Weird....

Today is April 27th.

Today is my wonderful friend Carrie's birthday.

I'm really bad at remembering birthdays.  Except Carrie's.

I remember her's because I texted her right after I took this picture...

I was on Springer Mountain, headed out for a few weeks on the Appalachian Trail and I was letting her know that's what I was doing... since I didn't really tell anyone I was leaving!  She replied something like "I'm having birthday lunch with Sarah (or something)... and I thought... Jeesh, worst friend ever, I totally forgot!!

But there it is... two years ago I started hiking the AT. That's insane.

I got really really dirty....

I saw some amazing views....

I climbed some real big mountains....

I REALLY messed up my shoes (and feet)...

And I ended up walking to here...

I could tell you all the things that I learned while hiking north (and south in VA) and along the crazy trails I've hiked since.  I could tell you about that amazing journey and the hundreds of  things it taught me.  Instead I will say this, now, two years after standing on Springer Mountain...

Life is a journey.  

I may not have expected to walk all the way to Maine and a few hours after that first picture I may have been wondering if I would even walk to North Carolina.  Yet I did because life is a crazy, unpredictable, unexpected journey.  And its beautiful.

Life is about being patient.

Sometimes I get frustrated by where I am, by the slow slog to get to where I want to be, by what seems to be unending roadblocks in my way to my dreams.  Then I just remember, be patient.  Every day I drive at least 30 miles back and forth to work (usually closer to 50).  That used to be about 2 days of walking!  Sometimes life moves fast, sometimes it moves slow... its a journey, I'm learning to be patient.

Life is unexpected.

The very first night on the trail I spent at Hawk Mountain Shelter.  I made friends that lasted for a few weeks and met someone who (except for giving him a break in VA from my presence) I walked with all the way to Maine... and is still an important part of my life.  I didn't expect that but I am so blessed by it.  Life is full or surprises and twists and turns... I'm learning to appreciate the unexpected.

Two years later?  I'm not a dirty hiker girl anymore (well, not every day- she's hidden somewhere in there though!).  I don't carry my entire life on my back, and I (mostly) go to work every day rather than follow the trail.  But I look back at that crazy journey with so much appreciation for the things I learned, for the things I continue to learn.

I am blessed.

According to science and the calendar spring is here. Sure it's cold and windy today in Ohio. Sure I spent the day at school and Target, but it's the first day of spring. I didn't need anyone to tell me that... I know because my heart (and feet) want nothing like they want to be in the woods. Too many months indoors, in shoes that don't make sense and clothes that are (mainly) khaki and red. Too many months of temperature control, running water, and stale air.

I know it spring because I long for the woods. I wonder if that will ever stop, that longing to take a long walk on a wooded trail. Will it ever lose its wonder?

I hope not. I need to plan some hikes! Wanna come??

Thankful for Mondays...

It's a rainy Monday morning in Dayton today, the kind of day you want to spend in bed but can't because you have a million things to do. Life... Monday morning.

I haven't blogged in ages because I am pretty boring these days. Probably no one even out there reading anymore, eh? Crickets... Silence!!

I recently got back from a great trip to Massachusetts. It was peaceful and simple. It may not have been full of excitement, but it was exactly what I needed after the ridiculousness of the last few months. It was perfect. Except the snow... Boo on the snow. Although at least they know what to do with snow and don't get all worked up about it like we do here!! It was redeemably pretty and I just stayed inside and looked at it!

I briefly started a new job. I thought it was a good fit and it definitely is the job I have long wanted. Yet it only lasted a week before I was so exhausted I got sick and had to quit. Ah well, next time....

My family is ridiculous, my friends are nuts-o (mostly in a good way), and Target and substitute teaching are keeping me busy. I'm still searching for my next step, keeping my options open, still waiting to see what's coming. Frustrating at times for sure but working to stay positive an look for the beauty in these days.

Another Monday, this one so different from the last (and last Monday was pretty good, crazy but good). Mondays are hard after long weekends and vacations and even though I start this Monday exhausted at least I know this... Another week of possibility stands before me, time to get out of this bed and see what the day holds.

Anybody wanna hire me?!

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with my life lately.  I haven't stood on this mountain in Vermont or any mountain for that matter in quite a long time now.  Well, unless you count standing on the side of a mountain on the PA Turnpike, but I don't!

