I’m doing a two-part recap! And then will have my mini-recap and goals…
Starting with January
“We could leave the Christmas lights up till January”
To be fair, I wanted to do one or two pictures per month when I started this post back in March. But… that didn’t work out and now I’m committed. I spent… at least 3 hours combing through photos to remember my year and I kept pasting more and more into this blog…
I really love my photos in how I can look at one and have such vivid memories of the moment in time. Many times it’s about the more challenging memories. While we are all smiling, I know what’s happening in the background and sometimes I want to remember it and others… I don’t.
It’s oddly apropos that the year began with a significant health challenge with having to get a biopsy of my breast and is now concluding with another health challenge in the family. I guess some years just have a theme. But we will cover what happened at the end of the year…. in the next post!
I have already commented in my biopsy post of making weird faces in my selfies… but since I’m featuring a whole bunch of selfies in this recap… I’m just going to laugh at myself. I take so many random selfies all year long and it anchors me to that moment in time that I want to remember.
Onward to my WORD OF THE YEAR! I picked STRENGTH because I was on my weight lifting journey, along with needing strength in my mental state, I needed it to give myself grace. I really leaned on that word this year and my sweet little bracelet (Target find, woot!) was a good reminder. Finding this picture in my January files made me smile.
Our first “vacation” was to LA. I did love having this 24 hours with my Sammie girl. This was so much fun and I should probably do a recap of our extremely fun time but suffice to say… we did photoshoots, we gabbed, we shopped, and we relaxed and read.
And then we hiked the next morning! It was perfect! I forgot I did this fun video.
The smashing of the plates was SO SATISFYING. I had to go back and look in my notes of what I wrote down on each plate.
- Overthinking
- People pleasing
- Fortune telling
Did I do about smashing those to pieces this year? Maybe by half. Maybe. But next to that note, I had written down:
“If we can’t give ourselves grace, then we won’t enjoy the journey”
No idea if that was an actual quote (I just looked it up and I don’t think it was). But hey, thanks “past me” giving “future me” some good advice again.
Two weeks later, I went to Mammoth with the goal to SKI! I brought along G and his bestie Krishiv, along with my Mama and Gregg. This was such a nice trip but I was very thoughtful during it and in my head a lot. The ski conditions the first day were just lovely but a storm rolled in for the afternoon.
I was deep into my meditation journey and found a sweet little spot in a secluded place to park my butt and enjoy the view. Seeing this gives me peace.
We also played some fun games at the house. We had a nice rental house there.
On the work front, I slightly changed my role – or it expanded and I hired 4 new people and had one transfered over to me. It was such a fun adventure all through the year working with my new team and helping them learn their new job and drive our priorities forward.
I had three separate bosses this year. My first boss went through February.
“My winter nights are taken up by static.”
He hired my new boss and then he peaced out. But February was a memorable trip for work. It was a local trip, at the Anaheim convention center. But it was fun and memorable for a variety of reasons.
This was a fun night were we got to get fancy and I grabbed this with one of my fav work buddies – my old boss.
I love how I brought my M&M pillow with me to the hotel. That cracked me up. It was so soothing though.
February was also fun because I was able to visit one of my besties at her job and spend a whole 20m with her during her lunch break. I did that twice this year and it made me smile. I wish I could see her more often but I’m glad I made the effort to get down there. No pictures but it was in my calendar.
My dad also came to visit and had dinner with us! I got to see him FIVE times this year and that was pretty darn awesome. I didn’t even get up to Oregon once.
It had been SO long since I had seen my Grandma Evie. I finally felt guilty enough that I drove my butt out to Palm Springs and I was so happy my Mom drove up to meet me and hopped in my car because that meant I got a full 3 hours of gossip time with her. This was fun although chilly and windy!
March was also very memorable.
“And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death March”
Sam got her acceptance email from SDSU! She called us from the hallway at school. She was afraid to click on the video link but knew it was an acceptance. Also, apparently she told me this was on Feb 2nd but I had all my photos in the March folder so… I’m saying it’s March!
