Email from Elder Johnson #32

 1-31-22

You love to see it💜

Figured it was time to pop in and give yall a lil update on what's been goin on!

-Left Fairmont. One of the hardest goodbyes to an area. Fantastic people and I did a lot of growing there so Fairmonts has a special place in my heart.

 

-I got transferred up to New Prague! So this is my 3rd area in a row in the Lakeville zone haha.

 

-The Branch is sooooo cool. Very supportive of missionary work and they feed us wellllll holy😍 

-I absolutely love the mission and the ups n downs and everything in-between. 

-7th area, 14th comp

-Livin my besttttt life 

I hope all of u are doing absolutely fantastic and know that I love ya big time💜 

I came across this scripture this week and I thought I'd share it with ya,

"And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me." 

-Alma 36:27

I love this scripture. Plain and simple. I have been supported in everything that has come my way in 21 years of life whether I saw it or not. And because of that I put my trust in Him. All in. Nothing wavering. He will still deliver me. And He WILL deliver you. 

Love yall💜🤘🏼

-Elder Johnson

Clinic Dedication

 

The days leading up to the dedication of the clinic were a tad stressful. Most of Kirk's family were trying not to get COVID and one member of his family was trying to get over it in time. We were also trying not to get COVID while everyone around us seemed to have it. We were doing everything that we could to make it to the dedication of my mom's clinic on January 8th. It was no easy task and it was down to the wire but we did it. As the day approached, everyone was COVID free and able to travel.

Kirk, Meki, their kids, and our friend Julie all left Salt Lake at 3:30 AM the day before to drive up here. I wish they would've flown but with COVID going nuts and flights being cancelled constantly; they opted to drive. They traveled on truly the worst possible roads. Terrifying actually. The roads were ice packed and it was still snowing. They passed four wrecked semis along the way. We were praying our guts out. They checked in with us at various check points along the way. It was nerve-wracking. 

At 1pm they got as far as St. Regis, Montana, which is about two hours from Spokane and 9 hours from SLC, when they closed the highway. A huge avalanche had come down at Look Out Pass (the biggest pass to go over between here and SLC). The avalanche came down and took out the ENTIRE freeway. All four lanes. Kirk was told at 1pm that the freeway would be closed for the rest of the day and most likely the next day too...if not the whole weekend. They tried to change routes and go the Clark Fork way but that route was closed due to black ice and extreme avalanche danger too. They were stuck and the snow was still coming down. We were all in a panic. They managed to get the very last motel room in little ol' St. Regis and decided to hunker down for the rest of the day and night while hoping and praying that Clark Fork would be passable in the morning. Things did NOT look good. We were all freaking out. The avalanche warning for all of that area showed it lasting for the next 24 hours. The dedication was scheduled for 2 pm the next day.

They stocked up on snacks at the gas station and played games and hoped that things would clear by tomorrow. We were all SUPER disappointed. They were so close!!

Meanwhile my cousin, Paul, was traveling to Spokane from Portland. His roads weren't great but they weren't quite as bad and he didn't have to go over any major mountain passes. He arrived in Spokane safe and sound that evening. Tyler and I met up with him and we all went out for dinner at The Maxx. Paul was fun and kept us laughing and distracted from worrying about Kirk and Meki. We had a great time and went to bed that night hoping and praying for the best.

We woke up the next morning to a text from Meki saying that they were almost to Thompson Falls, MT. Hallelujah! Kirk monitored the roads and weather conditions throughout the night and they left super early that morning. They had to go a longer route that took them further north into Montana and then they had to cross over into Idaho and on down to Sandpoint. Then they had to drive two more hours to get to Spokane where they were hoping that they would have time to shower and get ready before driving back to Sandpoint! I was a nervous wreck and the roads were garbage but they did it! They arrived in Spokane around 10am and we were so darn happy to see them!!

