High Five for Spring Break (3.21.25)

One

My parents visited us for less than 48 hours at the beginning spring break (they were passing through on their way to Florida), and while here they were able to see the Lads' final district game of the season and Will's final district game of his high school career. 

After we "pregamed" with family and friends, the Lads added another "W" and positioned themselves well for playoffs...which start tonight! #wegoagain

Two

After dropping my parents at the Houston airport on Saturday, Hallie and I spent the afternoon at the outlet mall in Cypress. On our way home we stopped - as all Texans do - at Buc-ee's, where for the very first time we actually met him!

Three

On Sunday, Will traveled with senior orchestra friends to the Houston Symphony. It wasn't a huge senior trip like many programs take, but this is our orchestra's first year with a booster club and therefore first year with any kind of senior trip at all, so we were grateful for this opportunity for Will.

Four

On Monday, Will and Tom left Texas bound for the midwest, where they visited (for the second time) the University of Iowa, friends of ours who live in Iowa, Tom's dad at the family's new lake house in Nebraska, and MANY different disc golf courses along the way. They finally arrived home on Saturday evening, after many hours in the car and many memories made together.

Five

Meanwhile, Hallie and I headed off to Dallas for a 48-hour wedding extravaganza in honor of our soon-to-be aunt/sister-in-law, Kayla. We hosted an incredibly fun pizza party sleepover, went out for a delicious brunch, went shopping at Sephora for wedding make up, and hosted a charcuterie- and floral-themed wedding shower. (Oh, and because my "check engine" light came on while enroute to Dallas, I also took my car to have a hose repaired.) While it wasn't a long visit, we LOVED getting to celebrate sweet Kayla and catch up with lots of family members on Tom's side. 

It's a Ferris family tradition to create - out of tissue paper - a
wedding dress for the bride-to-be. It's not a contest, but more like
a craft or art project. Kayla's might be the best I've seen us create!

Six

I'm so grateful we could also fit into spring break Jenn's polar plunge birthday celebration and lots of time with friends - including Kara, who was back from Houston Ballet for spring break - for Hallie. 

~

Anyone wish we had one more week of spring break? 

Happy weekend, friends!

Swimsuit Snow Angels and Polar Plunges and Snakes, OH MY

For those of you who are new to Chasing Roots...

The Mueller family's annual tradition of playing in the snow while wearing as little clothing as possible began in 1984, when six-year-old Erin and four-year-old Sara donned their swimsuits and ventured across their snow-covered backyard - from the porch to the swing set and back - for absolutely no reason at all. Read the full backstory here.

One might expect such a tradition to become less important - to perhaps even disappear completely, the victim of a slow, painful death from hypothermia - once the children grow up and move out and change their last names, but not this tradition. Read about how my dad, Grandpa Paul, has kept the tradition alive here. 

I brought this tradition with me into my marriage, and proudly introduced it to my children a few years after that. Read about Will's first swimsuit snow angel here.

A couple of fun videos from years past - including when Will made his snow angel with a cast on his arm (wrapped up in a plastic bag, of course) and when my SIL "encouraged" my nephew to make his first swimsuit snow angel - can be found here and here. 

It doesn't snow very often in the Lone Star State, but when it finally did back in 2021, we were able carry on our tradition here in Texas. For those who want more ridiculous photos and videos (mute the videos - my voice and commentary are always awful), here are links to our 2023 and 2024 swimsuit snow angels.

When we haven't had consistent access to snow, we've subbed in a polar plunge. (2020, 2021, 2022)

~

This year takes the cake when it comes to winter weather fun - we made swimsuit snow angels AND did a polar plunge. AND I touched a snake. Read on to learn more about how these things are connected...

We spent Christmas 2024 in Wisconsin. Per usual, for Christmas Hallie wished that Mother Nature and Santa Clause would collaborate to gift her with at least one snowfall - preferably enough for sledding - and thankfully, they delivered. 

On our last full day in Madison (and what was pretty much Will's final hour in Madison, as he left a day earlier than the rest of us), we threw on our swimsuits, gathered our towels, and rallied those who wanted to make angels (Will, Hallie, Lily, Carter, Tom, and me) and those who wanted to film/photograph those who wanted to make angels (my parents, sister, and BIL). We had as much fun keeping this tradition alive as one can have when freezing to death. 