Every month, we do Bunco on the first Friday. I made it out to at least 7 games this year and always enjoyed seeing the ladies. It’s a varied group held together from a few Moms and our subs are all ages so it’s always a fun time to catch up with old friends and also meet new people. Had to include at least one photo from the events:
There were a few other fun events this month. I went to see MJ (Michael Jackson) at the Segerstrom. We went with G, Delilah, Jerra, Katie, and I was able to bring my friend Laura. This was so good. Hearing the drum beat IN MY HEART during huge moments was fantastic. Such great music!
Ahh, such another sweet trip. I went to visit Nicole in St Pete! I got Ainsley time and we basically snugged in Nicole’s bed every night and had a sleepover. I brought the cow pajamas! The thing I remember most was this fantastic branzino fish we had when I arrived. She took me to a fancy restaurant that she had been wanting to try and we had such a nice time. They lit the branzino on fire and we had a nice photo shoot next to the water after dinner.
Nicole always likes to plan fun events – which I am not the greatest at – so she took me to so many sweet little spots. We had a Barbie breakfast with some of Ainsley’s friends, and then we went kayaking alone one day for a trip up the coast. Such a fun time. I need more of it!
I flew home to the Oklahoma show for both kids! WOW they were amazing. G twirled and kissed a girl, as the Peddler, and Sam had some dancing and singing scenes that were fantastic. My Dad flew down to see it with Cindy. That was so cool, I was so happy they did that. Sam was sobbing hysterically at teardown because this was her last show. Bittersweet.
G ended Oklahoma and promptly had tech for his Oregon Trail musical that he was the LEAD in at his high school. It was.. fantastic. Such a perfect show for him and he did great. This was a sweet moment I want to remember of a boy coming up and asking for G’s autograph.
I have more videos on YouTube of how great G was in this show. Have to post this short to remember:
At the end of March, my baby turned 16. He also got his license (but that happened in May!) and started driving! I can’t believe he’s 16. We ended up having his party in August because his best friends were busy every single weekend with AP tests, homework, and activities. He wanted to be sure they were all there.
At work, I had all my team hired by this time and was really starting to work with them now that they had gone through the first few weeks of intros. I started feedback meetings with some of them and would continue that throughout the year.
“Do you really want to know where I was April twenty-ninth“
We started April with Comedy Sportz with BOTH kids playing! They actually have played together a few times with with Sam’s last few shows, I thought I would include one photo to reflect we usually were at Comedy Sportz once a month watching someone perform!
We were lucky enough to have Lionel (from Switzerland) still here. G’s girlfriend was so sweet to show up to every single show of G’s!
Love Yorba Linda was in April at some point. G joined some of the Boy Scouts to help clean up the horse stables and I ended up helping which was fun and rewarding. I did not do enough volunteer work this year and while I’m not sure how much capacity I have in 2025, with my work on the Theater Board dying down, and I haven’t been as active in Boy Scouts, I do want to make sure I’m being intentional about it.
I had a lot of hard talks in various sections of my relationships these first few months. I thought I was starting to get clarity but I realize that while some things get clear, others get muddier.
But I had a lovely time in Palm Springs for Spring Break with the family. We did a nice hike to the top of the mountain. I got some super cool shots of the kids (I need to write that trip up too!). We also got to visit my Grandma Evie again and had a nice lunch with her and Colin.
I turned 44 this year! I went to see Beetlejuice at the Segerstrom with my Mom. I think I did? It’s a blur… and there is no picture proof. For other celebrations, I remember birthday shenanigans of laughing hysterically at the Improv with the besties. Honestly, what was funniest was getting “sexual magic” Tarot cards from Ang as a funny gift and we did readings for about 5 different servers at the Yard House. That was classic and I want to always remember the servers all shyly coming up one by one saying, “I heard you were doing Tarot card readings” and us putting on our therapist hats and counseling them on their relationships.
The comedians at the Improv were good too. Have no idea who it was but it was a fun outing that I was grateful to Ang for planning.
I also had a fun Irvine rooftop night out with the Bunco gals. It was 3 of our birthdays but several people ended up cancelling so it was just 4 of us and was a really nice time.
Speaking of volunteering, I did help Sam with her Gold Award project which she finished this year! She was amazing. I really need to blog about it because this site still gets so much Girl Scout traffic from all my old projects. She taught Improv and her project was titled Speak your Art, which I thought was super creative.
