Apparently the theme is "What A Ride"

 Happy Tuesday, and Happy One Year Anniversary to me at Toronto City Schools! I cannot believe it has already been a year... a year since I took a chance on myself, a year since I left some of the best people I have ever known, a year since I changed everything I knew in life and took a completely different path. I would do it again and am so proud of myself for taking that leap. What a mental relief it has been. Literally. And the tension headaches I used to get almost daily are now few and far between. What a ride this last year has been, but I wouldn't change it for anything. 

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which also marks the anniversary of our (Logan and me) first "date" with Ryan and Dryden. I took Logan over for a play date to Ryan's parents house for the afternoon. He was living with them and I was living with my Mom and step-dad at the time. Little did we know that that play date would be a premonition of what our life would be like. We laughed, we played, we ate McDonald's Happy Meals, and in a moment sitting in the kitchen, I knew that I was meant to be there. I knew that it was a glimpse into what my life was going to be. 15 years later and some things never change. We still laugh, we play, we have more kids and we eat Happy Meals. Lol. It feels like an eternity but also feels like just yesterday. What. A. Ride. 15 years together, almost 12 years married and a lifetime to go. (I love you Ryan!)

This past week has been a whirlwind. When I think back to what we did or what happened, I feel like it was so busy that I can't remember any of it. I know there was basketball, lol, and we spent a good majority of our Saturday at a wrestling meet. It was long and packed and they had around 12 teams competing. We stayed overnight in Children's for Magnus' brain scan Tuesday in to Wednesday. He is such a trooper and did so well, despite hating things on his head or having to lay still against his will. We won't know the results of his test for another week at least. Epileptologists (yes, that's a thing) have to read over 20 hours of brain activity. Imagine having to watch 20 hours of video of 21 leads and squiggle lines? That's why they make the big bucks! He missed a game on Tuesday night while we were gone but was able to play in his game Thursday. It was one of the best games for him, making buckets on his own and getting ALLLLL of the cheers and claps from his teammates, opposing team, parents and his brother on the court with him. It was definitely a core memory. I wish I would have gotten it on video, but I will remember it forever. Braxton's team was off for the weekend, but we got work that he was invited to play in an All-Star game in Youngstown this weekend. He is on cloud 9 and is beaming with pride. He hasn't had the best couple of weeks in school so this was a nice pick-me-up for him and hopefully adds to his self-confidence. Logan's season officially starts Saturday, playing is Bristol, Tennessee. I am so excited for him and can't wait to hear how it went. We can't be there to see it because, well, Tennessee, but we have made plans for other games and I am so anxious to see him in this element. 

I am over halfway through my first set of courses this semester, holding steady with A's, which I am super proud of. Life is hard and busy and hectic and I am still in awe of the fact that I am juggling it all some days. I have fallen back some on the Digital Marketing part of my journey, but not for lack of wanting to. When learning in a module, she expressed that gaining two new followers every day is a HUGE feat, and I have done that. Our blog page continues to grow, slowly and slowly, every day. This is my goal; to get out to others and to try and gain a following, sharing our stories and humor and provide a place that others can feel seen, heard and share experiences. While we aren't making millions, (or even thousands lol) we are growing and that makes me proud. I am so glad that I took a chance and took the course. I am still learning and growing and I love that I haven't even scratched the surface. There is so much opportunity available and I am only learning more as I go, in this course and in my others. 

Super Bowl was this past weekend and we had family and friends over to celebrate with us, eat so much food and laugh ALOT. We paid a little bit of attention to the game, more for the scores at the end of each quarter to see if we won any money on the blocks we were in. We watched the Halftime show, which in my opinion was amazing! I am now at the age where I love hearing songs from when I was in my prime, and my kids are like "What is this old music, I have no idea what any of these songs are". Rude! As with every halftime show, you either liked it or you didn't, and we LOVED it. I caught myself taking it all in and being content and happy with the company we had and where we were in that moment. My sister-in-law asked me a question once along the lines of "if you could have your favorite people around you, who would it be?" I answered that pretty quickly, and since have paid more attention to who I have around me and the energy I feel in their presence. And if that means that I am left with only a few friends in the end, I relish in the fact that those friends have my best interests at heart and that they value me as much as I value them. Life is too short to spend with people who don't make you feel better around them, or feel the same appreciation for you being in their life. You have more to do with your time like eating good food, taking your kids to all of the things and watching them grow and be the best version of themselves. And of course, cleaning up the pee on the seat.