Week 1

Welcome back and happy Tuesday!  This post will be starting off the first week in 2022 which was a pretty mellow week as we gently eased back into school and work for a new year after the much needed winter break.

Take a look at how we kicked off another year:

Day 1- Saturday, 1/1/22

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2022!! After a late night ringing in the this year we had a nice slow day relaxing at home.  The best part was ending the day with a surf and turf holiday feast surrounded by family.  Look as the size of the lobster tails John picked up at Costco!  They did not disappoint and all were impressed.

Day 2- Sunday, 1/2/22

It's a frosty start to the new year as we had freezing temperatures overnight.   My new snowflake necklace seemed very fitting for today and wearing a nice warm winter sweater was a must.  John and I enjoyed brunch with Tyler and Lupe plus her parents so we could meet for the first time.  It was nice to put faces to the names we have been hearing about over the past year and they are a super nice family that have welcomed our son with open arms.

Day 3- Monday, 1/3/22

After I spent the day back at work Justin and I had some errands to run and just so happened upon the new cookie place near us at a time when there was no line.  It opened a couple weeks ago and the lines have been crazy so we haven't had a chance to give it a try.  Today was our chance so we jumped at the opportunity and picked up a 4pk of delicious cookies at Crumbl.  They're so big and so good but a bit pricey.  Each day they have different flavors available too that they rotate through.

Day 4- Tuesday, 1/4/22

His and her's new toys.  John got a new motorcycle stand for Christmas that has wheels so it is easy to move his bike around when working on it and he just got it recently since it was shipped from Australia and came a bit late for the big day.  Mine's a bit on the smaller side and is a new mini printer that can be taken anywhere.  It doesn't require any ink just this special photo paper and can print small pictures right off my phone.  It's perfect for journaling or sharing, and I can easily take it traveling plus you can get the paper with a sticky back to make it even easier journal on the go.  Fun, fun fun! and super cute ;0)

Day 5- Wednesday, 1/5/22

I'm still busy working through California Sea Lion samples for an epi study at work but only 300 more samples to go.  Tyler is doing an externship here at an urgent care in Davis this week so we got together to have lunch today.  He's practicing his blood draws to complete his phlebotomy training there and also learning about how the whole urgent care system works.  The staff has been great showing him the ropes and I can tell he's enjoying his time spent there and learning a lot.  This will be the year when he can finally apply to medical school so he's prepping for that by building his resume as much as he can.

Day 6- Thursday, 1/6/22

Brandon started back at school yesterday for his final semester as a high school student and it's a slow week so he had time to build the Lego kit he got for Christmas.  You can't really see it in the first picture but look in the second one at that tiny baby Yoda that came with the kit on the right.  LOL!  When we was working on the set he came to me and said he was done so I said let's see and he held out his hand to show me that very tiny figure.  Haha! Such a funny guy.

Day 7- Friday, 1/7/22

TGIF!  Tonight to unwind from a week back to reality it was pizza rolls, refreshing drinks, and a family movie streaming from Disney+.  Jungle Cruise was better than I expected and a fun watch for all with some good Indian Jones vibes.  I think it's cool how creative they get about making movies related to the Disney rides.

Day 8- Saturday, 1/8/22

Bella hung out with me at home while John and the older boys went to sushi.  It's their tradition to do this before one of them heads back to college and this is their last chance because of work schedules to get them all 3 together before Justin heads back late next week. Brandon is not a fan of sushi so when he goes off to school they'll need to pick a different type of food place to hit up.

Day 9- Sunday, 1/9/22

It's such a nice, sunny, blue-sky type of day so we went outside to take a picture of Justin in his new sweatshirt he loves from Humboldt State.  He's a huge fan of all things octopus plus loves the color orange and will soon be taking a few classes at the marine lab so this is truly the perfect fit for him.  Later, for Sunday dinner, I made enchiladas which is another dish I haven't made in years.  We had a full house with 6 of us so I needed to make 2 batches which was twice the work but well worth it.  They were a big hit and we only ended up with few leftover, so yeah, 1 batch would not have been enough.  Gotta love growing boys and how much they can put away.

That's it for a good, full, first week!  

One more thing that I forgot to mention last week was the untimely passing of Betty White on New Year's Eve.  She was such a great person--so funny, so giving, and so full of life.  She truly made the most of it and it's sad she was just a few weeks short of her 100th birthday celebration.  I especially loved her dedication to and love of animals.  She was one of theri biggest advocates.  She even helped fund some of our research dedicated to improving the health of marine mammals back in my early days at the university.  She would be proud of our current CSL project.  Such a wonderful person that will be missed.

Photo credit: The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, CA

OK all done!  Thanks for checking in and see you next week.