January 2021

 January is about over, and I have already failed in one of my New Year's Resolutions. I have not been blogging every week. It's crazy how quickly the weeks fly by, and I just can't keep up on my blogging. 

This month has flown by, but we really haven't done anything super exciting. We just stay busy with work, church meetings, and right now Emma has basketball practice two days a week and she joined a 4-H archery club, and they meet a couple times a month. Emma is really enjoying both activities, and they are keeping her busy. Along with homework and Piano lessons (and multiplication factors), our evenings are very busy. Emma continues to do pretty well in school, but we do have to get on her to complete her work neatly and to slow down and do her best. 

Elliott's weekday evenings are a little less hectic. We do read every evening and work on memory work, but then he has the rest of the evening to play and do whatever he wants, and I think that makes Emma a little jealous. Elliott is doing great in school, and really doesn't seem to have trouble with much of anything in Kindergarten. He is getting better and better at reading some words, and he is so close to being able to read books by himself. 

A couple weekends ago, we went bowling at Sport Bowl. The kids really enjoyed it, and it was nice and quiet in the bowling alley, so had a really fun time. 

Last weekend, my parents came to visit. We spent most of our time at home, but we had fun. We made a couple delicious meals (Shrimp fried rice, turkey) and enjoyed games and hanging out. We also drove through Falls Park because the lights were still on, and enjoyed a beer run for some beverages. It was a really fun, quick weekend. 

This past week, we got some really good news at work. The ASC gets to open on February 1st. Yay!! We are only going to be able to run 5 surgical rooms, which isn't great, but we are so happy to be back to our home. We only have 5 days left in the Main OR, hooray!!

Covid-19 is getting better in South Dakota. Our number of new infections and hospitalizations has been trending down nicely (hence the ASC opening). However, some other states are having terrible outbreaks right now, so it is still definitely a threat. I have received both of my Covid-19 vaccines, and that all went well for me. It's a great feeling to have it, and I'm really hoping that by this summer the world is looking more normal. We are at the year mark for this virus, and it's been quite a trip. 

This weekend has been pretty quiet. Today was a snowing, winter weather advisory day, so we spent most of the day at home. I did take the kids to the Washington Pavillion for a free carnival in the lobby, and they seemed to really enjoy that. I also hit up the gym (I've lost 9 pounds since Jan 1st!!) and now we are watching Star Wars with the kids before heading to bed shortly. 

Tomorrow is a marathon church day. The kids sing in both services, I teach Sunday School, and then there is a Voter's meeting with installation of officers. Whew, it's going to be a day. And then we have the NFC Championship football game and the AFC Championship Football game. And then it will be Monday. Oof-da. The weekends sure fly by!

2021. New Year, Fresh Start.

 Just like that, the craziness that was 2020 is over, and we have turned the calendar over to a new year. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see 2021. Really, 2020 wasn't that bat for us. We had a great trip to the cities to visit Wolf Lodge with the kids, we had a wonderful summer filled with camping and bonfires with the neighbors, we bought me a new car-which we love, we had some wonderful holidays and family times, and just overall had a pretty good year. Aside from all the pandemic craziness of course. 

The kids finally came home yesterday afternoon from Jim and Barb's house. They were pretty excited to be home. We unpacked their 8 bags of stuff they had, and then they had a great time playing with all their Christmas gifts they hadn't got to tear into yet. 

In the evening, we headed to the Stampede Game for New Year's Eve. We headed in early for free Stampede stocking caps, and free player cards for the kids. We had $5 tickets, so we sat pretty high up, but the kids did really well with the game and actually paid attention to what was going on most of the time. The Stampede did not do well, they lost 2-5, but it was a fun evening. We hadn't been to a hockey game since last winter, so it was really fun to go. We just kept our distance and wore our masks when we were in the concourse area. 

We were home at around 9pm, and popped in a movie. The kids thought they were going to last until midnight. Emma and I made it until about 10:30pm and then we called it a night (I had to work Thursday morning until noon, I was tired!). John and Elliott made it until midnight. They watched some Star Wars and then played Legos, before finally calling it a night. 

Today was a great start to the new year. John and I did some organizing while the kids continued to play with new toys. We worked on the kitchen and the garage. We made great progress and had like 4 bags full of garbage at the end of the day. The kids were invited to Polzins' house for a sleepover. At around 3pm, we dropped them off, and then John and I headed to the gym and then the grocery store. The kids were barely home for 24 hours and then they were already having a sleepover at someone else's house. I am almost offended by that. But, I'm sure they are having a great time with their friends. 

Tonight is just a relaxing evening. The house is cleaned up, and I'm watching a Netflix movie while blogging. What a nice, quiet, evening. 

My goals for the new year:

1. Blog more. Hopefully at least once a week.

2. Lose weight. I have pretty much been at the same weight for the last couple of years, and I would really like to be about 25 pounds lighter. So, I joined Noom, and will continue to go to the gym, and hopefully this will be the year. 

3. More time in God's Word. I really want to spend at least 15 minutes in a daily devotion reading and studying God's Word. 

4. A Family Activity every week. Like bowling, swimming, games, legos, sledding, exercising, baking, etc)

5. Less social media. I have already taken steps to decrease the amount of time I aimlessly stare at Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat. Here's to another year of cutting back on time wasters. 

Cheers to 2021 and everything that it will bring!!