2010

There are only a few more days in 2009. It was definitely a rough year and I'm hoping that next year gets better. With that in mind, I decided to make a list of goals for the new year to help keep things on the upswing.

1. Bake and cook more. I've been baking and cooking quite a bit. I've started making most things from scratch since we went vegan this spring. Next year I want to start making even more things that I haven't tried yet. And I want to make lots of food to share with others and spread the vegan love. :)

2. Decide what I want to do with my life. I've had 5 jobs since I graduated from college in 2005. Not a great track record. Next year I want to really focus on figuring out what I want to do and make it happen.

3. Go biking. I had a blast riding the bike trail this summer. I did it almost every day for a while and it was so much fun. I was in great shape and I felt great, too. I noticed the difference in my stamina when we hiked Giant Mtn. in August. As soon as the snow melts, I want to start riding again.

4. Work towards becoming a 46er. We started off hiking a lot this year, but slacked off and only ended up climbing 3 High Peaks. Next year I want to hike at least one High Peak a month, or at least 12 for the year.

5. Save money and pay down our debt. This one is huge. We need to put all of our extra money toward our credit card bills and then start socking it away in savings.

6. Let go of old grudges and deal with the anger issues. I don't think anyone would be surprised to find out that I have anger issues. Long story short, some stuff happened a while back and now I become enraged at the drop of a hat. I've gotten much better in the past few years, but I've stopped working on getting even better. Next year I want to work on keeping my patience, not losing my temper and getting over things that I've been holding on to for a while. This is going to be the most difficult one for me. If you see me about to lose it, remind me to count to ten!!


I'm sure I'll think of more things, but those are it for now. Let's see if I can stick to them!

Where did I go?

I'm not exactly sure how long it's been since my last update, but I know it's been a while! I've been kind of anti-internet lately. However, I really want to get back into blogging because I like keeping track of my cooking, baking and hiking. Obviously I'm not doing much biking these days.

What have I been up to? Working mostly. I'm still cooking and baking a lot, but I've been slacking in the picture-taking department.

Here are some pictures to sum up this year. My next post will be goals for 2010.

January 10th: Here's me hugging a big grandpa tree when we went bushwacking around the road to Dacy Clearing.


January 16th: Nine Mile Swamp on West Mountain.


January 17th: Hiking St. Regis. There was a ton of fresh snow and the trail hadn't been broken. It took forever to reach the summit, but it was totally worth it! We saw a deer and a bear print. I'd like to try this hike in warmer weather.


January 17th - 19th: Winter camping in Paul Smiths, NY.


March 14th: Riding at the polo barn.


March 28th: Hadley Mountain. This was one of my favorite hikes ever.


April 5th: Goodnow Mountain. It was warm when we left home. By the time we got to Newcomb it was really cold and snowing! We were definitely not dressed for the weather. And I fell on my butt right off the bat. We ended up having a great time as usual though!


April 5th: View of Goodnow Mountain from the Newcomb VIC. It's hard to tell, but you can see the firetower we climbed from there!


April 10th: Canoeing on the Schroon River. It was my first canoe trip.


April 11th: The summit of Severance Mt.


April 11th: Trail to Spectacle Pond.


April 17th: Mt. Marcy from the summit of Mt. Redfield (our 4th high peak).


April 18th: On the summit of Mt. Marcy. Unfortunately it was cloudy and snowing, so we didn't get any pictures of the view.


April 25th: Canoeing on the Hudson.


May 29th: Relay for Life.


June 6th - 7th: Camping at Tioga Point for Pat's birthday.


June 11th: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Pirates and Mermaids Masquerade Party. We dressed as box jellies, met lots of new friends and got to see Captain Paul Watson!


June 11th - 13th: Camping at Glen Rouge. Toronto totally rocked my socks!


August 2nd: Buck Mtn.


August 16th: From Giant Mtn. (our 6th High Peak).


October 18th: Inman Pond


October 21st: Biking the trails off Hogtown Rd.


December 11th: VanDusen Tract with our newest addition, Gabby.


That was our year in a nutshell. As you can see, we started out hiking and camping a lot, but slacked off as the year went on. I hope to do lots more next year!