If you’ve been reading my blog for a while (thank you!) if you are newer (welcome) you may want to read one of these two posts so you have the backstory on the knee injury I suffered a year ago.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN|HOW I INJURED MY KNEE
KNEE UPDATE|WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MYSELF
At the start of this year I set a goal for myself to hike on skis (a.k.a. “Skin”) to the tipy-top of Mt. Mansfield. At an elevation of 4,393 feet, climbing to the top of this mountain is a challenge for anyone. For me it would be an extra challenge because I was still re-building the strength in my right quadricep following my knee surgery. I had been faithfully rehabbing for months, doing my PT at the gym and I mentally wanted a finish line to work toward. That finish line would be my first Skin to the top of the mountain.
I knew this challenge would be just as much physical as it would be mental. There will always be a before and after my injury. I am cautious now where I used to be confident; I get nervous the first time I try any activity again, unsure if my body will fail me like it did last spring. It doesn’t matter what the activity, a lunge, spinning, skiing, running on a treadmill, forget running a road race I am scared just to try running outside again, you get the point I am cautious worried to injury myself again. It also doesn’t matter how many times I have done an activity before I have this feeling my body can’t do it anymore, I am no longer confident.
My silver lining is that I am achieving new personal records for myself at a rapid pace. I love the feeling of accomplishment with each tiny milestone. Like the first time I was able to run again on a treadmill. The distance was only .25mi, and my pace was 5mph closer to how fast I used to walk with these long legs. I was holding onto the side rails for dear life, and I couldn’t listen to music for fear of falling off the treadmill. It was exhilarating (maybe a little terrifying) like no run had been before, because I was setting a post-surgery PR.
The night before my first Skin I was anxious. I should note for clarity’s sake that this was not my first skin post surgery this was my first skin EVER in my life. I prepped my gear: proper layers, AT skis + Boots, headlamp, backpack, skins, and water for the way up. A down jacket, neck warmer, fresh base layer, gloves, and helmet for the descent. While preparing, I mapped out the spots I could safely turn back along the journey to the top. Ideally you need a flat(ish) spot with minimal wind to strip the skins from the skis and adjust your layers before skiing back down. I was convinced I wouldn’t make it the whole way to the top on my first attempt, and that was A-ok with me. My silver lining in this feeling is that I learned to give myself permission and the grace to only do things that I enjoy and am comfortable with. If I am not grinning from ear to ear, I will stop without a moment of hesitation or guilt. In the past I carried too much pride to stop or change course.
We set off at 6am that morning, hoping to catch the sunrise somewhere along our ascent. There were six ladies including myself and I prepped everyone that I would need to take it at my own pace, did not plan reach the summit on this first try, and that they should not wait up for me. I think the ladies sensed my trepidation and set a moderate pace so I wouldn’t fall behind. As they each made stops throughout our journey to get water, change a layer or stretch I carried on, I feared that if I stopped I would lose steam and I wanted to stay slow and steady.
At some point I realized that I had made it past all my planned turn around spots, maybe just maybe I could make it to the top on my first try. I was feeling remarkably good, loving the feeling of strength powered by my legs plodding their way up the mountain. One step after another, higher and higher we climbed. Hard truth: Today whenever I start to feel like I am on an emotional or physical high I worry that something is going to sideswipe me and knock me down again. Last May when I blew out my knee I was on a serious high, I finally had the creative outlet of this blog, I had just done my first branding shoot, I was meeting new people, life was good, I felt invincible. While I wish I could have been knocked back down to earth differently there was something very grounding about this humbling experience.
I climbed the final stretch of the mountain with tears pouring down my cheeks, I had accomplished my goal. I intentionally climbed a little slower soaking in this moment, the scenery, the support I felt from my friends who had been there the whole way silently cheering me on. I thought about the journey of the past hour and a half, and then of the past year leading up to this moment. All the hours of physical therapy, the support of my husband, family, and friends. Recovering from this injury was my mountain, my mountain to climb. No one could complete this journey but me, and there is no way I could have done it alone. Thank you!
