Brady and 2025

After the fire hit us in February, we lived in a hotel for about a month before landing on a long-term rental. If you’ve never had to stay in a hotel for that long, it’s hard to describe the surreality of it. I don’t recommend it, but we were lucky to have insurance for that, and for everything else during that time. If the experience taught us anything, it is to recognize how very fortunate we are despite the circumstances.
It was really an eventful few weeks following the fire. I tore a ligament in my foot running out of the house the night of the fire. I saw my doctor for my foot shortly thereafter and got a bonus diagnosis…diabetes. I spent the next few months learning about what that meant. Again, I’m extremely fortunate to have good doctors and nutritionists. I was able to get it immediately under control, largely through diet.
For the foot, I tried without success to heal it with non-surgical options, but ultimately, I had to get it cut open in November. After 6 weeks of crutches, scooters, and other assistive contraptions, I’m back walking again. Now just rehabbing for a few more months to hopefully get back to 100%.
In June I was proud and honored to give away my daughter, Kelsey, to her new husband Spencer.
In addition to throwing a wedding while traveling back out West, I was also able to help Olivia buy a new car. While she is very happy with the new vehicle, I think it is safe to say that Olivia hopes it’s never necessary for me to accompany her car shopping ever again, as I am not a very pleasant buyer.
It’s quite an experience losing all of your belongings. Not necessarily all bad…we get to make a fresh start. We’ve learned that we had way more than we needed and have actually enjoyed curating our life again. Since we no longer had a big household and yard to maintain, I took the opportunity to immerse myself in my cooking hobby. Of course, it took a couple of months to rebuild my arsenal of kitchen tools and since then I have used our small townhouse kitchen to its full potential. The smoker is probably my most used toy. I routinely make batches of food far too large for the two of us. So more often than not we are feeding Kristi’s coworkers with prodigious leftovers.   I’ve tried to branch out into some more exotic dishes, including tamales, beer-battered fish and chips, and gnocchi. Of course I also continue to hone my skills on old standards like brisket, beer can chicken, prime rib, and wings.
Fried Cod
Gnoche	Tamales
Prime Rib
In the new year, I expect that I will be immersed in the rebuilding of our home. I’m not sure whether to be excited or intimidated—but I remain optimistic.