As I review my Google and Outlook calendars, I realize what a whirlwind of a year 2019 was...the year before the plague. Little did we know, but we sure packed it in! I am grateful for these adventures that may have made it easier to shut it all down in 2020.
I also realize how important some traditions are to keep alive...they are ways of staying connected to the things and people we love. They give us a sense of continuity in the midst of uncertainty, and they bring us joy!
Which is why we started the year with HooWee Jamboree, our annual winter camping trip at Bastrop State Park. I am never disappointed by this majestic stand of loblolly lost pines. This year, Billy and I spent time exploring the trails and doing some outdoor yoga!
We also made our annual pilgrimage to watch the Jayhawks when they come to Texas. But this year, Will had basketball practice of his own, so I took my mom and we saw them play Baylor instead. After years of Will attending basketball camp at Texas State, we finally decided to catch a Bobcat game too!
But probably the biggest game of all was getting to see one of the Golden State Warriors final games in the Oracle with my dad! Thanks to a friendship with Doug Looney, Kevon Looney's father, we scored amazing tickets and had seats 10 rows from the court. We made an entire weekend out of it, making lifelong memories.
Another fun family tradition that we continued in 2019 was our annual Oscar party. Someone once asked me how or why we got so into the Oscars, and all I could think of was that going to the movies has always been something I've loved. My dad, the evangelical Christian preacher (ha!) would take me to movies on Christmas day and we'd buy tickets for one movie and then sneak into two more! Of course, having a daughter involved in pre-professional theater also helped. This year, we decided to dress the part, and Will walked away with the Oscar for most correct votes for the THIRD year in a row (his sisters are NOT happy about that)!
We spent spring break as a family with a special group of friends at Big Bend National Park. Every time I go to Big Bend, I am reminded that Texas is home to one of the most beautiful, least visited national parks in the entire U.S. The big starry sky covers the place where the mountains meet the dessert and the river cuts steeps canyon walls, and it is breathtaking. We enjoyed some hiking, whitewater rafting and even some trail running!
And any visit to Big Bend would be incomplete without a stop in Terlingua, home of an old mining cemetery that invites wandering, and elicited a spooky comment from Wendell, in which she looked up at me non-chalantly and said, "I'm going to bury you here." I was like, "Now? Or do you mean someday?!" What the hell?!
Another big family event was celebrating Billy's dad's 75th birthday altogether in NYC! It was a huge family reunion and gave us all a chance to be together. I'm so thankful for my father-in-law and his constant example of love and generosity! Happy 75th Willy!
Spring in Texas brings blue bonnets and bluegrass, and we joined good friends for our annual Old Settler's Music Festival. This time is filled with camping, singing songs around the campfire, late night Shhhh-times music, and a kick-ass line-up of bluegrass and roots Americana music. Most of all, it is a gathering of dear friends who feel more like family.
Spring also brings Resurrection and one of my favorite days of the year: Easter! I always wake up on Easter morning, following whatever small sacrifice accompanied Lent, and breathe in grace, which is a better reason to celebrate than most. For years, we have invited our community to join us after church at a local winery for an Easter egg hunt, a game of ultimate frisbee and other shenanigans (Easter bonnets and all!)We've obviously had too much fun because after being kicked out of three local wineries, we had to find a resort on the Guadalupe River to host us this year!
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For Mother's Day, my dad came to visit. He got to see Will play basketball, and he joined all of us for brunch. I don't think I've had a photo taken with my mom and dad together since their divorce in 1994. It felt special to have them both in one place, and I'm grateful they've maintained a civil, friendly relationship.
In the spirit of "treat yo self," (for Mother's Day!) Wendell and I finally got to see Hamilton! The rest of the family got to see it on Broadway, but we were just as happy to see it in Austin at Bass Concert Hall. We had excellent balcony seats and could see the whole stage! We sang along, not at the top of our lungs, but... (most people were!). It was magical!
We were due for another family road trip, so we combined a work trip I had with college visits for Mahalia to seeing our old pals in Chicago and Wisconsin to dropping off Will at Outward Bound. We spent time with friends in Minneapolis/St. Paul and celebrated Wendell's 9th birthday there!
While Will was on his VOBS trip, Billy and I took Wendell on her first backcountry canoe trip! I maintain that there is nowhere in the world I feel as peaceful as in the BWCAW. We also planned our trip a bit differently, so we could base camp and then take day trip paddles to explore nearby lakes and pick blueberries. It was heavenly. I don't want to use the terms "perfect campsite" and "perfect weather" but this trip was unusually mild and lovely. We also visited Lake Superior!
After a beautiful summer vacation, everyone went back to work and school! And this year, we had a SENIOR, a freshmen and a 4th grader!
Billy and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, again combining a work and personal trip, this time to Sonoma County where I was doing some trauma-informed care trainings. We had an amazing time just being together--it's rare to get time alone--visiting wineries, going out for dinner, live music, seeing the majestic redwoods, the coast, and hiking in the foothills. It was good to exhale together and celebrate our life and love in such a beautiful place.
Wendell and I did our annual mother/daughter camping trip at University Camp this year. She participated in our FACES adventure therapy retreat and then we stayed and camped, kayaked and hiked.
I missed Halloween in Plum Creek this year due to a work trip, but made sure to engage in the all the traditions before I left. At this point, I practically bribe my two teenagers to carve jackolanterns, but at least my little Wendell still gets in the spirit!
