Hey all!  A new year, a new beginning! Sciatica is getting better and I keep heading out to the woods to test out my back and left quad (which still feels all tingly, like it’s asleep).  So far, very positive!  It has been a long haul since November 24, when the most unfortunate day occurred, which left me cursing my life!  However, I am thankful for all these new stretches and exercises that I am learning in physical therapy, as they are helping enormously.

So with all the down time, I was frustrated, no doubt…especially when the semester ended and I headed into Winter Break.  I wanted to get to the woods and hike. And let me just stop here and … full disclosure … I was in a dark place.  I felt like the pain was not going to go away.  I tried to not share my darkness with anyone, and instead moved that dark energy into little projects to move me forward.  I lit a lot of candles…

…and I reconnected with my crafty self creating a little Winter Solstice scene with embroidery to celebrate the longest night and the return of the Sun.  While working on this, I was able to visualize myself well and back on the trail! It was a fun week of doodling with thread and needle! 🙂

Then, still kinda stuck in that liminal space between sort of hurting and sort of feeling good, I took a New Year’s Day hike with my sister and niece.  A short hike that stretched my legs and soothed my soul.  Afterwards, I made a merit badge for my niece (thinking all the while it could have been for me 🙂 🙂 )

OMG! and then, I could feel the Universe moving in my direction again!  I won an emergency first aid kit from Emergency Response, LLC! What a lift to my psyche! So surprising, and Saleena even dropped it off at my house.  yasssss! 😀

Now in the New Year mood, I looked to my journal.  Last year I created a journal page to track my miles hiking.  About 350 miles in, the page layout started to tick me off because if I didn’t make a certain number of miles, then I couldn’t color in the next block (see pic below).  I stopped tracking with this layout and just started listing the miles in my planner.

As a result, this year, I have created a different layout and I am already loving it! This layout is so much more affirming than last year’s as I can reward every hike I take, instead of miles hiked.  SMILES not MILES…hahaha, I just remembered I posed in front of a banner that said something like that at Neel’s Gap in Georgia!  In addition, this layout will help me keep track of all the Maryland Trail Dame hikes I lead.  I am confident this is going to work better this year!

I just realized, they all look like little merit badges 😀 I like this muchly!

Do any of you track miles or hikes you have taken?  I would love to see your layouts or hear what works for you! Much merriment in 2019, Hike on!