HELLO

Hi. I'm Amanda...a happy wife and mom to three awesome guys. We've lived here in Fort Collins for more than 20 years and are proud to call it home. Before moving to CO, I worked at a city attorney's office, making use of my law and Master's degrees from Duke. After settling in Fort Collins, I homeschooled my three (now teenage and older) sons and was delighted to experience music classes, soccer, karate, swim team, archery, Science Olympiad, First Lego League, parkour, and climbing (not all at the same time!). From 2005-10, I was also a contributing editor for a national scrapbooking magazine, authoring a book and a couple of monthly columns. From 2009-10, I founded and ran the Good Grief Blog. I enjoy learning new things, spending time with my family, volunteering with The Matthews House, traveling and indoor rock climbing.

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Entries from January 1, 2021 - January 31, 2021

Thursday
Jan142021

Thankful Thursday

Hmmm. Not too much to report from here this week...have just been hunkered down doing what needed doing and going back and forth between trying to follow the news and deliberately stepping away. Not feeling up to tackling all that or even making a list this week. Instead, I'll just share pictures from the outing Micah and I took last Friday morning.

We headed out with a friend of Micah's from his climbing team, a friend who's very familiar with the outdoor climbing options in the area. They let me tag along. :) We picked one of the closest spots and just hung out for a couple hours...

Yes, I climbed, too. Micah and Darwin showed me how to do a couple of warm up routes (similar to the warm up route I did last October). And then they talked me through an actual rated route. It was still a pretty easy route (V2), but it was a real one. :) 

If I'd been by myself, I probably would have talked myself out of doing this. I would have looked at it and tried some of it and told myself I'd come back and try more later. But with two teenage boys egging me on (encouragingly), I just did it. And it felt great. :)

Relatedly, a week or so ago I made myself a list of 21 goals for 2021. I like lists, lol. Some of the things on my list are practical or necessary and some are just for fun. One of the just for fun goals was to send an outdoor boulder problem (to successfully climb a predetermined outside route). 

Done. :) Also, thankful for being in shape enough to be able to enjoy stuff like this with my kid. 

Monday
Jan112021

One Little Word

So. 2021 is underway. Traditionally, this is about the time when I pick my word for the year. This will be my 15th word. (Um, okay. Now that I've said that out loud I feel a bit old, lol.) Some years have worked/felt much better than others, but I'm always glad to have picked one. For the sake of having it all in one place, here's a list of my past words (oldest first):

Create
Small
Be
Home
Quote
Try
Build
Purpose
Lighten
Count
Push
Beyond
Hone
Sift 

I've debated a LOT of words for this year. (I often do. Those close to me are kinda sick of listening to me, lol.) Some were related to the fact that this coming year feels transitional. Micah will be gaining more independence when he gets his license, Asher will be heading off to college, Noah will be starting his final year at CSU, and I'll be seeking to rejoin the workforce. Some were related to wanting to be more open to new experiences and ideas...open to change. I want to bravely give things a try. Both of these trains of thought yielded some great words, truly.

But. I readily accept and embrace all of that. I know that's what's coming and where my head's at and feel pretty confident about it. The area I feel I could use a bit of a push in is, well, starting. I know I like to observe and research things. I like to make plans. Actually executing them is something different sometimes. The past year, though, really highlighted the importance of carpe diem...the value of the now since we don't always know what's coming next.

So. My word for 2021 is START. Just start. I find myself telling my boys that the hardest part is often just getting started. I feel, though, that I've been paying attention to 2020 and appreciating and seizing the moment and want to continue that in 2021. I have a list of things I want to do this year. I just need to start. 

Thursday
Jan072021

Thankful Thursday

Obviously there are plenty of other things to talk and think about this week. I may or may not get to that. In the meantime, lest I get further behind, here's a catching up post.

Thankful for the end of winter break...

1. For sibling rivalry. For the record, Noah was the one who challenged Micah to the arm wrestling. Technically, he voiced the question...asking, "who do you think would win?" Asher wisely announced that he would simply cheat if challenged. Both brothers agreed that would happen and let him go. :) And then, this...

