What a Year!
As we skid, rolled and crawled into another year of pandemic, our family continued to take precautions in many areas of life. Thankfully, work from home and the powers of the internet make most things possible and we continued in our new "normal" with little to no hiccups. We took some sorely needed family vacations, honed some gardening and DIY skills and said thanks for the vaccine to bring back some sense of normalcy.
Violet (15)
Enjoyed her first year of in-person high school (she was virtual last year) at Richardson High School under the Arts Magnet program. She has maintained an A-grade average with new friends and influences - she is currently enrolled in Anatomy & Physiology, African American Studies and Art Theory, among others. Violet really enjoys music, thrifting and trying new artistic hobbies with a penchant for sarcasm, as teens do.
Lillian (4)
Turned four in March shortly after enjoying her first snow and hard freeze. Lillian really came out of her shell this year - out of deprivation or maturation, we're not sure. She is bravely enjoying showing off tricks and gymnastics stunts in her weekly Little Gym class. She continues to homeschool, assist in real estate showings and enjoys being a "teenager" while listening to (clean) Doja Cat in her room and working on "homework" and drawings.
Richard & Ashley
Through the heartache of family members passing due to Covid, Richard benefited from one of the most successful years in his career. London based publisher, Gost Books picked up and issued his first photo-book entitled Campesino Cuba, his long term project documenting the rural Campesino people of Cuba which sold out. He now pursues a new longterm project with travels this year to North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska for an upcoming Spina Americana project, ongoing.
Ashley continues homeschooling, a full-time real estate career (now with Paragon Realty, her old brokerage firm), DIY house projects, a women's book club and organizing neighborhood events. She spearheaded some lengthy (and costly) family vacations to warm sandy beaches of St. John USVI and an eight-day roadtrip covering New Mexico, since wanderlust and a yearning for exploration are one of the weaknesses of a Sagittarius.
Together, they celebrate five years of marriage and all of the ailments that come with growing old.
As the New Year approaches, we're looking forward to a beacon of hope and wish you well into 2022. Be safe and kind to one another. While we don't know what the New Year will bring, we can rest assured it won't be boring.