Merry Christmas To All!!

I wish all my family and friends a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. I hope the new year finds us all succesful, content, blessed, etc...


Not sure who really reads my blog anymore, as I post so much on Facebook these days. Thought I would do a bit of a 2010 re-cap.  2010 wasn't the greatest year. So many raves, yet some big rants as well.  I guess that is life!
The year, as always started with my birthday. Another birthday, another year to reflect on. My birthday night out up on Cap Hill was really fun, and I appreciate those who made it out.  Of course, here we go again in about 2 weeks!  My nephew's birth was imminent Jan 2010, so that was very exciting. William Declan Mahoney was born on Jan 14th, which also happens to be his father's (my bro's) Colin's birthday. My first time becoming an aunt! FUN!!
March saw me back to CA as usual for some wine tasting in Calaveras Country, Murpheys, CA, and spending time with two of my best friends, Renata and Christina, as well as new friends made on this trip.
Our dog, Janni, started going a bit downhill in the spring.  By this time she had, had bladder cancer for well over a year.  We started to plan one last adventure up to Friday Harbor, WA for late May, but then it became apparent the trip would be too much for her, so I was back to CA instead.  This time I was with Christina for a long Memorial Day Weekend up at her family house on Clear Lake in Lake County, CA.  The sun was amazing, and it was one of the best vacations! 
Sadly, upon my return, it was the beginning of Janni's last days.  We said goodbye to our girl on June 9, 2010.  Definitely a low point of 2010. Probably the lowest.  We had her cremated, and begun plans to spread her ashes.
In the meantime, I was also working with my mom to plan my dad's 75th birthday party in Portland for family and friends later in June.  That was a nice distraction from dwelling on the sadness of losing our dog.


Much of the summer was devoted to planning a hiking/camping/mountain climb trip to spread Janni's ashes.
The Olympic Mountains are due west of my condo, and we can see several amazing peaks from our living room.  We decided on the one we were going to summit and went about planning a two day trip that would bring us to the top of Buckhorn Mountain, elv.6988!!  We accomplished this on August 30th! (pics are here on the blog).  It probably is the highlight of the year!  We loved the Olympic area so much we headed back for a day hike up Elk Mtn, accessible from Hurricane Ridge.  We plan to tackle a few more peaks in summer 2011 for sure!!


This fall was work, work, work.  I went to the OSU-UW Game at Husky stadium, but we lost in triple overtime. Ugh...  No big fall trips planned...   The week of Thanksgiving we had a snow storm and freezing temps, so the city was a mess as usual.  


Now, Christmas is upon us.  I am off to Oregon on Friday to spend the hoilday with my parents.  Then back north on the 26th to PDX to see my bro Joe and soon-to-be SIL, Suzanne,.. and last stop in Vancouver to see Julee and Dale, and my bro Kevin. Lots to squeeze in, in 3 days!!


Merry Christmas to Everyone!!