Meet my husband Nathan. An intelligent engineer he has taken to the world of hiking and backpacking strongly as it can be a very scientific field that allows for experiment and refining. He is adventurous, loving, meticulous and detail oriented. We started our team in 2010 and were married in 2015. In 2016 we decided to do the west coast trail together for our one year anniversary. Important to our relationship is support and encouragement. Putting our physical bodies to a test, having different strengths and weaknesses and also both being beginners we work out well together....though sometimes being both beginners means we accidentally take the hard way. Our agreement is to love each other at any size, any age, and any physical or mental problem, as long as we never give up (for more than a moment or two!) ha of course we give up here and there but our team is focused on bringing each other back, and unwavering belief in each other. Meet my Father Ernie.
Recently retired he has spent a large portion of his life taking care of other people. Helping his family when he was young (as the oldest of 5) lovingly caring for my mother as she battled and ultimately lost to pancreatic cancer in 1996. And of course to me and my brother, he has taken care of us our whole life. Now in retirement he is finally forced to figure out: how do I take care of myself? My dad has been different levels of athletic in his life, has enjoyed biking, hiking, skiing, camping, go carting, dune buggies, climbing, skating and really anything that sounds fun. He has never been a typical athlete but is the kind of guy thats up for most things if you ask him to come along. So ask him to come along I do. He hikes, bikes and climbs with me. He is the most dependable support I could possibly have. A man who believes I can do anything. Meet my brother Chris.
A hard working, intelligent, deeply caring man. I have met very few people in this world that are so deeply devoted to improving life for all around him. He patiently and lovingly talks with the homeless. He defends the rights of women. He is not afraid to challenge the status quo and ask everyone to be better. He is a talented photographer and videographer excelling in technical skill as well as a gifted public presenter. Also an athlete, he is strong and agile. WHAT A GUY!!! And I got lucky that he is my brother. Chris wants me to be strong, happy, successful. He cares so deeply that I enjoy my life, he is up to do anything with me that helps. He documents my journeys, sends me courses, goes with me on many adventures. Tears up when he sees me succeed! He challenges my thoughts, catches my bad days. Pushes my limits. Most importantly we have worked together to create a system that is comfortable and supportive and full of trust. Last team member and the last to get on my team
ME. I can ask for all the help in the world but I can not do this until I get on my own team. Some days that goes better than others. My internal dialogue can get pretty rough. Man I can be mean, but when I can catch it....take a breath and remember that I am in fact NOT the worst most useless person in the world....well then I can start to get on my team again. Asking myself to wake up every morning and get on my team is a lot of work. But I would have no team without me. Even thought they say there is no I in team..... HA! I found one :) |