Life Lately January 2026

This has been a quick month for me, mostly because 1) we didn't return home from our winter break trip until January 11; 2) we had a long weekend due to the MLK, Jr. holiday; and 3) I had five snow days, so no school the entire week of January 26-30! A strange month indeed!

We went to National Cathedral and saw a very odd art light show. We went last February for a different event and we loved it, but we did not love this event! Absolutely bizarre. I tried to just appreciate the colored lights, but overall, I would not recommend it!

We were supposed to go to WDW for a weekend, but ending up canceling our flights because we didn't know how bad the storm would be and while we would not have minded getting stranded in Florida, we didn't want Avalanche to be stranded at his dog hotel. Obviously it's not the end of the world that we couldn't go, but we had rented DVC points for this trip and the resort reservation was non-refundable, which was kind of a bummer.

can't say I loved getting this email
the day we were supposed to check in
LOL

The storm we got did a real number on the area...we got some snow, but it was mostly ice with really cold temperatures for the entire week. C spent hours trying to clear the driveway, using both a chainsaw and an axe to break through the thick ice. Thankfully, our awesome neighbor loaned us their ice scraper/chopper, which had a long handle on it and made the ice removal go much more quickly. I was not of much help at all, because for the first time in two years, I've been really sick. It's just been a bad cold - thankfully nothing more serious - but it has not been a fun week because the coughing and congestion have kept any restful sleep at bay. What a gift that there was no school so I could take it easy!

at first it was snow and Avalanche loved it

that's the tool I was talking about - 
what a time saver!

no fun snow to play in - just chunks of ice

solid chunks of ice

this was the snow we got in January 2025 -
Avalanche sunk right in

not this year!

he was able to walk all over the yard on top of the ice

honestly I think he was kind of confused

we went for a drive and these are the
snowbanks/icebanks along the main road

Other than the storm, there's not a lot to share from the month...a few random things and a collection of Avalanche pics!

this was my Christmas gift to C
and he started to build it

the instruction booklet is enormous

there are almost 1400 steps -
can't wait to see it finished!

my work bestie made a sign for our door
and I love it so much (she even captured the
ever-present sunglasses on my head!)

the cutest mug from my sweet MIL & FIL

I earned the Southwest Companion Pass through
the end of 2027 and as frequent travelers, this is
super exciting to us!

my favorite singer, Steven Page,
did a live from home show over zoom

this water bottle comes with National Park stickers
that you put on the bottle once you've visited

we've been to 36 of the 63 National Parks!

this isn't snow - it's Avalanche's fur
after C combed him

we were on a walk at the park and a kid
(at least ten years old) called out,
"Look at that dog! It's a Dalmatian!"

I love him SO MUCH

Happy Tails to you!

Life Lately September 2025

September usually feels endless, mostly because it's the first full month of school. This September, however, seemed to fly by! We took a couple of quick trips (Tampa and Disneyland) and did a few fun things, so those certainly contributed to how quickly it came and went!

When it comes to these monthly posts, I usually put all of the Avalanche pics at the end, but I decided to switch things up and put his pics first this time because he is really the superstar in my life!

could he BE any more handsome?!?

we went to the Kennedy Center
to see the NSO perform
John Williams scores
from Steven Spielberg films

the concert was great, although our experience
was dampened by the absolute lunatic sitting
next to us who was talking and shouting and
hooting and hollering the entire time...
she was so awful we ended up moving to much worse
seats during intermission just to get away from her

we went the the Air and Space Museum
to see one of our all-time favorite movies in IMAX

it was the 30 year anniversary of
Apollo 13's release!

went to a puzzle night and the
four of us completed our
puzzle in exactly one hour,
which earned us second place!

the most amazing highlight of the month
was taking our niece and nephew to
Charm City Cakes for a private
cake decorating class

we had the best time!

our niece helped with mine and I loved it!

this was C's cake - he did the
same design as our nephew!

our niece's note to us

our nephew's note to us

They are both so precious! The cake decorating class was a birthday gift for our niece, and in November, we've got a cool outing planned to celebrate our nephew's birthday! Don't get me wrong, we have adored each of them since the moment they were born, but we are just loving every minute we get to spend with them right now. They're at a super cute age and it's so great to be able to fun stuff with them!

Happy Tails to you!