Well Hello There!

 Congratulations, you read the back of our Holiday Card! Welcome to the story of our lives that hasn’t been updated for the past two years, although let’s be real 2020 would’ve been a very boring post: 

Everyone is home all the time, groceries get delivered or put in our trunk, we’re bored and drunk all the time, it’s the worst, the end!

In fall of 2019 we did move up to Albuquerque for T to take a job with the AF Safety Center. We’ve loved it here for what little we’ve been able to experience it. The kids have a great school and T finds the work very interesting. I found an amazing Yoga studio that I was able to go to for a few months at least, lol. They’re open again but I’m not comfortable going yet. Maybe when the kids are fully vaccinated, but I also was terrible about doing it at home so I’ll probably have to start with the gentle stretching classes that the lovely little old ladies do. I know I’ve lost all my progress on arm balances and headstands. 

2021 has been a challenging year for us! Most of you know by now because he’s home, but T spent 7 months (including 3 weeks quarantining at Langley before leaving the country) deployed! We got the news he had to report in early January but we were like okay we’ll have Christmas and my birthday together, but then that changed. His bosses weren’t happy about it and being that he’s at HQ level he could’ve had strings pulled just for him but we all agreed that’s not fair nor in keeping with the principles of leadership he’s committed to as an officer. So we dropped him off at Sunport on Dec 22, 2020 and had the weirdest holiday season yet — and we used to pretend Santa came on the 27th and go to mass in a Casino lol. 

We survived. Ming Ming came to stay with us for the month of February. I was able to hire a UNM nursing student to be a regular babysitter so I was still able to go to dr appointments and run errands that didn’t have a curbside option after I got my vaccine. B made his first communion with the loving support of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins! T promoted to Lt. Col. while deployed and I listened to it on YouTube in the car while road-trippin’ to spend two weeks with our favorites in Austin. I have actually only been present at one of his promotions — we weren’t married when he went to 1lt and that’s not really A Thing anyway. Then he was deployed when he made Capt. I told he needs to retire before going for full bird because I don’t want to know what will keep me from that one, ha! Anyway. We were very loved and looked after even as we struggled through a lot of days, and I can’t express how lucky we are to have such great family and friends who supported us in person when they could and sent food & fun from afar. 

T came home at the end of July and we were able to enjoy about 2 months together before he had to go on a mishap investigation. Which is the nature of the job here, so we made it work again. It was lucky in the end because it was after we made it to South Bend for my parents’ 40th anniversary ND vs. Toledo game, but early enough to be done before thanksgiving and he still got to be a part of our annual tradition! Which you can see on the front of our card took place overlooking a gorgeous canyon outside of Amarillo, TX. We had such a blast and added a new tradition — participating in our own Taskmaster! If you are not familiar with the show go to their YouTube channel and binge it immediately. It is the funniest show I’ve ever seen. There are some seasons not accessible in the US (it’s a UK show) but there is enough content to get you to love it. T is the season 1 champion but we’re all coming for him next year! The girls rounded out the contestant line up with the 3 other adults. The boys are eager to participate but they’re still just a bit too young yet. It’ll be great when they can be the Taskmaster’s assistant, though. That way K can truly judge all the tasks fresh. 

Luna got to play with her bestie, Penny which she was definitely in need of. She’s not exactly been exercised to her energy levels this year with only being able to walk her at the pace of a 4 year old for most of the year. 

And now we’re here! Two week left of school before winter break. N is in kindergarten and loving it! My lovely children are not being wildly consumeristic this year to the point of it being hard to give wishlist to the grandparents and no one wants anything from Santa! Just some books and legos practically. I love it and it’s what I’ve wanted but also it feels so strange. 

See you in 2022, folks! (That was hard to write, I’m perpetually stuck in 2020 in my brain.)