Hello, dear readers! I can’t believe how fast this year is going! I’ve been pretty busy with work, lots of visits from friends and family, and outdoor adventures when I can fit them in. I want to recap a few of the more notable events in my 2023, largely for my own benefit, haha.

Right after the new year, my dear SAT (self-appointed trainer, a.k.a., my husband) volunteered us to foster a pair of feral brother kittens. His boss had been feeding these kittens, along with their mama and sister, and took the kittens to get neutered. My SAT thought his boss would appreciate us fostering the kittens while they recuperated from surgery. We were only supposed to have them for a week or so. WE STILL HAVE THEM. But, I think we may be rehoming them to his boss’ place soon. Anyway, I named them Mario and Luigi and they were about 5 months old when we got them. They are pretty cute! Mario has the white chest and paws and Luigi is all grey. My cats, Jack and Simone, have largely tolerated the kittens’ presence. The kittens LOVE Jack. They would totally engage more with Simone if she let them. Here are some pictures of Mario and Luigi (let me know if you’d like to adopt them!):

(First picture is shortly after the kittens arrived at our place. Luigi is behind Mario. They were about 5 months old. The second picture is Luigi enjoying the flowers. He’s about 6.5 months old here. The third picture is Mario lounging on our bed (approximately 8 months old here).

For the past few years, I’ve ridden in Sedona with friends to celebrate my birthday. This year, I got a small group to spend my birthday weekend in Sedona. We booked an Airbnb close to some trails and just hung out the whole weekend. We mountain biked, hiked the Devil’s Bridge, and ate lots of yummy food! It was a fantastic weekend and such a great way to celebrate. There were 9 in total and 5 people had a March birthday, so the mood was VERY festive. I made a “Birthday Queen” sash for the birthday girls to take turns wearing!

This year was the third year I participated in the Slaydies Spring Challenge. For the month of April, participants commit to practicing a few mountain bike skills every day for at least 15 minutes. On May 1st, there is a celebration ride and party to mark the end of the challenge. Pivot Cycles hosted the party and provided demo bikes for us to ride (Pivot bikes are super nice, so that was a real treat). I focused on climbing for this year’s challenge and I think I’ve improved my overall body position for attacking technical (i.e., chunky, rocky) climbs. The celebration was last night and I got to lead the “beginner/party” ride option. Why was it a “party” ride? Well, apparently, I have a reputation for “making” my riders take part in a mountain bike dance party, hahaha. I like to have fun 🙂 One cool thing that happened at the end of my ride was getting a group photo taken by a professional photographer! He posed us in a “V” formation and caught the sunset. After the ride, we all enjoyed pizza and drinks and received our challenge t-shirts. It was such a fun time!

I hope all of you are having a great 2023!