Recharge Weekend

This weekend was a much needed recharge. Saturday morning, I finally did the big spring chop:

I spent a lot of the weekend puttering in my yard and house, and I finished book 12:

I love this series so much, and it is so easy to read.

Work has been a different kind of wild, so I'm especially grateful for the chance to get a little rest.

 

What a Spring Break

I had a fabulous spring break. I ended up doing a little work, but very, very little. 

Issa and I spent the first half of the week getting facials, cleaning closets, and generally just resting a bit. I think we both needed it, and it's always good to have her home.

The second half of the week Brad and I took Evan to Cleveland. The main goal was to tour CWRU:

Brad loved being on his home campus, and Evan loved the campus and the opportunities he would have:

I only cried a little when I realized I could really see him there. They have a great program for his data analytics goals, and the gen ed program is really cool. He was so enthused he actually spent the evening capturing notes:

He says if he gets in he will go!

We spent the rest of the time helping him to get to know the area. We took him to our favorite coffee house, which is right across from the freshman dorms are remarkably unchanged. We also took him to our favorite bakery which was radically different:

Sadly, Presti's no longer does donuts, but it was great food. We stayed in an AirB&B in Little Italy, so we had two great dinners, and we spent all of Friday at the NCAA wrestling tournament:

We saw some incredible wrestling.

I also did a ton of reading, finishing books 9, 10, and 11!

I'm loving the Bridgerton series:

It is different from the show, and unsurprisingly I think the books are better.

The next book was for book club:

I don't think I ever would have picked this up much less finished it if it wasn't for book club. It is a really interesting non-fiction book about the history and future of biomedically engineering.

The last book is one I'm hoping to use with some incoming freshmen:

It is really well-written and comprehensive!

We are all back to reality today, but I'm very grateful for the break and core memories made.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Nick!

We made a whirlwind trip to Atlanta to celebrate Uncle Nick's 80th birthday:

We left early Saturday morning, and we made it just in time for the big surprise:

The party was a bit of a blur of cousins, but we had the best time at Nick and Beth's house that night. We very rarely get a lot of time to just be together, and I think we all laughed until we cried. 

We were home again by dinner last night, and we are all very tired today, but it was absolutely worth it for these family memories.
 

A Weekend of Rest

After a last weekend's conference followed by a very busy work week, we all decided we needed a weekend of just nothing. For the first time in forever we had nothing on the calendar, and I barely moved from the couch Saturday. I did watch the entire season of Bridgerton, which did not disappoint. We also go plenty of snuggles with the pups, one of which is much better about napping than the other:

Sunday, Brad and I did venture out to take an easy hike in the spring air:

The Occaneechee Speedway is an easy hike, and it's still fun to see all of the old cars and remnants from when it was an actual race track. We are really trying to get out every weekend to get ready for our hikes in May!

I also finished book eight:

This one was a tough read for anyone in higher ed right now, but it also had some great strategies that I hope to put into practice in the near future!

To NOLA and Back Again

Thursday, I traveled to New Orleans for a conference with AACTE. Because I am the president of our state organization, I had some extra meetings to attend, but I also got upgraded at the hotel to have this amazing view:

It was an engaging and exhausting four days of connecting with colleagues from across the country, and I spent the vast majority of it in conference rooms. However, the little bit that I was able to get out made me want to spend more time in New Orleans! I even managed to sneak in a fun solo breakfast:

All the airport time also let me finish book seven:

 This is the next book club book, and I loved it. It reminded me a lot of Remarkably Bright Creatures, minus the octopus. The themes were very similar, and it was an easy read. Definitely recommend!

We had a lovely Valentine's Day. It's always a little extra special for us since it is also the anniversary of our first date! This year, we went for a hike:

In December, we said we were going to start hiking very Saturday to get ready for the Old Man of Storr, and this is the first weekend it didn't snow since then! This hike was about the same distance as the Old Man, but only about a quarter of the elevation.

Brad also made us a fabulous steak dinner complete with two sauces.

I also finished a very seasonally appropriate book six this weekend:

 It is just lovely fluff and I thoroughly enjoyed every page!

Book 5

Book 5 was a professional development book:

 Published in 2015, it's a seminal work in the higher ed field. I have read a million things that cite it, so I decided I should probably actually read it.

Here is the problem. It is not ground breaking. I think most people would agree with the arguments and paths forward in it. I'm super annoyed, though. This was published 11 years ago and it still totally applies. Sigh. Onward...

