January

People joke that January sometimes feels like it is 3,000 days long...and this year I totally get that.  It was a long month full of mostly getting back into a rhythm.  Finding our routine for this new semester and dealing with the unexpected.  Life sure knows how to humble you.  I don't have a ton of photos from this month but as always we do our best to recognize that the ordinary is in fact the extraordinary. 

I am mostly the passenger these days and sometimes that allows me to take a photo like this...crossing the dam on our weekly trip across the lake at sunset.  Awe.

It is very difficult to get women's basketball game tickets - both availability and price wise.  But we scored some awesome seats while campus was on winter break and got to see our girls dominate.  Gosh, they are such a fun team to watch!  Just incredible. 

Luke has had his permit for a while now.  He has completed the classroom driver's ed requirement, the driving instructor-led road hours, as well as the required 40 hours driving with L and/or I.  By our state standards he could take the test for his restricted license.  However, L told him that he also had to pass the "Dad Test"  Ha!  L required him to know how to check the oil, change a tire, fill washer fluid, go through a drive thru, went over what to do if he gets pulled over, what to do and the procedures involved in a fender bender, etc.  He did great!  Proud of this kid!

It snowed in the south.  It snowed in the south y'all.  We love it so much!  We get so excited!  And we shut absolutely everything down until there is not a flake or even wetness remaining on the roads.  We for real don't know what to do with our southern selves when it snows.  It's pretty hilarious.

This neurotic dog of ours is snow's biggest fan! 

The kids didn't have school for three days...THREE DAYS. Our front porch looked like this every day. Our house was loud for three days. Boogie boards transition seamlessly from salty waves to snowy hills.  I saw one kid using a broken down cardboard box as a sled.  Creativity abounds on a snow day.

One weekend in January Luke (and L) and B headed to Texas for another Pokemon competition!  B moved out of our area about a year ago and it is just the best when these two get to spend time together doing what they love.

I will never get over the size of this community!

While Luke played (and did really well!!) L got to wander around San Antonio.  We were all there last year so he knew all the best places and found some new gems. 

Meanwhile, that same weekend I was here....in Scandinavia.  South Carolina's Scandinavia.  It was a very cold weekend and I spent my Saturday running a relay through the beautiful towns of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark - all located in the middle of nowhere SC.  It is my favorite running event of the year and despite the frigid temperatures we had the BEST time!

Sunrise in the swamp

I ran two legs of the race - from Norway to Sweden and then from Finland back to Norway.  My team was made up of kind, hilarious, fun, and laid back ladies. 

Our team! I adore these friends of mine. Miss Joy was the oldest participant in the race (76 years old!) and we were thrilled to have her on our team!  Such a fun day full of friends and laughter and love.

This is so random but you know how your phone sometimes alerts you with pictures from that day but years ago?  I love seeing those but this one in particular really got me.  This photo came across my phone on 1/30/2025.  9 years ago on this day Luke lost his first tooth!! (I am sure the story of why we are in a PetSmart breakroom is in the blog archive somewhere).  January 30th , 9 years ago Luke lost his first tooth.  January 30th, 2025 Luke left our house on his own driving into town to run some errands.  What a difference 9 years makes.  My mom often comments about "roots and wings" - we are heavy on the "wings" these days.