{2021} A Year In Review

2021 was another year spent playing dodgeball with COVID. I'd love to say that 10 years from now, we will all struggle to remember what life was like with COVID playing peek-a-boo with our lives. 2021 at least brought vaccines, and boosters, the return of sports, dipping our toes back into the travel world, full-time in-person school, and a variety of workplace rules, mandates, schedules, etc. It was another year spent bending and flexing to the constant change. 

But, what a year it was.

As usual, we kicked off the year in the snow. The annual sledding adventure was postponed from New Year's Day to later in January due to lack of snow at the usual spot. However, we ventured up to Lowman on January 2nd and found plenty of snow there, as well as some family who were staying nearby at Matt and Lori's cabin.

The 4-wheeler sure made for some great memories around the neighborhood!

Addie continued to excel in all areas of her 4-H adventures. She explored some different horse groups, and continued to rake in a ton of awards at the county fairs. She is going to dive into sheep jackpots in 2022, and we can't wait to see what adventures come our way through that.

Carter continued his adventures in flag football and had two great seasons (spring and fall). He also tried out for the school basketball team and had an excellent season! It was really fun watching him navigate the dynamics of all of those teams. His tryouts for the 8th grade team are a few days away and we are so excited to see what this season brings.  He also got to dip his toes into the softball world - obviously the kid knows how to play, but he's been wanting to join the older guys in fastpitch and slowpitch. That's clearly a bigger beast than the baseball he was used to playing when he was younger.....BUT the opportunity presented itself this summer, and the smile on that kid's face is a clear indicator that he was having the time of his life. Mama was a bit apprehensive about it, but we set some clear parameters, and it was truly one of my favorite things to watch this year!

Kendall.....what do I say about this girl and her softball? We did a complete 180 this year - a situation that really forced our hand. It sure turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had been battling the whole last year, upon entering the club softball arena, about Kendall being "left behind". She obviously loves the game, but the only way for us to make it work with both girls was to have Kendall play up. And as much as I wanted her to just thrive and make these huge leaps, it was become more evident as time went on that she truly deserved to play in her own age group. So when we eventually bowed out of the club scene, it was very much up in the air as to what Kendall was going to do, and what I was going to do for coaching. Ultimately, she decided she wanted to go back to 10u ball in league, so that really solidified the decision for us both. And let me tell you, that girl ROCKED fall ball. It was her moment, and she lit it up. I could not have been more proud of her, her drive, and the leaps she made in the right environment. And it was the right environment for our family as well. She is going to continue with one more season of 10u this spring, as well as jumping back into Y-Ball basketball. 

Something that we started during COVID was getting out into the outdoors and exploring. Sometimes that looked like day trips, sometimes it was fishing. We started doing a lot of fishing last year, and we continued that this year. We had some amazing times finding new spots, and these adventures were definitely a lot of fun.

Getting out for day trips or full-blown camping adventures is what gets us through the year. Even though it's a lot of prep work, there's nowhere else we would rather be!

We resumed our family poker nights, which are always a hoot. 

We did the Snake River Stampede with the kids, as well as Firebird. 

We had a complete re-do of our kitchen cabinets, which was a mixed-bag experience. 

We spent many, many spring, summer, and fall evenings doing family walks. We explored many routes on the greenbelt, as well as the regular walks over to Kleiner to enjoy bocce ball and sand volleyball.

Our family lost one amazing dog.

We took a family vacation to Yellowstone. We were nervous about this trip - due to COVID, the Park was getting record-setting visitors. However, our timing was damn near perfect as we avoided a ton of crowds (doing research about the best times to enter/exit the Park sure paid off!)

And piggy-backing on that trip was our Alaska Cruise. This was something that had been in the works for over two years. And again, due to COVID, we weren't sure this was actually going to happen. After three cancellations, we were finally approaching our travel dates. The entire process from flying to rapid COVID tests to board the ship was actually pretty seamless. And the wait was so worth it! What an experience. We encountered some very nasty weather on the way back, which I think solidified Matt's desire to NEVER board a cruise ship again. ;)  And honestly, I think it did for me as well. I have done two cruises in my life, and both encountered sketchy weather. I think I'm about maxed out for cruises for the time being. :)

We have a lot of travels planned already for 2022. Addie's sheep jackpot adventures are going to take us to various places, near and far. We also have big and small trips already on the books. Can't wait to get back out into the world!

The kids are continuing to smash school. All three are doing so well. Carter is in his last year of middle school (WHAT), Addie started middle school, and Kendall is in her last year of elementary school (again, WHAT). 

Work is going great for Matt and me. I am still fully remote, and thoroughly enjoy it! I find the work/home life balance is incredible this way. 

Carter got his braces off!

I continued to read as much as possible this year. I went beyond my reading goal, for sure!

