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July started off with a 4th of July weekend full of fun, sun, and lots of friends! We boated and pooled with our friends John and Lindsey on Saturday, went to a pool party hosted by Courtney and Zach on Sunday, then did all our traditional IOP 4th of July things on Monday including the island golf cart parade, flyover at the Windjammer, and fireworks on the beach.

The 2nd weekend in July Carl headed to Boston for Chris’s (my brother’s) bachelor party which included an injured groom. Chris had torn his achilles shortly before his party, but didn’t let that get in the way of celebrating with his friends and family. A great time was had as I understand it.

While Carl was out of town, I participated in one of the Charleston Sprint Tri series races as a “work out the kinks” race in preparation for my big race in Milwaukee that was now only 4 weeks away. I had a smiling face in the crowd thanks to my wonderful friend, Helen, showing up to cheer me on and I got 2nd in my age group!

In an effort to get more involved with the community and feel like I’m making a difference, I volunteered at I Can Swim camp for a week helping kinds with Down Syndrome learn how to swim. I was assigned to help a boy named Corey along with a volunteer named Tammy and the progress we saw throughout the week was amazing! Corey went from clinging to Tammy to sticking his face in the water within a matter of days. It was something very different from my day-to-day life and a really special experience.

As July was winding down, so was our time at 906 Palm. Our landlords had asked us to be out no later than July 31st and we took advantage of every last day and had a POD delivered on July 22nd. After packing and moving in the Charleston swelter, I’ve decided I never want to move in the summer ever again. An acquaintance from Carl’s work offered to help me move the few pieces of furniture that we owned into the POD (since Carl was still in recovery from his surgery and not allowed to lift anything) which occurred immediately after I finished a brick workout and…I thought I was going to pass out at one point. This is not recommended. Luckily that didn’t happen and we got all our big stuff loaded (thanks so much, Chris!). Since we were about to be without a house (house hunting had not been super successful thus far), our wonderful friend, Jen, was taking us in. No one expected we’d be moving in with a roommate at this point in our lives, pets and all, but it was awesome Jen provided this option to bridge our housing gap. To our delight, we toured the house that would eventually become ours on Saturday, July 30th, and had an offer accepted when we made the official move to Jen’s! This was a huge relief. (Although it turns out living with Jen was awesome and I was really sad to leave when it was time to move into our own house).

June was a big month of healing for Carl and a big month of triathlon training for me. We’ve joked that Carl didn’t have to go to such extreme measures (see May 2022 post) to get out of bike rides and runs with me all summer. June was my first full month of training for the USAT Age Group Nationals race so lots of swimming, biking, and running for me thanks to a tough, but effective training program put together by a local endurance coach, Anne Moore.

Another highlight of the month included seeing Mandy Moore in concert at the Charleston Music Hall. Yes, Mandy Moore, who hadn’t toured in 14 years. The Mandy Moore of our pre-teen and teenage years. It was awesome. The Charleston Music Hall is a cool, old theater and way more intimate than a giant stadium so we were really close to the stage. Carl hoped and prayed that she would sing Candy and SHE DID! She hammed it up a little bit realizing the the song is super silly and now she’s 40. It was great.

We capped off the month hanging out with our friends, Alli and Jon at Bar Rollins, a new wine bar in Charleston that Jon’s sister co-owns, and getting dinner at Lewis BBQ (the best brisket EVER). The night was extra sweet as we learned Alli was pregnant!

Carl had a few surgery follow-up appointments and all was proving to be on the upswing.

May 2022 was FAR from the best month. It started out fun with getting to watch this year’s TIFL athletes complete their Mock triathlon to prep for their big day becoming triathletes later in the month, running in the GOAT 5K out at The Goatery, and starting my official USAT Age Group Nationals training plan, but quickly got really scary and sad when Carl took a spill on his bike while out on a training ride with me (because he’s the most supportive husband) and broke his collarbone, scapula, and 2 ribs. May 21st started out at the She Tris Ion race watching the TIFL athletes become triathletes then traveled to a house tour that included putting an offer on the house (which we didn’t end up getting), and ended in the emergency room.

It just so happened that Roy, Carl’s dad, was flying in to visit the day of Carl’s accident so instead of picking him up from the airport, I was calling him to tell him we were on our way to the hospital and to please get an Uber. Carl had a consult with a surgeon on May 24th who recommended surgery on this collarbone to provide better chances of a full recovery since his entire left side shoulder was pretty unstable due to multiple broken bones so surgery was scheduled for May 26th. May 26th was a long day as when we showed up bright and early in the morning for Carl to be prepped for surgery, we learned that the surgical suite AC unit had gone out the night before which was causing the room to get close to the max temperature they allow to keep procedures safe. After briefly believing that the surgery was going to have to be rescheduled, we found out that if we were willing to move locations, the surgery could take place later in the day so off to James Island we went.

