March Goals - Update

My original goal in March was to knock a lot of things out.  March had other plans HA!  Instead of focusing on what went wrong I'll tell you the outcomes.  Ready?  Our furnace motor is now fully fixed (it only took 3 visits, one brand new motor, and then brand new parts for the new motor because some parts failed), my trailblazer is running beautifully again after some normal repairs and new tires, our piano is beautifully tuned and repaired (it plays better than it ever has), my washer is fixed and running once again, and the staph infection that invaded my face is fully cleared up. HA!  What a month! BUT, now that all of that is done and over with AND everyone seems to finally be healthy I feel like we can start marking things off the list!  Quarter one of this year is done so it is time to start quarter number 2 strong!  

Here's an update on my March goals - if there is nothing written next to it, it means I didn't do anything with that goal this month. 

 Here are my March goals:

1. Follow the declutter 365 plan for March and do every task that applies to me. I plan to review the March calendar and mark off any tasks that don't fit my home/life.  Then I will take the items from January and February that I did not accomplish and fill those in with the goal to be caught up with the Declutter 365 plan by the end of March. 
1. Make sure and go through all of my 17 areas to touch in this first 3 months 
2. Follow Flylady weekly plan for decluttering then cleaning each room - 15 minutes at a time.  My goal once again is to complete the daily tasks in each area each day.  If there is additional time I'd love to work on decluttering but I also declutter both through the 365 calendar and room cleaning. 
3. Pick a room cleaning - 15 minutes decluttering
1. My focus this month is the dining room.  I'm hoping to "empty" it as much as possible so that I can deep clean it right down to the corners.  I might even do some rearranging.  The last week of March I was finally able to start in the dining room.  I will continue working in April to finish up the deep clean and move on from there. 
2. If I finish that I plan to try and get more done in the bathroom. 
3. AND if I am EXTRA this month - I will start on the Living Room - same idea as the dining room - "empty" it so I can deep clean it.  
4. Spend 15-20 minutes a day cleaning the basement - this months goal is still the laundry room side. Again, the last week of the month I was able to finally start this with clearing out the laundry room.  
5. Finish all of the odds and end in Josh's room (hang things, paint closet) . 
6. Replace a board in Nate's bed that is broken. 
7. Replace burned out lightbulbs inside and outside 
8. Go on a date with Darryl  Done! 
9. Read!  As many books as possible but at least the 2 for my book clubs and to read 6 books total! Done! 
10. Do my daily Bible study, prayer journal and word study  
11. Scrapbook 
1. Finish 2017 and 2018 This goal is changing.  Why?  I thought I only had November-December for each year; thinking I had finished the rest and just couldn't find my finished pages.  In cleaning the dining room I found . . .not the pages!  Instead I found the photos for January-October for both years.  Oops!  Instead I am packing away the rest of the photos/finished pages and working on 2011 first since that is the oldest year unfinished.  
2. Scrapbook January 2025
3. Upload March photos and order them. Done
4. Do virtual scrapbooking weekend I missed this - I think we ended up with a busy weekend. 
12. Co-Op
1. Make Presentation Night signs Done
2. Work on my Joyful video.  Done
3. Figure out Google Docs so that I can begin uploading docs to that for anyone to see/print. 
4. Write out my "job description" as Secretary.  Really looking for a rough draft that I can add to over the next few months so that it is accurate.  
5. Take Homeschool Curriculum to our Co-Op Blessings table that we aren't using or are done with at this point. Oops!  I missed this date and forgot I was going to do this so now I'm going to try and sell some of what I have. 
13. Practice my piano song until I can play it for offertory and then pick a new one; Practice a song with the family to do as special music. I picked a song and have practiced it but still have a few weeks before I'll need to play giving me more time to practice. 
14. Update some seasonal items - Find some cute things for spring/Easter Done! 
15. Write my blogs each week  Done! 
16. In March our quarterly family activity is going to be going to see a Movie (we received gift cards for Christmas) and dinner out. We didn’t see a movie but we did go out to lunch all together and not fast food! 
17. Plan Easter (yes it is in April but I like to plan ahead) 
18. Finances - continue to work on tracking everything and limit spending
19. Computer clean -up - Go through every file on my computer and clean things out. 
20. Depending on the weather - I'd like to tackle the spring cleaning of the garage.  This includes emptying it, cleaning it, and putting things back in their rightful homes. (If we end up with a cold March this will get pushed to April!) 
21. Cut the cord on cable and figure out the least expensive way to watch what we love. 
22. Clean out my filing cabinet - it is time to organize it once again! About 1/2 way through this task
23. Clean out our firebox - it has been a long time. 
24. Buy and hang curtains in my Living Room. They are purchased! 
25. Register my teens for all of their weeks of summer camp. Done! 
26. Pick out and (hopefully) order Josh's 11th (WHAT!) grade curriculum. 
1. Not sure how to measure this but I also need to wrap my head around things like maybe doing duel enrollment (Both Josh and Nate) if that is a possibility; researching schooling options with Josh as he looks at his career ideas, as well as other post high school things.  Hard to believe we are at this point! 
27. Update my calendar with all of the dates that I currently have for the rest of the year (I feel a little behind on this as someone gave me a calendar but after using it (or not using it because I don't love it) I decided to order the one I've used the last few years that I love.) Done! 

