I put a lot of time and thought into the video and what I wanted it to display.  This is a little less of what my year was, but more of what I learned from it and what I want to do in 2012.

What I learned:

Hiking/Trail running:
1. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread shoved into a camelbak will be a bread, peanut butter and jelly ball after 5 miles…without fail.  Use a harder bread instead.
2. Salami is NOT a trail running food…for ANYONE involved.
3. Running while your DayQuil battles it out with the NyQuil you took a few hours before because you thought you should sleep and then changed your mind and decided a run would be smarter …. IS NOT FUN. I might need to redo that trail because I don’t remember much of it.
4. Running on Vicoden isn’t smart either. When my back is out, just stay in bed because it’s THOSE runs that I get lost and end up running 25.5 miles and run out of water with 10 miles left to go!
5. Don’t do long term running in hiking shoes. I ran a good hundred miles on a pair of hiking shoes and lost about 4 toenails. They fit perfect for walking, but if you’re running you need to get about a half size bigger and shoes designed for running. duh.
6. A camelbak (water bladder/backpacky thing) can only hold so much and I have had everything in there at one time and after a year of this figured out what is needed for me to get through a run/hike;  chomps, knife, snake bite kit, pill box, bandaids, bug spray, sunblock, backup shoe laces, lighter, food, electrolytes tabs and a favorite little snack.
7. There will be snakes. You can’t zone out for a second when running on canyon trails or you will pay the price by either going down a cliff or stepping on a snake (or two).
8. Pack a map. SO much less stress. SO MUCH.
9. For me, dress light no matter how cold it is, a mile in I am going to shed the jacket and leg wear and have no place to put it.
10. This is fun. I learned to enjoy it…that was after the shin splints, leg cramps, lost toenails, hip and back popping in and out and trial and error of actually doing it.

In my Relationship:
1. it’s taken awhile of wondering HOW I fell in love with him, but I did today when explaining it to a friend.  I watched that man every day during one the crappiest time of his life walk around and treat people with as much kindness as he felt they deserved. He never once complained or even hinted that his life wasn’t all that had hoped it would be.  He just was there to walk past my office and see that my door was closed and knew I was having a hard day dealing with the shit that was going on in my life and would just be nice when I had done nothing to deserve his kindness.   Without him knowing that I knew what was going on, I would see him hold his head up, go to work everyday, never take his shit out on anyone else, never lay out all his drama on anyone, never talk shit about the shit he was being put through.
He had strength that I admired.  It took awhile, but I see that now.

I know that this year coming year I have to stand up for myself when people aren’t treating me right. I have to take the steps THIS year to ensure that and of all the things I learned last year, the thing that will carry me through is, “I can…and I will.”