The surgery was successful and Carl was sent home to chill out and heal. He took a couple weeks off of work before easing back in part-time to make sure he had his energy back and could survive an entire day without too much pain. (Shout out to my lovely friend, Helen, who showed up at the surgery center to bring me lunch on the day of Carl’s surgery!)

Prior to Carl’s injury, I was supposed to fly to Boston the day he ended up having surgery to see my brother, Chris, and his fiancee, Maya, before heading to Maine with Maya and my sister, Amanda, for Maya’s bachelorette party. I ended up changing my plans to be able to be there for Carl’s surgery and the first full day afterwards and then we agreed that since Roy was visiting it would be ok if I went to Maine for part of the weekend. Although I was sad to leave Carl in such a vulnerable state, I was so thankful to get to join the bachelorette party and finally get to meet Maya’s sister (only took 6 years!) and all of Maya’s friends that she talks about all the time. We had a great time and got to celebrate our lovely bride-to-be!

The Cooper River Bridge Run happened at the normal time of year for the first time since 2019 (thanks, COVID!). I had some sinus illness for the entire week leading up to the race and was concerned I wouldn’t be able to run it. As the race got closer and I was well enough to get out there, Carl convinced me not to care about my previous year’s time and to just go out there and do my best since I’d been sick. I listened only to go out there an get my course best time after all (53:39) which was a pleasant surprise. Carl also got his course best at 1:01:57 so it was a great day for the Schmidts! The goal is to keep beating our prior year selves until our bodies tell us it’s not possible anymore. I’m really hoping there’s a lot of years before that happens.

At the end of the month our friend, Matt Andrukaitis, came to visit for the weekend to see his favorite band, Houndmouth, play at the Windjammer. Carl and I had never heard of them, but the show was great and you really can’t beat the outdoor concerts at the Yammer with your toes in the sand watching the sun go down over the ocean while you listen to live music. Matt was the first friend to ever visit us when we moved to South Carolina and it’d been over 4 years so it was great to see him.

The first weekend in March we attended a Dachshund Walk and officially kicked off our house hunt. The Dachshund Walk is exactly what it sounds like and as adorable as you would imagine, a bunch of dachshund owners assembling with their long-spined friends for a parade around the Battery downtown and up to the Pineapple Fountain. There is a group that does this the first Saturday of every month, but this is the first time we’ve been able to attend since finding out about it last Fall. Iris wasn’t interested in making new friends at first and just wanted us to wander off by ourselves, but once the group got walking she loved the walking route and did awesome around all the other dogs. (Her greetings can get a little loud and toothy so we never know how meeting other dogs will go).

That same day we saw 2 houses in neighborhood just off the IOP Connector, one of which I was really excited about based on the pictures and one Carl was interested in thinking it would make a great project (it was hideous). The first house ended up being really nice, but a little too small and the second house would have been more work than even Carl was up for so we passed on both. Seeing these houses did make the idea of having to move out of our IOP house more real and is really sad. I’m hoping we can find some positive things about the move eventually…

Carl attended a vet conference in Vegas for a few days that was supposed to be turned into a fun trip for the 2 of us and a potential visit to see some friends in California, but due to the unexpected trip to Illinois in February and some other slightly stressful developments, we decided that just Carl would go and get the continuing education credits he needed and call it done. Not as fun, but it happened.

On March 12th, we participated in the Peyton’s Wild & Wacky 10x5K with our friends Helen, David, and Jen. This is an all day event were you run a total of 50Ks broken into ten 5K’s, each starting at the top of every hour for 10 hours starting at 7 a.m. You can run it alone, as a 2-person relay, or as a 5-person relay. Our team was super prepared with a sweet tent set-up including a burner, homemade rice and sweet potatoes (thank you, Helen!), Twizzlers, and a foam roller for recovery. The race provided additional snacks like M&Ms, bacon, and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls so we were well fed. The day was a huge success and I was already talking about next year by the end of the day. So thankful for great friends that can do physical activity together for 10 hours and have such a great time doing it!

The day after the Peyton’s race, we put an offer on a house that we liked in Snee Farm, but didn’t end up getting it so that was a disappointing step in the house hunt.

The week of March 22nd, I headed to Nashville for work to finally checkout our Accountfully office there. Thanks to most of my time at the firm being during COVID, I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit our team there yet. It was a great week capped by a great weekend when Carl came to join. I got to play volleyball with the Nashville team for their first match and we won! The team showed me all the key food spots and we had such a great time hanging out. March Madness was going on while I was there so one night was spend watching basketball. When Carl got in town, we hit up a barcade and a speakeasy-type cocktail bar (Atta Boy) which was one of the coolest bars I ever been to. You described things you liked and the bartender made a drink for you. My first concern when we arrived was how I could get a drink made in this tiki cup I saw sitting on the bar. The answer was “just ask”! The next day we wondered all over the city going on a historic house tour on the Belmont campus, walking through the Vanderbilt campus, seeing the Parthenon replica, and ended at The Row where we spent hours drinking beer, listening to live country music as new artists got on stage every hour. Our last day in Nashville was spent lounging around and reading. I started not feeling well that day and we agreed that it was ok not to do a whole lot as it was just nice not to feel the obligations of being in your home and always finding chores to do.

