ModlyChic

These last three months have been intense and filled with a lot of internal and external pivots!

Q1 recap: (in photo order)

Traveled to Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois and Texas.

Attended the SEEK conference for our clients!

Got to see (Fr.) Joe in action. He gets asked for blessings everywhere we go.

Dialed in the training and then fought back from a neck/shoulder injury.

Went on EWTN’s Women of Grace.

Made my yearly retreat in sunny, but chilly, Delray Beach.

Rehomed Brisket. A difficult decision but the right one for him!

Got in some quick family time visits.

Opted not to renew the lease I had and needed to find a new place and move in 3 weeks time!

Painted a bold dark green accent wall that I’m obsessed with!

Celebrated a friend’s upcoming wedding with a little surprise evening.

Did a doubles hyrox sim at 1st Phorm HQ!

Finally got back on the hiking trails!

Started a new grandma hobby - embroidering a book sweatshirt!

Explored Houston with Monica.

Finished my first solo hyrox!

🤯 Can’t even begin to imagine what Q2 will have in store!

What would possess you to do this??

I got asked this question multiple times in the weeks leading up to my first Hyrox.

Admittedly, I didn’t have an immediate answer other than: why not?

But after finishing yesterday with the sub-2 hour time I was shooting for, I’ve been thinking a lot about that question.

The simple answer: I like to do hard things.

The more complex answer: I enjoy pushing myself to do something that is both physically and mentally challenging to prove I am tougher and more capable than I feel at times.

In a world that focuses a lot on ease and comfort, I enjoy doing things outside my physical and mental comfort zone.

Sure challenges like a Hyrox, require physical preparation. (I trained for months)

But more than that, they require mental grit - a deep dive into ignoring self-doubt and rewriting that inner monologue in order to get across the finish line.

Those nearly 2 hours of hard work and red-lined heart rate were a school of grit, determination, and positive self-talk.

Those lessons then get translated into life outside the Hyrox arena.

They make setbacks appear more like a re-routing than a roadblock.

They make overwhelm feel more like something to be tackled with the same slow but steady manner I muscled through the burpee broad-jumps.

So, yeah, I like doing hard things and telling that wimpy inner voice where to go.

Shoutout to for all the training these last several months!!

And to the guy who kicked me in the calf just before the wall balls, forcing me to dig deep to finish sub-2 while plagued with the Charley horse to end all Charley horses. 🤪

Snapshots from my tech-free, 5-day, silent retreat - in sunny but chilly Florida.

That last slide about sums up what life was feeling like before this little reset!

Not rushing.
Not reacting.
Not saying yes just because I technically could.

My word of the year: Intentional.

Because I’m done performing busy.
Done letting urgency hijack my peace.
Done confusing constant motion with real meaning.

This year is about clarity and conviction. About asking what’s worth it before I offer my time, my energy, or my presence.

Fewer yeses. Better ones.
Less noise. More alignment.
Not because I’m pulling back but because I’m tuning in.

I don’t default. I decide.
And I’m choosing with my whole heart.

What’s your word of the year?? I’d love to know!

This Utah yurt at .mountain.basecamp was just what the doctor ordered for a little break!

and I spent 5 days here - in the middle of nowhere about an hour from Arches National Park and Canyonlands.

I’d absolutely stay again! It was cozy inside and scenic outside with only mule deer to keep you company.

Christmas in Nashville = much joy and some trials!

The whole family together. White elephant and secret Santa gifts exchanged. Elves on a shelf popping up everywhere!

Countless games played together - Smart A**, Hues and Clues, Catholic Trivia, Euchre, Disney Trivia.

42+ pots of coffee brewed! Hundreds of Christmas cookies consumed.

Cars broken into 3 of the 7 nights. We stopped locking them after the first night resulted in 4 broken windows! Luckily, they were only looking for pew-pews and we had them with us so they only trashed the cars and stole some change!

Illness running through all of us but hitting the kids the worst!

Joe got to use his new faculties to Baptize the newest family baby - Jacob Richard - my fourth Godson!

I always joke that I only have godsons since in everyday life I work with so many girls.