YIKES!!!

We leave for Liberia in just a few days. My bags are packed and I'm physically ready to go, but emotionally and mentally I feel far from ready! I talked to Sarah Jane today about it and she said she thinks she just needs to be there so she can stop worrying about it. I think I might agree with her.

My conference in San Diego went well. I loved the area, and for the first time in a few years I can say that I could see myself living somewhere in California! My favorite part of the conference was when we brought up policy or ethical issues. It's not really related to my research but personally is the most interesting part of what I do. On one hand, I enjoy being a part of a field that is very relevant to society right now, but on the other hand I don't want to get wrapped up in the policy side of things because that is way beyond my area of expertise!

Anyway, I'm just stopping in between packing and cleaning. It is sooo nice to be home, I kind of wish I could be here a little longer before heading out again.

A strange year coming up!

For the last few years, by this time of year I am either into my cycling base training or getting ready to start a triathlon training plan. I am extremely goal oriented and have become hooked to this lifestyle of training and racing. But this year is different, for a few reasons ...
1. I need something different. I did a lot of base training last year, and it gets boring going the same, slow speed all the time.
2. I'll be in Liberia 2 weeks and won't workout at all, so what's the point in ramping up the fitness until after then?
3. I have no idea what races I will do this year because of the B-word, which Chris and I have been talking about lately. I would hate to register for and invest my time in training for a race and then not do it because I'm the P-word. Then again, Chris also brought up how much he wants to travel still this morning, so maybe we will just never have the C-word. And just because we might start trying to get P-word (which won't happen until after Liberia, at the earliest) doesn't mean it will actually happen any time soon.

So this is strange for me, and I am at a loss for what to do or how to motivate myself to workout when I have no idea what it's for. So for now I am just living in denial and daydreaming about how I'm going to get faster this year.

Differences

I keep thinking about the man we had dinner with last night during a meeting to get ready for Liberia. He's from Rwanda, but spent much of his childhood in refugee camps in Uganda. He talked about watching his two sisters die of starvation, of barely surviving on a bowl of porridge a day, and of being hurried into a hospital to hide after learning a group of rebels were coming to kill everyone in the village. He kept saying, "It was very hard" or "It was challenging." I kept thinking about all the things I've said are challenging in my life and how easy they were in comparison! We are so lucky for the lives we have.

Also, he started a feeding program in Rwanda that serves a small community of children. He is a student and earns $800 a month, and he sends $300 a month to this program. How can I hear a story like this and not question my own unwillingness to part with my time and money to help others? I'm so grateful that he came and had dinner with us!

2009 - a great year!

As I predicted back in January of 09, it was an amazing year. One that I don't know if we'll ever top. Right now I'm okay with that, on top of being a lot of fun, 2009 was exhausting and I wouldn't mind a quieter year in 2010. As soon as we get back from Liberia ...

But one thing that strikes me is that even if you take out our life-list type feats, it was still a pretty good year! I attribute that to the Colorado lifestyle and the good friends we've made here in Fort Collins. So for this post, I want to reflect on the more "normal" good times of 2009, the ones that make day-to-day life in the Choice City.

In January, we went snowshoeing at Lake Agnes near Cameron Pass with Nick and Levi. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time sliding across the frozen lake!


In February I went to one of my favorite place, Moab, with two of my favorite people, Michelle and Rachel. Here we are at our campsite with enough supplies for a week:
And we traveled back to Atlanta to visit Chris' grandfather, who since then has turned 90 and gotten remarried! :)

In March and April I taught at Colorado College in Co. Springs. On a weekend back in the Fort, Chris and I went on an urban hike around the city. We saw fox, deer, made a snowman, and had some fun with the prairie dogs (look for the prairie dog and snowball in the picture ... no animals were harmed in the making of this picture):


Chris also came to the Springs for a weekend and we hiked around the Garden of the Gods. I worked a ton while down there but one positive was finding just enough spare time to explore the natural beauty of this area.


May brought us spring and the beginning of our athletic pursuits - the Colorado half marathon, and a great weekend for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango.


We went on a couple other hikes with Nick and Levi - first a failed attempt up Mt Spalding (a thirteener next to Mt. Bierstad) where we fought willows and mud and ultimately had to turn around near the summit due to thunder. Then a beautiful hike near Pingree Park, which was a little longer than expected but extraordinarily scenic. And in July, Chris and I traveled to the Cloud Peak wilderness in Wyoming for a weekend of sitting by the campfire trying to stay warm and fend off mosquitos. We'll have to go there again sometime, the mountains were beautiful!
Hiking up Spalding:

Captain of the campfire in Pingree Park:

Chris & I in the Cloudpeak Wilderness:


The lesser talked about part of our Europe trip is the week in Jena, Germany for the International CO2 Conference. I took an afternoon off and Chris and I explored the city, including a small festival where we rode a ferris wheel. We also visited the Buchenwald concentration camp. That was an experience I won't forget, it was VERY sad but a good thing to see. One of the wierdest things about it was the camp was on a hill overlooking a town - I just don't understand how people could be going about their normal life just a few miles away.




In October, we went on a nice hike in RMNP for our sixth anniversary. After hiking in Switzerland, it was a great reminder that we live in a pretty amazing place, too! Just an hour from our house is some of the best scenery in the country, how lucky are we?



In November we traveled back east - for me the trip included a visit to friends in Lexington, KY and my brother in Nashville. Chris also finally taught me how to throw a cast net in our feeble attempt to catch shrimp. Turns out it isn't so easy from the banks of a marsh.


And we ended the year with a relaxing Christmas at home. Here is Chris showing off his favorite present.