I Love 2009

What an awesome year! Only mere weeks till our new President is officially sworn in and I couldn't be more excited. I love that such an honest, calm, and inclusive person will now be our leader.

On a personal note, this is a big year for me as well. In a mere five months, I will receive my Master of Public Affairs! I'm not going to think about the fact that I will have to take my final class over the summer [ :( ] ...the actual walk across the stage is more important, right? :) Chris and I are also getting married this year - whoohoo! Can't wait to have so many members of both of our families come to our home for the first time. And...I turn thirty this year! Maybe I'm just in an upbeat mood, but it sounds like fun.

I'm also transitioning to a great new trails project at work - the Walk For a Day trail. It's going to be a 34-mile trail going south from Barton Springs pool into Hayes County. The trail is in the very beginning planning phases, and lots of groups and politicians want to be involved (for better or for worse). It is an ambitious project (one of the first in the country to span multiple jurisdictions) and I'm excited to be involved.

As far as resolutions, I feel like lots of transitions are underway for me anyway this year, but I do want to dedicate energy to the great outdoors in a few specific ways: one old, one new.

In high school and college, I loved rock climbing and tried to do it as much as I could. I lived near Stone Works Climbing Gym in high school, and my girlfriends and I went there regularly. Here's a picture of us when we were about fifteen, trying to look like tough climbers.

When I moved to Australia in college, I got really into climbing. I went on several climbing trips in various parts of the country and really started improving. Here's a picture of me on Mount Arapiles, which has been rated one of the top ten climbing spots in the world.

I had three great climbing buddies in Australia, and when we were back in Melbourne we would frequent a gym nearby. Climbing is a sport that you really need a good buddy for. And a lot of trust is involved. It is important to me to find a great climbing buddy this year. I have lived here for too long not to get reintegrated into the climbing scene. So resolution number one - get back into climbing!

My second resolution is a new one, but one I am well equipped for. My awesome awesome brother Ondre gave me his old road bike for Christmas, so my second resolution is to spend more time biking! I've had a mountain bike for years and used to spend a lot of time on local greenbelts, but now I have been using it more for street rides on weekend mornings. I was thinking of buying my own bike, but Ondre was also getting a new one and gave me his. He saved me $1000, what a great guy :) Here is my new bike:
Step One: Master the shoes. I'm a little old ladyish at the moment and hope to get my takeoffs a little improved :) Step Two: Dre and I want to do a bike race together in a few months. Hopefully something laid back (Tour de Fat or something along those lines, right Dre?). I'd like to explore some of those country roads west of Austin sometime soon.

Hope you all are kicking off 2009 in a great way!! Best wishes for the new year!