‘Take Courage My Heart’ performed by Drew Holcomb and Ellie Holcomb from...

I came across this one while searching for another song and I liked this one better :-)  Enjoy! 

Our weekly snapshot

 Here’s a look back at our week.  Literally because my photos loaded from latest to earliest 🤣

Youth Group on Wednesday - this was the largest group ever!  

Nate got a hair cut this week 😊

We celebrated National Waffle Day. 

Josh and Nate attended a play with friends. 

Pastor used them as a sermon illustration.  

Josh and Nate attended a game night with friends at another church. 

These photos are from our Co-op presentation night a week ago.  It was a great night! 

Weekly Menu

 There really isn't a whole lot to say this week!  We had a very quiet week this past week.  Just our normal things.  This coming week has a few extra things but nothing too big.  Technically it is spring break time but, as homeschoolers we can do what we want and right now neither of my guys are interested in taking time off.  They would rather work now and end early in May.  As far as meals, I need to get back to going through my recipe file and picking out recipes each week instead of working off my memory . .. . but I'll start that next week . . . .maybe LOL 

Friday - chicken and dumplings 

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - homemade chicken noodle soup and rolls

Monday - Meatball Soup and biscuits

Tuesday - Broccoli soup, ham slices, and rolls   (Apparently this is soup week 🤷‍♀️🤣)

Wednesday - Youth Group Night

Thursday - Pork Chops, Rice, and a veggie

Weekly Menu

 Friday - Chick-fil-lay nuggets and fries

Saturday - Dinner at my moms

Sunday - maybe chicken on the grill, fried zucchini, and sweet potatoes (or I’ll cook the chicken in the oven if the weather doesn’t cooperate 😊) 

Monday - potato and sausage soup and breadsticks

Tuesday - Tacos and salad

Wednesday - youth group

Thursday - meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn 

Joyful Week 8 - Our Co-Op

 You might remember that a few posts ago I mentioned that I scheduled my posts and sometimes they might get posted before I'm done . . .well, that's what happened today! 

Anyway, our last week of Joyful was a little different.  We need to wrap somethings up like taking our final "Jumping for Joy" photo since everyone was actually in attendance!  (We took one last week but had one student gone).  

It happened to be 3/14 = Pi Day!  So we also took a photo with 15 numbers of pie . ... and we ATE Pie!  It was fun.  

Once we were done we headed down to the Sanctuary to practice our verses on stage. 

So this final week there isn't a lot to share.  During past semesters of Joyful I also saved the last week to finish up projects, take photos, etc.  Then I will always have a backup game or activity just in case.  

One suggestion I have if you are planning co-op class is to always have a backup game because there will be at least one week where things go faster than you plan!  I also suggest that you keep your final week open to finish up your final activities and projects.  

Now, it is time to start planning for next semester! 

Weekly Song - Samantha Ebert ft. Seph Schlueter - Flowers

Ok, I heard this song a few weeks ago and fell in love with the feeling of this song - the song writing, the vocals - they are just great.  It is a somber song but with a great message - basically that the flowers of our life grow in the valleys.  Now, don't worry - as you listen to this, I am not in a valley and that is not why I love it - it is just plain pretty.  I could just take out the vocals and just listen to the beautiful music!  