Kirk, Meki, Julie, and my cousin Paul were all staying at the same hotel. We met up with them at 11am. We had time to visit with them and talk about managing our expectations, emotions, and anxiety for the day. Then we all caravanned up to Sandpoint. We met up with Reilly and Hunter at the clinic. Our group was the first to arrive. It actually worked out really well that way. We had some decompression time. Emotions were heightened with all of the travel difficulties, weather, and stress. Kevin and his wife Lori were the next to arrive. Kevin is my mom's replacement and the current CEO. My mom had been prepping him for years to take over for her when she retired. He was all smiles and let us into the clinic. I was glad that we were the first ones to arrive because as we walked in the door we immediately saw this:

 Each of the three panels are poster sized. It kind of took our breath away.

Seeing my mom's beautiful face and reading the words, "Welcome to the Victoria McClellan King Clinic" made us all quite emotional.

I was glad that we had time to read the panels, hug one another, and be emotional. The clinic is absolutely beautiful. We got to walk around a bit as we waited for the public to arrive. My cousin, Justin, and his wife Hannah were the next to arrive. It was nice to have them there and to feel their support.

Then the public started filtering in. Community members, city council members, patients, employees, and my mom's colleagues. My sisters arrived with two of my uncles, an aunt, and a cousin. I've seen Stacey and Kelley since all of the lake stuff went down but Kirk had not. We greeted Kelley and Jordin and exchanged hugs and small talk. Stacey ignored us and refused to speak to us. My nieces were there and it was good to see them. We really miss Elle. It was good to give her a big hug. Ailey, Bryn, and Kaiya were so happy to see their cousins and they all went off together. Stacey's husband, John, and their son Dane didn't come. Ailey and Kaiya were sad about that. They were really hoping to see Dane. Kelley's boyfriend, Chris, wasn't there either and neither were Jordin's husband, Ramon, and their kids. 

Then it was time for the ribbon cutting ceremony. We all headed outside to participate.

Left to Right: Hunter, Reilly, Bryn, Kirin, Meki, Kirk, Me, Tyler, Kaiya, Ailey, Jordin, Elle, Kelley, River, Stacey.

Kevin asked for my mom's family to come forward for the ribbon cutting. I was disappointed that my aunt, two uncles, and one cousin also came up. This honor was for our mom. This was a symbolic act for my mother's children and grandchildren who were there representing her. Our other cousins stayed in the crowd, observed, and took pictures. The two siblings of my mom's, while I can understand them wanting to come and honor her, they were not siblings who were particularly supportive of her career...especially her sister. My mom's sister wasn't supportive of anything that my mother ever did. If anyone else should have come up it should have been our cousins who stayed in the crowd because their dad was a wonderful supporter of my mom's career. My mom and her brother, Mike, were professional cheerleaders and career sounding boards for one another. My mom always said, "Mike is the only one who gets it!" *It* being the corporate world. It felt fraudulent that his children should remain in the crowd while these other family members jumped up to participate. Annoying. I cropped them out of the picture. I know in my heart that my mom and her brother, Mike, were both there in spirit and that they are still supporting one another. Gosh I miss them. Then it was back inside the clinic for several speeches. Kevin gave a very touching speech about my mom.

Afterward we were given a tour of the large and beautiful clinic. It is such a blessing to this community. It is an integrated health clinic that in addition to providing medical services also includes dental, behavioral health, pediatric, and VA care. They also provide outpatient opiate-addiction and substance abuse therapy and have a mobile clinic for rural areas. I was blown away seeing so many of my mom's plans, hopes, and dreams for this community come to fruition. She would have been so proud of her team and their accomplishments!!

There was a photographer taking pictures of the event. She wanted to get some shots of Mom's family. These are pictures taken by family members while the photographer was taking pictures of us.