Early February brought us a last minute trip to Illinois to check on Roy (Carl’s dad) who’s been having a lot of health issues. We flew in on a Friday and out on a Sunday and tried to knockout some productive things regarding finding Roy a new place to live in addition to spending time with him and my family. Time with Roy consisted of watching a lot of tv and movies (as usual). We got to see my parents and Amanda for a while at my Mom’s and Facetimed with Chris and Maya so it felt like more of us were together. We also got to stop by Ryan’s apartment in the city on our way to the airport on Sunday so glad I got to see my IL fam (missing Trev and Al) for even just a little bit.

In preparation for Peyton’s Wild & Wacky 10x5K race, my friend Helen and I started meeting up weekly in Hampton Park to run together which is always lovely.

Coming at a much-needed time was a trip to New Orleans with our fantastic friends, Melissa & Will. We’ve know them since I was in grad school at U of I (2007) and even though we’ve lived in different states ever since, we’ve done a pretty good job of seeing each other over the years. This was our first opportunity to go on a trip together and it was as glorious as I expected. It was early in Mardi Gras season so we got see see a parade (WOW) as well as check-out the WWII Museum (so much to see, almost too much to see) and just wander around. I love any time we get to spend with them.

Early in February we also found out that our lease is not being renewed this year as our landlords are going to be redoing the house and moving into it themselves. This unfortunately means we’ll be moving off of IOP as everything has just gotten too expensive. We started looking into other long-term rental options in both Mt. Pleasant as well as downtown, but struck out so the housing search continues.

The end of February is my birthday and worked out pretty cool this year as Chris and Maya had a wedding to attend in Kiawah the weekend before my birthday. They flew in the Thursday before the wedding so we could do dinner together and they could spend a night with us before the wedding festivities. We did dinner at R Kitchen because Chris had been eyeing that place for a while and then had drinks at The Royal American because I pass it all the time on the way into the office and was intrigued. The rest of the weekend included watching dachshund races (yes, that’s right, it was amazing) which were the cutest thing ever, trying some beer and chili at Holy City Brewing, and spending the entire day on Sunday just lounging at the house. Iris didn’t get to participate in the races because we couldn’t make the original date and didn’t sign her up, but I’m looking forward to getting her involved in the future because OMG will that be the best thing ever.

January is the month we celebrate the birth of the wonderful Carl Schmidt. This year to celebrate we had a delicious dinner at Coda del Pesce here on IOP on Friday night, did a scuba class then grabbed some beers with our friends Allison and Jon at Frothy Beard on Saturday, and did a walking tour of Charleston that ended in a wine-paired lunch on Sunday. To say fun was had is an understatement.

Carl’s been interested in getting scuba certified for quite some time so the class we took was just a kick-off to see if we liked it enough to move forward with the certification. We got comfortable with the equipment and just swam around a rec center pool throwing toy torpedos at each other. It was a great day and although Carl is wanting to take certification classes, time just hasn’t allowed recently.

The walking tour we did was called Undiscovered Charleston and I highly recommend it! It was led by a chef who integrated culinary historical facts with the rest of Charleston history. The tour ended at a little bistro where the chef prepared us lunch and the wine was flowing. It was weirdly chilly in Charleston that day, but we dressed appropriately and had a wonderful time.

In addition to celebrating Carl’s birthday, I also was able to visit my grandpa in Florida for his 91st birthday with all my siblings and my dad. It’s rare these days to get that many of our family members together so it was awesome that we were all able to make it. The 4 of us Ritchie sibs actually got to spend one whole night together just ourselves and that honestly never happens anymore (since we all have wonderful significant others) so that was pretty cool. Grandpa’s doing pretty well considering he’s 91 and my grandma’s been gone for just over 1 year. We actually got him out and about in his neighborhood and enjoyed drinks and lunch as the golf course clubhouse one day.

To continue the awesomeness of seeing my family in early January, Amanda drove back to SC with me and stayed at our house for the rest of the week. I’ve loved that she has a work-from-home job now and can spend longer periods of time visiting! We got to hang out, see her BFF Lindsey (who now lives in Charleston), and eat a delicious dinner at Rappahannock while she was here. I will always enjoy every minute she can spend here.

Carl and I decided that since we’d been back to Illinois in both October and November that we’d stay put for Christmas. While this choice is always a little sad because I love Christmas and it’s just not the same with cold weather and our family, it turned out to be absolutely wonderful this year. We had 4 days off of work together with zero specific plans and we enjoyed every second of it. The weekend included dinner at The Tempest, a bike ride, checking out the Christmas lights show at the College of Charleston as well as the James Island County Christmas lights, and a beach day (going to the beach on December 26th is definitely a reminder of why we moved here).