Will popped down and up quickly...

...which we soon learned was so he could...

...kick snow at me. What a sweet boy.

I feel like we look cold.

Then last weekend, which is admittedly much later in the winter than one should complete this activity, my friends and I did a "polar plunge." If we're being honest, it wasn't cold enough outside or in the pool to describe our activity as a true polar plunge, but it also wasn't warm enough outside or in the pool to describe our activity as swimming either. It honestly felt great - the cold water certainly took our breath away at first, but we felt great after it was done.

I absolutely loved that this is what my friend Jenn wanted to do for her birthday celebration...but our other two friends, Mandi and Anne, were not quite as excited. When at first they didn't want to participate, we all started making deals, and eventually we landed on: if Mandi and Anne did a polar plunge, I would touch - and Jenn would HOLD - Mandi's daughter Kaylee's pet python, Sabine.

Which we did. Everyone - polar plungers and snake touchers alike - was so brave. 

Swimsuit snow angels, polar plunges, and snakes aren't for everyone. But I hope that every once in a while you do something that takes your breath away. 

Spring Break-ing

We took a big trip last year over spring break - Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon - but given the number of trips on our calendar during the summer months, we decided not to plan something quite as epic this year. We're still fitting in a bit of traveling though: Will has his orchestra senior (day) trip to a concert and dinner in Houston, Hallie and I are heading to Dallas for our soon-to-be-SIL/aunt's wedding shower, and then Tom and Will are driving to Iowa City for a more in-depth look at the University of Iowa. 

When in town, Will will be prepping for playoffs, Hallie will be catching up with friends, and I'll be starting to plan end-of-year events for all of the kids' extracurricular activities and complaining about the switch to Daylight Saving Time, which I detest (both the switch and the time). I also have an extremely fun birthday event to attend and a daunting "test" of my bravery to pass...post and pics to come about/of both. 😉

All that to say, we'll be busy, and when we're not busy, I want to be...well...not busy. So I'm taking a spring break, and I'll see you a week from tomorrow!

Happy spring break!

~

A few of my favorite pics from spring breaks through the years...

Grand Canyon

Strawberry picking

Hallie and my parents in NYC.

Galveston

One of my favorite pics of my boy.

Houston Zoo

Will and my parents in Washington D.C.

Texas State Capitol in Austin

Downtown Austin

Dinosaur Park in Cedar Creek

Riverwalk in San Antonio
(They couldn't go inside Durty Nelly's, but Tom and I have
fond memories of this bar from a trip we took to San Antonio
with our friends while we were in college so we needed a pic.)

Blue Bell Creamery

And perhaps my favorite one two spring break pics ever...

Hallie used to be REALLY fun on vacation...

High Five for Friday (3.7.25)

 

One

Spring Break starts today. Hallelujah.

Two

The Lads won convincingly over Brenham High School last Friday night, securing for themselves a spot in the playoffs for the third year in a row. It was such fun to sit in the stands and NOT feel like I was going to vomit or pass out (which is how I feel during most Lads games), and my boy scored a goal to boot!

We built our own charcuterie board at Floyd's Lounge
in Brenham before the game - cheers to the Lads!

Three

Senior Night truly was everything I could have hoped for, and I want to dedicate an entire post to the evening in the coming weeks. But to provide a quick recap...

On Tuesday night, we celebrated our senior Lads with a massive 7-0 victory over Montgomery. Will played one of the best games of his high school career statistically, recording two goals and one assist. All of the seniors saw playing time, and many scored or had assists. Hallie skipped dance to be there, and my besties Jenn and Mandi came as well. My friend Kristen came back to town to help - along with a few other parents - me coordinate all of the evening's events. And while the wind was INSANE (sustained 15MPH, gusts up to 50MPH), the weather was...not terrible, for once.

I don't know how we got here - the last home game of Will's high school career - so quickly, but I do know that this ride, with all its ups and downs, has been one of the best of my life. I can hardly believe that it's coming to an end, but I'm so grateful for our four years with the Lads.

We go again tonight in Huntsville to end the regular season!

