Raison d'Etre

I've always wondered what this blogging thing would be like. I've read a few blogs of friends and strangers and found them to be such wonderfully mundane windows into the lives and souls of people who lead such wonderfully mundane lives. I love it when the smallest occasions get a special posting all to themselves - the moments that usually get swept up in the rest of the day get a chance to be shared and remembered. My days seem to be composed primarily of these moments so I thought I'd give this a shot.

I have to admit that I do have a little bit of an inferiority complex about this, though. It seems like all of the other posts I've read are so funny and clever and entertaining and brilliant that I don't stand a chance. It's been a long time since I've really written anything and even longer since I've written anything and allowed anyone else to read it. But as I'm going through a bit of a transformation lately, I guess it's the perfect time to start.

I've entitled this blog "A Big Year Ahead" because, well, I have a big year ahead of me.

Big Thing 1: A few months ago, I ended what I thought was going to be my life's career in the environmental industry. Long story short - I hated it and it hated me. There aren't many other choices in Michigan for a girl with a geology degree so I'm headed back to school in January to start my Respiratory Therapy degree.

Big Thing 2: My friend Jessica recently clued me into a program called Summit for Someone which is a partnership between Backpacker magazine and Big City Mountaineers, a mentoring program for inner city kids. Participants select a mountain they'd like to climb and, after raising money for the organization, are given a chance to summit the mountain as part of a guided expedition. So we applied. And we got accepted! We will be climbing Mt. Rainier next September.

Big Thing 3: Jackie, my best friend from high school, is getting married in June and has given me the honor of being her Matron (holy crap, how old am I?) of Honor. I'm so excited! The wedding will be in Montana and is sure to be absolutely gorgeous.

So that's the year in a very condensed nutshell. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to share it!