Family Fun, Lake, Laughs, & “Low”

Happy 2024! It’s hard to believe it’s already here. I remember when it turned the year 2000, Trent and I were just dating, and we thought the whole world was going to end (or, at least that computers were going to stop working) after the stroke of midnight…and that just seems like it was yesterday. My, how so many things have changed in 24 years!

The girls had their annual physicals and are both officially taller than me. Brayden is now 5′ 4.5″, which is 58% for her age/height. Hanleigh is 5′ 4″ in, which is 74% for her age and height. Time is going by so fast and these girls are growing up like crazy. Trent enjoyed dinner at Cabo Fish Taco with some of the dads from his Y Guides tribe. It’s really nice that they still keep in touch, albeit not too frequently. Leslie celebrated her 46th birthday and I really miss her. It’s hard being so far apart, but we try to see each other a few times a year if possible. Hanleigh spent the night at Ray’s house, which is apparently our adopted daughter. She refers to me as Aunt Becca and Hanleigh refers to her parents as Uncle Eric and Aunt Kippen. She is such a joy and I’m so glad the two of them are best friends!

One of the Christmas presents that the girls gave us was a surprise family fun day. Since Brayden can drive now, we had no idea where we were going and they took us to Pin’s Mechanical for some arcade games and then to Hawker’s Asian Street Food for a delicious dinner. It was perfect and we are so proud of the girls for setting this all up on their own! Kendall and I enjoyed an awesome sushi dinner at Whittaker’s in downtown Fort Mill…we try to get together every month for a dinner date. I love our time together! Tonya, Heather, and I enjoyed a dinner at Margeaux’s in downtown Pineville as part of our monthly BHT (blue-haired tribe) dinner, which also stands for the first letter of each of our names. Clever, huh? Mimi and Dadaw would have celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on January 15th, but I know he’s looking down at her from heaven and telling her how much he loves her still, and they’re celebrating in their own way. We miss you, Dadaw.

We drove to look at the Lake Tillery house that we grew up with as Aunt Patty’s friends are thinking about selling it. We were going to be given first right of refusal before they listed it on the market. The family that owns it has done a ton of amazing upgrades and it was a really difficult decision on whether or not we wanted to move forward with purchasing it, but ultimately, this would be a vacation home and at this point in our lives, we want to invest in property that will bring us passive income. Hopefully, one day, we will have enough investments that we can purchase our own home in which to relax and enjoy as a second home. I know that home will provide another family with plenty of fabulous memories, just like we have. The owners even had a boombox from the ’80s that we had when we owned the house and apparently, it still works. Crazy. That evening, Vicki, a friend and former co-worker was in town and we hosted her for dinner and to spend the night. I had seen her a couple years ago briefly at a trade show, but before that it had been many, many years. We had an awesome time catching up and reminiscing. Vicki, you are welcome to stay here anytime you are in town! Brayden is continuing to love her job and both girls are doing so well in school…still straight As for both!

Hanleigh had her Cotillion class one evening, and Trent and I enjoyed a fabulous night at the Bartley’s house, complete with a delicious chicken divan dinner, salad, and some laughs playing Telestrations! Still my favorite game! We celebrated Mom’s 72nd birthday at Queen City Craft with Kyle, Cammy, Cooper, Terry, and Fran. We had a blast at dinner acting silly, as usual. After dinner, we popped into Bonnie & Clyde to check it out for future get-togethers, then went to Bradshaw’s for just a little bit. We ended up back at our house where Mom did her annual tradition (at least for the past three years) of dancing on the island to “Low” by Flo Rida. And naturally, that turned into a multiple song dance party with all of us on the island at some point…even the dogs! It’s never a boring time when this crew gets together.

The next week, I drove down to Atlanta for our annual North America/Asia-Pacific sales kickoff meeting. This is a great time to educate our sales team on our new solutions and see how well they are able to articulate the value of our offerings. I’ve spent the past four months preparing for this meeting and it went really well. It also gives us a chance to do some fun teambuilding activities, which this year included trivia and karaoke, so of course I sang a few songs. Laura and I sang “Ice Ice Baby” and I joined our SVP of Sales on stage to rap “Paul Revere” by Beastie boys. The week concluded with an amazing gala in which everyone gets all dressed up and the top sellers are recognized for their amazing work. We even danced a bit afterwards! After I got back from that trip, I enjoyed a fun evening with some girlfriends celebrating my dear friend, Julie’s, birthday. Trent and I capped off the month with a fabulous date night at 131 Main as well. It was nice to have a relatively chill month before things start picking back up again.

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