The photographer kept wanting us to get closer and closer together for the pictures which was awkward. Kirk jokingly said, "Maybe we should be doing this in one of the behavioral health rooms." We all laughed except for Stacey. She couldn't even rally for just a few hours. She struggled to smile in any of the pictures. This was the best of about 20 different pictures of the five of us. (I later heard that she asked the photographer to take a picture of her by herself and wanted it photoshopped into the group picture.) She spent all of the time that we were there crying and had to be taken outside "for some fresh air" by our aunt. She refused to speak to any of us including our spouses and children. You could see that all of her anger, bitterness, and hatred were only hurting her. She oozes unhappiness. Kirk and I actually felt pity for her despite all of the incredibly despicable things that she has done to us. My mother would have expected... nay demanded... that we rally and put aside our differences for the event. It's unfortunate that some were unable to do so.

Awkward family photo.

(Most of these people aren't speaking to at least someone in the picture. Reilly kills me cheesing at the extreme awkwardness of it all.) 

Back Row: My cousin Justin, Kirk, my cousin Paul, Tyler, me, River, Stacey, my Aunt Marji, my Uncle Dennis, my Uncle Steve.

Third Row: Justin's wife Hannah, Kaiya, Reilly, Kelley, and Kellen

Second Row: Meki, Ailey, Bryn, Elle, Jordin

Front Row: Kirin

I talked to and hugged all of my cousins and my Uncle Dennis. My Aunt Marji was standing right next to Dennis and refused to speak to me and gave me the death stare. My Uncle Steve avoided me and my  family. Whatever. It is rather unbelievable though that both my Aunt Marji and my Uncle Steve wanted to sell the lake house and wanted to be paid out for their share when THEY inherited the lake property... and they WERE!! Yet they are furious that Kirk and I requested the same? It makes no sense. Their anger and incivility...what does it avail them? Absolutely nothing. 

On a happier note...I was glad that my kids and their cousins were able to have some fun together. They are the true casualties of this dysfunction and they don't deserve it. 

TikToks were made! 

After the event was over; we went our separate ways. We went with our group to Matchwood Brewery to get something to eat, drink, and to take a bit of a breather.

 Julie, Hunter, Reilly, Paul, Justin, Hannah, Tyler, Me, Kirk, and Meki

Those who needed one got a drink and we ordered a bunch of appetizers and processed what we had just been through. Kirk and I could finally take a deep breath. We were glad to have been there and to have participated. It was wonderful to be a part of this incredible honor for our mother.  It was a privilege for us to represent her. We are so proud to be her children. It was also an unexpected gift to have one more reason to celebrate her.

After that we said goodbye to Justin and Hannah and we all drove back to Spokane. We had late dinner reservations in town and it was nice to be able to put all of the events of the day behind us and to laugh and enjoy ourselves.

Don't leave your phone lying around. LOL.

After dinner we all hung out together (Paul included). Ailey and Kaiya drove off to hang out and squeeze in as much cousin time as they could get before Kaiya had to leave the next day. They rolled in around 1am. At 6 am the next morning Kirk and family and Julie headed back to SLC and later that day Paul headed home to Portland. I was so glad that everyone got home safely and had uneventful trips. I was so grateful to have all been together even for a short time. I appreciated the love and support shown to us by friends and family.

You don't realize the emotional toll that highly charged events like this can take on you physically but the toll is real. I've learned over the last two years to just submit to it. Don't fight it. We all stayed home from church the next day. It was complete mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. We had a down day. We did absolutely nothing. We slept, relaxed, lounged around, and had food delivered. We took care of ourselves and we recuperated.

We later found out that Stacey's daughter had COVID while at the dedication. Her daughter tested positive the very next day. Thank heavens none of us got it and I hope that no one else that was there did either. The clinic was full of all kinds of people of varying ages and health situations. No one did the responsible thing of letting those who were present know that they had been exposed. I happened to randomly hear about this later from someone who wasn't even at the dedication. Disappointing.

