Ringing in the New Year

Its been a while since we've posted, but with moving, the holidays, and Jesse's defense, its been busy. This is an exciting post for me because when I publish this one, I'll be officially sharing the blog with my family and friends via all those snazzy social media outlets. I actually had written a blog post between Christmas and New Years on my magic phone, but numerous attempts to share it yielded an angry "couldn't publish post" message.

Jesse and I have moved out of Lansing in preparation for our big hike. We're staying with family tying up loose ends and prepping for the big adventure. I've moved my fossils into my parents' family room and am working furiously to meet deadlines I've set for myself before we depart. The kitties are currently residing in my parents' unrented apartment so as to not upset the balance with their kitties here (yep, crazy cat people!). Jazzie will be staying with Jesse's sister and brother-in-law (thanks, guys!), and while I've got a few options for Darwin, he's not officially homed yet. So, if you've ever thought being a temporary cat owner was for you, friends, now's the perfect time to try it out. Darwin is THE BEST living cat on the planet - our old family cat was probably a little better - and very low maintenance. He doesn't cuddle, but will follow you around and guard you while you sleep like a champ. Free litter and food, you just bring the lovin'.

Look at that face!!

...anyway. 

I have to share a bit about my favorite Christmas presents this year. The blog post that will live forever in the ether of my cell phone was all about what Jesse got me. A Nikon Coolpix S9500. It's got GPS and WIFI. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even know cameras could have GPS. How. Freaking. Brilliant. As a geologist, this will come in handy forever, so I'm stoked. That's right, geo-types, you'll be able to shamelessly steal any good pics I snag on the trail AND be able to know exactly where they came from!

There are all sorts of tools I'm trying to get familiar with, but the best part is that this camera has a dedicated video button. So if something amazing is happening, I don't have to switch settings or anything. Just push a button and BAM, video. And it wirelessly communicates with my phone, so I can easily post images and video on this blog while we're hiking the trail.

Here's the very first pic we took with it while hiking in the snow in northern Michigan.

Since this is the first blog post I'm sharing on facebook, etc., I promise to follow up with some information on what the Appalachian Trail is, what our travel plans are, and other sundries. Until now, this blog has been a record for me, for the local hikes we've done and want to share with other Michigan hikers, for the other people potentially hiking the Appalachian Trail, and those who randomly stumble upon it. We've both spent tons of time following (read: stalking) bloggers planning their 2012 and 2013 thru hikes (if you care about this sort of think, Jordana's My Meandering Trail 2013 thru hike blog was my FAVORITE) and are SOO excited to share our story on the trail with anyone who might want to follow along vicarously.

More soon!