Quick Inconsequential Update 😊

What happened to January?!

Honestly, the month of January seemed to fly by and we have relatively nothing to show for it except for being housebound for 2 weeks due to “catching the rona.” All have recovered, thankfully, and we spent the first week of February very excited to go grocery shopping, get Otis back into school, and return to church.

*Otis back in school doing lots of fun activities.

Everyone at Otis’ school seemed to take turns getting sick in January, so ultimately, the school had to shut down for a little over a week. We are hoping that this means it’s out of everyone’s system, and we can get back to life as normal… as normal as life can be during year THREE of covid- good gravy!

*My quarantine masterpiece. 😉

We are looking forward to an upcoming trip in two weeks, God willing, to London. We have tickets to take Otis to Thomas Land (Thomas the Tank Engine), Alexis is stoked to go to Warhammer World (nerd- lol!), and I am looking forward to seeing some monuments of London Centre. This will be our first “total tourist” vacation in my opinion. It will be fun to get out and do something different during our gloomy winter.

The winds have been insane here lately, and we have had to secure everything down on our terrace, and we usually avoid the outdoors during peak wind times as it’s just kind of miserable. However, with that said, I will take moderately cold temps and rain clouds over snow and freezing temps any day!

* However, the sunsets still amaze me.

The past couple of weeks have been busy with planning our last several months here in Poland. I tell myself, it’s far enough off, but really, it’s a mere 4 months until we make our way back stateside. God willing, my goddaughter and her sister will make their way here mid-March, and then my parents are set to arrive back just in time for Holy Week. We will spend Pascha in Poznan, and then head to Italy and Greece during Bright Week- Yahoo!! Greece has been a bucket list of mine and my mom’s for quite some time, and when we weren’t sure if they were going to be able to make it back, I told Alexis, “I just don’t think I can go to Greece without my mom. We’ve been planning it for years!” Thanks to the wonderful suggestion of a couple of friends, we landed on Chania, Crete. I am so excited! It looks so charming and picturesque. Just the type of Greece trip I was looking for.

There are a couple of other places that are high on my list, namely: Romania, Hungary, Portugal, and France (only because I want to go to Disney Land Paris – Haha!). However, due to time, and covid, they just may not happen on this go-round. I’d love to take Otis to Ireland as well. It has been 10 years since I was there, and it was such a whirlwind vacation, that I’d love to do it again, and go with my boys. However, with that being said, we know we are blessed beyond measure to have been able to coordinate as much traveling as we have.

I have been reflecting more and more on what things will be like when we return. I sense lots of overwhelming emotions as we embark on moving out of Alaska, selling our condo, hopefully growing our family, and of course, with the blessing of the Archdiocese, becoming a seminary family. Alexis has submitted all of his paperwork, and it is in the review process. As soon as we know more details on that front, we look forward to sharing.

It's hard to believe Alexis has been living overseas for 2 years! Our plan at this point is for Otis and I to return in June, and Alexis will follow later in the summer. Assuming plans to head east go through, Otis and I will have about 2 months to pack up and pair-down. I am also thrilled to participate in the wedding of my high school locker buddy, tennis doubles partner, and partner in crime who has remained a dear friend for these past 15 years. <3 Katie if you’re reading this, hello!

*More from Mr. O ... they even did a truly Alaskan lesson, and made their own sponge painted igloos. Additionally, Otis informed me that he wanted to be spider man on day 4 of covid, thus, we were left with a tattooed child. The first outing upon reaching freedom was to get our boy his favorite mango sorbet.

Anyway, that about sums up our most recent news, which is hardly news- more like average life, but we hope all are well, and we look forward to seeing you all this summer. For those of you gearing up for Great Lent, we hope all have a blessed journey to Pascha.

Lots of Love from Poland,

❤

The Clods