2023 in review

2023 – what a year! Keeping up my streak of one blog post per year…here we go 🙂

In January, our foster dog (Jessie) got adopted by a wonderful family who has been giving her a wonderful life!

In February, Josh & I attended an orienteering instructional course at Brandywine on one of the coldest days of the year. We learned a lot but had even more to learn throughout the upcoming year.

In early spring, we hired a dog trainer to help us with Burton’s obedience. We went through about 2 months of training. There was stress, failures, sacrifices, and great victories! Although Burton is far from perfect obedience, he has shown immense growth with reactivity and we enjoy our runs, hikes, and walks with a lot less stress. We are grateful for Darrin and everything that he has taught us to allow Burton to live his best life!

I ran my first race with Ainsley’s Angels in Haddonfield. I love being a part of inclusivity in sport!

I continued to coach the Reactors and promote getting more kids on bikes!

I dabbled in race directing by organizing a happy hour race series in town. It was successful but hopefully there will be growth in coming years!

Josh & I discovered a “new” bakery and we began making nearly weekly visits for delicious treats!

I guided Ian at the Broad St 10 Miler. We got rained on in the second half of the race but we made it despite minimal obstacles. Very grateful to Ian for trusting me to guide him alongside thousands of other runners.

Josh & I did our first orienteering event in May at French Creek. We had absolutely no perception of distance which was a HUGE hinderance to us but we learned a lot. We also did orienteering events at Hickory Run, Iron Hill, & Fair Hill this year – we learned SO much through each experience and improved at each event. I am looking forward to doing more in 2024!

Josh & I purchased a camper from my parents and we went on many camping adventures this year. We visited Hipcamps in Elkton & near Birdsboro. We also camped at Hickory Run State Park, World’s End State Park, Fair Hill, and Camp Edge. We have enjoyed going on adventures with our camper and Burton has joined us for many of those trips. He has learned to love camping too. I can’t wait for more camping adventures in 2024 and beyond!

In early June, our geographical area had a crazy change in air quality for several days. It was hazy for days making outdoor activities less than ideal. I researched AQI frequently in those days.

June bike camps included Walnut Creek, CA & Gardnerville, NV. While in CA, I went geocaching on a rail to trail nearby to our hotel. This was a crazy busy 40-rider camp which made the days feel extra exhausting. I absolutely LOVED Nevada (including the suite I stayed in for the week with a hot tub!). The mountain views were absolutely breathtaking. I rented a bike in Lake Tahoe which is something I am eternally grateful. I would go back to that NV camp in a heartbeat!

In July, I worked summer school. It sucked. I whined & complained about it every day. During this time, I was also interviewing with other schools for alternate job opportunities. I accepted another school-based position mid-summer and have been employed by them since end of August. It has been a learning experience working with other OTs/PTs and learning ASL for one of the schools I work at!

Short track races were a success this year with a mighty team of volunteers. We improved our accuracy with the electronic timing system too which was an added bonus to the summer!

S&S had many great group runs and events in 2023. It has been a pleasure getting to know new and old participants in our group activities & I hope it continues to expand in the new year.

We visited the Pitman Theater on three occasions this year. We saw performances of Billy Elliot, Grease, and The Little Mermaid. I have enjoyed all performances & they make for a good girl’s night out or date night!

August bike camps included East Lyme, CT & Appleton, WI. In East Lyme, our hotel was exquisite. The host was fun & we got to take his boat out on the bay. They food was also delicious & my coworker was a great teammate! Appleton was one of my favorite camps in 2022 and again, this was one of my favorite camps of 2023. We went to a minor league baseball game, biked around Neenah, saw an amazing concert in town with fireworks afterwards, visited Green Bay, and had great food/drinks. Wisconsin is one of my favorites! Again, I am eternally grateful for this summer job. It an absolute privilege to teach individuals with disabilities how to ride a bike and the people I continue to meet have a place in my heart forever.

S&S turned 8 years old!

Mommom & Granny turned 80 years old! We celebrated with birthday dinners with family!

While biking during Labor Day weekend, I got stung by an unknown insect which made the left side of my face swell to a disgusting size. When I went to Urgent Care (with the encouragement of my brand new coworkers), the doctor said it was likely a contusion from the bug smacking my cheek….a CONTUSION! lol They gave me a steroid and the swelling and discomfort dissipated after a day or two. It was just a very inconvenient situation.

In September, Josh & I went to our first Phillies game together. It rained while we were trying to tailgate so we ate our Wawa hoagies in the car. Luckily it stopped raining by game start and the Phillies won – yay!

Another successful 9/11 run with a great group of runners.

Another Oktoberfest in the books!

