Two Years

We Hope you’ve all been well

To say that 2020 has kept me too busy to post on the blog, would be an understatement. Blogging has been a side passion for me for over a decade, to share my love of photography and travel, and to chronicle my life. It’s for my to look back on and smile at all the places I’ve been.

Outside of it though, I’ve officially spent the last decade in healthcare. I wouldn’t trade my career path for anything & I willingly take everything that comes with it; even if that means I occasionally have to deal with death, pain, ungrateful patients, or even calling security. Even with the state of the world today, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I have to admit, the first half of this year was nothing short of hard. While the rest of world gathered their supplies to stay at home for weeks on end, my coworkers and I kept working. We faced our fears of what an exposure would mean to each one us and our families & we faced what felt like an endless PPE shortage. On some days for me, it became too much.

BUT… looking on the bright side, by this point in the year those moments of panic seem so far away. Covid-19 and mask wearing has become part of our daily lives & just second nature. With the arrival of Summer in the Pacific Northwest, life finally feels almost normal again. So with our masks on hand, Conor & I found a fairly empty hike to celebrate our two year anniversary on!

Harry’s Ridge

Early Sunday morning we headed south to Mount St. Helens and after about 2.5 hours, we found ourselves at the trailhead by the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The weather & the temperatures were perfect! Plus, like us, 95% of the people we saw on the trails put on a mask anytime they saw other hikers & kept them on until they passed. Way to go hikers!

All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary hike. They hike wasn’t crowded or too hard, there weren’t any bugs, and there was a beautiful view of Mount St. Helens, as well as Spirit Lake!

This year has been tough, and relationships can be too, which makes this two year milestone so monumental for us in a world like this. - JEN