Innings Music Festival Review

Last weekend Jeff and I headed to Tempe for the Innings Festival. Neither of us had ever been to a music festival before, so we happily checked that one off our travel list together.

I originally found the festival because last year I missed my favorite college band, Bowling for Soup, thanks to another commitment. When I looked them up to see if they were touring again, I stumbled onto Innings. Judging by the sea of 1985 T-shirts in the crowd, we were not the only Sunday ticket holders who showed up specifically for that 3:30 p.m. band.

The surprise of the day was Big Boi, one half of Outkast. I wasn’t sure how much solo material he’d perform, but he rapped almost all of my Outkast favorites. It was such a fun set! I was dancing around like I was back at Colby Community College!

Closing out the main stage were Sublime and Blink-182. We opted for just one day (because we are realistic about our age) and splurged on upgraded tickets with seats. Zero regrets. 

The weather was perfect, I squeezed in two great runs, and I’d absolutely go back. On the flight home, we finally connected the dots on the heavy baseball theme , the festival happens during Major League Baseball spring training. Apparently there were even MLB players signing autographs. Who knew?

All in all, it was a great weekend and I would do a laid back music festival again! 

Last Week was Formidable!

Trying to come up with a word that really described last week was hard. I settled on formidable because it means “difficult to deal with.” Yeah, that’ll do it.

It was a decent work week and a good week for the kids. One of my molars decided it was time for us to be done with each other. So tooth pain on Monday turned into mouth pain on Tuesday and then total head pain on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon I had the sucker pulled and started the road to recovery! A week out, and I feel great.

Enough about me. Alex has been keeping busy with his middle school basketball team and tennis clinics, preparing for that season. I’m trying to play it cool, but I can’t wait to see him play this year. He has put in so much work since last season, and I’m ready to watch his 8th-grade season.

He visited Topeka High two weeks ago, and I can’t believe that will be his school next year. He said he and Dad visited three tables: Band, Tennis, and Science. Then they bounced. LOL. That sounds about right.

Aaron visited Topeka High as well, and going from four schools this year to two next year is going to be AMAZING! Aaron checked out the theatre table, and that was good to see. I love that T-High has something for everyone.

You can tell my monthly goals went off track during my Molar Week, but I’m back on track, and Lola and I have gotten our walks in all week. She is still very distracted by EVERYTHING, but we’re working on it. I just wish she didn’t see squirrels as such a threat…

My molar diet consisted of soft foods and ice coffee. Finally got hot food and drinks back on Sunday!

Getting serious about Lola walks! 

January Goal Check!

My word of the year for 2026 is "Focus." I want to keep my goals front and center and be better at recognizing when distractions are pulling me away from making progress. We all need some mindless activities to deal with the stress of life, but I do not want to lose too many hours doom scrolling or binging TV when I could be learning something, spending time with my family, or learning something together with my family.

With that in mind, I actually increased my reading goal this year, including a smaller goal of reading 10 nonfiction books. I also want to find a new way to serve my community, and Aaron and I are talking about volunteering somewhere together, which I think could be really fun.

I lowered my mileage goal a little so I can also focus on walking and doing group fitness classes. It still keeps me moving but takes a little pressure off the running goal.

I also set a savings goal that includes one big house project (a new fence) and another family trip. It is good for me to set these goals early in the year before I accidentally spend all my money on shoes. So… fence, family vacation, and THEN shoes. Everything in moderation. Need to also do a one in, one out for the closet.....

Thank you for being part of my accountability as I work toward my goals all year. These monthly posts really help keep me on track. I would love to hear about your 2026 goals too!

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 1/30

I finished one book in January. I was close to finishing another, so hopefully February will have a few more check marks. I read The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which Jeff gave me for Christmas, and I really enjoyed it. It is set around a summer camp and follows several families whose stories connect in interesting and sometimes surprising ways. It definitely kept me turning the pages. I would recommend it!