It was a whirlwind year in which I traveled the globe, taught classes, did research and clinical supervision, and continued to oversee FACES. I was interviewed on podcasts, continued to publish and submitted all of my tenure and promotion materials for full professor! Phew! (can you say highly caffeinated?!) I love my students and still love teaching social work. My students tease me that I'm as close to Brené Brown as they'll get. They know I'm a fan girl, and one day they busted me for accidentally dressing just like her!
This year included several amazing professional opportunities. As a person who likes saying YES, the world just opened up! I started the year at the NATSAP conference in San Antonio and an outdoor experiential leadership program with Google in London...
A keynote at the Western Regional AEE conference in San Francisco...
A trip with the Sierra Club to the Christmas Mountains in West Texas...
An outdoor behavioral healthcare lobbying trip to Washington, DC...
Women4Peace visit to NC State...
The AEE/TAPG Best Practices Conference Keynote at Northern Illinois University...
Staff trainings for the Voyager Outward Bound School...
A trip to Kristiansand, Norway to serve on an international dissertation committee, where my dear friend Leiv hosted me and took me for a wonderful hike and picnic one of the days we weren't working...
A visit to Bogota for Women4Peace...
The Wilderness Therapy Symposium in Utah...we do some of our best work by the pool!
The Wilderness Risk Management Conference in Albuquerque...
AEE in Spokane...where I got to tour my grad school friend's Tim brewery to celebrate our hard work with ActivatEE!
And, finally, another Clinical First Responder Training in snowy Utah. Phew! (hence, the t-shirt)
Billy and my mom held down the fort so I could have these amazing professional opportunities, as well as a few personal trips (book club in Mexico, Ragnar, a fundraiser in Denver). And while this travel renewed me in many ways, it also required me to recharge my batteries through trail running, yoga reading/book club, and time with friends and family. If ever there was a year when I got to experience the best of two worlds, this was it. I celebrated my 49th birthday with my family and friends at the creek, and I also played a wicked game of Hot Ones!
As I said, Billy was holding it down at home, while also doing the things he loves. He continued trail running and trained for a big run in May in the Grand Canyon. He and a friend of ours ran rim to rim to (almost) rim. The run got cut slightly short (it was still almost 49 miles total!) due to crazy rain and flooding.
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| Visiting Columbia with her cousin Agnes |
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Cheers! I'm done applying to college! In spite of this stress, Mahalia continued to make the most of her high school career, running cross country (this year, she was recognized for being a senior who ran all four years and also got to be at meets with Will!), performing in and choreographing high school plays. In the summer between her junior and senior year, she also got her driver's license and her lifeguard certification and got her first job working at the local YMCA. Watching your kid adult like that is pretty amazing! I was as proud of her for all of this as I was about her grades!      But a shout out to Mahalia for her academic achievement as well, which is predicated excellence. Seriously, I was amazed by this project she did about jazz for one of her classes. I mean, who makes a miniature?!! I guess those trips to the Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Art Institute paid off!   Mahalia also continued her social activism in Fem Club, taking a stand about the need for gender neutral bathrooms at Hays High School, and spoke out about this on a podcast. Such a good feminist role model for her siblings! One of whom worships her...(the other does too, but God forbid he show it).  Speaking of which, Will finished 8th grade this year and entered his first year of high school! He was once again recognized in 8th grade for his athletic and academic achievement. In spite of breaking his wrist (first kid broken bone--knock on wood!), he continued to run cross country, and play basketball and tennis.        Will also ventured out socially a bit more (the kid cleans up pretty good!) for the 8th grade dance and 9th grade homecoming.   During the summer in between 8th grade and high school, he attended basketball camp at TXST where he also garnered some recognition! And he became an alum of the Voyager Outward Bound School after completing a paddling trip on the St. Croix River in Minnesota. If you need a good laugh, please read his Day One journal entry.    Wendell Jane finished 3rd grade and entered the world of 4th grade, with an introduction to real homework, 4th grade math, and new social dynamics. She handled everything in her usual laissez faire manner (see tongue sticking out photo for what this looks like!). She continued doing Girl Scouts, and loved going on a field trip with her class to the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum, especially because I signed up to be one of the chaperones (God help me!). Mostly, she enjoys spending time with her big brother and sister at some of her favorite places, like Hopdoddy Burger Bar.     During the summer, Wendell followed in her brother and sister's footsteps and attended Theater Camp at Hays High School, landing the role of Sher Khan in the Jungle Book! She was amazing and surprised us all with her theatrics! I mean, I'm not going to use the phrase "steal the show" because that's obnoxious, but...   Wendell celebrated her 9th birthday twice, once in St. Paul and then once again when we got home with a party at the Jumpy Place with a group of friends. I'll never understand how children can eat pizza and cake and then go jump up and down for hours. ;) Here are some photos of Wendell's extended birthday extravaganza!      Gadie, my mom, continued living with us, and added so much joy to our lives. Whether helping Billy out with the kids when I travel or protesting in the name of democracy, Gadie brings her full heart to things. She is still dating Dwight, and he is part of the family, celebrating holidays and birthdays with us, and providing my mom with friendship and adventurous companionship. Their favorite hobbies are riding their E-bikes, protesting racism and traveling! Everybody needs a Gadie!    Our saddest news of the year is that ChaCha, the big, black dog, finally crossed the rainbow bridge. She was 13 years old, and we loved her dearly. She was with our children most of their lives, and though the last few years of her life were difficult due to health problems, she remained gentle and loving until the very end, always wagging her tail and loving her walks. Gadie and Dwight were with her in her final hours, and she died knowing she was loved. May we all be filled with such simple gratitude for the life we have, and go out surrounded by love. |
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