Our Weekly Snapshot

 Here is a look back at our week:

On Saturday I took Nate to a black belt testing where he had to help since he wasn't testing this time.  It is always enjoyable to watch the folks go through their testing. 

Monday was St. Patrick's Day so we had to take some photos! 

But . ... we didn't eat our traditional dinner until Tuesday due to scheduling on Monday! 

Friday brought the first day of Spring . . .Snow!  We also enjoyed some Library events and free Ice Cream Cones from Dairy Queen since it was, well, the first day of spring!  

This is the first year we have every taken advantage of the "Free Cone Day" since we were already in town for the Library Events and cleaning our church.  I can't justify driving 20 minutes for a free cone normally HA!  

Yep, we woke up to a "snow storm".  Granted by midafternoon it had all melted and the sun was peaking out!  

Weekly Menu

 Whew.  Why "whew"?  Because last week was full of all kinds of things and we are ending the week with our semester Presentation Night.  We all love it but it is a wonderfully long and fun day.  I am  hoping to kind of pull things back and slow things down just a little.  

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - Presentation Night.  We usually grab something in between setting up in the afternoon and the program in the evening.  

Saturday - Joshua and Nate are going to a youth activity so Darryl and I will enjoy a dinner somewhere 😊

Sunday - Joshua and Nate are going to a play with friends so the plan is to grab pizza after church and probably just eat at church. 

Monday - Chicken and Dumplings (moved from last week) 

Tuesday - Pancakes and Sausage (and probably bacon too HA!) 

Wednesday - The guys are at youth group.  Darryl and I get date night. 

Thursday - Chick-Fil-A Nuggets and Fries 

March Goals

I've marked March as my month in 2025 to regroup and try to tackle things that have carried over since January.  I have a couple of accountability groups that I am part of that focus on goals as well as decluttering and organizing.  One is called 25 in 2025 which is just like it sounds - 25 goals you hope to accomplish in 2025.  That is what I base my monthly goals on in order to break those big goals into manageable goals. The second one is called 2025 Organize 317.  It is the idea that you list 17 areas/things that you want to touch 3 times throughout the year.  For example a person should tackle all 17 areas in January-March; again in May-July; and finally September-November.  Ideally the first time you are just doing a quick toss/organization.  The second time you would be a little more in-depth to really clean out what you aren't using.  The third time would be set up that area for success so that you can easily keep up that space. Yes, I love the idea of organizing and decluttering even if I am not always as successful as I would like to be or accomplish things as quickly as some might.  I always say that our house was clean and organized with Darryl and I both worked 70-80 hours a week LOL  We were never here!!!  Now three of the four of us are here basically 24/7 so our house is very lived in!  

 Here are my March goals:

