Highs, Lows, and the In Betweens of 2014

We bought and started restoring a boat, we raced, we sailed, I got my first passport, we traveled, I bought my first road bike, we rode, we went mountain biking, we went camping, we did some hiking, we traveled some more, we spent some time with friends and family, and we celebrated birthdays.

We had boat issues, we struggled with getting back into running, we had boat issues, we fought, we fought about the boat, we sometimes hated our jobs, we had boat issues, oh did we have boat issues, and we had friends and family issues.

The boat... We boat a Pearson Ensign and decided to make her seaworthy again. Not hire professionals to make her seaworthy but that WE would make her seaworthy. She was ugly, she had a blister in the keel, she didn't have sails, there was a broken bench, broken floor boards, and she might have had  a hole in her. To sum it up she was perfect. We spent our winter and spring fixing her up and our summer sailing and racing her. It was fun, I learned a lot, I did a lot, and I'm proud of the time, effort, and energy we put it to the project. We fought about the fact that she ate up every.single.weekend with much needed repairs. I cried when I had already spent over a hundred hours working on her and it looked like we hadn't done a thing. But sailing her this past summer was great. Day cruises, racing, regattas, sunset cruises, and dinner on the boat made it worth it. It felt defeating when the mast step started caving in and left us with only one good tack, or when someone hit the boat, or when one of the shrouds started letting go. I wouldn't change any of it though.

We traveled a lot this year. Not all big trips but some big and a lot of small ones. I have several stamps in my passport now and all are from this year, Canada, England, France, and Aruba. England and France were amazing. A trip I'll never forget. Aruba might have only been 3 days but it was 3 days in the high 80's in late December while it was in the 30's at home. We went to New Hampshire, camping and hiking in Maine, camping and hiking in Vermont, we spent a weekend in Baltimore to see friends and run a 5k, we went hiking in Connecticut, and did some sailing in Newport, Rhode Island. We didn't do everything we planned or wanted to do but we did a lot.

I love having a road bike and can't wait to put some real miles on it. I bought it in the fall and only
got a handful of rides in this year. Mountain biking was fun even if I did cut my ankle which did leave a scar. We celebrated my birthday weekend with dinner with friends and sailing/racing to Nantucket, Kai's birthday with rock climbing and dinner, one friend's birthday with a day at the beach paddle boarding and dinner, another one's with dinner at a local vineyard during a concert, and another friend's birthday with cake, ice cream, and drinks.

Running has still been a struggle for me but it's getting better. Their will always be boat issues and their will always be repairs that need to be done. I think it's normal to have days that you feel like your job sucks, it is what it is. I wish I saw certain people more than I did and I wish I didn't let other peoples stuff bother me as much as it did.

We had days and moments that we won't ever reflect on simply because we won't remember them. They were the days were nothing bad happened but nothing great did either, they were just okay. Those days we just kept pushing forward. Even my lows weren't really that low. Sometimes they felt rough when going through it but honestly none were life threatening, they were first world lows. But my highs, they were great. Simply amazing.