January Recap - A Little Late...

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I had hoped to post this a week and a half ago but life got the better of my. What can you expect with all these kids running around? Ha! I hope everyone’s new year has started off wonderfully. Ours has definitely been adventurous. Lots of change and adjustments for sure.

Ringing in the New Year in Chicago

We started 2019 off on a great foot! We left for Chicago on January 1 with our three oldest kids and my younger sister. The kids have been begging to travel more with us and I’ve been nervous about taking them to big cities for some reason. With the traffic and all the walking we typically do, I’ve been unsure of the kids being able to keep up and actually enjoy themselves. Chicago was a bit of a trial for them and they did wonderful.

We surprised them with this trip for Christmas. Our kids have been huge fans of the musical Hamilton: An American Musical. We bought them tickets to see the evening show on January 2. They were over the moon and we all LOVED the show! It was absolutely spectacular and I would love to go see it again and again…and again…

The weather was frigid most of the time we were in Chicago, though it was warmer than it has been with the recent polar vortex. Our southern kids definitely weren’t used to that kind of cold and spending so much time outside walking. They did so awesome though! Minimal complaining which made me think that it might not be so terrible to travel with them more!

Chicago was also awesome for us in a lot of other ways. Daniel and I had never been to Chicago so it was a brand new experience for both of us as well as the kids. The kids got to ride their first subway train (or L-train as they say in Chicago) as well as their first public bus. We visited the biggest aquarium we’ve ever been to and the kids got to see dolphins and Beluga whales for the first time. They also went ice skating for the first time. I think it is incredibly cool that they experienced this for the first time at Millennium Park in Chicago! All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I’m so proud of how well our kids did!

Back to the Grind

A couple of days after we returned from Chicago, we had to head back to work and school. For some reason, I had such a hard time going back to work. I think that Christmas break with my kids was so peaceful and amazing that I just didn’t want to leave them. I’ve never struggled to return from a break as much as I did this time.

The kids hopped right back into the school routine fairly easily. They definitely struggled way less that I did. Jackson was part of a STEM team that he practiced after school with for most of December and January. They had a competition at the end of January. His team didn’t win but he was definitely sad for STEM to end for him this year.

Dance classes are back in full swing and we are back at the dance studio three nights a week. Emily has developed a love/hate relationship with dance. I think she loves it once she is there but she hates going. Most days after school she just wants to hide in her room with a book. What can I say? She’s a lot like her momma! Ha! Either way, she says this is her last year of dance. I suppose we will see when it comes time for sign-ups in June.

Ch-ch-ch-changes! Big Changes at Our House

In mid-December, Daniel was approached by two former coworkers about a new position as a program manager at another company. I don’t do well with change. I like routine and I like to be comfortable. Change makes me uncomfortable. However, the benefits to this job forced me to be a bit more open-minded about a job change for Daniel.

Daniel spent much of the first half of January going through the interview process for this new position. He was finally offered the position and put his two weeks in at his job on January 15. He started his new job on January 29.

There are definitely lots of pros to this new job including a fifty percent pay raise that more than replaces my salary should I choose to stay home with the kids. The kids have asked to home school for years and with this job change we can seriously put it on the table. I’m not sure how many ways this will change our family but I definitely think it will. Right now, I’m needing change to be slow. I need time to adjust so I won’t be making any decisions about my career and the kids schooling unit after next school year. Once Daniel has been in this position a year and I feel comfortable with it, we will reconsider other changes for our family.

Right now, our biggest adjustment is Daniel’s longer commute time. His commute has increased by an hour and a half or so. We are about to enter our busy sports season which puts practices and evening events all on me, for the most part. So far, we’ve been making it work but I’m tired. Daniel is doing a great job at helping around the house and letting me rest some though so that helps.

What I Read and Bought in January

Of course, I did some reading in January! You didn’t expect any less, did you? With having to adjust to a new schedule, I haven’t had much time to review as many books as I would like so I thought I would throw out a list here of what I read during January for those of you who are always looking for new reading material (like me!).

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce ( This book and the previous one were part of a middle grade series a student asked me to read. Great series for younger kids but not really my thing. I try to always read the books my students recommend though.)
Mary Shelley: The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein’s Creator by Catherine Reef (I have a weird obsession with Mary Shelley. She is fascinating and lived such a tragic life. I’ve read multiple books about her. This one is geared towards middle grade students and is a wonderful biography about the author of Frankenstein for younger readers.)
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware (Excellent mystery about family secrets. I really enjoyed this one. It was a quick read for me and even though I thought I figured much of the plot out, the author worked in details that I had missed.)
The Wicked King by Holly Black (My favorite read this month!! This is second book in a trilogy. I read the first book, The Cruel Prince, in October and couldn’t wait for this one to come out. It did not disappoint! Now I have to wait for the third one to come out in 2020…)
Foe by Iain Reid (This was my least favorite read this month. It was a bit slow and confusing. Excellent story idea but not fleshed out like I expected it to be. I’m still a bit confused by the ending. I’m not sure if it actually ended the way I thought it did. Ha! Maybe the fact that I’m still confused and thinking about it is the mark of a good book…)
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (I hadn’t heard much about this book but is was the book for January’s Owlcrate. Owlcrate does a wonderful job of picking some excellent young adult books. I loved that this was one was set in Paris! This book was not what I was expecting. I liked it but it probably wasn’t in my top reads for this month.)