1. Follow the declutter 365 plan for March and do every task that applies to me. I plan to review the March calendar and mark off any tasks that don't fit my home/life.  Then I will take the items from January and February that I did not accomplish and fill those in with the goal to be caught up with the Declutter 365 plan by the end of March. 
1. Make sure and go through all of my 17 areas to touch in this first 3 months
2. Follow Flylady weekly plan for decluttering then cleaning each room - 15 minutes at a time.  My goal once again is to complete the daily tasks in each area each day.  If there is additional time I'd love to work on decluttering but I also declutter both through the 365 calendar and room cleaning. 
3. Pick a room cleaning - 15 minutes decluttering
1. My focus this month is the dining room.  I'm hoping to "empty" it as much as possible so that I can deep clean it right down to the corners.  I might even do some rearranging.  
2. If I finish that I plan to try and get more done in the bathroom. 
3. AND if I am EXTRA this month - I will start on the Living Room - same idea as the dining room - "empty" it so I can deep clean it.  
4. Spend 15-20 minutes a day cleaning the basement - this months goal is still the laundry room side. 
5. Finish all of the odds and end in Josh's room (hang things, paint closet) . 
6. Replace a board in Nate's bed that is broken. 
7. Replace burned out lightbulbs inside and outside 
8. Go on a date with Darryl  
9. Read!  As many books as possible but at least the 2 for my book clubs and to read 6 books total! 
10. Do my daily Bible study, prayer journal and word study  
11. Scrapbook 
1. Finish 2017 and 2018 
2. Scrapbook January 2025
3. Upload March photos and order them.
4. Do virtual scrapbooking weekend 
12. Co-Op
1. Make Presentation Night signs
2. Work on my Joyful video.  
3. Figure out Google Docs so that I can begin uploading docs to that for anyone to see/print. 
4. Write out my "job description" as Secretary.  Really looking for a rough draft that I can add to over the next few months so that it is accurate.  
5. Take Homeschool Curriculum to our Co-Op Blessings table that we aren't using or are done with at this point. 
13. Practice my piano song until I can play it for offertory and then pick a new one; Practice a song with the family to do as special music. 
14. Update some seasonal items - Find some cute things for spring/Easter
15. Write my blogs each week  
16. In March our quarterly family activity is going to be going to see a Movie (we received gift cards for Christmas) and dinner out. 
17. Plan Easter (yes it is in April but I like to plan ahead) 
18. Finances - continue to work on tracking everything and limit spending
19. Computer clean -up - Go through every file on my computer and clean things out. 
20. Depending on the weather - I'd like to tackle the spring cleaning of the garage.  This includes emptying it, cleaning it, and putting things back in their rightful homes. (If we end up with a cold March this will get pushed to April!) 
21. Cut the cord on cable and figure out the least expensive way to watch what we love. 
22. Clean out my filing cabinet - it is time to organize it once again! 
23. Clean out our firebox - it has been a long time. 
24. Buy and hang curtains in my Living Room.
25. Register my teens for all of their weeks of summer camp.
26. Pick out and (hopefully) order Josh's 11th (WHAT!) grade curriculum. 
1. Not sure how to measure this but I also need to wrap my head around things like maybe doing duel enrollment (Both Josh and Nate) if that is a possibility; researching schooling options with Josh as he looks at his career ideas, as well as other post high school things.  Hard to believe we are at this point! 
27. Update my calendar with all of the dates that I currently have for the rest of the year (I feel a little behind on this as someone gave me a calendar but after using it (or not using it because I don't love it) I decided to order the one I've used the last few years that I love.) 

Brandon Lake - COUNTRY PSALM (Music Video)

I found this by accident while listening to other songs on YouTube and just liked the simplicity of it.  

Our Weekly Snapshot

 Here's a quick look back at our week !
  

Last Saturday we finally headed back to my mom's for dinner and a game.  It's been awhile due to schedule's and sickness.  

It was a very intense game.  Josh got the best score ever I believe.  

On Sunday Joshua and Nate headed to a friends house after church for a birthday party and then they all went to youth group together.  Darryl and I enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon! 

Our week was pretty quiet.  School, lessons and normal activities. 

We celebrated Pi day on Thursday due to actually Pi Day (Friday) being a very full, busy day! 

My mom came over to enjoy our Pi Dinner.  We had "Egg Pie" (Quiche), "Mushroom Pies" (Stuffed Mushrooms), and "Potato Pies" (Individual scalloped potato muffins).  Plus we had . . .. Pie for dessert but I totally did not take a photo of the pies! 

Friday morning started bright and early for Joshua and I because we got up at 2:15a to catch the total Lunar Eclipse.  Thanks to Joshua's amazing telescope we had a front row seat to the show and Josh was able to take some amazing photos! 

Finally, Friday was our final day of our Co-Op for the semester and it fell on Pi Day!  Needless to say we ate pie and played some activities related to the day too.  

That's a wrap of another great week! 

Weekly Menu

 Something you should know - I write and schedule many of my posts a week or more in advance.  I love the feature because it allows me to create when I have time instead of needing to sit down every night and write something.  The only negative is that sometimes I start a post, don't get it finished, and then either forget to go back and finish it or it's a super busy week and it just doesn't happen!  Why am I telling you that info?  In case you ever come across a half finished post you will understand why! 

Friday - Today really IS our last day of co-op.  It will be a long but fun day.  I plan to finally put my turkey toast in the crockpot ( it’s been planned for a few meals but hasn’t happened) then I’ll make some super easy “souper” rice and veggies 

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's!  