As I've had time to reflect on this event over the last several weeks; my over arching emotion is one of joy and celebration. A celebration of an incredible woman and her incredible career. I'm grateful that I didn't allow the behavior and actions of others to tarnish a special day in my life. I am extremely grateful for my mother and the guiding light that she has always been in my life and and continues to be.

Way to go Vicki Jo!! We love you!! Always!!

January 2022

 This feels accurate. 

January started with a wallop. It started with an event that I both looked forward to and dreaded. The dedication of the clinic in Sandpoint, Idaho named after my mom. I looked forward to representing my mom in this incredible honor and pinnacle of her career and yet the family dysfunction and knowing that my sisters and extended family members would be there caused me considerable dread. This happened the week after New Years and over shadowed the first week of January. I'll write about this as a separate post.

As the girls went back to school after Christmas break the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was all that anyone could talk about. Teachers at the middle school and high school said that schools might close again and were preparing their students in case distance learning started back up again. Utah was a nightmare with so many COVID cases and everyone around here was starting to get sick. Kirk and Meki were exposed over Christmas and Kaiya ended up getting COVID as did everyone who spent Christmas with them except for Kirk, Meki, and Kirin. This was incredibly worrisome on its own but added exponentially to the stress that they might not be able to travel up here for the dedication. It was down to the wire. We tried to avoid church (except for Tyler due to his calling obligations) and things like that to stay healthy so that we wouldn't miss the dedication of the clinic. 

Kameron, Ailey, and Tyler all got their COVID booster shots this month. Kam felt terrible. He had a fever, felt sick, tired, and achy for about 24 hours. Ailey and Tyler had zero reaction at all besides a sore arm that lasted for about a day. It's so weird how differently it effects everyone.

We had Stake Conference this month. A few weeks prior to it, the Stake President called me, and asked me if I would be a youth mentor. That meant that I was assigned a youth from my ward who was speaking in stake conference and tasked with helping them with their talk thus eliminating stress on their parents. Okay... it seemed weird but I said yes. I was assigned one of the cutest little girls in our ward. A 5th grader. I used to be her primary president. She came over one day after school and stayed for about an hour and a half and I helped her put together a basic outline for her talk and taught her how to use the Church's website. Kind of weird and kind of fun. She did a fantastic job speaking at stake conference... no thanks to me. She's an amazing kid! It was fun to pray for her and to cheer her on. 

The first several weeks of January were incredibly snowy and add to that de-Christmasing the house and it was pretty dreary. January is always so blah. Although I enjoyed setting new goals for the year and reviewing the progress that I made in 2021. I wiled away several hours doing that and made Tyler do it too. LOL. Most days we strapped on our spikes and did a lot of walking in the snow. Blizzard or no blizzard. I needed fresh air every day. I also got back on the peloton and started riding on the days when the weather was truly too awful to go outside. That felt good too. 

We got another whopper of a snowstorm that closed schools for two days in all of the surrounding school districts except for ours. We went on a two hour delayed start which was completely ridiculous. The roads were hellacious. We had no snow plow drivers and no bus drivers around here. The thought of kids attempting to walk to school was terrifying. Parents and teachers were irate. The snow storm then turned into another ice storm. The school district came back and said that if parents *chose* to keep their kids at home on those days it would count as an excused absence. We *chose* to keep Ailey and Bryn home on both days. I didn't go to vendor night that week and I was glad that Tyler was working from home. Reilly and Hunter had to drive into work and again I was glad for studded snow tires! It felt like January got off to a slow and laborious start. Fighting weather and variants and everything else. But once it got going it came at us full blast.

Bryn started basketball. She made the varsity team. She plays defense. This took over all of January. She had practice every single weekday. Sometimes practice was in the morning and sometimes it was at night. This wreaked havoc with piano lessons and homework and dinner. She had two games a week. It's good that she enjoys it because she is TIRED! Bryn's first basketball game was cancelled due to so many players on both teams testing positive for COVID. Bryn has to be tested at school three times a week to play sports. The second game they had to have a Varsity/JV combo so that they could have enough players to play in that game. After that all of her games went on as planned. She won the sportmanship award at one of her games this month. She is having fun and learning a lot!

