Ramblings of cbeck: 2015 - Year End Summary

December 2015

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I’m having a hard time believing that it is already the end of 2015. This year seems to have been a blur. I’ve been trying to piece together all that has happened this past year and it has left me in a mental whirlwind. (Of course, that doesn’t take much as of late, it seems).

Well, I guess I’ll start from the beginning, since that is always a good place to start. January and February we spent skiing at the local ski resort, Beaver Mountain. It is so wonderful to be able to spend time as a family outdoors. It is one of our favorite things to do and I am so thankful for the ability to do so. We tried to get up there as much as we could between Jesse and Justin’s basketball games.

Over President’s Day weekend our family drove out to Nebraska for my dear, sweet grandma’s service. We were so sad to lose Grama Janak, aka “Great Grama Polka”. She was an incredible lady full of spunk. While we were out there we met up with aunts, uncles, cousins and more cousins. I met folks I didn’t even realize I was related to! It was a fun gathering despite the circumstances. I was thankful the kids and I were able to travel out there last summer for her 90^th birthday celebration. We all will miss her terribly but it does my heart good to know she’s finally reunited with my Grandpa after 40 years of being apart!

Spring Break brought a new adventure for our family. We were able to go on a Caribbean cruise with all of Wayne’s family!! There were twenty-five of us that went. It was the first time our kids had ever been on a cruise. And I’ll just say they are hooked! It was such an amazing time!! We went to Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico. It was incredible! The snorkeling, zip-lining, cave tubing, Mayan ruins, deep-sea fishing and jungles were breath-taking. It was so wonderful to spend a week with family without cell phones and all the other daily distractions. The memories we made will be cherished forever. Thank you Kay and Marv for such a great experience and thank you, Mom for being willing to hold down the farm while we went adventuring.

We didn’t have much time to relax once we got back to the States. It wasn’t very long and Joe was graduating from high school. Crazy how twelve years of school can go by so quickly. I am so proud of my Joe. He’s a great young man and I can hardly wait to see what sort of crazy adventure he sets out on next!

Speaking of Joe, after graduation he got a job on an engine crew here at the district in Montpelier. Despite all the fires we had out West his engine was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t see much action. He did get to go out to Oregon a couple times on assignment. It was a great experience for him.

He worked until November and now is enjoying being laid off. Right now he is taking full advantage of all the snow we recently received. Let’s face it, Joe knows how to have fun.

He was earned his Eagle Scout award in March (just barely making the deadline). Due to our busy schedule he had his official ceremony this summer. It was hard work, but he pulled it off!

Joe is hoping to go to Utah State in the fall of 2016 and plans to fight fire again this summer. Exciting times are ahead!

Jesse had her share of excitement this year too. Not only did she turn 16 and get her driver’s license, but she bought herself a car! She is the proud owner of a cute little white VW bug! She loves her little car. It’s her pride and joy. I have to admit, it’s been nice having an extra car around. We now qualify for the fleet rate with our insurance! Haha! Jesse got a job this summer with the Forest Service too.

She was on a camp crew. It was a great learning experience for her. I think it really helped her with her self-confidence. We have seen a whole new Jesse since she got back from her fires this summer. Jesse also has been saving money to go on a New York trip with her school this coming June. Proud of that girl and her drive and determination! Jesse made the high school basketball team again. Being six feet has its privileges. Playing center can take its toll, though. The poor girl has broken her nose two times this month. She’s a toughy. She told us we can deal with it after the season… guess we’ll see how that goes. Despite the nose, this year has been a great year for Jesse.

Justin is fourteen and started his freshman year at high school. He made it to the

6’4” mark and I think he’s still growing! He was on the JV football team as a defensive and offensive tackle. He enjoyed himself. He also found that he enjoys lifting weights. He had Wayne take him over to the high school every morning at 6am this fall so he could lift. It was good to see that dedication. This summer he had the opportunity to attend a basketball camp at Utah State University. He really enjoyed it. It must have helped because he made the freshman basketball team this year. It is impressive to see the improvements that he has made in his game. Needless to say, Wayne and I are proud parents. We have great kids!

This year has been a year of health/lifestyle changes for Wayne and me. Don’t worry, we’re both doing excellent! Last fall my neurologist suggested that maybe I ought to start running if it helps with my functional movement disorder. I didn’t think too much about it until Wayne’s sister asked me back in March if I wanted to try running a 5k this summer. So I started training and found that I really enjoyed it. So I ran my first 5k in June and by September I was running my first half marathon with my running buddy, Maryanne.