Sunday - A Potluck at church.  I'm not great at potlucks HA!  I'm not sure what I'll take.  

Monday - It is St. Patrick's Day and we have our annual dinner!  Stuffed Cabbage, crash potatoes, green beans, 7 layer Jell-o and Green pudding cups!  

Tuesday - Tacos

Wednesday - Youth Group

Thursday - chicken and dumplings - a favorite! 

Joyful Weeks 6-7, Our Co-Op

 We always start the same each week: 

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

What changes each week are our activities. 

Week 6

This was our crafty week.  Each semester I like to find a simple craft that the teens can do - I call it our return to Kindergarten week.  I found this fun idea HERE.  Their finger paintings turned out great! 

Week 7

This week we took time to take our "Jumping for Joy" Photo that I use in our slide show.  Then we played a favorite game called Whomp-It.  They get to hit each other with a blow up bat - which I think is why they love it so much.  :-) 

The great thing about this co-op class is that the teens really just want to be together and hang out.  While I feel like sometimes I should more things they all tell me that they like what we do.  Ultimately that is all that matters.  It has been suggested that I teach this class two hours next semester so that there is room for more students (15 is the class size limit).  I haven't decided if that is a good option yet or not.  We shall see! 

Lauren Daigle - Then I Will (From The Motion Picture Bonhoeffer)

Lauren Daigle never disappoints.  I have not seen the movie this song was in; but it is still beautiful so I hope you enjoy it! 

Our Weekly Snapshot

 Here's a quick glance at our week: 

Nate spent the weekend at his final winter retreat of the season with his two best friends.  Those three guys in the middle of the photo love hanging out.   Josh spent the weekend at my mom's (but he sent no pictures HA!) and Darryl and I went to Darryl's mom's for the day on Saturday for a family birthday party.  

Nate got home from camp on Sunday, took a quick nap (probably not really HA!) before heading to a Christian concert with two other great friends.  Usually I am his concert buddy but this time he LOVED going with friends.  While I missed being at the concert I am super happy that he got to enjoy it! 

On Tuesday my mom and I got to attend a ladies dine out with a bunch of ladies from our church. Great food and lots of laughs!  

The rest of our week was kind of quiet so I didn't take any photos until Friday

This is week 7 of our co-op and it was a great day! 

We played a favorite game in Joyful - I think they love it because they get to hit each other with a blow up bat HA! 

Josh's Decade's class - total they had a "Tupperware Party" and dressed for a decade.  Josh chose to dress like a preacher from the 40's.  He made Water Pie which is a recipe from my Grandma Mac.  

Book Club!  They read a book called "House on Cherry Street" and the author visited their class.  Avonlea attends our co-op and her son is one of Nate's best friends.  

Nate's News Crew class.  Nate has a love for writing and a love for this class! 

Since Josh was dressed up, he held the flag today for our opening. 

Finally, they always have fun in their games class. 

It's hard to believe that our Co-Op semester is almost done.  It's been such a great semester! 

Finally, Nate spent Friday evening with friends at a youth activity.  

Weekly Menu

 I mentioned to Darryl recently that I think I've reached a point of being "tired of planning and cooking meals."  I think after do it for 30 years my inspiration has died HA!  The down side to that?  I still have to do it because people still need to eat!!!!!  

February was a long month with sickness and other issues so I'm kind of excited to be looking into March and hoping for a much less eventful month!  

Friday - This is NOT our final co-op day - it was supposed to be but due to a cancellation a few weeks ago - we have one more day! .  We did order pizza though :-)  

Saturday - We are FINALLY going to my mom's for a regular Saturday Night dinner.  Between sickness and events on weekends these have been few and far between since January!  

Sunday - Without Football, I feel like I have a little more time to get dinner on the table after church (I didn't want to miss kick off!)  So I plan to have Stuffed Shells ready to go in the oven for dinner along with a salad and breadsticks

Monday - It is time to get back to some soups before it gets to hot for soup!  (I know, it is only March but still).  I've been craving my good broccoli cheddar noodle soup with ham steaks so that is what we will have! 

