Things I'm Loving

1) Two new housemates arrived and are settled in. So far I really enjoy both of them and honestly each of us will only live with the other for a max of two months, so I'm hoping this really works out well.

2) It's a high of 80 today and a high of 85 tomorrow! One of my clients told me about local crawfishing. I bought a trap & some beer, found my old lawn chairs, and plan to head to the river later today after some grading to try to catch some dinner :) We'll also see if we can get a few hiking miles in! Oh and my Friday meetings were cancelled for both today and next Friday.

3) Yesterday was my last day at the massage job. I really enjoyed the diversity of clients that I was able to work with and it's incredible to spend an hour with someone and watch their tension, headache, ailments slowly disappear....but there were also things that I definitely learned from that job that I won't be looking for should I look for massage work in a clinic again. Everything is a learning experience. :)

4) The dogs and I went back to Central Oregon this last weekend and had a fun time soaking in the views at our favorite camp ground before heading out to complete our first solo backpacking trip! I plan to write about the trip on it's own later but it was a pretty awesome trip, and ironically I didn't even originally intend to check that bucket list item off the list this year. It's really sort of freeing though in a sense--to know that you can go into the woods and be comfortable overnight and alone.

5) The visit with my old friend last Saturday went really well, although I got a bit delayed starting on my trip out of town. I also stopped at my sister's to see her family and her (& my great niece who was visiting) and then swung by my parent's place to chat with Dad & Granny and drop my massage table off. Granny was in great form that day and it was great to spend a few moments with her. I also stopped by my parents place on my way home from the trip and had a great visit with all of them. It was really nice to see them so much in the last week. They'll be up here at my aunt's for mother's day on Sunday.

6) By the time I leave for the Tanzania trip, I think my credit card will already be at the 75% goal mark that I'd set at the beginning of the year (well minus, the extra from the plane ticket that will be reimbursed). I have the tendency of always striving for more...so there's the chance that the credit card will be paid in full by the end of the year. Since I'm planning on taking that road trip the end of this summer and probably only renting out just one room in the fall, repayment will definitely slow down but still exciting to be so close to the original goal for the year :)

7) Two more outdoor trips are in the plans. Reg D and I are planning a 5-6 day trip with the dogs to tire them out before they go to my parents in June and then we'll also do a shorter trip over part of Memorial Day weekend. If I can square all my grading away, I could also go somewhere next weekend but I haven't decided if we should head out or just hang out closer to home for a bit.

But lots of great things in the works. There's the occasional speed bump but I'm pretty stoked with where life is and where it seems to be heading....just trying to enjoy, live a life I love, and trust the process....