Hello friends and family! Happy 2020! My cat, Arwen, politely informed me that she wouldn’t be writing my annual end-of-year newsletter this year. Do your own dirty work, she told me. Like I don’t do hers every time I clean her litterbox! But oh, well. She knows I love writing and need to do more of it, so here goes. I did not get this done before Christmas or even before New Year’s, so this will be a blog post recap of 2019.
2019 was a pretty exciting year! Unlike 2018, I didn’t go on any road trips to Oregon’s Outback to visit my college roommates or raft the Deschutes with friends or hike above timberline on a bunch of giant volcanoes, but I did have some great adventures and sweet times with family and friends.
There was lots of family fun this year. I got to have fun with my stepsiblings and their kids doing things like exploring Mt. Angel Abbey and Opal Creek and watching the kids play baseball and American football for their high school. There were lots of mini-hikes in the Ridgeline Trails and a coast trip with my mom, eating Afghan food at the Saturday Market with my dad, and frisbee golf with my brother. Then there was the Schmidt Family Reunion, where I was the President last year. Lots of cousins came to this part of the state to play in a pool and a treehouse and eat potluck (mostly desserts) and catch up with family. I even camped in the treehouse with my cousin and his kids! In autumn, Mom and I drove the Aufderheide Memorial Drive loop to see the fall foliage. That had been on my Oregon bucket list for a few years, and I kept getting thwarted by forest fire damage. It was beautiful!
I also had some great adventures with friends. For Memorial Day weekend, I drove to Montana to surprise my friend Jessica for her birthday (pulling it off with the help of her husband and teenage daughter). We got to watch a show at the opera house in Virginia City (a smaller but very similar cousin to the Virginia City in Nevada). In June, I backpacked in the snow with coworkers (we took the senior trip for the kids, who opted not to go on it) along the PCT near Willamette Pass. I frequented the bouldering gym with friends from church who have memberships there, and even got to go rock climbing at the Skinner’s Butte columns, which I’d never done before, despite growing up here! I also partook in local festivities, like eating good food at the Scandinavian festival with friends, watching Lifehouse perform at the county fair (we got spots in the free section, of course!), watching one of our church friends perform with his up-and-coming acoustic punk band, and even going to an artist’s fair focused on writers, where one of my childhood teachers was selling books he’d written. Then I got to go camping at good ol’ Honeyman State Park (lots of memories there from my youth) at the coast with one of my other best friends Jas and her family. Her cousins’ kids are so cute and fun to play with! The other big summer highlight was camping and kayaking at Waldo Lake with church friends. It’s one of the world’s purest lakes, isn’t far away, and had been on my Oregon bucket list for over 15 years since my ex and I tried to go there but got chased away by mosquito season. It was so beautiful! And such a blast to camp with friends. And of course the year was filled with waterfall hiking trips with friends old and new, as well as fun activities like murder mystery parties (we rang in the 2020s with a 1920s-themed one!) and watching the World Cup at local establishments. I’m sure I’m forgetting something important and awesome that I did with people special to me, so please don’t feel bad! I do that every year! It’s because I’m so blessed with so many great friends and fun things to do. And if I haven’t gotten to hang out with you in a while, please call!
As for work, I finally left the military charter school and went to teach at another school. I miss the staff and kids at WLA, but it was time for me to move on and work in a “civilian” school. Now I teach in a Special Education classroom at a private school. It’s very different from my last school. It’s hard, but I love the kids and the staff. And I like not having to iron and wear a military uniform to work every day, although it made it easy to decide what to wear to work!
In December, a few writer friends and I wrapped up meeting together to go through the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It was a great experience, and helped me with my writing. I started working on a short story in the fall that I hope to finish soon (Christmas break flew by with friends and family, and I can’t believe it’s almost over!). This year I hope to focus on learning guitar. Last year I was given a nice one from a friend who’d gotten a new one and didn’t need this one anymore, so I want make good on the potential musician he must have seen in me. Please feel free to ask me if I’ve been practicing! I fell off the bandwagon in the autumn with all the stress from work, so my one New Year’s resolution is to get back on and practice and learn.
In response to my previous post, I kept so busy during fall and winter breaks that I still haven’t seen the Harriet Tubman movie. But I did just get to see the new Star Wars last night, so my Christmas vacation is complete and I can go back to teaching this week! 🙂 There are other cool things happening in my life, but I will save those for personal conversation. I have a good feeling that 2020 will be a great year, even if it turns out to be a tough one (because life happens).
Happy New Year! Please get in touch if you haven’t heard from me in a while. I love you all! And so does Arwen, even if she doesn’t always show it when you come over!
The Compass Rose Queen 
Oh, Jessica, I am so blessed by your letter, and so glad you have had so many great experiences. I’m so happy you have a writing group. Keep at it! And wow, now your learning guitar. I love you!