Tuesday - BBQ Cups and French Fries

Wednesday - Youth Group Night

Thursday - Well, tomorrow is PI day but we won't be home for dinner so I am serving my PI day menu tonight!  We have Quiche (because it is technically a pie), Stuffed Mushroom "pies" (because the caps look like pies) and. .. well . .. a pie HA! 

Recap of February Goals

 

February threw some hard curveballs at my planning.  I think we were some form of sick the entire month - the first person went down February 3rd and it just kept coming.  Darryl and I were still fighting the cough and being stuffed up right on into the last week of the month!  The weather was . . .. hard.  Lots of snow, cold, and icy roads.  Between sickness and weather most things were cancelled for several weeks.  Then our furnace blower motor died so we were without regular heat for a week.  And not a normal week - a week of arctic cold!  Plus my truck needs a tune up so it was giving me a few issues.  It. was. a . month.!  Sickness and heat issues really put a whammy in my goal planning though - no one wants to do much while they are coughing up a lung HA!  

So, this months update looks a little less successful and that's ok - things will just carry over to March and hopefully I can get extra stuff done! 

Here are my February goals:

1. Follow the declutter 365 plan for February and do every task that applies to me. I went through the February calendar and made a note of all that actually applied to my home and am now just trying to work through those items.  These will stretch into March. 
2. Follow Flylady weekly plan for decluttering then cleaning each room - 15 minutes at a time.  Since last month I only did one item each week my more specific goal this month is to accomplish at least 2 of the specific tasks each week. I am struggling with staying on top of this as well.  Again, just picking up in March and trying again. 
3. Pick a room cleaning - 15 minutes decluttering
1. Finish cleaning the bathroom (deep cleaning) as it was January's room. 
2. Begin the cleaning in the dining room.  I have some ideas to maybe rearrange a few things so we shall see if that happens!  Sickness = no cleaning. 
4. Spend 15-20 minutes a day cleaning the basement - this months goal is the laundry room side. The only people who did anything in my basement in February were the heating guys HA!  
5. Finish all of the odds and end in Josh's room (hang things, paint closet) Still working on this. 
6. Replace a board in Nate's bed that is broken. Still need to get this board
7. Replaced burned out lightbulbs inside and outside One down, at least 3 main ones to go!  Plus some not so main ones HA! 
8. Go on a date with Darryl  Success!  We actually went out to dinner on Valentine's Day after we sent the boys off to camp. 
9. Read!  As many books as possible but at least the 2 for my book clubs and to read 6 books total! I got stuck in a book that I thought would be good but it was not.  I finally gave myself permission to stop reading it and moved on.  I only got a couple of books read this month. 
10. Do my daily Bible study, prayer journal and word study Still trying to establish this habit. 
11. Scrapbook 
1. Finish 2017 and 2018 
2. Scrapbook January 2025
3. Upload February's photos and order them.
4. Do virtual scrapbooking weekend - Sickness = this did not happen. Several weekends I planned to scrapbook but just didn't have the mind set or energy to make it happen
12. Co-Op
1. Plan Joyful weeks 5-8 Done! 
2. Make Presentation Night signs
3. Work on my Joyful video.  
13. Practice my piano song until I can play it for offertory and then pick a new one; Practice a song with the family to do as special music. 
14. Update some seasonal items - St. Patrick's Day after Valentine's Day is done!  Done! 
15. Write my blogs each week  - Done! 
16. Celebrate Darryl's birthday  - Done!
17. Plan St. Patrick's Day - Done! 
18. Plan March goals/activities by the end of February - Including one Family activity for the first quarter of the year!  
19. Finances - continue to work on tracking everything and limit spending
20. Computer clean -up - Go through every file on my computer and clean things out. 

Megan Woods - Prayer and A Bible (Official Lyric Video)

Megan Woods is a new favorite artist of mine.  I love the depth of her voice as she praises Jesus.  This is a great "car song" - when I can play it loud!  

Weekly Snapshot

A quick look back at our week: 

We celebrated Darryl’s birthday. 

We played games at my moms

Took my brother to the airport. 

Josh and Nate enjoy hanging out with friends. 

Josh then continued to hang out with friends.  Nate is at winter retreat with another group of friends!