Valentine's Fun

I may work at a college, but the teacher in me runs deep, and sometimes I just need a little of my K-12 days back in my life. Holidays seems to make that desire stronger. Enter some extra time because of snow and ta-da:

 You can't tell in the picture, but each of those hearts has the name of a licensure student. It's been fun to watch students looks for their heart--totally worth the time it took to make them all.

Snow Days and Book 4

I fear Evan may never return to school. He was out all last week because if the ice storm, and Saturday we got another almost five inches of snow:

We very much enjoyed snuggling in with a fire and watching it snow, and Bella is living her best husky life:

I also finished book four:

This is our next book club read. It was an interesting story, but it was not particularly well-written, and I wish it had ended a chapter sooner. 

 

Book 3

I finished book three for the year:

This was a really interesting read that looked at da Vinci's biography through his habits of mind and the daily practices he used to stay creative. I have been fascinated by him for a while, and this provided a lot more insight into his journals and process rather than just his work. Highly recommend!

I am hoping for some extra reading time in the next few days. We have a winter storm headed our way, and if it hits the way it looks we will be home for a while. Fingers crossed we don't lose power and just have a cozy few days.

 

What a Season

We finished the regular wrestling season last night. I honestly don't know what his overall record is, but he finished the season as the 144 starter and we saw a lot of this:

Thankfully, his worst injury was some gnarly mat burn:

And he finished his regular season with a pin last night:

And this team, they are Conference Champs:

More importantly, they are the best group of guys. I have loved watching them cheer for each other, grow together, and just generally be hysterical. 

I still have to look away from the mat occasionally, but I love being there to watch Evan do his thing, and I'm a little sad we only have one more year of these shenanigans.

 

BINGO

Last year, instead of resolutions Issa proposed we make New Year's BINGO boards. Instead of one big thing, we put a goal in each square. Over the course of the year, you put a star in the box when you meet that goal. I ended up with two bingos last year:

None of us imagined that we would be able to check every box, but it was fun to set the goals and then watch the progress over the year. This year, we made boards again. Some of the things that didn't get accomplished last year moved over. Some goals were just released. It's good.

This morning, I was able to put another tally on my board. One of my columns is a series of reading goals, and I finished book two this morning:

This is a professional development book that our campus is reading together. I'll be very interested to see where the discussion takes us tomorrow!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We are reentering the world after a wonderful two weeks of Christmas vacation. We fully leaned into the 12 days of Christmas and a nice slow start to 2026, and I think this may be our new rhythm for all future Christmases. 

The weekend before Christmas, the kids and I made cookies for the neighbors. Evan has become the sugar cookie king:

Issa did the sprinkles, and I did the packaging:

They were a great delivery team:

On the 23rd, we went to Nana's to make cookies there. This trio made short work of it:

Christmas Eve was the return to Nana's for pajamas, mashed potato bar, and gift exchange:

Christmas morning was just the four of us:

The older the kids get the smaller their gifts get! It's also a much later start. I had time to set the table and make gingerbread scones before they were even stirring:

Santa Paws came, and Buddy has not let this bone out of his sight since:

Bella was a big fan of her new stick, too:

Evan got a really cool tool set:

And Issa got her very own gel nail set:

We spent Christmas day trying to new recipes and enjoying a mocktail bar. I think the nut loaf was the unexpected hit of the holiday!

Right after Christmas, Evan came down with the crud. We initially thought he just strained his voice at a wrestling match, but he started coughing and then slept for almost two days straight. All of us got a little stuffy and run down, so we spend the time between Christmas and today just being cozy. There were hot cocoa bars, movies, crafts, and did a ton of reading. I finished books 31 and 32 of 2025 and book one of 2026!

Book 31 was a recommendation from a colleague:

The story follows three characters whose stories intertwine about halfway through the text, and one of those characters is an octopus. It took a while to get to know the characters, but once their stories started to merge I was hooked!

Book 32 has been on TBR pile for a while:

I love Jen Hatmaker, and this is a really powerful memoir. 

Book 1 was our next book club read:

I was very grateful for my one Russian literature class in undergrad for this one. It's been a while since I've been in Russian folklore, but I am so glad for the time back in that world. This is the first book in a series, and I think I will end here. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not attached enough to the characters to continue on, and this book ends with everything tied up in a nice little bow.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the time with my people in our cozy home. I'm planning to make more time and space for this--just being.