.
Outdoor Adventures
When I was first writing this, I figured this section would be much smaller than normal as it felt like I didn’t get outside much this year with the baby. But surprisingly, there were a few fun outings!
Besides some hikes, which I recapped above, my outdoor adventures included:
I didn’t let pregnancy stop me and went cross country skiing at 7 months pregnant, and snowshoeing at 8 months.
My plan was not to let the baby stop me at all. We went to Waterton for a visit when he was only two weeks old.
I had one epic summer weekend where I played softball, dressed up western for a wedding party, jumped off the rocks at Castle Falls, and tried to camp.
It’s rare that I get out with my cousin Jenny, so when she, Cat, and I went kayaking in Waterton it was a GREAT day!
Just a couple days later, I headed out to Waterton Lake again, this time with a different crew on paddle boards. The plan was to paddle to Wishbone Landing and try to find Loon Lake, a lake I tried to visit a couple times previous. Read on to see if we found it. 🙂 On the way back, a gal from our group jumped off the biggest cliff into the water! YIKES!
Before I knew it, the summer was over and it was fall! The last outdoor adventure we had was a recent attempt to cross country ski in Castle. I say attempt because it wasn’t quite what I had planned, but a good day. Really, is there such thing as a truly bad day in the mountains?
Fitness
Hmm…. what do I put here? My fitness was almost non existent? I tried, but I’ve been struggling with consistency.
My only fitness accomplishment this year was completing the Raymond Triathlon. it wasn’t a record breaking time or anything, but it pushed me to train a little during the summer.
Boy this post is filled with pictures of Tynan and I! But what can I say? He is by far the best thing about 2018!
It was fun dragging him along with me this year, but we’ll see how it goes as he grows into a toddler. I plan to take it slow and understand that while my life is different than before, it can still be fun-filled and full adventure. It’ll just be a different kind of adventure is all.
I’m looking forward to what 2019 will bring!
What was the highlight of your 2018?
What are you looking forward to most in 2019?
