2009: A Year in Pictures

I'm borrowing this idea from a blog we read called Up In Alaska, whose writer did a similar post that I really enjoyed.

It was very difficult for me to pick just one photo from each month, because I feel very thankful to say that every single month provided at least several different occasions filled with great experiences and memories. The photos here are not necessarily the BEST photos from each month, but they strike me as favorites or representative of great memories from throughout the year. If you asked me tomorrow, I might pick completely different ones; and if you asked Ryan, I'm sure he'd have his own set of favorite photos and memories. But here's my finalists of the moment.

Enjoy.

January

Winter in Chinle meant we would get some snow and then the sun would come out, turning the roads into a muddy mess, but also creating other stunning [perhaps deadly] beauty. January also included a couple great weekends of skiing, our first ever Soup Swap, a super fun weekend in Telluride celebrating Julie's 30th, and lots of packing up and preparing to move to Tsaile.

February

Days after moving here, we got dumped on. It snowed for two days straight, and then one afternoon the sun came out, I donned my snowshoes and went to play in it. I knew I liked the environment up here and that it would be quieter with more green and views of the mountains than Chinle. But I was also nervous about it being so small and remote. I think I fell in love that day and now really appreciate the quiet and solitude.

March

One of the highlights of March was our first ever extended canoe trip. We had several days of lazy floating down the Green River with great weather and great friends. What a blast. But this sunset was captured on our way to a relaxing weekend of camping near one of our favorite areas of the southwest. Monument Valley represents for me our gateway to this life in the Southwest that we've been living for the past 3 1/2 years. Those images are so widely reproduced, but they never get old to me. And here we were, taking the back roads to our favorite camping spot in the world with great friends, and this setting sun highlighted why I love it down here.

April

We love it here, but there is never enough time with family. This was a blessed, family-filled month. April brought my parents back out to visit us. We had a busy but fun week, seeing all sorts of highlights of the Southwest. Then I was off to spend a fabulous week in Costa Rica with my favorite sister in the world. Shortly after that, we also got to see Ryan's sister and her family in Phoenix. It was tough not picking a photo from the Costa Rica trip for this month, but none of my scenery-focused photos really captured the best part of the trip, which was catching up with my sister. So Dad and I reaching the top of Angel's Landing Trail together in Zion won out.

May

Ryan and I participated in our first bike race ever, the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde mountain bike race. We also had a really nice visit by Ryan's mom, including a stay at the new hotel in Monument Valley where we got to see the sunrise over the Mittens. But the defining moment of May was when Ryan and I pedaled across the finish line of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Silverton, Colorado, after riding 50 miles together over the mountains from Durango. The photo above is from the pros racing in the criterium in Durango, but represents the momentous accomplishment that I spent months training for and even fearing! I must mention though, that the last days of the month were pretty significant for me as well. I was invited by Ryan's co-worker to attend her daughter's Kinaalda ceremony. The invitation itself was significant, as we have found it hard since we've lived here on the reservation to make connections outside of the IHS fences, literally and figuratively. But the ceremony itself was also a great experience, both for the specific traditions that I witnessed, and the lessons I learned about this culture we live in.

June

Riding the high of finishing the Iron Horse, I completed my first triathlon in June. We enjoyed several days of great bluegrass music in the beautiful mountains of Telluride. And I was lucky to have a wonderful week-long visit from one of my best friends. We had lazy days exploring close to home and a few adventures to the beautiful surroundings. After turning our mouths colors with snow cones, we sat through one of the most stunning thunderstorms I've ever witnessed right outside of Monument Valley. We just stopped.

July

We enjoyed the Second Annual Crawfish Boil here in Tsaile in July. I also had my first ever "coffee house" showing of some of my photography at a friends house in Chinle, where I sold some prints and tried my hand out at turning this hobby into a business. But July for me now means a Fourth of July/Birthday weekend in Silverton, Colorado. Camping in a beautiful mountain valley. Running in the 5k Blue Ribbon race. Hiking up up and up to the crystal blue Ice Lakes. Sitting around a campfire with good friends. Gluten-free birthday carrot cake. Let the tradition carry on.

August

Started with a fun and sunny weekend cruising Lake Powell with lots of great friends. Then a trip to Denver to see family and some baseball. Finally, an overdue trip to Cleveland to spend time with family and a best friend home from overseas. We revisited some of our favorite Cleveland spots as well as some new ones. And we attended my 10 year high school reunion. It was nice to reconnect with people from the past, but it was also a reason to reflect on where our lives have taken us in the past ten. Lots of trips in August, but a photo from home. This high desert home has a short growing season, but while it's here we have a bounty of flowers and a prolific garden (hopefully even more so next year)!

September

It's hard to believe how fast five years of marriage has gone. I guess time flies when you're having fun! September for me also means a week or weeks spent at Hopiland with Red Feather. Four years I've gone, and each time there are great new people to meet, new cultural experiences to be had, new building skills learned, and a new perspective on life.

October

Fall is one of our favorite times of year here. The sun isn't quite as harsh as summer, the wind not as fierce as in spring, the temperatures not as drastic as winter. It's a great time to get outside and ride bikes, so we braved our second Chuska Challenge, and had the great weather we were hoping for, albeit one of the most challenging days on a bike I've ever had! In neighboring New Mexico, fall also means Chile harvest! We had a fun weekend in Albuquerque picking chiles and pumpkins, roasting them and peeling them for a year's supply of locally grown spicy goodness.

November

We had a fun weekend enjoying one of our favorite places to stay and eat at in Rico, Colorado. We also hosted our second Soup Swap [which I have yet to post about]. And we spent half the month in South Dakota catching up with Ryan's family. Every time we go back to South Dakota, I learn something new about Ryan at each place we visit, whether it's on the land in the Hills, or at the ranch, or right at home in his mom's house. And it's always great to get to know his family, our neices and nephews, a little more. There were lots of great pictures from the trip, but this is one of my favorites of our niece and nephew by the "dump" at the ranch where lots of old carcasses sit to rest and rust.

December

Winter always means several weekend trips to Colorado. And this year it meant a Christmas holiday with my parents, sister, aunts, uncles and Grandma in Denver. This was my Grandma's first Christmas as a Denver resident after 82 years in Dayton, Ohio. December also brought snow and some more snow to the Tsaile area. Once the sun comes out, this place turns into a quiet sparkling winter wonderland. I never enjoyed winter as much as I do here.

I always say I'll post more than I end up doing. Sometimes I miss posting things that were significant in our lives, other times I post stuff that I've already forgotten about. But it's fun to share snippets of what goes on from day to day. And in looking back over this year, I'm so thankful for the adventures we get to take and the people we get to see in our travels. Thanks for reading and being a part of our lives via this blog. We wish you all the best, but especially fun and adventure for this new year and this new decade!