Raced Ramsey’s Farm 8 miler and won a pumpkin for being the 1st female in my age group!

S&S hosted a women’s mountain bike clinic and it was an amazing success! Women showed up, learned, tried new things, and succeeded on their mountain bikes. I can’t wait to grow the women’s mountain biking community even more!

Engaged on October 14th at Worlds End State Park! ❤ ❤ ❤ It rained ALL.DAY.LONG. We geocached via car in the morning and then hung out at the camper for most of the early afternoon. ENGAGED as dusk approached with Burton by our side – I said yes! (Then we googled what hand to put the ring on – LOL)

Since we became engaged, we have jumped in to wedding planning – our ceremony is booked, our reception is almost booked, & our photographer is booked. We have a game plan and it’s gonna be a great one! Most of the end of 2023 has been focused on wedding planning

Shred the Edge was another great success. I raced this year & won a cheese shredder award.

For Halloween, I dressed up as a lifeguard and Burton was a shark.

In November, we volunteered at the inaugural NICA Regional Championships. It was so fun to meet people from other NICA leagues on the east coast. It was cold with no amenities but it was super fun to be a part of a great weekend getting more kids on bikes!

We had a great team of ladies at the Turkey Trot! Burton & I ran a PR and finished as 4th female, 1st in age group!

We won tickets to the Eagles game and we brought Robert & Aunt Tammy to be part of the Kickoff Kid Sweepstakes. It rained the entire game, our ponchos had puddles, it was a stressful game but they won which made it alllllll worth it! What an experience for our first Eagles game!

We celebrated Christmas with Christmas Eve games with family and lots and lots of food on Christmas day. Winter break included seeing faraway friends, reading, and watching sports (Go Flyers! – they’re doing great this year!)

We got our engagement photos taken at Camp Edge alongside Burton. We’ve only seen a few pictures from the session but I love every single one of them!

Running Stats of 2023:

• Total Miles: 1,110.0 miles (vs 2022 at 1,240.0)
• Highest Monthly Mileage: April (132.3 miles) (vs 2022 at May 165.5 miles)
• Races: Adrenaline Run 5k, Broad St 10 Miler, Pitman 4 Miler, Ramsey Farm 8 Miler, Fort Mott 5k, Woodstown Turkey Trot 5k
• Shoes: Altra Escalantes, Altra Torins, Altra Superiors
• States I ran in: NJ, DE, MD, PA, CA, NV, CT, WI

Cycling Stats of 2023:

• Total Miles: 247.1 miles (vs 2022 at 195.4 miles)
• Highest monthly mountain bike mileage: November (35.1 miles) (vs 2022 at May 33.4 miles)
• Highest monthly road bike mileage: August (39.3 miles) (vs 2022 – 0 miles)
• Total Road Bike Miles: 67.3 miles (vs 2022 – 0 miles)
• Total MTB Miles: 179.8 miles (vs 2022 at 195.4 miles)
• Races: Shred the Edge

Other activity stats of 2023:

• Total walking/hiking miles: 301.2 miles (vs 2022 at 220.3 miles)
• Orienteering Events: French Creek, Hickory Run, Iron Hill, and Fair Hill

Total woman-powered miles: 1,648.3 miles (vs 2022 at 1,655.7 miles)

This year has been a pretty consistent year of miles. The consistency of group runs and the group that has formed has been a great experience and we have shared many races together! We covered miles from orienteering races and grew the women’s mountain bike community. I have enjoyed mountain biking more because of this! It was an honor guiding Ian at one of the biggest 10 milers in the country. Biking in Lake Tahoe was my absolute favorite bike ride of 2023. Racing with Burton has been fun & exploring state parks (and getting engaged in one of them) has been memorable with Josh. I can’t wait to see where 2024 takes my legs!

Reading stats of 2023 (courtesy of Goodreads):

• # of books read: 40 (vs 2022 – 28)
• # of pages read: 13,921 (vs 2022 – 9,517)
• Favorite reads (I rated all of them with 5 stars): The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Reminders of Him, The Fallen, Regretting You, It Ends with Us, The Glass Castle, & The Forgotten Girls.

I got a library card this year! I love my trips to the library which probably contributed to my reading obsession this year

Geocaching stats of 2023:

• Finds: 98 (vs 152 in 2022)
• Hides: 0
• States: NJ, PA, DE, MD, CA, NV, CT, WI

2023 has truly been special. A lot of great things happened across all spectrums of life and there is SO much to look forward to in 2024. I am grateful for all that 2023 has given to me. I am grateful for the relationships that have strengthened. Although there may have been rough days, all in all, 2023 was a good year. Here’s to more laughter, love, and joy in 2024!