is this thing on?

The end of another year. Another moment for reflection. My motto for 2016 was “you’re not in charge” and boy did God hit me over the head with that reminder constantly. I need to pick a more joyful motto next time. If you can’t tell, 2016 was a tough year for me. I battled a lot of illness, physical pain, slow healing, sick animals, and 365 days of complete silence on the adoption front… Not to mention the plethora of the really hard stuff going on in the world beyond my little bubble. All of it really challenged me and I had to consistently fight to keep depression at bay. I was reading my new year  post from January and it was so hopeful and full of a feeling of success. I wrote about how I amazingly felt okay with not being in control. Turns out, it’s easy to be okay when you’re still in the early stage of the expectations you’ve secretly established in your heart. We had just finished the adoption approval process and I was okay with not knowing when it would happen b...

Southwest Colorado Autumnal Extravaganza My brother-in-law joined us for a week-long trek at the end of September, into October. Here is the glorious path we took: Backpacking Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve If you backpack a half-mile out, you can set up camp anywhere. Most unique backpacking experience I've ever had. Lessons learned: it's really hard to keep the sand out of your tent and the milky way definitely still exists. Brothers Sunset, me & Aaron, our tents      Durango - Silverton Train We took the train both ways, in one of the open-air cars. The scenery was so amazing, I almost cried about 20 times.   I'd Hike That: Ice Lakes & Blue Lakes Ice Lakes near Silverton, Blue Lakes near Ouray.  Ice Lakes was one of the coolest hikes I've ever experienced. Blue Lakes was neat also, the scenery at the upper lake looked like Iceland to me ...

Niagara - Philadelphia - Moosic Lake Celebrated Parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary in Niagara Falls Visited Cousin Alysea in Philly Christmas in July Kosloski Family Reunion at Moosic Lake part of oldest street in Philly Cheesesteak, Pizza, Tacos. Oh my. Eastern State Penitentiary. Oooooold and creeeepy.  Kosloski Family Reunion at Moosic Lake 11 Year Wedding Anniversary We still got each other, babe. Backpacking to Kroenke Lake Near Buena Vista. Nice hike to get our backpacking legs back. Backpacking to Frying Pan Lakes We treated ourselves to new packs and enjoyed their maiden voyage. Camping with Fangio Parents  Sylvan Lake and Turquoise Lake. God-daughter Adrielle's Baptism We're Godparents!! She-found-her-thumb-selfie We're so honored to be a part of her life! Hiking Electric Pass First hike since I got sick. Was ...