Four

Will's varsity orchestra received all 1s at their UIL competition - sweepstakes, baby! They competed at 4:20pm in the afternoon, so Hallie I were able to pop in and listen to them perform before moving on with our afternoon. Just like with soccer, it's hard to believe that we're coming to the end of orchestra...when Will started playing the cello eight years ago, I thought he'd maybe last through ninth grade. I'm so glad he decided to stick with it through all of high school. 

Will's first orchestra concert in 5th grade.

Five

Happiness Highlights Part 1 - "The Goal" Series

The Plan

The Fake

The Kick

The Shock

The Celebration

The newspaper photographer caught
The Celebration from another angle. 

 

Happiness Highlights - Off the Pitch

My puppy nephew turned 11 last week!

I stumbled upon this pic of my SIL and her
three babies - I must have missed it when my
BIL shared it the first time - and I LOVE it. 

Will has learned so much from this
man...including how to stand, apparently.

So pretty.

Everything seen here (but the flowers) was what I needed to take for
one home game...and this was just my first trip. I'm going to miss this. 

This month's flowers - courtesy of the Advanced
Floral Design program at AMCHS - are gorgeous! 

Happy weekend, friends!

Monthly Medley: February 2025

 

Reading

I read TWO books in February! The first was Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott. This book kept me interested throughout, but in kind of an unsettling and even agitating way. I stuck with it to the bitter end because I wanted to understand the twist and see the "bad guys" get what was coming to them...but while the ending made sense, it was too abrupt for my taste. I like closure, and (slight spoiler alert) I didn't get it. The second was Life's too Short by Abby Jimenez. I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, and I'm so glad I grabbed it off the shelf at the library.

Watching

Hallie and I finally finished all 11 seasons of How I Met Your Mother, and WE. ARE. BITTER. Tom and I watched the entire show close a decade ago, but I didn't remember the ending at all - I must have blocked it out because it was both disappointing and aggravating. So if you're thinking about watching HIMYM, know this: great show, awful ending.

Listening To

I hadn't listened to the Popapologists since their "series" on Kate Middleton about a year ago, but I circled back to them because I really wanted to know what the heck was up with Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and their movie, It Ends With Us. I couldn't listen to every episode in this "series" because some of the episodes are behind a paywall (apparently it costs A LOT of money to put together podcasts about A-list celebrities), but what I could listen to was plenty to understand what has been going on and WOW, is it dramatic. If you need something to keep your mind off the seconds s...l...o...w...l...y ticking by on the elliptical, this podcast will get the job done.

Following

I recently started following UPS Dogs (@upsdogs), and I promise, this page is guaranteed to make you smile. (The page is basically just UPS drivers and the precious pups they meet throughout their days.)

Trying/Using

Far less than usual to share in this category... I bought one of these "house" balls for Will for Christmas, and while I wouldn't say that these soccer balls come with a "won't break anything" guarantee, they're enough fun that I just bought one for my nephew for his birthday.

Wearing

No one knows what to wear in Texas in February, amiright?! One day it'll be freezing outside (like actually below freezing), and the next day the temperature will climb into the 80s. 

I've worn my snowpants more times this month - to Lads games, which are played as long as the temperature is above 32 degrees and there's no lightening - than I've worn them in the last four years combined...but I've also worn shorts and tank tops almost as frequently. We had one Tuesday-to-Friday swing where the difference in temperatures at kick off climbed 40 degrees (kicked off in the upper 30s on Tuesday, kicked off in the upper 70s on Friday), which is just baffling.

All that to say, I don't usually buy anything new in February because I'm already so confused about what to wear. Might as well wait until March or April, when spring has officially sprung and I know I won't have to pull out my snowpants again. 

Eating/Drinking

I really thought I made a couple of new recipes this month, but I guess I was wrong because I have nothing fun saved to share with you. (It's also possible that whatever new recipe I made wasn't good enough to warrant sharing so I deleted the link.) 

Instead, I'll share with you an old favorite of mine that I plan to make next week: One Pot Creamy Kielbasa Tortellini. I usually add chopped red bell pepper along with the peas, use half and half instead of heavy cream, and cut the cheddar in half. It's delicious! 

Smiling About

• My favorite Super Bowl commercial.
• This marriage proposal cake. 
• This cat's thoughts on his new toy.
• The best-ever participant in a baby crawling race.

Farewell February, welcome March!