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 50/620

I ran 50 miles in January, which was exactly the goal. After my last run of the month, I ended up at 50.2 miles, which I am counting as a win. My goal for February is also 50 miles, and thankfully the weather is starting to cooperate a little more. Treadmill miles are just… not my favorite.

Grow my savings by 60%

I made a solid deposit into my savings account in January and am already 19% of the way to my yearly goal. January is one of the two months each year where I get three pay periods, so I am really glad I used that to get off to a strong start.

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order 

I didn't work on any UFOs in January. Oops 

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

On Friday, we went to our first Scarecrows hockey game. 

They lost but it was still a lot of fun!

Lola got new shoes for my new February focus. Walk Lola every day! 

Basketball , Wrestling, Band and Burrrrr

I should have posted a week ago, but the crew has been busy! Alex has started his basketball season. The JV has had one win and one loss after two games. Daryl ended JV wrestling at Topeka West. At that meet, he had two wins and one loss. Last Friday, Alex had honor band at Washburn University. Whew! All while it has been super cold outside.

It is Feb. 1st, and while this isn’t my goals post, I do have to show off my 2026 planner. As someone who really has to plan my month so I don’t waste it, the Commit 30 planner keeps my goals in front of me. In January, I finished my first sticker page, and I didn’t do too bad. I’ll update the rest of my goals in my next post.

January felt like 100 days long. Excited to see what February brings!

Scottsdale!

It was a total coincidence that when it got super cold in Kansas, I left for Arizona. I’m not complaining, although I might be tomorrow when I get home. Mom says it’s going to be super cold this weekend. Yuck.

Jeff had a work conference, but we came a day and a half early to explore a bit. We went to the Sonoran Nature Preserve and Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter camp, Taliesin West. They were both awesome. The scenery here is just unreal.

On Sunday I went for a five mile run, and it was 65 to 70 degrees! The running streak sees another week. I’m up to 28 weeks.

Okay, back to reality tomorrow. Until next time, 70 degrees. We will meet again.

Cacti!

We saw a Drunk Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliette. It was pretty funny!

Learned a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright. Now I need to visit the original Taliesin in Wisconsin. 

Doing work e-mail isn't so bad with that view. 

A nice paved path, don't mind if I do! 

Bye Scottsdale! 

2026 Goals and Mexico, Segunda Parte

The second excursion we did in Mexico was touring the ruins at Chichen Itza, eating some Mayan food, swimming in a cenote, and doing a little shopping. At the resort, Alex and Daryl’s favorite activity was ping-pong. They were at the ping-pong tables every day. Alex met kids from England, Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada, all by playing ping-pong.

We were also able to reserve time once on the pickleball court and once on the tennis court. The resort also had pools, waterslides, and a great stretch of beach. The unlimited Coca-Colas only caught up with Joseph, who had one rough night three days in. We switched him over to water.

I was a fan of the pina coladas and had one every day until the 1st. I’m doing Dry January because I never have before, and I want to see what the hype is about.

I have finally settled on my 2026 goals. I make personal goals because I want to be the best version of myself. For example, the reading goal is so I don’t just let my brain rot on Netflix and HBO Max. I still watch plenty of TV, but the reading goal makes me feel better about it.

I like goals because they give me something to focus on from month to month that is good for me. With a busy job and five kids, I like to make sure I am prioritizing some of my hobbies and things that are good for my health. I post here monthly for accountability, so you all get to come on the ride with me. I encourage you to set a goal too, and you can tell me how you did.

Here’s to lots of progress in 2026! We’ve got this!

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 

Grow my savings by a number I know (I did hit my savings goal last year!) 

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

We need to always have matching shirts! 

In spots it was a little rocky and there were cool tide pools, there was also a big section of beach with no rocks. 

Alex and I woke up early to see a sunrise, there was a dumb cloud in our way. It was still nice though. 

I think every January 1st there should be a mariachi band at breakfast! It made for a perfect send off from our resort.