There are seasons in our lives when we can do more, go more places.

I really want to take the kids on more adventures, but that’s not the season of life we’re in right now. Jeremy has a crazy busy work schedule that doesn’t allow him any time off (thankfully it’s temporary and his schedule will be changing soon) so I’m single-handedly keeping the family running. At the same time, I’ve started a couple of online businesses and the start-up process is time-intensive. Did I mention that I’m also homeschooling Sunshine?

Needless to say, there’s just not a lot of wiggle room in our schedule right now.

I had planned on taking the kids snowshoeing this winter. In fact, I was even prepared to drive up to the mountains to find snow if we needed.

But we’ve had such a mild winter that even driving to the mountains to find snow wasn’t an option. We’ve had one measly snowfall, and aren’t likely to see more this year.

There are times when our schedules are busy, or the weather is uncooperative, or we just don’t live in the right climate for what we’d like to do.

I think that’s why I’m making such an effort to go hiking at least once a week. It gets me away from the computer and it gets us in the habit of spending more time outside and going on adventures. The 52 Hike Challenge is helping us stay motivated to go hiking weekly, so we can achieve our goal of 52 hikes in one year.

We live just a bit too far south to get much snow, so our winters are just cold. I’m convinced that cold weather without snow is pretty useless: there’s no skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, or snowmen without snow. We’d like to move somewhere that gets a decent amount of snow, but that’s still a few years distant.

Now, I could beat myself up over not doing more of what I think we ‘should’ be doing, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. It would make me stressed out and just add to the list of the things I’m not doing.

Instead, I focus on what we are able to do. We played in what little snow we did get this year, and I even pulled out the ski attachment for the bike trailer and took the boys for a ride. We go on a weekly hike in local parks. My business ventures are progressing and gradually taking less time.

It’s not what we want for the long term, but it’s working for us now. And that’s what matters.

Like the idea of a goal with accountability and want to join the 52 Hike Challenge? It’s not too late. The 52 Hike Challenge does not operate on a calendar year, so you can sign up at any time throughout the year, and you have 12 months to complete 52 hikes. Sign up using my link and I’ll earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. You can also click on the 52 Hike Challenge image in the right sidebar.