2022/2023 Rowing Season...She's back!

After a devastating back injury last rowing season, Sage cautiously started back up at OARS for the 2022/2023 season, returning to the sport she loves.  While I was so nervous for her, knowing that back injuries are not things to mess with, I knew this was what she needed to feel back to her full self, improve her confidence, and it truly is her love so it's hard to tell someone to walk away from something they have come to love and has played such an important role in her life these last few years.

Once again she was able to prove she can overcome hard things!  Here is a sampling of how her junior year rowing season unfolded!  Of course capturing photos of her actually racing is pretty difficult considering the distance away from the shore they usually are, not to mention how hard it can be to even tell which seat she's in or if we are even cheering for the right boat since the girls all look the same with their cute caps, sunglasses, and hair pulled back in pony tails. haha! 

First Coast in Jacksonville (Oct 2022)

Head of the Hooch in Tennessee (Nov. 2022)

Fall Sprints in Tampa  (Dec. 2022)

America Youth Cup in Sarasota (Feb 2023)  

Crossing the finish line during finals.  

OARS Invitational in Orlando (March 2023)

Districts in Orlando (March 2023)

Skulling State Championships in Sarasota (April 2023)

Sweep State Championships in Sarasota (April 2023)

Regionals in Lake Lanier, Georgia  (May 2023)

Nationals in Sarasota (June 2023)

How proud we were of Sage and all her hard work.  And what a privilege it was to be invited to participate in Nationals in the women's 4+. While they didn't do as well as they had hoped, they held their heads high and were just thrilled to have been able to compete in such a big event. Here are Sage and Molly keeping their heads and spirits high! 

Of course it wouldn't be a complete year without the banquet to celebrate the team's accomplishments! They always do such an amazing job with this!  Cheers to another successful season for Sage!

A little behind the scenes look...

Occasionally at these regattas Jack and I find ourselves with a lot of time to fill in between races and no desire to go back to a hotel room especially with Nova.  So how nice it was to find this dog beach in Venice, just a short drive from Sarasota. It was so fun to see all these cute dogs playing out in the water.  Of course Nova was not one of them. He preferred to fight with us over a beach chair...haha!

Another place we stumbled upon this season was Bird Key Park just outside Sarasota.  It's so nice to have all these beautiful places to explore while Sage is resting between races.  On the overnight events, she spends the whole time with her team so it gives Jack and I...and Nova time to do some exploring.  

So that's the season!  Now she gets a two month break and it all begins again...

From Orange County to Orange County

Sadly, the last vacation we took as a family was to the Exumas in March of 2020. As everyone was cancelling their vacations due to Covid, I was moving ours up a couple days to get us out of here before things started to shut down.  To this day I feel so grateful for that time we had together as a family as no one could have been prepared for what we returned to and how long it would take for things to return to normal.  As covid ran it's course over the next couple years, the boys left for college, Sage started high school, and Jack continued commuting back and forth to Utah for his job.  The following year, the boys would head out on missions, and simultaneously we'd be designing and building a home in Utah.  With the boys away, Jack spending much of his time on an airplane, and me busy working on house plans, taking trips together or as a family took a back seat.  It's also hard to justify a family vacation with half your family missing. So, aside from a couple small getaways Jack and I took here in Florida, our travel journal flatlined.  But when Jack learned he would need to travel on his birthday out to California for a work offsite, he asked if I wanted to join him. What's not to love about traveling with your spouse? In addition to spending time with Jack, I was able to meet up with Heather which was perfect! So off we went from Orange County, Florida to Orange County, California!

Who says you can't have breakfast in bed on your birthday when traveling...

Enjoying a nice birthday dinner at Louie's by the Bay before meetings kicked off the next day!

Reunited...always so fun seeing my best friend! It really is the closest thing I can imagine to having a sister when I am around Heather.  The gloomy weather didn't stop us from having fun! From exploring Newport Beach and Balboa, to taking the shortest car ferry ride ever, to eating the best fish tacos and clam chowder at Fly N Fish Oyster Bar and Grill, to laughing as we passed one of the smaller branches of the Agency from the show Selling Beverly Hills, to ending our day enjoying desserts in Laguna Beach, it was a great day!  

Sometimes we stay at resorts where you could park yourself for a whole vacation and be content.  This was not one of those. While the Balboa Bay Resort was fine, there was really nothing to do here so boy did I look forward to Jack's meetings ending so we could get out and have some fun!

Thankfully just as Jack's meetings were ending on Friday, the weather started to cooperate so we ventured out to the Wedge to see if there was any surf.  We may not have found any waves but we did find a brand new house for sale right on the corner that caught our eye for a steal at 36 million...haha! We both agreed that while we would never choose to move to Cali, if we had to, this little bubble of land between Newport Beach and Corona Del Mar would make the top of our list.  

The next day we made our way down towards Crystal Cove state park.

As the weather warmed up we ran into town to grab some more beach appropriate clothes for Jack.  Unfortunately, as we were returning, we got rear ended on the PCH.  Seriously?!?  Thankfully, our rental was still drivable and that only set us back about an hour before we were back on the road.  

Not only did I get to see Heather on this trip but we also got to do dinner with one of Jack's past colleagues Sean at the Craft House in Dana Point and before heading out on Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful brunch at Bluegold in Huntington Beach with Chet and his darling family. It's always so fun reconnecting with friends from past chapters in our lives.

Countdown until the house is done, the boys are both home, and we are booking a family vacation!