With 2013 winding down, I thought I'd include the text from our Christmas card this year to review where we've been and start thinking about where we're going in 2014.
Wow, what another incredible year! We actually started out 2013 happy to be home in ATX after our Xmas trip to the Canary Islands turned disastrous when our passports (and other belongings) were stolen. But, that didn't hold us back for long! We joined Kurt's brother for a ski trip to Breckenridge, CO in January then headed for the sun in Puerto Rico in February. Kurt ran the LA Marathon in March and had such a good experience that he decided he has a few more marathons left in him. We headed back to CA in May-this time to San Francisco for the Tour of California, a popular professional cycling race, and some R & R in wine country. Then, we enjoyed a fun Memorial Day weekend in CO filled with rafting, running, and relaxing. Kurt ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in June where he qualified to run the Boston Marathon next year. Kurt took a month sabbatical from work in July and we were fortunate to spend 3 weeks in Europe. Highlights include Kurt running with the bulls in Pamplona, enjoying beach time on the French coast, watching the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France on Alpe d' Huez and in Paris, hiking the Cinque Terre, and spending time with Kurt's cousin in the Italian Lake District. And, that was only the first half of the year! We took a short trip to Ohio in August for Kurt's 15th high school reunion (nevermind that Melissa graduated college before Kurt even graduated high school), and he enjoyed catching up with his childhood friends and family. We enjoyed a respite from the Texas heat with a quick trip to San Francisco again in September to watch the OSU vs. Cal football game. Then, it was time to cram marathon training into 2 months before we ran the NYC Marathon in November after the race was cancelled last year. We spent the Thanksgiving holidays on the Great Wall and in megacities Beijing and Shanghai, China. We are looking ahead to another trip to Europe for the Christmas holidays to wrap up 2013. We continue to feel so fortunate to have all of these amazing experiences together. Melissa is wrapping up her 4th successful year in private practice, and Kurt is happily still being challenged at AMD after 10 years. Hope 2013 was filled with great memories for you and even better ones ahead in 2014! -K & m
As I initially reviewed what I had written for our Christmas card, I was struck with the thought that it seemed very K-centric. Now, he did have a pretty good year in 2013, especially from an athletic standpoint. He even won the 2013 MVP Male award for Team Mac, which is a high accomplishment given all the running talent in that group. Maybe it's also because I don't want to toot my own horn as much, so I focused less on my accomplishments. But, when I pointed out my observation to K, he simply replied, "Well, do more." Hmm...
So, that thought has been rattling around in my brain as I think about my goals for 2014. I am happy with where my practice is right now. I'm happy with the growth I have seen in my therapy clients, I'm doing more testing which is my passion, I have developed some new referral sources, and I have said no more than yes when needed. From a running perspective, I need to identify a goal or target race for next year to get me off the couch now that the NYC marathon is finally behind me and holiday travel is (nearly) completed. I do need to do a better job of integrating training with my personal and professional schedules though (which means making it the priority that it deserves to be if I am really going to get serious again). From a travel perspective, we will still likely have 2 extended international trips for next year, but our shorter weekend domestic trips might end up being fewer than in the past few years due to our allotment of K's vacation days, especially for the first half of the year. This means that it is probably a good time for me to really focus on running again since I won't have a lot of training disruptions for travel until July. I'm open to any suggestions on races!
And, finally, I miss my friend group here in Austin and elsewhere (and, I know K feels this way, too). I do feel like I made an effort to make plans with folks at certain times this year, and we had our first party at our "new" house in April. But, it just hasn't been the same as it has been in the past. I know that not participating in a running group (or even making plans to join friends for runs) has limited my connections with certain folks. But, I also feel the divide growing between those that have kids and those that don't. It's certainly a challenge to coordinate getting together with my friends of young children, and I'll be honest, in some cases I have all but given up because it's been so much of an obstacle. I'm not sure where to go with this one for next year.
So, that's a wrap on 2013. Well, almost. We have one last adventure ahead of us to close out the year in style. And, then it's on to 2014 and whatever it may bring. Cheers!
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