2017

First off, hello! It's been a little while hasn't it? 

I think my every other year curse is finally broken. It seems like for the past few years I've been on a cycle of good year followed by bad year followed by good year and so on. Dare I say it, 2016 and 2017 were absolutely incredible!

A lot of pretty amazing things happened this year. From seeing what seemed like a thousand music shows, to climbing trips, to traveling domestically and abroad, 2017 was incredible. 

After getting back from Australia (technically that was at the end of 2016), I started working at Planet Granite again and got a semi "real person" job as PG Portland's Marketing and Events Coordinator as well as becoming a supervisor and a few other "upgrades." I absolutely love my new job and it's been going very well. Plus, the earliest I normally go to work is 11am and I set a lot of my own hours. It's pretty hard to beat that.

In March, my buddies Brandon, Logan, and I drove roughly 12.5 hours down to Bishop, California for a week long bouldering trip which ended up being probably my favorite climbing trip I've ever been on. I also got to see/climb with one of my favorite people, Kyle, who had moved to California in January but was able to meet up with us for the week.

Bishop

Bouldering is hard

A few weeks after getting back from California, I had a quite the crazy time. I went to Las Vegas and played around for a few days, including a day trip to the Grand Canyon. After that, I headed to Fort Collins and ate/drank my way through the old college town. I also made it down to Denver for a day to see a bunch of old college friends which was great. I flew back to Portland to work for a few days and then went up to Seattle with my buddy Mitch to see Deadmau5 which was hands down the best show I've ever been to. Cross that one off the bucket list. After being back in Portland, a few days later I drove back up to Seattle then bussed it to Vancouver, BC followed by flying to Los Angeles after that. Phew! Good times.

Deadmau5!

Grand Canyon

Some months later in July, I somehow ended back down in Australia! Yet again, massive thanks to Aunt Cindi for the flight hookup! It was a pretty mellow trip but great to catch up with people I hadn't seen in almost a year. As corny as it sounds, I had a bit of a realization regarding certain people after getting back which, although a bit disheartening, was needed. Hopefully I can make it back in 2018 at some point.

Fast forward to October, I achieved full on adult status by moving out of the parent's place. I'm now living in NE Portland with 2 awesome roommates and a dog and am absolutely loving it.

Also in October, Brandon, Logan, and I did a Smith trip and met up with Kyle again which, although too short, was great as always. 

At the end of October, I went up to Canada for the second time in 2017 with my friend Kara to see Deadmau5 yet again. Twice in one year? I'm perfectly okay with that. 

Come December, Kyle, Brandon, Brandon's friend Tommy, and I went down to Red Rocks just outside of Vegas for a week to climb and have all the fun. And have all the fun we did. We even got to seem some old friends that had moved to Florida earlier in the year. I love those guys so much and appreciate them like none other. Can't wait for our next trip which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.

Love these guys

So although the world turned into a bit of a pit this past year, on a personal level, I'm doing very very well. I hope everyone learned from and enjoyed 2017 as much as I did. 

Here's to 2018! Already excited for the first few months as some of my favorite Aussies are coming to visit in January and February.

Happy New Year!

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

Good times with great friends

That's all for now. Bye.

Auld Lang Syne

New Years is kind of an odd holiday if you really think about it.  Nothing magical happens between December 31st and January 1st but it somehow always feels like the end of an era and the beginning of another.

For celebrations, a group of us gathered at a friend's house to bring in the new year.  There was food, drinks, games, and good times.

2015!

2014 was one of, if not the most, craziest years of my life.  There were some extreme highs and some extreme lows.  It marked a major shift in the life that I knew and forced me to start almost completely over.  I try to keep these postings light but have a feeling this one might be a bit heavier.

So what big things happened in 2014?