Then I ran another half with my niece, TJ in October. I’m hooked! It has helped so much managing my twitches. They aren’t near as bad and most days I don’t even have them! Needless to say, I’m going to keep running! I am signed up for a half marathon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming the first weekend of June. Can’t wait!

Wayne is the one that has changed the most, I think. He has dropped 35 pounds since April. He was absolutely miserable most of the time and he was tired of it! He was dealing with migraine-like headaches on a daily basis. His body hurt all the time. He told me on more than one occasion that he wished he was dead. It was not a good scene. After numerous trips to the doctor only to be told nothing was wrong with him, he decided to do his own research. After hours and hours of research looking at different ailments, he decided that he was suffering from an overgrowth of yeast in his body. It is called Candida and if it gets out of whack it can start growing in places where it shouldn’t. Over time it can create this hard layer that won’t allow the body to break it down. And being a yeast, it grows in response to sugar. So the more sugar you eat, the more it grows and makes you miserable.

I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly on board with the whole idea. Let’s face it, it is a bit crazy what you can find on the internet. But what he found made sense to him, so he decided to take a leap of faith and did a 45 day Candida cleanse. He eliminated sugar from his diet, reduced the amount of carbohydrates he ate in conjunction with some medication he had to take over the 45 days. The hardest part was giving up his Diet Pepsi habit. The difference it made was incredible. I have my old husband back. He smiles again. He laughs again. He doesn’t hurt all the time. He has energy again! Heck, he even went running with me and ran 3 miles cold turkey! I was impressed! It has been a great thing.

Wayne and I had a chance to go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the National Society of American Foresters Convention. Wayne had to earn some credits to keep current on his Silviculturist qualifications. We had never been down South. It was neat to see the southern forests. We stayed at a hotel next to the Mississippi River so I would drag Wayne out for daily runs along the river. We walked all over the city and had the chance to check out the campus at Louisiana State. We also experienced the biggest raindrops we had ever seen in our lives. I have never seen so much rain! It was a great trip. We also had the chance to meet up with an old college buddy and some colleagues of mine from the Tongass National Forest while we were there. It’s always nice to finally meet people you work with.

Which reminds me, I got a new job the end of June! I am now an official Tongass National Forest employee. I work out of my house still, but my job is out of Ketchikan. I’m still doing the same stuff I was doing, but now I get paid more. J I’ll miss my buddies in TEAMS and working on forests all over the country, but it is nice to have a little stability in my life.

I took a backpacking trip with a couple girlfriends of mine in the Uinta Mountains this year. I was a little nervous going without Wayne. I didn’t know if I would find myself miles from nowhere and twitch-out with no way to get home. Wayne was really nervous, but he told me to go have fun. He offered to pack my stuff in for me the night before we left so I didn’t have to. He is such a sweetheart. It was an incredible trip! We hiked up 11 miles to East Red Castle and made base camp. While we were up there two of us did a 16 mile day hike to the highest peak in Utah at 13,500 feet. I called Wayne from the top to let him know I was alright. He told me he was about ready to come and find me just to make sure I was okay since he hadn’t heard from me. It’s nice to be loved! I am such a lucky lady! It was an incredible week to say the least. Gorgeous views and great memories.

My mom and uncle came out in August for a visit. That was a lot of fun. We climbed Paris Peak. It is a 9,500 ft mountain just up the canyon from our house. I had lived here for over 12 years and never climbed it. So we decided to git ‘er dun. I was so proud of my mom. Not everyone can say they’ve taken a summit selfie with their mom.

All in all 2015 has been a great year. The kids are growing up so fast. Wayne and I thought maybe after the kids graduate from high school that our lives would slow down a little bit, but we came to the realization that isn’t going to happen…then our life will be surrounded in weddings and grandkids. Yikes!! That is a bit scary to think about. I’m not old enough to be a grandma yet!!!

We hope that 2016 will be a year of joy and love for you and your family. The world is taking a turn for the worst, it seems. Take a moment to find that ray of sunshine amidst the chaos. I think it’s God’s way of telling us He’s watching and is aware of us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Cheryl, Wayne, Joe, Jesse and Justin Beck