2019: Year in Review

2020 is looking good so far, and I’m beyond excited about the year to come, but I’m gonna give 2019 a little more love yet. It deserves it!

I do want to point out that although I am extremely lucky to have such a great year to look back on, the following is a spotlight on the good and not the bad. 2019 had it’s share of trials and tribulations, and we worked our asses off to get here! So.

Here are some highlights from this year that topped all years thus far:

January started strong with a hike on the 1st:

It went a bit downhill after that, as expected. Because winter. Cold and snow and storms sucked the life out of us a little.

Then twins came to live with us:

Jody and Donna.

And the month capped off with little Donna breaking her leg. Yep.

February gave us one of the best experiences of the year: Ghost Stories 3 with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Hilarie Burton, and Paul Rudd. What an amazing, hilarious night! I don’t have any photos from it, but here’s a news clip from the YouTube:

We also explored the former residence of a president, tried hot yoga for the first time, went on a couple more hikes, and spent the night in a charming hotel just an hour away from home. Because why not.

Still ridiculously cold.

Donna had surgery and almost died from blood loss. She survived, and required vet visits for x-rays every two weeks, and syringe-feeding of pain meds and antibiotics multiple times daily. It wasn’t looking good, but we had to do everything we could.

March was good to us. Three hikes at three new locations- one of them at sunrise and another at one of our favorite new sites, the Mohonk Preserve.

Donna was costing us an arm and a leg. And she knew it.

April gave us a couple days of nice weather some good hikes! Best discovery: the Storm King Art Center.

Donna: officially a little shit.

We had to try and keep her immobile for months without any actual sedation. She wasn’t having it.

May started to get exciting. The weather was kind, we spent some more time outside, I started running again, and we had our first overnight camping trip.

Spent a weekend in Pittsburgh and saw Garth Brooks in concert! It was incredible.

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Don’t you sit upon the shoreline And say you’re satisfied Choose to chance the rapids And dare to dance that tide 🎶 – – Bucket List #272: see Garth Brooks in concert ✅ – – – – – – – – – #pittsburgh #heinzfield #pa #garthbrooks #concert #stadium #stadiumtour #theriver #country #goexplore #bucketlist #pennsylvania #urbanhike #exploremore #weekend #nofilter #wanderingcranes

A post shared by Myriah Crane (@wanderingcranes) on Jul 5, 2019 at 4:21am PDT

On May 29th, after 4 months of vet visits and x-rays, surgery and stitches, medicines, confinement, and stress: Donna was given an official clean bill of health.

She was worth it. Punk.

June saw two visits to Knoebels, and a road trip to Ocean City and Assateague Island, where our car overheated and nearly left us stranded.

Also a birthday hike:

July kept up the good work. Trip to New York City, more hiking, including the conquering of THE LOOP, aaaaand a day trip to the beach that involved our car overheating and nearly leaving us stranded. Again. It’s a thing we do.

Sierra’s Birthday:

Donna was still a little punk, but staying out of the hospital, so.

August was incredible. Another night of camping, ANOTHER trip to Knoebels, a wedding, sunflower farm, the New York State Fair, the Wyoming County Fair, SKYDIVING, and Day 1 of LSU’s amazing football season.

Jody was still managing to keep Donna in line.

September gave us the most amazing vacation ever in our new (almost?) favorite destination: Wilmington, North Carolina. Finally saw the New River Gorge Bridge, visited the North Carolina Zoo and Aquarium, some One Tree Hill filming locations, the Battleship North Carolina, Airlie Gardens, the World’s Largest Frying Pan, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Virginia Safari Park, and that wasn’t all!

October did it’s best. With one more Knoebels trip (dressed like royalty), LSU continuing their undefeated season, fall festivities, another couple hikes, and deciding to start back up with karate!

November won though. Because of this:

The Supernatural Convention might have been the greatest weekend I’ve ever experienced. It was indescribable.

A bit of fun in Washington DC, and a Trisha Yearwood concert with Mom! We also beat Bama, celebrated Thanksgiving, and said goodbye to autumn with the arrival of the Christmas season.