On the top, Noah won. On the bottom, Micah did. They refused to have a tie breaker, lol. So entertaining. :)

2. For Nathan's squirrel head Christmas gift from Asher. Because it's brought us all plenty of entertainment...

They were all pretty freaked out by the giant squirrel head to start with, but most of them have figured it out. The one above learned that he could dump the walnuts out and then ignore the squirrel head. Meanwhile, Nathan's been enjoying documenting his friends...

I admit that I have also...:)

3. For bionicles. Yes. I'm done with the legos and have sold most of them. Somehow, we still have a bunch. Micah and I decided it would be a fun family activity to bring out the remaining bionicle pieces and have everyone build something. We did this on New Year's Eve...

See? Lots of loose pieces still, lol. And this is what we ended up with...

Yes, this is actually how we spent much of our new year's eve. We're crazy party animals like that, lol. Honestly, I think we all had fun. After that, we had what we're trying to make a traditional charcuterie board and some chocolate fondue to go with our sparkling cider as we rang in the new year:

(For the record, Nathan set this out. I did not set out forks. I have no idea what those were for, lol.)

4. For games. This is a new game that Noah gifted the rest of us for Christmas. It's called Betrayal at House on the Hill. It's fascinatingly well done (so many variations and details) and we've played it a number of times already.

5. For outdoor climbing. Micah and a couple friends did some outside bouldering earlier this week up the Poudre Canyon. It was chilly but actually beautiful.

Yes, that's Micah in the tank top. He claims it wasn't cold. You can see the snow, right? ;) In any case, thankful that we have opportunities like this all around us. 

I think that mostly catches up to my camera roll at least. :) 

We took Noah back to his apartment on Monday. Micah started back to school on Tuesday. The other two won't start until the 19th. Beyond that, all the details of their classes are complicated, lol. 

(Micah has two classes that started on Tuesday, fully remote. They'll switch to hybrid--two days in person and the rest remote--after the 19th. His remaining class will start on the 19th, fully remote. Asher will have three classes starting on the 19th. Two will be fully remote, one will be remote but have an in-person lab once a week. Noah will have five classes that start on the 19th. They'll all start fully remote. At some point (2 weeks? 3 weeks?), one switches to in person, one adds an in person lab, and one switches to hybrid--some in person and some remote. After his delayed spring break (mid-April), everything will go back to fully remote until the end of the semester. Confused yet? Yeah. I'm not even positive I got all that right.)

Off now to eat then take Micah for a blood draw...need to monitor certain levels now that he's on this new treatment plan. (The drug is essentially one used for chemotherapy but in much lower doses.) 

Sunday
Jan032021

2020

Before I figure out my word and goals for 2021, it seemed appropriate to look back at 2020. Incidentally, I don't think I ever publicly shared my word for 2020. It was SIFT. Strangely, it really worked for the year. I did sift through a lot and feel better for it.

Specifically, I sifted through information...

  • reading so much news
  • learning how to use Zoom
  • helping with Asher's college applications process
  • refinancing our house
  • leading adulting lessons for boys
  • learning how to play croquet, pickleball and numerous board games
  • following the news about our wildfires

...through feelings...

  • sorting out the different aspects of the election and my feelings about all of that
  • deciding to take at least some action through letter writing during the campaign season
  • realizing the importance of seizing the moment
  • struggling to balance public and personal health with teenage activities and wants
  • supporting Nathan as he reevaluated his work environment and changed jobs

...and, through stuff...

  • (lots of) purging and learning how the local landfill & recycling center work
  • going through all the print photos we have and converting them to digital
  • getting Noah moved into his first apartment
  • sorting and selling legos (obviously, lol)

Also, on that final note, here's our 2020 holiday card:

If you want even more of a wrap-up of the year (and didn't already receive one directly), our holiday letter is here

And that was 2020. I'll address 2021 soon...