Well, my birthday has come and gone. What a day it was! Overall a most excellent day spent with Marc and some very good friends. There were lots of stories, good food, laughter, and gifts. But best of all was simply hanging out with great people. Special treat was getting to chat with my little nephew over Skype video – so cute to watch him “weld” and “paint” – think we’ve got a future construction magnate on our hands!

While I didn’t get to ride outside on my birthday (darn you mid-April winter storms) I did get in a good hard work-out on the trainer. Some people might think that getting up early to sweat and grunt it out in the basement on the trainer is not the best way to spend a birthday. But for me, there is not much else I’d rather be doing (well, except riding outside)…

Yesterday marked a fresh start for me. The past three years have been filled with tough illness, injury and generally not feeling like myself.

Well, that bike ride yesterday on my birthday, marking the start of my 41st year – was a true gift. A chance to really seize this year by the horns and live the best life I possibly can. I’m finally at a point where I feel really great – I’m healthy, I feel good about myself, I’m excited to be training and racing again, I’ve beat the demons of depression that come with a disease like ulcerative colitis, I’m surrounded by awesome and loving people – really I’m just so super thankful to be starting this new year with such gifts.

This is the year when I take chances and put myself out there. I’ll do things I haven’t done before. Things that scare me a little or a lot. I want to push my boundaries and really discover what it is I’m capable of.