Looking forward (always) to 2022, I have a lot on my mind. I have some moves I want to make, but I am going to keep those close to my chest while I weigh the strategic avenues to get to where I ultimately want to be. The underlying theme, however, seems quite evident.

See you in 2022!

November's Literary Adventures

November started off with The Wish, which is the latest novel by Nicholas Sparks. It was likely one of my least favorite books he has written. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't anything memorable either.  First Girl to Die was another in the British detective series. Phifer is a steady with these books and I always look forward to them as they are an easy read.  The Reason for Me was a really great book by a new-to-me author. I was pleasantly surprised by this one! In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I gave the author another try with Just Love, which was equally as enjoyable. From the Embers was definitely the best read of the month. A couple of twists and turns kept me engaged. Will was another read out of my usual genre - written by Will Smith about his life. Another great read!

This is 4-0

This is 4-0

Another decade checked off.

Lived.

Endured.

Embraced.

Adventured.

It's utterly amazing what you can pack into one decade, isn't it?

I sat with a lot of self-reflection over the past day. Some of it makes me smile. Some of it makes me sad. Bitter. Laugh. Wonder. Through it all, I learned.

I raised kids. I watched them grow...awestruck by what I created.

I climbed mountains - literally and metaphorically.

I faced challenges I wasn't sure I could overcome.

I tasted victory.

I also felt the loneliness of defeat.

I earned a great many things.

I became a published photographer.

I loved.

I lost.

I came out on the other side of heartbreak....alive.

I rebuilt.

I divorced.

I remarried.

I gained another child...built a family.

I traveled...near and far. My travels are my favorite. I have seen so many glorious places.

I read so many books - keeping my brain engaged and constantly learning.

I built so many forts.

Camped.

Swam.

Hiked.

Walked the streets of Rome.

I learned.

I redefined myself. This never stops.

I coached countless kids - this brings me the most pride. Teaching kids the game...and so much more than the game itself.

I stood in the most frigid and hotter than hot temps to cheer my kids on in their sports.

I bought a house and made it a home.

I furthered my career.

At times, I felt old...mostly, I felt young.

I embraced my health.

I lost 30 lbs this year.

I try to instill peace and simplicity as much as I can.

But more than anything, I learned.

Here's to 40!

Updated

 These kids just keep growing!

October's Literary Adventures

October was a slow reading month for me. Finishing out fall sports and then prepping for and taking the Alaskan cruise slowed things down for me on reading.  A while back, I read the body farm series and thought I had finished the series. In doing some research on the authors to see if they had decided to write more, I stumbled upon two additional books that finished out the series, which I had never read! So I went back and read those, the final one giving some clarity on why the authors have not written more in the series. Both were great reads!  The Perfect Family was pretty "blah" for me. I also ventured out of my usual genre pickings to read How the Word is Passed. It was a great read, really challenging the "history" we are fed in the American education system. A look from the other side, if you will. It provided excellent context that is purposely (conveniently?) removed from our formal history books. I recommend!

Alaska Adventure - Day 6

Day 6 brought us to Ketchikan. Another port where our excursion was cancelled, and this time, we were truly thankful for it. It was incredibly cold and very rainy in Ketchikan. According to the shuttle driver, it rains there 220+ days per year. No thanks! However, we wanted to explore the town as much as we could given the weather. We didn't last long! It's definitely a little fishing village. I think their population is roughly 8,500 people. We wanted to get some shopping done here as it was way too expensive in Icy Straight, and we didn't have time to look in Juneau due to our hike. So we got off the ship and took the shuttle to the shopping district. Thankfully, the shopping here was much more affordable and we loaded up on gifts for the kids, and some Alaska swag for ourselves. 

After heading back to the ship, we changed out of our soaked rain gear and decided to have a relaxing rest of the day. We spent the remaining part of the afternoon in port watching a lot of the interactive game shows they had going on, which were always entertaining. We also decided to see a show on the ship that night. They had Choir of Man and Kinky Boots available. Choir of Man was sold out, so we decided to check out Kinky Boots. It was absolutely amazing. I LOVED it! It was a great story, and the cast was so talented. 

Kinky Boots

Little did we know that the remainder of that evening and all the next day would be spent riding out the bomb cyclone storm system that had worked its way up the Pacific Northwest coastline and was heading directly our way. Rough waters is an understatement! We really struggled for sleep that night, as the entire ship was rocking and swaying, and creaking due to the high winds. We had 70mph winds and 26 foot waves. There was zero sleep to be had. And Friday, our last full day, and 100% at sea, was quite the adventure. People were falling all over the ship, it was difficult to eat without feeling nauseous, and it really wasn't the best experience for ending our trip. But, you gotta get through it somehow. Always an adventure!

Here is a link from a fellow traveler on his experience with the rough seas:

https://youtu.be/PLoOQc2V3P0