2021

January - Ice fishing in Cascade 

February - remote learning for the kids. Covid is still impacting life. 

March - Mom and Dad visit from Michigan. Very scary for them, taking their first flight since the pandemic. Thankfully, we are all healthy and we have a great time together. 

May - Girl Scout Family camp, for those that feel comfortable attending. I turn FORTY and order myself a brand new car, a promise made/kept to myself. 

June - Fun w/ Strykowski's in Stanley! Also my annual Happy Camp. It was a small crowd, but we made the best of it. 

 July - Camping at Lake Cascade, Ridgeview campground. Deer ate cherries out of our hands. 

August - Anita and I do our first ever "Me and My Gal" girl scout camping adventure in Swan Valley, ID. A wonderful weekend away, just her and I. 

September - Phil takes a Batchelor's party in Riggins. My aunt and uncle visit from Ohio. 

October - I travel to Manassas, VA to setup a new office. Our friends Alex and Amber Green are married. We do our usual Halloween fun stuff. 

November - Calm and quiet, and counting our blessings.

December - My trip to Mexico w/ 9 wonderful friends. We had the best time and I'm checking another country off my list.  I came home and caught a stomach flu shortly after. Spent Christmas day in bed, lost 9 pounds. I don't recommend it.

2020 - Covid changes everything

February...

Something isn't right.  A big, new illness is stirring in the office.  We think it's just a bad flu.  But it wasn't.  It was a worldwide pandemic, like nothing we'd ever seen.  And one of the first US cases was a woman in my company.  My direct team had met with her shortly before she got sick.  Sadly, she passed.  And sadly, it was the start of a very scary and heartbreaking time.  For everyone.  Offices closed, everything locks down.

March through the end of the year...

We shut down, and shut in.  Stayed as safe as possible.  I worked from home, and the kids started with virtual learning.  It was not easy.  But we were healthy and safe, and that is all that mattered.  With caution everywhere, we socialized every so often.  Camping away from others is our safe haven. 

A lot of people have died.  Hospitals overrun.  I hope to never see this again.

August...

The stress is REAL.  School looming in front of us, political instability everywhere. Throwing my hands up, I announced the idea of taking a trip.  So off we went to Winchester, Priest Lake, St. Mary's, and Glcier National Park.  We took the camper, and it was a fantastic week away ahead of school starting back up.

The kids went back to class (1st & 3rd grades), fully masked but happy to be with friends.  They handled it with ease, and we were lucky for that, not all kids did.  Many families went fully remote.  I continued mostly remote at home, going in the office on random occasions as business required.

2019 Year in Review

 

2018 Year in Review