Currently living/working in: One foot in Colorado and one foot in New Mexico. There has been a lot of adulting these last few weeks in Colorado, between tax preparation, car care and doctor’s appointments. That’s what our stable, stay-put periods are for. We will be diving into an actual regular work schedule in New Mexico starting March 28!
Current mood: Super stoked to add New Mexico on as our 14th state temporary residence and to shape young minds to love the outdoors as much as we do!
Currently excited about: Getting a tax return for the first time in 3 years! Because we are self-employed and don’t pay quarterly taxes as we probably should be, we usually get hit pretty hard with owing the government. But, last year, we paid $3K for 6 months of health care coverage (we were out of the country the other 6 months) through the marketplace when they said we didn’t qualify for the subsidy. Well, paying out of pocket evened out our self-employment taxes. Yeah!
Currently not excited about: We had to give up our “THRHKR” plate tag when we registered our car in Colorado. Sure, we could have personalized our CO plates, but that cost too much $$ and our personalized THRHKR license was complemented by special Appalachian Trail Conservancy Virginia plates, which made the “thru hiker” connotation a little more understandable. (Just as many people who high fived us for the plates asked us what the heck it meant.)
Currently worried about: A friend’s losing battle with esophageal cancer. I said this last month, far too many people we know are suffering and it makes us very sad.
Currently thankful for: Writing projects. This has been a fairly busy (lucrative!) month for my writing projects. Now, this also means my pending book is collecting dust …
Currently proud of: Backpacker Magazine’s Gear Guide. The legwork that goes into putting together the gear guide is almost unbelievable. Our piece of the equation is tiny, comparatively speaking, but it is still crucial for helping the editors gather beta on all products out there to get you guys the best gear recommendations. Not every piece made the pages, but we tested 30 pieces of gear for this issue. And, we did get a shout out on page 36!
Currently amazed by: Colorado weather. My sister always asks why I love Colorado so much. It’s because of weeks like this. 70 degrees one day, a foot of snow the next day.
Current confession: We are finally realized we are not young bucks anymore. Medical issues and weight gain are becoming a regular occurrence!
Current guilty pleasure: It's that time of year for Easter candy!!! (Hmmm … could this explain the weight gain? And the cavities? Oh well, YOLO.)
Currently reading: “The Geography of Alaska” by Mary Emerick. I met Mary through the blogosphere a few months ago and she just published her first fiction book. She is a seriously good writer who lives in one of our favorite temporary homes, Wallowa County. J got a Kindle for his Denali climb (there could be DAYS where he is sitting in the tent waiting out weather), so we added this one to his Kindle list. I have been against the Kindle from the get-go, but as they say, don’t knock it until you try it. As I am only 25% into the book (a Kindle perk), I think I like it. I certainly like the space the lack of books saves in our nomadic life. But I still love opening a book …
Currently watching on Netflix: Well, we couldn’t resist watching Season 4 of the House of Cards. Unfortunately, there will be a Season 5 (rumored release date March 2017!!). We kind of would rather the madness to be over.
Labels: Backpacker, Colorado, Currently
