January 2021 Update

Happy New Year! Skylar welcomed 2021 by running out to the front porch at midnight, waving a Canadian flag, and yelling JUMANJI at the top of her lungs, so there’s that.

I kicked off the New Year with a little tradition I started last year – a hike! The weather was lovely and it was a great way to clear my mind and embrace a fresh start. I listened to the book Atomic Habits, which I highly recommend! Reading this book gave me a great idea as I headed into my busiest season at work. I moved my office into the laundry room. I can’t tell you how much it helped to have a door to close, even if it was just a barn door! This really helped me to get through the beginning of the year.

Mid-month we headed off to our first hockey tournament of the season in Atlanta, GA. It ended up being a wash because the other team tested positive for COVID but our girls were able to scrimmage with the Nashville U14 girls. We also ate really good so it wasn’t a total loss. We are really enjoying getting to the other parents and kiddos on the team.

We refinanced our house this month and ended up saving 7 YEARS on our mortgage. I was really excited about that! How adult of us. 🙂 I also found this picture of me and my mom and it pretty much sums up how I felt on the 1 year anniversary of her passing. Miss her bunches!

We had to push off Skylar’s birthday party until next month because of a scheduling conflict with Ford Ice so we just celebrated at home. I offered to take her anywhere for dinner and she picked the Chick-fil-a drive-through. Typical. I also ordered her a cheesecake because I know she likes that better than regular cake. It looked a little plain but she threw a Playmobile Zamboni on top and we called it done!

Mike was busy helping AWP for about 8 days in late January while they searched for the missing Bill Simmons (and others) as well as an environmental cleanup project for the Cumberland River. They pulled 17 cars and had them on display at Opryland. Skylar and I held down the fort at the BFF but I was able to pop over and have dinner with him one night. It was really neat to see the camaraderie and teamwork among the different groups that came into Nashville that week. We hosted a few of them here at the BFF for boondocking and bonfires. There was also a lot of news and press that week including Inside Edition. It was a bitter-sweet ending but they did find Bill on their last day here and we participated in a candlelight vigil for him. You can follow along for more details at Muddy Bottom Adventures or on Facebook.

At the end of the month Skylar and I flew to Austin for another hockey tournament. We had found out just a few weeks before that Skylar wasn’t eligible to play because of her age. This was devastating news. She has grown quite close to her teammates and we couldn’t imagine not being there to support them. Her coach advocated for her to be on the bench with the team even if she didn’t play but CanAm said no. We found a loophole that involved a lot of extra steps but she was finally approved and able to go as a student coach and we had a great time!