We let the domain name expire so I can’t link to it but here is a picture of one of the groups learning from her and her friends that she was leading!
I also can’t forget going down to ACCEPTANCE DAY at SDSU!! YAAS! The look on Sam’s face when as we walked around the campus, I could see her imagining living there and not quite believing it.
Enough said on that because all the emotions are coming for the college drop-off in August!
“So long Daisy May”
May was a busy month because it was leading up to the end of Sam’s senior year. The end of ANY school year is always busy but you put a senior into the mix and every day, every event, every THING was a “last thing” at school.
We did have a lovely Mother’s day at my Mom’s house though. We have all the mothers and… well, my babies, and Katie’s baby pictured. Having her view of the ocean makes me miss having a home with a view.
I had to get a picture of G and I playing racing games at Camelot. We went several times during the year and I always smile thinking about it. G is always so up for any adventure or suggestion of doing anything. It’s nice to have someone always saying YES to things.
Ahhh the start of the emotional year-end events! The Macy’s Awards were so fun. I almost didn’t go but at the last second I ended up buying a ticket (which was so expensive) and ended up being in the 3rd row and I got to see the kids get so many awards and them take home the award for BEST SHOW OF THE YEAR for Oklahoma.
Sam got two Bright Star awards. G got two Best Achievement awards … Below is a video recap but I did a proper post for 2023 for banquet and I really appreciate having those reminders so should probably do another one for 2024!
But it was so fun – and it was long – but seeing all the different performances from all the high schools was great. So much screaming from all of us the entire afternoon.
My cuties!
Banquet was even better. Sam was a senior and got to do her senior speech and it was SO GOOD. Definite tears. I was so proud of her.
You can see her eyes are so red. I had to get this photo of her and Lionel – as he was leaving soon to go back home after his year-exchange. This was such a sweet friendship that they will have all their lives. They somehow connected and I hope they continue this friendship forever.
“The best and worst day of June was the one that I met you.”
Well, June quickly came and in-between all the activities, I made sure to get walks in with good friends.
Nicole came to town and spent… a week? Two weeks? But she specifically came to attend Sam’s Grad party which made me SO HAPPY. I have to comment how it makes me so happy to have friends come and visit me so I MUST DO IT TO THEM more often!
But FIRST more walks… (I walked so much this year! It was fun!)
And bestie time. This was such a cute outdoor restaurant over in the woods of Trabuco Canyon. We have all five besties (a minor miracle #sorrynotsorry to Krysta).
And they all showed up for me at the grad party. J was not there, which I will always remember angrily sweeping my patio the morning of, after talking to Sam about how she felt about it. But that was what it was.
I want to frame this photo but I also don’t like looking at it. Photos are so weird.
Same with this one. I love looking at it but not for too long.
We also celebrated Sam achieving her Gold award and spending 13 years in Girl Scouts.
Like… WOW.
I don’t have any other caption then this one honestly…
In that final week before the actual high school graduation, we had Senior Performances – I still love calling it Senior Sing.
It’s not called Senior Sing. To be clear. Sam corrected me every time.
But Sam had 10 minutes to sing whatever she wanted to – and she sang some great songs and duets with friends but ended her time with this gem. She LEARNED how to play piano on our keyboard that J had purchased and sang and played for the first time on stage.
TEARS. So many tears. Here is a short clip and I’ve probably listened to it so many times.
And all of the seniors whom I have such fond memories of watching over the last four years!! Some love/hate relationships in there but they will always have those memories. Loved this group.
And right into the final day of high school.
Had to post one photo of her alone.
Sigh. I don’t think I want to write more or think about it because we are so far past it right now.
And then right into more medical drama! Actually this one wasn’t drama but I had to have TWO MRIs (breast and stomach) in the same month and WHAT THE HECK but everything was completely fine, better than fine, really good. So I’ll take it.
But of course I had to do a selfie. For the drama of it all.
And then the most amazing trip of all. France!
I already covered it very thoroughly so I don’t have to do that here but I really love this outfit. I love the pants. The shirt. The hat. The jewelry. Love love love.
And now we sail into July…
“A pebble that we picked up last July”