• Despite going borderline insane due to being enrolled in 21 credits, I had my most fun semester at CSU of the time I was there
• Was able to have a fantastic time traveling across the country from New York City to LA (where I finally got to experience Disneyland!)
• Got to see some of Canada for the first time and made some (hopefully soon) travel goals
• Graduated from university.  That still hasn't really hit me yet
• Mentored and made a noticeable impact on a 10 year old's life
• At least for me, made what I hope to be a lifelong best friend from the other side of the world who has been through an eerily similar amount of identical life experiences/situations as me
• Lost one of my oldest friends but still think about him often
• Had to say goodbye to my two best friends and all the other people I got really close with after 3.5 years living in Colorado.  I think about them everyday and miss them terribly
• Moved back to the Northwest
• Even though the process was long, I got a job that was number one on my list
• Started writing this weekly blog which is both fantastic and frustrating.  It's great to look back at something for every week and see when I had nothing to write about or when the ideas were flowing

What will 2015 bring?  I don't really do the whole resolution thing but I do like to set some goals.  What might those be?  I don't want to give away too much so those are just for me.  

Hope everyone had a memorable year and that 2015 will be just as eventful.  I've got a feeling this is going to be a good year.

Happy New Year!  

That's all for now.  Bye.

O Canada

How I've lived in the NW for 18ish years and never been to Canada is kind of amazing.  There was a family gathering happening in Canada so on Tuesday, the fam packed into the car and made the 9 hour drive up to Whistler in British Colombia, with a stop in Seattle to kidnap sister Amanda.

We arrived at a fairly swanky resort (had the same feel as Sunriver) which is not normally my thing but it was nice.  After such a long travel day, food and groceries were the only things on the agenda for the rest of the night.  Of the three stores we went to, all of them had Australian employees.  Whistler seems to be where the Aussies gather.

After a morning pool/hot tub session on Wednesday with Amanda, a bunch of people went on a bike ride to Rainbow Lake.  It was a beautiful ride through the trees with mountains in the background, passing by other lakes and resort golf courses on the way.  We had to stop at one point due to a black bear feasting away on berries.  Some people thought it would be a great idea to get as close to the bear as possible which resulted in the bear getting agitated and lunging at them.  Not going to lie, it was kind of funny and they deserved it.

Bear crossing

Green Lake

Rainbow Lake

Thursday was probably the highlight of the little trip.  After a walk around the village area in the morning, we headed back to Rainbow Lake for lunch and swimming.  The water wasn't too cold but it happened to be really windy which made getting out of the water not very fun.  

Later in the day, it was time for some zip lining.  The fam along with my first cousin once removed (is that how we're related?), Amy, opted for the "bear tour" although it would have been pretty hard to spot a bear zooming down the cables.  To get to the platforms, you got to walk on a series of bridges, stairs, and paths through the forest.  The views were spectacular and zipping over a river upside down was quite fun.  The weird part was waiting on the platforms and randomly seeing people shoot across the sky on higher lines.  It was quite amusing.

View from one of the platforms

Some of the lines

Early on Friday, the family, along with Amy and cousin Adriana, got up and went on a hike to Logger's Lake in the Cheakamus Valley.  We accidentally parked in the wrong lot but got to hike along a raging river to get to where we were trying to go.  I was really tempted to go on one of the rope swings hanging from trees to jump into the water but wasn't wearing the proper attire. 

Logger's Lake

From the lake, we hiked uphill for a bit and got to an incredible viewpoint.  It kind of reminded me of the scenery in Austria and almost didn't feel real how amazing the view was.

Dat view doh

After a little pool session, the entire group went out to dinner and good times were had by all.  The cousins who were able to be there also got a chance to spend some time together later that night which is a rare but always welcome occasion.

This morning we packed up and made the long drive back to Portland.  After waiting roughly 1.5 hours to cross the boarder, bad traffic in Seattle, and multiple stops along the way, the 13 hour trip back was finished (hence why this is posted so late).  Thus, this little trip has come to an end.

That's all for now.  Bye.