Reflections 2015

I'm actually a little "ahead" of the game this year. 2015 isn't even over and I'm sitting down to reflect. I'm looking forward to the holidays a little more this year- partly because I just attended my last birth for the year and won't be on call til Feb 2016 (a welcome break!) and partly because I'm just looking forward to spending some time with family and friends.

So what happened this past year?

In my "semi-retirement" I attended over 20 births and assisted multiple families through their postpartum journey. I will never tire of this. What an honor to be a part of such an intimate and beautiful life experience. I'm teaching... a lot. I celebrated 10 years teaching for St Davids Healthcare! I mentored 3 new childbirth educators this year. What fun helping others do what I've been so passionate about for 20 years!

AJ (Tones, Tony) celebrated 18 years at the state. He's in a new position now (another re-org) and is now doing Risk Management. It's a new challenge for him and he seems to have taken to it. In his free time he's creating stuff around the house/yard, surfing the web, and riding his bike along Brushy Creek trail.

Kelsey is in her senior year at St Eds. She's graduating in May with a BA in Kinesiology. Where did the time go? It's hard to me to imagine I have a daughter who is about to finish college. Where is she off to afterwards? Time will tell. She's into yoga, healing, nutrition. She's done some exploration into yoga therapy so I'm guessing she'll eventually take a yoga teacher training... she may travel...it's exciting to see her become so mature and beautiful.

Nathan is in his 2nd year at UTSA. He's doing some soul searching, as he approaches 20. What does he want to do with is life, where is he headed? Where does he want to be? 2016 will be a year of big decisions for him as he really enters his "adult" life. SO exciting! We are so proud of both of those kids.

Other "big" events this year:







We said goodbye to Honey, our adopted canine family member, whom we only enjoyed for 18 months before she left us for Doggie Heaven. She was such a sweet soul in our lives. I still miss her.

Our college friends the Madlers came down and we watched their daughter Briel win the state champs for women's soccer!



We took an amazing family vacation to Yellowstone which included a quick visit with my brother and his family in Colorado (see previous post)









AJ and I took a short anniversary trip to Gruene where we met some new friends (Tony and Julie) who feel like old friends.








We also took a "long weekend" to Huntington Beach for my 30 year High School Reunion where we hung out with long time friends Kelly and Mark, and spent some quality time with my Dad. (It was like a little honeymoon, our first big getaway just us!)

 We celebrated Labor Day with friends and neighbors (17th annual!) Kelsey and I enjoyed spending time with my mom on her 70th birthday just "the girls".

We gave away the kids playscape that Tones built himself to good friends Lauren and Josiah so that their kids can enjoy hours of play like ours did. It was a year of fun, friends, and family.


What do I have to look forward to for next year? More of the same. No big changes ahead. I'm really lucky to have all the blessings in my life that I do. Thanks to all of you who are a part of my life.

Summer Road Trip 2015... Yellowstone!

As the kids get older we realize the odds they will want to vacation with mom and dad may decrease, so Tones and I decided if we went to some really COOL places they'd still want to go with us. Kelsey and Nate both love the outdoors, hiking, and the mountains, so when I suggested Yellowstone, they answered with a resounding YES!

We decided to drive because 1) that's what we do, a la Chevy Chase Vacation style 2) it's way cheaper 3) surprisingly enough the kids prefer to drive over fly. We broke the trip a little by stopping at Uncle Mike's in Colorado for a quick visit with the fam... then off to Wyoming. We rented a VRBO "basement apartment" from a retired couple who has a beautiful lodge just east of the Yellowstone entrance. It came fully equipped with 2bd/2ba/kitchen/laundry, beautiful views, porch swings etc. Owners John and Verna Hamilton could not have been more gracious or adorable. We stocked up on groceries in the nearby town of Cody, WY, Buffalo Bill's namesake.

Day 1 We explored the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" with a 4.5 mile hike around the south rim... beautiful waterfalls, overlooks, and scenery along the way. It was a chilly day-- stayed in the 50's most of the day, so we had fewer crowds than normal. On the way back we encountered Bison, Elk and a Grizzly off the road in the brush!

Day 2 We headed to Old Faithful and saw various geysers, steaming caverns, stinky mud pits and more! There is constant volcanic activity there-- amazing. After we tired of the tourists, we headed to Biscuit Basin and took a beautiful hike up to Mystic Falls. On the way, more steaming pools, bubbling pits, it was like a scene out of a movie! More Elk and Bison... lots of birds including the Trumpet Swan. We also saw a Mama Grizzly and her cub off the side of the road... amazing!

It's a HUGE park-- we had a full 2 hour drive back to our lodge so opted to stay closer to the east side on Day 3-- We heard from some other hikers that Avalanche Peak trail was a favorite, so we headed there. Small details-- a rise from 8,400 elevation to 10,500 elevation in a mere 2 miles. And we are clearly off the tourist loop, so bring your bear spray! It took us 2.5 hours to make it up, but WOW the views were amazing! We literally felt like we were on top of the world!

Yes, this is my hippie girl doing yoga on top of a mountain!
The way down was a lot less breathing and I was able to enjoy the scenery a bit more. Really beautiful country....

Day 4 we were TIRED and SORE from our previous day so decided some R&R sounded good. Tones and I headed into Cody for a few errands and to check email/make some calls (no internet/wifi/cell reception) and then all of us headed to an easy nature walk trail called Pelican Creek around the lake. Even this short walk to the lake was beautiful... the lake was peaceful and clear. We saw lots of pelicans and a Bald Eagle!

On the way home we stopped at Lake Butte for a gorgeous overlook of the lake and easily spotted the Grand Tetons off in the distance! Stunning, breathtaking, truly awesome views...It was hard to say goodbye. We truly enjoyed our time, although short-- taking in the beauty, history, and geologic finds of Yellowstone National Park.

Happy New Year