About this time 1 year ago, I decided I would go back to school for my Masters degree in teaching. This meant that all summer I juggled 12 hour paving shifts at night and school during the day. On the worst days this meant catching a 2 hour nap in the morning before class and a 2 hour nap before work started in the evening.

During this blurry few months I made 2 choices that would only increase the pressures on myself. The first was asking Shoshana to marry me, aka let’s plan a wedding!! The second was to plan another Denali expedition for the Spring.

Fast forward to winter and I am knee deep in college classes, student teaching at a local high school, working just enough to pay the bills, making wedding plans, and attempting to train for the spring, all while sleeping occasionally. Oh and skiing.

The last few years my winters have revolved around skiing. So this year was…different, but good different. We had a funky snowpack in south central Alaska this winter and I didn’t get to ski very many steep lines. Yet, that was ok. Any day I got to be out and take my mind off the rest of my stressors was a success. The real highlight of my winter was having Shoshana really get excited about touring. After a few sunny tours she was ASKING me to go ski!

In addition to having a new skiancè, the busiest year of my life is starting to slow down. I am done student teaching and have landed a job as an Elementary School PE teachers, the majority of the wedding planning is done, and the Denali team is prepped and ready to fly out at the end of the month (May 28th).

I couldn’t have made it through this crazy rollercoaster without Sho and all of our friends. Thanks to my ski partners, classmates, and coworkers.

Here’s to a less busy summer!!