March 2025 Update

For starters, we are finally back on Daylight Saving Time and I feel alive again. I was invited back to Pearl for a Spring Equinox celebration. I always love these parties. I burned anything I wanted to let go of from winter and set my intentions for the new season. Q1 is always so busy at work so I don’t really start my new year until April anyway – which perfectly coincides with the earth (and me) waking up. I so wish our calendar was more in tune with nature. Having Christmas and New Years back to back is tough.

The weather is warming up and I’ve been able to play pickleball outside pretty consistently this month, which has felt nice. I also had an opportunity to check out the new Madison Community Center and they have a nice indoor setup too. One weekend, I even drove to Murfreesboro to play on their new outdoor courts. No matter where I show up to play around here, I usually see someone I know, which is hysterical to me. Leave it to pickleball to get the introvert to make friends far and wide.

One of the biggest things that happened this month was Skylar’s last hockey tournament… yes, ever. Hockey has been a part of our life for 6 years and has taken us a little bit of here, there, and everywhere. The final tournament was in South Bend, IN home of Notre Dame. In fact, while we were there we toured the campus and also played a game in their hockey arena. The whole weekend was bittersweet knowing it was our last one together but we had a lot of fun as usual. Her team, the Tennessee Wolverines, ended up winning the whole thing and brought home the Irish Cup!!!! When we started with this club a couple years ago, it was definitely a development program. It was thrilling to see all the hard work come together for an exciting finale. Each player received a medal. Skylar immediately called me over and gave hers to me. She said I deserved it because none of this would have been possible without me traveling with her all over creation and we reminisced over driving to her first hockey practice – it’s quite the memorable story. The weekend was already emotional but that pushed me over the edge. I’m 50% thankful the season is over and 50% already knowing I’m gonna miss it terribly.

Our favorite photographer, Kris, did Skylar’s graduation photos and I am so OBSESSED with them. When Skylar took an interest in aviation she swore that her senior photos were gonna be epic, and she was not wrong. Skylar managed to get permission to use a private plane at the Lebanon airport. I have flipped through these photos countless time and I love them more and more.

As we march towards graduation, there are lots of Awards ceremonies coming up. This month, Skylar was honored at the TN State Capitol as one of two outstanding homeschool seniors for Middle Tennessee. I’m so stinking proud of her. She’s also been applying for scholarships left and right and I’m hoping we hear back soon on those so we can sort out how much extra she needs to start. A professional pilot degree is pretty pricey.

In other news, we have a new favorite game – Sagrada. Skylar loooooves stained glass. This is the game I thought I was buying for her at Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, Azul is still up there on our favorites list but Sagrada is the real deal stained glass game and it is quite fun! It pays hommage to Basílica de la Sagrada Família, which we toured when we were in Barcelona last year.