A huge thank you to Sarah Peet Photography for joining me on this awesome adventure, she captured all the gorgeous photos in this post all while skinning herself! To be able to document this moment was a dream come true. I also have to thank the awesome Vermont brands that outfitted me for this endeavor, RENOUN skis, Turtle Fur accessories, and AJs Ski&Sport/Arc’teryx jacket and pants. As a brand marketing professional I had a vision that I not only wanted to Skin to the top, I wanted to highlight local brands and businesses, I am so happy you were all game to support this Lil’ Vermont Adventure.
Thank you for reading!
Megan xo
In 2018 I focused a large part of my blog on annual goal setting to prepare us all to achieve our best year yet: 
For February I want us to change the way we enjoy dinner. If you typically gobble your food down as a family or solo, change it up. Enjoy a nice bottle of wine, add some candles and cook a meal to enjoy as a couple or with friends in the comfort of your home. Evenings in our home always feel like a rat race. We typically throw dinner together quickly so we can eat as a family before the boys get restless and eat every snack in the pantry. We then gobble it down so fast and don’t take the time to enjoy the meal or each other’s company. Because this is our norm, we try to change it up from time to time and feed the kids first and eat as a couple later once they are in bed. If you typically eat dinner after the kids are in bed, make an effort to start earlier and eat dinner as a family one evening. Managing dinner is a hot topic with my friends and people always seem to want to try doing it differently. So this month, for just one evening try doing dinner differently, if you like it (as we did) make a commitment to do it once a week or once a month. It’s all about making small adjustments that have a big impact over time.
Please help me spread the word by capturing a photo enjoying your dinner and share it with me by 2/25. You can tag 
I am big on goal setting; I love the feeling of accomplishment when I reach my goals. I also don’t mind when I miss the mark on a goal because it teaches me something about myself. Maybe the goal was too ambitious and I should have broken it into smaller bite size pieces, or maybe my priorities throughout the year changed. There is no shame in setting out to do something and not quite getting it done. While I title these “Resolutions” I feel like New Year’s Resolutions get a bad rap and are thought about as things to stop doing OR the empty goal to “Lose 10 pounds”, my approach is different and focuses on doing new things that bring me joy!
DO 4 SPA DAYS This has been a staple resolution for me over the past few years, I mean who doesn’t want to accomplish spa days?! I also find that by writing it down and setting the intention I receive the support of friends (who want to join in the fun), my spouse (who helps me with watching our boys), and family (who often buy me spa Gift Certificates for Birthday’s and Holidays). I had no problem getting this one done, check, double check.
52x CORE WORKOUTS If you want to start a new habit focus on a small weekly goal BUT frame it as doing something 52x. By setting the goal as doing something 52x you can always catch up if you miss a week or a month, or six in my case. After I injured my knee 
START A BLOG I try to do something each year that scares me. For 2018 starting a blog was that thing that scared/excited me. I have learned SO much this year and never could have imagined how much fun this adventure would be. My biggest surprise was how many amazing people I met through this work, it’s not always the easiest to put yourself out there day after day, but the new friends and old friends I have reconnected with made it so rewarding.
VOLUNTEER 4X AT MY BOY’S SCHOOL Stick to no more than 5 goals, write them down, and focus them on different buckets of your life. Think about all areas of your life that are important, for me it’s: Family/Children, Me Time/Relaxation, Creativity, Sports/Fitness, Friends, and Volunteering, I try to make sure my goals play to each one of those areas. After you write them down, ask your family for support, and go get it! It also helps to make them “SMART” Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound. I put my volunteering goal on pause this summer when I couldn’t walk or drive but this fall I refocused and got it done! I even took it a level further and spearheaded a volunteer program at my boy’s school that is launching in 2019. If you are a fellow MVS parent look for details in the near future.
CHARGE MY IPHONE M-F 5-8PM Reflect at the end of each year on where you succeeded and where you missed. I give myself permission to miss, and generally I accomplish 4 of my 5 goals which to me feels pretty darn good. This was my second year failing on this one, I definitely improved over 2017 but still used my phone more than I would have liked when the boys were home from school. This seemed to be the goal that resonated the most with all of you, so I might recommend framing up as a 52x opportunity so if you have some off weeks you can still re-focus and make a change.