I was just wondering the other day as I was walking through the Target parking lot in the cold wind, whining about having to scrape my car windows to go home what this place looks like now, covered in snow.  I hate the cold, but someday maybe I'll go check it out and see what it looks like in the winter.  MAYBE.

I neglected to do a goodbye/hello reflection for the beginning of the new year, since I was in New Jersey for my grandpa's funeral.  Honestly, in the midst of everything I didn't really think too much about the New Year... I spent it with my family in my grandpa's house watching Abby and Nick do the "Gangam Style" which was quite different than my usual New Year's but interesting none the less.  (Those kids are crazy!)

So, 2012 passed behind... with its ridiculous 5 jobs in 12 months, 400 miles of hiking in Arizona and a trip to the belly of the Grand Canyon that was beautiful and hard, nearly 500 miles of hiking on the East Coast that were lonely but AMAZING, being annoyed and entertained by my family, and making fun new friends while holding on to my friends who have endured my crazy antics.  In 2012 I learned how to succeed at things I didn't plan (like The Long Trail) and fail at things I planned on (like the Arizona Trail).  I learned what makes those Starbucks baristas so happy all the time (unlimited free caffeine) and what Target is like after its closed (creepy!).  I learned how to live without planning more than a few weeks ahead and how to make plans for the future without knowing what is coming.  I learned what its like to live with your heart in many places and how to love a place I didn't know I missed.

2012 was nuts sometimes, but mostly just happened... with its craziness and unpredictability.  2013 is just as unpredictable and I'm excited to see what's ahead... cause I have NO idea what is next.  

Simple. Christmas. Joy.

I've been thinking a lot lately about simplicity. I'm a pretty simple girl, I tend to appreciate things that are easy, uncomplicated, laid back. Working retail this time of year definitely has me appreciating the simple things even more.

I really love Christmas. Not in the way most people do though. I love Christmas Eve and the beauty of candlelight and celebrating with my church family. I love the decorations, lights, and cookies! But what I really love is Christmas Day, after dinner, when everyone has gone home and the house is calm, the tree is lit, the rushing is done and I can just enjoy the simple beauty of Christmas.

Maybe I'm nuts (likely) but after all the craziness and over the top celebrations, I love to be reminded that its really all about a simple, quiet story and hope in an unlikely place. Simple joy.

(This may be one of my favorite gifts this year- although it's also my first one- a simple nativity made by my friend Kim and her daughter Maya.)

CRAZY..

Yesterday I was getting ready to head to Target for another Thanksgiving weekend marathon shift... 11 hours of finding all the delightful things that our 'guests' leave all over the store and putting them back where they belong, digging popcorn out of places I didn't know popcorn could get to... Folding the same pile of shirts 14 times (no exaggeration) and cleaning up shattered snow globes. Yay, I love working retail at the holidays!!

None the less... I was heading to work and checked the mail on my way to the car and what did I find? A big envelope with a certificate and patch... My end to end packet from the Long Trail!! A happy reminder of an amazing, beautiful journey... And many surprising, important journeys to come. I am blessed.

A few months ago (sometime in the summer) I got this envelope in the mail.

I didn't open it.

Partially because I remember getting it when I was rushing through the house and partially because I pretty much knew what was in it and I wasn't ready yet.

See... (because I am weird) I had wanted my name on the list of AT thru-hikers for 2011.  That's when I did it really, that's when my friends walked... 2011 was a pretty great spring/summer/fall on the trail.  BUT I really didn't do it all.  I had skipped about 490 miles (ish) in Virginia and then 105 miles in Vermont.  After finishing I went back to Virginia... but it got cold and lonely and started to snow, so I went home.  Leaving about 275 miles still left undone.  So, TECHNICALLY I wasn't a thru hiker.  However, my trail friend Mojo told me that I was a thru hiker if I had the "essence of the trail"... 

But me, being me, I sent in the application, got my name on the list (you can check it out on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website), and got this envelope in the mail... but refused to open it until I really had finished.  SO this fall after doing 200 miles in Virginia and 105 miles in Vermont, I am STILL 75 miles short, but it was finally time to open the envelope.

Which I couldn't find.  Because I "put it away somewhere" and didn't know where.

Today I was sorting some papers and found it.  Inside is a letter and a certificate and this:

Cause I really have walked TWO THOUSAND MILES.  INSANITY!!

Now I'm just waiting for my End to End certificate for the Long Trail... then I'll be a legit hard core hiker... or at least I'll tell myself that!!