Hello spring

Almost exactly timed with April 1 - the end of the first quarter of 2015 and the beginning of the second - it feels like life is speeding up. In a very good way. It reminds me a bit of how I felt last summer when I realized the rest of the year was going to be a crazy roller-coaster.

A big part of that feeling is that I have some big travel plans coming up. I'm heading to Mauritania (the least well-known country in Africa) for work at the end of April, and then to Guatemala and Belize for fun at the end of May. (I'm super excited.) Austin and I are loosely mapping out weekend travel plans through the summer. I have a 10k on May 17 that I need to cram for, especially since I do not anticipate I will be doing much running in Nouakchott. We are prepping our tiny backyard for an urban garden and I am figuring out whether I'll be heading back to the community garden this summer.

And in a few other ways, I feel like I am playing in a bigger arena. I am taking on some additional responsibilities at work and taking some necessary steps towards figuring out my career path from here.

The introductory email for the Get Messy Season of Brave almost uncannily captured what I've been feeling:

With spring in full bloom, this is the time when we shed those winter blues, we seem to come alive again. All our senses are heightened and we are excited for all that there is to come.

Let's dig into those feelings and make those dreams and plans come true. Let's be brave. 

In some ways I'm loath to leave behind the slow pace of the long winter, but I'm excited for what's to come. And April last year is when things got fun (and then I blinked and we were ringing in the new year). Here's to a new season and a new start!