Kameron got transferred from Fairmont, MN to New Prague, MN. He was sad to leave Fairmont. He grew to love his little branch and that area so much. It has been a wonderful experience for him. He likes his new branch in New Prague. Kameron was made a district leader this transfer and has a companion that is from WA too. There is a lady in his branch that takes fantastic care of the missionaries (and their parents). She sends me pictures several times a week and keeps me posted on all of the good things that Kam is doing. It's so sweet. Kameron thinks the world of her and he and his companion call her "Mama Seger". I am so appreciative of thoughtful people in the world! Kameron also finally sent out an email this month. His first since November!

Pictures courtesy of Mama Seger:

I love seeing Kam laughing his head off!

Being Kam!

Appreciating simple pleasures! 

These pictures show me that Kam is still Kam! 

Kameron also got accepted to college! He and Ailey will both be attending the same school in the fall. Waiting for Kam's mission president to fill out all of the information that he needed to and FINALLY do Kameron's ecclesiastical endorsement almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown. Trying to coordinate two kids applying to college, figuring out both of their housing situations (which fill up fast), and trying to do it while one kid is on a mission and has very limited internet access was complicated and stressful to say the least! On one of our Monday night video chats with Kameron he got a text from his mission president asking if he could do Kam's ecclesiastical endorsement right then. We told him to say YES and cut short our family chat. Kam called us back about 15 minutes later. His mission president told Kameron to "Tell your mom that she can relax now." Mission presidents are precious. *eye roll*

Ailey and Kameron will also be living in the same big apartment complex. I love this. I don't know if they will. LOL. So far they are okay with it. Kameron wanted to live there with some of his mission buddies and it was one that Ailey wanted to live in too. So hallelujah...there was no fighting them about that. It is five minutes from campus and looks really nice. It will also be helpful while they *attempt* to share a car the first semester. That should be interesting. It does give me peace of mind knowing that they will be there together and can keep an eye on each other.

Ailey had a particularly busy month. She prepped for Rubber Chicken. Our area's spirit competition with our rival school. There is a girls basketball game and a boys basketball game and half-time performances with both schools' dance teams and cheerleaders to win the coveted rubber chicken "Chuck". Ailey was so busy choreographing dance routines and having practices. Then Rubber Chicken was postponed until February due to the skyrocketing COVID cases. Basketball games were postponed and then rescheduled two weeks later and Ailey danced at half-time at all of them this month. 

Dance team competitions happened too. Ailey's team has been doing great and they are fun to watch. They have a FANTASTIC pom routine this year!

She has also been swamped at work. She was one of two servers who didn't get COVID so she was working all the time and then the dishwashers got COVID so she and the other server had to wait tables and then wash dishes too. She was NOT a fan! Ailey also experienced a rite of passage. She got her first ticket and had to pay for it. #adulting. She also had several nights of choir practice for her school trip to Florida in March.

At the end of the month Ailey had her Senior Night recognition at half-time at the basketball game. That was a really fun and cool experience!  

We are supposed to get some kind of official picture(s) eventually. These are courtesy of Reilly. 

By about the second week of January the COVID cases were so high that the school district was doing everything they could not to close schools.  Every week has been at least a three day weekend if not a four day weekend. I guess the hope was that it would give students and teachers a little more time to recover. Having enough staff has been the biggest issue. So many teachers and substitutes were out sick. One day our school district had 200 staff members call in sick. The next day it was 450. 

Grocery stores have had partially empty shelves this month due to COVID issues and weather delays. Both the pass coming from Seattle and the one coming from Montana were closed for several days due to avalanche danger so trucks couldn't make deliveries. Costco reported that they were waiting for 17 truck loads to arrive. But at the end of the month even after both passes had been open for weeks we still continued to have some empty shelves and it was blamed on COVID.

