Happy New Year! Here is a quick look back at my 2016 best nine.

Wordless Wednesday 12/28

Sometimes what appears to be the path less traveled still has great views from the top (July 2004, North Ridge Trail Cadillac Mountain, Bar Harbor, ME)

Views from the top of Cadillac Mountain (July 2004, Cadillac Mountain, Bar Harbor, ME)

At the top of the play structure with the girls

First day using the rink and the kids were loving it #backyardrink

I may have misjudged the weather this morning by wearing shorts on my run 😬

Really could use some help from the @uspondhockey Pond crew.. Well I guess it is good practice! #backyardrink

My Traveling Myth

I am flying back from a 3-day work trip, and thanks to the WordPress offline app I can write while at 10k feet.

One of the strange tricks my mind tells me is that when I am going to go on a work trip I will have more free time.  It tells me I will have time to explore the city, write, read more, watch a movie at the hotel or even work out more.  However, most of all that is a myth as what ends up happening is going to the office at my normal time but staying much later than normal.  Then that is normally followed up by going out to dinner with consultants or co-workers which always lasts much longer than anticipated.  Now I am not saying I don’t have fun eating and chatting with others (much better than eating by myself) but it is things my mind always forgets happen when I am thinking/planning for an upcoming trip.

Flying over Milwaukee, WI in route to Buffalo, NY (December 2016)

In the upcoming months, I will be traveling about once per month and I am hoping it will allow me to do more of the things that I have hoped to do when traveling.  Since I have found with most things so far this year, creating a habit or setting a goal would be a great start.  I will make sure to keep you posted on how it goes and hopeful can share any tips/tricks I might have found helpful.

Have you ever fallen into this travel myth?

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I am on the second day of my vacation and am finally finding time to finish/publish this post I started. In case I don’t write another post before Christmas, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Wordless Wednesday 12/07

*Peaceful night listening to the flowing water fill the outdoor rink while watching the freezing at the same time (December 2016)*

Finally it’s that time of year again… #floodtherink #backyardrink

The builder hanging out with Frosty the Snowman

After we built frosty the snowman M said we had to build our family #snow

Wordless Wednesday 11/30

A variety of trees with autumn foliage stand before a grassy field under a clear blue sky.

Looking out over the Tree Farm and remembering all the weekends I spent there as a child. Look in the distance to the large pine trees that 25 years ago were only saplings and now overgrown. (November 2016, G&R Plantation, Osceola IA)

“It’s Not This Time of Year Without”… a trip to the Christmas Tree Farm (i.e. G&R Plantation).

Checking out the Light Display that supports a great cause #makeawish

Trip down memory lane running through the streets of my hometown on Thanksgiving

Snow tracks

Wordless Wednesday 11/23

Img 8764 *Early morning running tracks in the snow (November 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*

Re: Electoral College

For anyone that found the last post on the Electoral College interesting in any way, I felt that I needed to share this as a follow up as I stumbled across last Friday evening.  It appears there is more than meets the eye to the Electoral College as you will find out in the CGP Grey video below.

via Re: The Trouble With The Electoral College – Cities, Metro Areas, Elections and The United States - CGPGrey.com

After watching the video it points out a couple more overall flaws that are part of our current system.  It is interesting to think that in the current system, in December the Electoral College could reverse the decision made by the “Public” (States Electoral Votes) a little over a week ago. I agree this would be bad to enact as it could cause a further divide in our country.

The current system benefits no citizen and protects no states

All of this is very interesting to point out as some of it I never knew before and honestly can’t believe that we have a system in place today that allows it.  I do hope in the near future there are more discussions on what a modern election should look like.  I will be watching as all of this has really sparked my interest as well.

 

Wordless Wednesday 11/16

*The rink is patiently waiting for more cold weather (37°F in this picture), before flooding. (November 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*

Where the Heck is Matt? - 2016

With everything else that has happened in the last couple of weeks, I managed to miss that the new “Where the Heck is Matt” video that launched.  I am a big supporter of the work Matt Harding does mostly because I think the overall concept of dancing in all different locations is awesome.  Even though it is only a brief couple of seconds he shows himself dancing at different locations it goes to show you how the world is not always as scary as everyone makes it out to be.  He sums it up nicely in the caption of this new video by saying “We’re stuck on this planet together and we need to take care of each other.”

If you liked the video be sure to check out his website (WhereTheHeckIsMatt.com) or follow him on Twitter @WhereTheHisMatt

Also, feel free to check out what I wrote about his 2015 Kickstarter at the end of last year and his Where the Hell is Matt - 2012 video as well.

 

Some of you might not want to believe it.. but it is time.