I launched my 2018 Year of Women Artists Calendar on Friday and I was so, so excited to do so. It was a bit of a challenge, but I learned a lot and I'm already starting to think about a 2019 calendar. I can't wait for the next 3 and half years to go by.

Yesterday we hiked the Eagle Creek Trail. It was a bit hot, and fairly crowded for the first 2-3 miles. It's a holiday weekend, so we were kind of expecting it to be crowded. We've been noticing something while hiking this year that I don't ever recall happening previous years - people are listening to music on their phones, through their speakers. I don't know if it's just me, but it's really obnoxious. 

Maybe I'm just getting old. The older I get the more I completely understand the mindset of people who live a secluded, hermit, life. It honestly sounds amazing to me after hiking with so many people yesterday and being subjected to hearing their music.

I like to go hiking so that I can tune everything out. I like hearing the birds and waterfalls. I feel like hearing other peoples music is really distracting from all that. It's hard to take things in when you can hear Three Doors Down blasting from someone's backpack speakers.

We passed at least five people doing this yesterday. One group was behind us for about a mile.  Go to the woods. Have fun. But please leave your mid 90's bro-rock behind, or at least wear headphones. Not everyone wants to hear your music, dudes. 

That being said, after we hiked another 3 miles, we found this very beautiful, very quiet spot. It was the perfect place to stick our tired, hot feet, into. There was a light breeze and the scent of cedar. Birds were chirping and it felt like we were the only people in the world. We hug out here for quite awhile. 

We ended up hiking a little over 9.5 miles yesterday. We were tired and thirsty and sweaty. I think that's how you know you had a good hike. I want to go back and camp for a couple of days and swim in that sweet swimming hole.

It's back to work today. Nate is working and I am too. I've never really been into the Fourth of July. I'm feeling a lot less patriotic this year so I'm skipping it. I'll be eating a salad and watching a movie later. Maybe I'll catch up on The Great British Baking Show. Who knows? 

Hope everyone else has a fun and safe holiday :)