Then if I wasn't sick enough of talking about COVID...around the third week of January Reilly called to say that Hunter had been exposed to COVID by his family. Reilly and Hunter both got COVID for the second time. So much for natural immunity. They were pretty miserable. They both got a more severe case than the last time. We did multiple door drop offs of vitamins, medicine, O2 monitor, Tang, and soup for them. They felt better after about a week. Unfortunately, Reilly's bosses didn't care that she had it. She had to go back to work while still having it. They informed everyone that she had COVID and to interact with her at their own risk. Reilly wore a mask, constantly disinfected everything she touched, used hand sanitizer, and stayed away from people, but I was literally incredulous. No one caught COVID from her (Thank goodness!!) STILL!!! What were they thinking?! It begs the question...how many places are doing this? My guess is MANY.

We had a big stake primary activity planned for this month and it got cancelled due to COVID numbers but... get this... Stake Conference still occurred and was in-person. They eventually provided a Zoom link for those who would rather watch it online. Ridiculous. We didn't go. The stake received a lot of flack for keeping it in-person. The next week the stake sent out an email that said there will now be an option to attend sacrament meeting and 2nd hour via Zoom for the foreseeable future. It blows my mind that school sports were rescheduled or cancelled. School was cancelled for several days. Everyone and their dog has/had COVID. Our activity was cancelled but stake conference went on as planned?! We watched church via Zoom for most of the month.

In the midst of all of this our ward had their Youth Recognition Night. The timing of this was also questionable. Many of the youth weren't there due to having COVID. It has been difficult for us to try to pick and choose what we feel comfortable attending. I didn't feel super comfortable attending this but Ailey was being honored so we went. It was nice to see friends and to see Ailey and the other graduating seniors recognized.

The two senior boys who were also being recognized that night weren't there because they were sick with COVID. Our bishop and our stake president want life to go on as normal and they aren't what I would call COVID conservative. It's frustrating. I get it. I want life to go back to normal too but you also need to be cautious with other people's health and life circumstances.

Then, after 681 days of working from home, on January 24th, Tyler finally went back into the office full time. So far so good. They are phasing people in so the office is still pretty empty. He is so happy to be back at work and back to his normal routine. The girls asked me if I was lonely with everyone back at school and back at work. I said, "I don't hate it!" I really don't. I needed to get back to my life and my *normal* routine too. It's been really nice for all of us!

This month has been super busy for me too. I had my best month ever at Midtown Market. That was awesome! I had a fun girls night with a group of girlfriends which was much needed!! We just gathered at a friends house and talked and talked and talked. It was wonderful! My book club went back to being on Zoom for the next month or so. I don't love it but at least it still happened. This time several husbands joined in on the chat and it was really fun! We might make that a regular thing. I love husbands who read! They were quite hilarious! I got to attend "Stake Council" for the first time. Very interesting. Our family also had the opportunity to do quite a bit of service this month. We dropped off dinners, cookies, and all kinds of things for people who had COVID. 

For the last two months Tyler and I have been doing a Chinese food "flight". We've tried several different Chinese food restaurants on our date nights to find the very best. One was great, a few were okay, and some have been big misses but it has been fun and we are on a quest! We've also hit our favorite used bookstore several times. Tyler and I have done two buddy reads this month. I love it when we read the same book and can discuss it together. We found some fantastic peppermint ice cream at a local ice cream shop. We searched high and low over the holidays to find peppermint ice cream...at grocery stores and ice cream shops...nothing. Was there a peppermint shortage too? Good grief. Anyway... the lack of peppermint ice cream was mentioned online in a FB food group that I'm in and a local ice cream shop said that they would make some. It was divine!

