Well, we did. We officially completed 12 hikes (one for each month) in the year of 2015. Doing a monthly outdoor adventure was my best friend friend Mike’s New Year’s resolution and when he brought up to my husband Michael and I, we were so in.

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted a blog in about four months and well life (but mostly myself) has gotten in the way. 2016 is a fresh start and looks to be promising great adventures of all kinds. In the next few weeks, aside from starting some new posts, I will be reflecting on the year that was 2015 (the good and the bad) and musing about my intentions and goals for this brand new year.

In September, the Mikes split up for their hikes and it was one of the few we didn’t do together. Mike went camping for a night with a group of friends at Kettle Moraine State Park, north of Milwaukee, where I believe there was some nature, some hills, and some drinking. I wasn’t there, but that’s what I gather.

Michael and I couldn’t go on the camping trip for some reason, so we decided to give ourselves an easy month in September and just hike the brand new 606 urban landscape here in Chicago. It was fun, felt more like walking than hiking for sure, but hey, the point is to get outside! There were also not quite so many photo opportunities when “hiking” amongst hipsters, bikers, and strollers.

October was a big month for #hikeswithmikes. Our resident hike organizer Mike turned 30 years old! A week before his birthday, in mid-October, we invited our first ever guest, Mike’s BFF Ashley, on our hike at the Waterfall Glen County Forest Preserve. Oh, the fall foliage!

It was a fun easy hike. The weather was fantastic as you’ll see from the photos. The Mikes and I decided to up the ante so-to-speak by doing 10 push ups and 10 lunges at every mile marker. Fitness!

Thirtieth birthdays will likely be a running a theme in this blog for a while as we’re getting to that time in life. I’m about to turn 29 and Michael’s 30th birthday is just a few months after that. Mike decided to celebrate his 30th by waking up on a mountain top in Colorado and coerced his beau Harrison out into the snowy mountain trails. (Hiking is statedly NOT Harrison’s thing, but he’s a good sport.) Michael and I were not able to join the boys in Colorado unfortunately, but have resolved to do more overnight hiking trips (in other states, perhaps) for 2016. This year, we’re doing #CampsWithMikes!

Part of the reason we were not able to join Mike in Colorado was that my best friend Cara also turned 30 the same week. Cara has lived in San Francisco for seven years and I have been hashtag blessed enough to visit her many times when I was out there for work, as well as a few planned trips as well. In October, Michael and I spent an amazing weekend with Cara and her family in Sonoma and San Francisco (more on that later). Our last day all together in San Francisco, we hiked down a trail at Fort Funston, which is also known as Doggy Disneyland because its a dog park and pretty damn beautiful.

This hike definitely put to the fun in Funston. (Had to.)

November ended up being our second snowiest hike of the year (February was the most). The Mikes and I took a stroll through the Morton Arboretum, which I highly suggest. We plan to go back again in a different season (Spring or Fall) to see the difference in the landscape.

This December, as any Midwesterner will love to tell you was unseasonably warm. The Mikes and I took ourselves to the Deer Grove Forest Preserve where we hiked a cool 5 miles or so along their trails. Deer Grove is important because it’s one of the older forest preserves in the state and therefore, it has been mostly undisturbed by industry and the human population over the last hundred years.

In 2016, we’re taking #HikesWithMikes to the next level by doing weekend-long outdoor adventures with a goal of camping for half of our hikes this year. We plan to do more exercise integration into our hikes (push ups every mile, lunges, etc.) and really bring fitness to the forefront of our hikes.

During our December hike, we discussed how much fun it has been doing these monthly outdoor adventures. (Thanks Mike!!) Mike’s company incentivizes wearing a FitBit and Michael and I asked for them for Christmas from his parents so we are tracking our steps like never before. Mike also got a selfie-stick for Christmas, so we can expect more pictures of the three of us on our hikes this year.

Mike and I are working on a grading scale for each hike that I will start posting as soon as its ready. We’re up for another hike in the next few weeks.