Bowen backpacks

I have a favorite quote that I keep up in my cubicle at work:

“Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”

-John Muir

The great outdoors, nature, and exploring are central to my life, to our lives, and to our marriage. Emphasis on the sanity Mo' Nature brings to us. After too many weeks stuck in the grind, we must get away, and we like to spend most of our summer on the go.

We planned to backpack up and around Mt. Jefferson last summer, but the wildfires pushed us out. We attempted, but we had to turn away. So instead of heading home, we drove toward Sisters and climbed the Tam MacArthur Rim hike, which was on our list for a while. From the top of the hike, you can see the backside of the Cascade Range, including South Sister, the site of our engagement (mem-oh-reez). We drove the McKenzie Highway “home,” and ended up backpacking into the secluded and quiet Linton Late area for a night’s camp.

Highlights included campfire cooking, beer drinking, and watching one of the most epic sunsets over the hills. And spending the night in a tent with a puppy. He may have just celebrated his first birthday, but Bowen certainly stirred at the sound of any rustling.

 C'mon, Bowen!

Never get it on the first take...

This is what success looks like.

Sweet summer moments

In the words of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air..."Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down...I'd like a take a second, just sit right there..." I'll tell you how my blog became the last of my priorities in 2015. 

Whoosh. Seriously. The moment we got home from Nantucket, I started up my "new" job, and I've been on a nonstop flight to Crazytown since then. My resolution for 2016 is to write once a week because if you don't use it, you lose it...and I'm losing it. For many reasons. But not writing is one of them. 

I've been to five countries since October, but I'll save all of THAT for another post. This one's for summer memories. A-way-back in July and August. When we were on the go, per usual, enjoying every minute that the Pacific Northwest had to offer. From day trips to backpack trips and celebrating my dad's birthday with the whooole family out back...we had a great time. Bowen in tow everywhere we went. 

How is it December now? And we're freezing and soaking wet. 

Take. Me. Back! 

Another tax season in the books

Here I am...recapping April in July. Pretty standard. 

We made it through another tax season over at the Bethell Bungalow, and of course it presented its own challenges--namely a puppy by the name of Bowen. Bowen and I got to be good buds, running together four of five weekday mornings, going to the dog park in the evenings, cooking dinner together, and catching up on recorded Food Network and/or the occasional trashy TV shows before Taylor made it home each night.

We immediately headed over to our favorite oasis, Sunriver, with two other couples. Taylor went a day early, and I got a call on my way over that he wrecked on his mountain bike. This was not the first time I'd received a call like this, but this was the first time in which he was standing outside of urgent care. Poor guy basically got impaled by the handlebar, leaving a gruesome mark on the center of his chest...earning him the nickname "Ironman" forevermore from this group of friends.   

We still managed to take a couple great hikes, cheers with celebratory drinks, feast (of course), check off the obligatory brewery dinner, bike ride, relax, and rejuvenate. Taylor and I stayed an extra day and basked in the beauty and freedom reaching April 15 brings every year. 

The sweet spot of life

Soon March will be a memory, but for me, it's a month in a year that I'll forever hold dear. 

I celebrated my 30th birthday, which concluded my "Road to 30," a series of challenges, goals, and activities I planned and plotted, with the help of my friends at work. These two friends are just about to turn 30, too, so we motivated each other to create modified "30 Before 30" lists. I wrote mine out here a while back.

I'm proud of the progress I made on this list, but it's just a list. One of many. I've been an obsessive list-writer, goal-setter, and challenge-lover my entire life. I know in my heart of hearts that I can do anything I want to do with hard work, determination, and a cheering section. Oh, and time. 

It was easy to prioritize some of the things on this list because right now I have the time. I can be a bit selfish. I am not job-hunting. I am not house-hunting. I am not over-committed with freelance work. Taylor and I don't have kids. He is in the middle of tax season, and my biggest responsibility is our dog. And he is a big responsibility, don't get me wrong, but it's OK to leave him at home, and he doesn't need too much.

Soon, things will change. We will enter another season of our lives. I'm not sure what that will be or what God has in store for us, but I look forward with anticipation. We will be ready. Because we aren't taking for granted the time that we have right now. We're healthy. We have a roof over our heads. We bring joy to each other and hopefully to others. We have jobs that we love. For me, this is huge. A while back, I decided I wouldn't be happy unless I was working for myself. But that's a lie. In my current job, I love going to work, I love my coworkers, and I love what I do. That's a whole lot of love for something I spend the majority of my days doing right now. Eventually, of course, I would like to work for myself, but who's to say when that will be. I want to enjoy this. Right now.    

I am in the sweet spot of my life. I was so excited to turn 30 because to me 30 has always been a milestone signifying establishment. When I was 25, I wanted to be 30. I wanted to be taken seriously professionally, have experience personally, and have an understanding and appreciation for the events in my life. And I'm grateful because I feel like I have all of these things. 