We have also been trying to do a movie night/game night with the girls a couple of times a month. Ailey is home on Sunday nights so that is usually the only time that we can watch a movie or play games with her. It has been a lot of fun. We watched Ghostbusters: Afterlife which we all loved. Tyler and I introduced them to Three Men and a Baby which was also a hit. (Good grief Tom Selleck was cute!) Tyler and I found a mint condition Totally 80s Trivial Pursuit game and have had so much fun playing that! We have to play teams so that the girls can play but they are pretty good with the 80s movies and music categories. LOL.

Once Reilly recovered from COVID we hung out with her quite a bit too. One night when Bryn had a basketball game and I needed to be at vendor night to bring in some new furniture; Reilly came with me so that Tyler could go to Bryn's game. Afterward we grabbed dinner and brought Crumbl cookies home to everyone. After Ailey's Senior Night she went out to dinner with Tyler, me, and Bryn while Ailey went out with her friends. We've done a little shopping with her this month also. These are some of the fun perks of having adult children live nearby.

Despite COVID backtracking our lives somewhat this month; we have had some fun. We've gotten to hang out with friends at basketball games and get-togethers and even gathered with family. We've continued to let the girls hang out with friends. Tyler's thrilled be back with some of his co-workers and friends.  We've continued to eat a lot of comfort food. Such is life in January. Tyler made his famous lasagna. I made my mom's clam chowder, her chicken curry, and my aunt's hot and sour soup. Ailey made Nutella-filled French Palmiers and my Aunt Bonnie's Swedish Cake.

Reilly made our favorite buttermilk syrup and FINALLY got Hunter to try it. She called to tell us triumphantly that he loved it. Hunter is broadening his food horizons!! Ha ha! We ate Raclette that we forgot to eat on New Years and thanks to all of this... I have started doing intermittent fasting. So far so good. I will have to report back on that in a few months. LOL.

She looks so innocent and sweet! LOL.

The struggle is real having a senior in the house again. I guess I should say the *power* struggle is real. Limits are constantly being pushed. It's exhausting. The good news is that there seems to be equal parts good stuff too. No, I take that back...it's not equal...more like 65 struggle/35 good. But the good stuff is pretty good. There have been a lot of late night talks with the girls, some good laughs, and fun milestone events. That's the way it goes. But the struggle is rough. I thought it would be easier with kid #3. Nope. Parents see time slipping away and want to hold on and kids see time dragging and feel suffocated. 

I was listening Dax Shepherd's podcast when he was interviewing Brooke Shields. She was talking about raising teenage daughters. Oh man! Tyler and about I died laughing at the truth she was throwing down. Here's the paraphrased gist.

An angry teenage boy will take an expensive vase and smash it. They want to feel that power. The teenage girl will watch the scenario, stand next to you and say [with malice] "Oohh did that hurt? Was that valuable? Was that your mother's?" and you're like, "Oh my #$% you're evil!"

Yes! Yes! Yes! We have referenced this and quoted it to each other AT LEAST a hundred thousand times this month.

I got the funniest text from my mother-in-law this month asking me if I was "okay". I guess I hadn't been posting enough on social media and she got worried about me. I'm not quite sure how to take that. LOL.  She also spoke in Sacrament Meeting in her ward this month and we got to watch her give her talk via Zoom. I love having the ability to do things like that!

I decorated for Valentine's Day about mid-month because...again...January is blah. 

I finally broke down and watched Emily in Paris. Cheesy and yet bingeable. My friends were right.

I'm also into the show Zoe Bakes. She is a baker in Minneapolis. Her bakery is on our list to visit this summer. She seems so cool. I want her life minus all of the baking. Ha ha!

I am really trying to *relax* and watch some TV and movies. It's not easy. And...yes. I am into Wordle. Of course I am.

To wrap up the month on a definite low... the Kansas City Chiefs did not make it into the Super Bowl this year. Tyler was despondent. So much so that he has refused to have a Super bowl birthday party this year because, "Who even cares now." So yeah. January.

Onward!