We scratched off another adventure card and found ourselves on a private flight tour over Jacksonville. It’s something I didn’t even know you could do, and it was awesome! The pilot took us over our house, but I had a hard time getting oriented from the sky, so I couldn’t find it. Billy saw it, though! It was cool seeing landmarks from above, but it was also cool to hear the conversations the pilot had with flight control. At one point they were telling the pilots to steer clear of the “humans falling from the sky.” Apparently there were skydivers in the area. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that I feel so lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity to do with my family. And that we are. I have to remember to pay some of that back into the universe.
Tag: billy
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May 25
We cracked open the Florida adventures cards I got for Mother’s Day and had our first adventure at a splatter room in Gainesville. I still think we came out looking way too clean, but it is thoroughly satisfying to throw paint around a room for an hour. I will not say we left with works of art, but we did leave in a good mood.
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April 19
It was a busy day. Gym for a run this morning, then food shopping, dyeing eggs (we tried the Cool Whip method this year with marginal success), and then I went out for pizza with Lauren and Monica. While I was out, Robin and Billy baked jelly bean sugar cookies that are actually quite tasty! I’m looking forward to a relaxing evening from here out.
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February 25
I’m a big fan of all the family time we’ve been having lately. Tuesday family game night has proved to be particularly awesome. It was my turn to pick a game tonight, so I picked Pictionary. Robin and I are kind of a dream team. You should have seen her picture of a harmonica. I have no idea how I guessed it. Magic, I guess.
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February 23
We attempted an escape room today. Billy and the girls had never done it before and I thought it’d be fun. It turns out we are not all that good at puzzles. It took us almost 20 minutes to solve the first one, which didn’t leave much time for anything else. But I think everyone had fun and now we HAVE to try again.
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January 25
Christina had a dance showcase tonight, so we went out to dinner afterwards. We decided to do something a little fancier than we usually do, so booked a 7:30 reservation. We did not get served until 9:15. I think I would have been more ok with that if I hadn’t had a splitting headache and been absolutely starving since all I ate all day was some pizza rolls. The management apologized and took 25% off of everyone’s checks, plus free dessert. Not sure what caused the backup, but we’ve eaten there before and never encountered this, plus they made good on it, so we’d still go back. Amazing how my headache went away pretty much immediately after I got some food in my stomach. I was also amazed at how patient everyone at our table was. The kids never stopped smiling. There were worm wars (I still don’t get how to play that one) and tile matching on Billy’s phone, and some indoor planet-gazing using the night sky app. Could definitely have been worse.
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January 2
Christina got the traditional balloons, chicken alfredo, cookie dough ice cream cake, some books, a puzzle game, a necklace, and hair cream for her birthday this year. Not a bad haul for someone who has lived for 11 years now. Happy birthday, my growing-up baby.
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2024 in Review
Reminiscence starts at the end… and the beginning. 2024 has come to an end and 2025 beckons us forward.
I have always looked at the end of the year more as a circumstance than a true opportunity. Beginning a year on January 1 feels arbitrary when every day marks the passing of a year. But then again, why not begin a new year on January 1? And January 2? And every day after that? If nothing else, when the calendar year ends, we get to eat deviled eggs and wear silly party hats and watch fireworks going off in every direction. Arbitrary or not, this year I say, why not? Let’s go for it.
Minutes after midnight Christina took down our 2024 calendar and put up 2025. I have made one every year since 2005. This year’s cover sets the tone with a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Flip to the first page and you get this: “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”
I think the sentiments go together. Resolving to create the future we want doesn’t make it happen. We make it happen. Not just on New Year’s Day, but every day. Every day, whether the most memorable moment is the dog sleeping on the couch or going on our first trip without the kids since before they were born. All those moments strung together make a future. We need to make it worth remembering.
So for 2024 we have 366 days of photos, cataloguing a year of our future, and now our past. Nothing very momentous happened this year, but for me, something definitely shifted. I don’t know why. We didn’t have one or two big moments worth remembering this year, but we had lots of little ones that when added together, filled me up in a way I haven’t experienced probably ever in my life.
I gave up the chorus for cheerleading and dance. I got back to the gym and started running again. We didn’t have much money for traveling, so we spent our breaks together redecorating bedrooms and taking a short trip to Charleston. Billy and I saw our first Yankees game in the Bronx in more than 11 years, and we got to share that game with Siggi and Brett. Billy and I came to the absolute brink of disaster this Easter, but with the help of an excellent counselor, found our way back. That change began to bring Robin out of her shell, and while she still hates playing board games with us, she smiles sometimes too. I’ve missed that smile.
We had hard moments too, times where the Universe pushed us to learn from and respect our imperfections. And as hard as those moments were, we hung in it together. For so many years, we lived our lives together but in isolation. This year, we faced our challenges together and came out stronger on the other side. Coming to the brink of divorce forced us all to change the dialogue. Billy had to learn to engage and I had to learn to follow more and lead less. Whatever we did differently this year, it worked.
So now 2025. I don’t expect much to change this year. I hope we continue to grow, lean on, and learn from each other. I want to run a 5k without stopping. I want to win the Harry Potter game. I want to go on more dates. When opportunities come up, I hope we don’t get too comfortable on the couch to jump on them. When opportunities don’t come up, I hope we create them ourselves.
I know we can achieve these things. We have already achieved these things. Maybe we can’t go wherever we want or do everything we want right now, but we can go somewhere and do some things, and for me, I’ll take it.
No. For US, I’ll take it.
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December 31
We finished the year strong with a Penn State football playoff win, deli sandwiches for dinner, a challenging game of Mind the Gap, and party hats. More importantly, we finished – and started – the year together.
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November 29
It doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me yet. Maybe since less than 24 hours ago it was still Thanksgiving.
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November 26
Lazy day today. Highlights include: Running the wrong training program on the treadmill, knitting for hours, everyone but me playing Portal Knights, booking hotels for dance and a campsite for spring break, and writing one paragraph in the sermon I may never deliver but feel compelled to write anyway. It hasn’t been the most exciting week off, but I’ve gotten things done. I dedicate the rest of the week to… me.
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September 8
I finally got to use the gift certificate Rosina gave me for my birthday. We did some paint pouring! Robin and Christina were less than thrilled about going, but there’s something about splashing paint around that lifts one’s spirits. They’ll never admit it, but they had fun.
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August 16
We finally managed to get out to get Robin the ice cream she earned from that epic practice over a week ago. Between our trip to New York and Robin’s strep throat, we just couldn’t make it happen. But it was worth the wait. She even recovered when I told her she has a practice on Sunday.
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August 3
We took a family pasta making class at the Y and made about 10 pounds of pasta. Not that any of it went to waste. The dogs enjoyed eating the small amount of dough that was too sticky to use. I also made two more ornaments for the advent calendar, which looks like it might not be finished in time for this Christmas either. But it is getting closer.
Year in Photos 