Best of 2018

Best Views

Clockwise from top left: big sky sunset outside of Austin, TX; surrounded by a leafy jungle on a hike in Hawaii; late afternoon sun on a hike in Arizona; green mountain ridges in West Virginia; afternoon hammocking during a camping trip in western Maryland.

2018 was one of the wettest years on record in the DC area, so it's not too surprising that the best sunny views are from elsewhere.


Best Food

Clockwise from top left: Nutella Banana Stuffed French Toast - perfect fuel for the 35-mile bike ride that followed; Keizo's CSA ratatouille; real Japanese ramen from an un-fancy lunch counter place; Crooked Run Brewery, one of 2018's many beer flights; life-affirming nitro cold brew found in Austin during a boil-water restriction.

This category could go on and on, given my love of food and the bounty of our summer CSA. What can I say, the last sentence of the bio on the right still holds true. :-)


Best Biking

Clockwise from top left: Martha, a.k.a. Ma-chan, my new steel-frame touring bike; the W&OD trail; all smiles before a super soggy metric century ride in Delaware; participants on a social/educational ride I helped organize along the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail.

Several of my favorite moments of 2018 occurred on a bike. I now understand why the ideal number of bikes is n+1 and can see why people quit their jobs/take sabbaticals to do crazy things like ride across the country.


Best Time Spent on the Clock

Left to right: preparing for fieldwork (also known as bike riding) in Baton Rouge; team selfie after another successful Open Streets event in May (Keizo volunteered); approaching Key West to present the bicycle and pedestrian plan to the public/city staff.

Work was certainly not all fun and games in 2018. In fact, it was a super challenging and busy year with several colleagues taking jobs elsewhere, an ever changing company culture, and taking a professional certification exam. Looking back on the year as whole, it's easier to see how much I accomplished and appreciate the fun times, but in the moment most weeks felt like an endless grind.


Best Travel

Clockwise from top left: hiking in Hawaii with Kim; soaking up the sun in Long Beach with Linda; Keizo's parents' garden plot; Keizo in front of his old high school; Boston Harbor cruise; on top of Bald Knob in New Hampshire with Alexis and Andrew; Boston Pops 4th of July concert.

It's hard to find the words to describe how awesome/important/meaningful/fun/different taking a month-long vacation was. We packed in seeing a ton of different people and places with minimal disruptions in the overall plan, and had a fantastic time. Can't wait to do it again.


Best Weekend Fun

Clockwise from top left: Friendsgiving with 11 adults and 1 toddler setting a new record for the number of people in our apartment at once; Memorial Day camping "tarp"-itecture; Wales vs South Africa rugby game in DC; Jason Mraz concert; the sled lift at Blackwater Falls State Park in WV (never dragging my sled up a hill again!)

As the photos above show, plenty of fun was had and good memories were made much closer to home as well.

Thanks 2018 - it's been quite a year!

Currently - December '18

I just got back from a trip to sunny Florida, where it did not feel like December at all (sigh). But now that I'm back in the land of bare trees, heavy coats, and cold toes, I wanted to capture my thoughts about the last month of 2018.

More info

gifting - I'm looking forward to treating myself to a few things, but otherwise it's going to be a quiet Christmas around here. My family is very generous, but we're not big shoppers. Instead, we're all gifting each other the ease of not exchanging presents this year and will have a belated celebration during our next family vacation in May 2019 (destination TBD).

baking - Some of my favorite Xmas cookies and tweaking the recipe for No-Knead Bread with yummy mix-ins like kalamata olives and subbing in whole wheat flour for all-purpose. Unlike the summer months, having the oven on these days makes the kitchen the coziest place in the house to hang out in!

singing - In addition to the seasonal music that's just about everywhere, I've been listening to and singing along with Jason Mraz's "Have It All" a few mornings a week. The generous message and lines like "may you be as fascinating as a slap bracelet | may you keep the chaos and the clutter off your desk," help get the day started off right.

mailing - It's high time to get started on the New Year's cards we send each year, but in the meantime, I am loving the cards coming in from friends with photos of their growing families and funny messages.

decorating - Only a few things this year, as we're not hosting my parents and brother as we have the past two years. The tree will not be making an appearance, but the lights are up in the front windows, there's a garland on the TV stand, festive towels in the kitchen and bathroom, and mini-tree centerpiece in the middle of the dining room table.