I started writing this blog when I packed up my car and moved to Austin at age 22. Without a plan. I had the determination to figure things out, though, and I had my family and friends' encouragement. I made a life there. I lived it up. I continue to travel back with Taylor because Austin is my favorite city, and we continue to grow our friendships there, but I don't wish for that early 20s life. I know too much now. 

I chalked up more experiences through grad school, felt the pain of a broken heart, wondered when it would be my turn as I stood beside dear friends getting married, and eventually met the true love of my life. I felt the sting of a layoff, the humility of working a customer service job with a master's degree, and the uncertainty of leaping on faith when struggling between two new job opportunities. 

And then I got married. And we traveled. And we lived in an itty-bitty living space with more outdoor gear than two people should own. Then we bought a house and got a puppy. And now we're here. Settled into this sweet spot. 

I know why the events of my 30 years have shaped up the way they have. Why I didn't go to Stanford. Why I didn't marry young. Why I didn't move back to Austin. Because God always has a plan and things truly do happen for a reason, a cliche I didn't want to believe when I was 22, but I'm thankful I'm able to live out daily now at 30. 

We don't know what's next, but that's OK. If nothing ever changed, I think we'd still be happy. Because we've got a good thing. And we thank God every day for this time.

I'll continue to make lists and write out goals and to-dos, but some of these things will never get checked off, and others will get added without much consideration. I'm proud of my life at age 30, and I'm most thankful for the outstanding cheering section I've had the length of the road.   

  

Without further ado, a recap of this silly list: 

1) Finish our wedding album

CHECK! I made two--one with the professional photos and one with "outtakes," pics from pre-wedding celebrations, photos from friends, and pics from our honeymoon.

2) Paint and change out fixtures in guest bath
CHECK! Although we're saving a major update for when we're not spending money on travel, we did gussy up the bathroom with new paint and fixtures.

3) Complete a 30-day challenge

CHECK! Not only did work sponsor a Fit February challenge, but I did Barre3 every day for 30 days. Some days it was just 10 minutes, and some days I didn't squeeze it in till 11:50 p.m., but I did it! My co-worker once told me that she wanted to be in the best shape ever and to her that meant being able to transition activities, completing whatever challenge was in front of her, whether that meant running a half-marathon and then taking some kind of crazy workout class...and I feel like I can do that. I feel like I'm in MY "best shape ever," which is incomparable. 

4) Host a holiday dinner (plenty of options coming up with Christmas, New Years, Valentines)
CHECK! We didn't get to host Christmas this past holiday--hopefully next year!--but we did host a huge birthday dinner for Taylor (a make-up for his snowed out 30th from last year), and we hosted a Sweethearts' Dinner on Valentine's.

5) Make Julia Child's beef bourguignon
CHECK! It took all-day, people. I love Julia Child as if she were my grandmother, but there are some modern short-cuts that would accomplish this same level of deliciousness, I do believe. 

6) Organize my digital life, including my writing portfolio
DID NOT COMPLETE!!! Although progress has been made, my digital life continues to be a giant mess. This stays on the to-do list! 

7) Get some freelance work again 
CHECK! I wrote a post here: 

And I'm working with a couple of other folks to hopefully start up some new projects. Huzzah!

8) Organize my photos
DID NOT COMPLETE (see No. 6 above)! 

9) Host a multi-course dinner party
CHECK! We've had a couple of these now...

10) Make a schedule for finishing my cookbook ... the one I started almost 4 years ago in graduate school
DID NOT COMPLETE...BUT I AM WORKING ON IT! Thanks to an amazing author who spoke at work the other day, I've been re-energized to finish this project. I'll have my schedule done before March is complete. 

11) Write-up a plan for one of my business ideas

DID NOT COMPLETE! 

12) Minimize the amount of boxes in the garage
WORK IN PROGRESS! 

13) Plan our next road trip

CHECK! And it's going to be EPIC! Have dog. Will travel! 

As if the above wasn't enough, I decided to add a few things: 

14) Volunteer regularly 

CHECK! I volunteered as an assistant coach for the girls' basketball team at the high school where I went. I just went once weekly for practice and tried to make one game a week. It was tough carving out that time, and I'm thankful work is flexible, but I'm also glad the commitment is over. It was a lot of driving. Hopefully the girls got something out of it. I enjoyed the relationships I made with a couple of the ladies. 

15) Take a class 

I signed up for one at work, so does that count?

16) Host a soup party 

DID NOT COMPLETE...but maybe I can squeeze this in before spring swings into summer?

17) Pray the rosary for a week straight 

DID NOT COMPLETE...but am hoping to do this leading into Easter. 

18) Hand-make Valentine's 

CHECK! I would say this was more of a semi-homemade, as I had the idea and executed it, but I ended up buying the baked goods for assembly. 

Fun birthday deliveries...

Throwback photo love from sisters across the country!

This has nothing to do with anything, other than my love of Papa Murphy's heart-shaped pizza...this photo just uploaded, so here ya go!

Back on the wedding guest circuit...

New hair for the 30th...

Workout...I mean work...travel to L.A.