From my last post you can see that 2014 was full of change but it was also full of good times. Here’s a look back at 2014 in pictures:

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holidays! I had a great holiday with my family and am enjoying the week off with Cory.

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I have posted, life has been a little topsy-turvy. All things considered things haven’t changed THAT much but I guess I didn’t plan in advance how this year would turn out so it’s a bit of a surprise. I started out 2014 thinking I would have a focus on a couple Ironmans then jump into ultramarathons while mostly everything else would stay the same.

We were planning on selling our house and moving, the market was moving fast so I thought we would be out of our old house and into a new one in a couple months.

A big thing I have learned this year is to not set too many expectations for the future, especially on things you don’t really have control over. The house selling and buying process took a lot longer than planned and involved 4 moves. It was a lot more stressful and time consuming than I thought it would be.  In the end we moved into an amazing house that (that we love!) on July 1st.

It was worth it in the long run but during the process it was hard to not know how and when things would work out. My husband’s company also shut down only two months after hiring him (after a long unemployment in 2013) luckily he found an amazing job that he likes so much better soon after. Mix in a couple illnesses that knocked me on my butt. So the first part of 2014 wasn’t my favorite and things didn’t go to my plan but overall things were fine, my health retuned and everyone was good.

The second part of the year went better, with lots of fun trail runs with Cory and my mom, things were fairly quiet and run of the mill, lots of fun running in the mountains and having friends and family to our new house.

But quietly I started questioning my direction professionally. I had what I thought was my dream job so I should have felt fulfilled and settled. If you had asked me I would have said that it was my dream job because I thought it was or at least it should be. I think it’s really hard to give up on a dream when it’s not really your dream anymore. But I wasn’t happy, I didn’t feel challenged in the way I wanted to be and with a change in administration things were moving away from how I wanted them to be. While things were really uncertain Cory was my rock and very supportive. I can’t thank him enough for having my back no matter what.

It was hard to let go and take a leap, but I did some soul searching and figured out what it is that I really want. I decided that I wanted something that would challenge me intellectually and allow me to work in an environment that makes me happy. I want to pursue a career as a professor at a college or university, higher education has been a passion of mine for a long time and I now know that I want to be a past of it full time. To pursue this dream I will need a doctorate so it’s back to school for me! Since I can’t apply for a program until next year as well as take the GRE ( that I didn’t need for my masters program) etc. So until I get into a full time program (fingers crossed) I have returned to teaching formally, and I am really excited about it. I am really looking forward to using my brain in a new way.  I was always that kid that loved going back to school, things haven’t changed as an adult.

Then at the beginning of this month we lost our beloved Boxer, Bailey. We knew it was coming sometime soon but that doesn’t make it easier. We were lucky to have her for 12 fun, mischievous, affectionate years and we will always miss her.

So 2014 is going out looking a lot different than it started and while the journey was bumpy I am happy with how things have turned out and I am looking forward to making 2015 amazing and sharing the adventure with Cory.