Using this same methodology here is what I want to accomplish in 2019:
I recently had the amazing opportunity to attend the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Leadership Summit in Chicago. NEW is a women’s leadership organization serving the retail, consumer goods, financial services and technology industries. It represents more than 11,000 members from 850 companies, in the U.S. and Canada. I feel so fortunate to have spent 3 days focused on my development and want to pay it forward by sharing what I learned at the summit with all of you. In business, we often start with an executive summary before diving into the details, so without further ado here are the top 4 things I want to accomplish walking away from the Summit:
This summit had a heavy focus on money and the concept that unless you are financially independent you will never have true empowerment. To me it was an uncomfortable, but important topic, something that is typically taboo but if discussed it will help us to begin to close the Gender pay gap. Depending on what source you believe, on average, women are paid ~20% less than men. Key note speaker 
Mentorship is something I am well versed in 
Another key theme of the summit for me was perfectionism. I have always viewed that as my personal brand and something that brings me great pleasure, but I had never stopped to consider its impact on the people and team around me. I am the person who obsesses over every tiny detail. A Christmas tree is not just a tree, it is a masterpiece with a color theme (red/Silver ONLY of course) and an intricate method for decorating, first the lights, then silver ribbon, followed by white snowflakes and all the shiny red/silver balls. The last touch is our assorted sentimental ornaments placed just so to give our tree a subtle unstructured look. But I learned at our conference that perfectionism becomes a trap later in your career when you need to rise. Early in your career you will be promoted for being precise and accurate, but as time goes on this habit makes it harder for you to delegate and will cause extra stress on yourself and your associates. That Christmas tree looks good now but as time passes my sweet little boys will want to add their personal touch and if I don’t let go of this vision of perfection I will be left decorating a tree on my own. This will be a work in progress for me and something I know I need to work on if I am going to rise in my career and in my life- this was a BIG ah-ha moment for me.
The last lesson I learned is that you need to bring your “whole self” to work. I am a Mom, business women, a blogger, a sneaker & Coffee connoisseur, an athlete, and creative mind; I am diverse in thought and skillset. If I am only bringing the mom and business women to the office then I am bringing less than 50% of myself to the office and therefore I am not bringing my full value. I am proud of what I am doing with my blog, the drive it displays and the creative outlet it is affording me and yet I don’t share that with my co-workers. My hope is that with time I will learn to bring my whole self into the office and share with my team both the triumphs and challenges.
First, let me start by saying thank you for your support, it means the world to me that you are reading my blog. I had no idea where this lil’ adventure would take me when I started, and to be honest, I still have no idea where it is going but what I do know is that the first half of the year literally flew by. I am enjoying the journey and opportunity to use my creativity again.
I launched my blog earlier this year by writing⇒ 
Social media is the primary way I am marketing my blog because it is free! Since I am not making a dime (OK, I think I made $6.76 total from an amazon affiliated link) I also haven’t spent any money on my marketing. Instead of trying to master every social media platform I focused on my fav 3 Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest (in that order of priority) to share my posts. I swore off Facebook 3 years ago when someone created a fake profile for my son and proceeded to friend many of my contacts, but thus far my return to FB is actually directing more traffic to my blog then IG + Pinterest combined. I have learned a TON about IG marketing so I am going to sit-down and write a separate post just on that subject at a later date.
Having a network of support when venturing into Blogging is So So important. It is rare to find other working|mom|bloggers. There are bloggers that have careers outside blogging BUT most don’t have kids yet, and there are millions of stay at home mommy bloggers but connecting with other working women has been rare and rewarding. There are also not many Vermont based bloggers, many travel bloggers visit this beautiful state but few live here so that is a fun lil’ niche for me.
As for my other four 2018 goals, if you are in corporate america today my Red-Yellow-Green status update below will make perfect sense. If you have avoided this wonderful world it is a simple visual way to track projects to know at a glance if you are 
Lil' Vermont Adventures 