2022 Review
The past year is hard to describe in one word. For all the good that happened, which was a lot, there was a single event that I would trade all the good from the year to change if I could. My cousin Libbie, and the baby in her belly, were killed in front of her own home by a drunk driver during the daytime. It happened on May 3rd; the day after her birthday. Her husband lost his wife, and her daughter lost her mom. My aunt and uncle lost their oldest child. Libbie's siblings lost their big sister.
I still cry every day. They say she is at peace and it is all of us still living who are suffering. That is probably true, but I just don't know if her spirit or essence lives on or not. I don't have a firm knowledge or faith of what happens after death. I just wish she had more time to be alive. I wish her baby could have been born and that her family could have gone on. I just don't know why her soul had to be taken so early. My dad reminded me that she lived an amazing life while she was here, and maybe that is enough.
That event makes it hard to define the year by anything else. I am grateful for all the other experiences I had this year, but it feels shallow to talk about the things I normally define my years by.
The biggest event that happened in my own personal life in 2022 is finding out I am pregnant. I found out on September 14th after taking a pregnancy test. I am 20 weeks along now with a baby boy and Ryan and I are so excited. He is due in late May of 2023.
My goal for 2022 was to run a half-marathon because it had been a few years. I ran the Livermore half-marathon and then was given a free spot for one of San Francisco's half-marathons by a friend later in the year. I was more prepared for the first one I did but both were a ton of fun! I also wanted to work on starting our family, and I became pregnant after nearly 1 year of trying. I completed my associates degree through BYU-Idaho and I am continuing with their marriage and family studies bachelor's program. My last goal was to travel to Hawaii, which we did in September 2022!
My goal for 2023 is going to be cultivating abundance and peace in my every-day life. I want to plan and prepare for the baby and move into a bigger place with our growing family.
In 2018 I created a 30 before 30 list. I am going to review it since I turn 30 in 6 months! The crossed out items were not completed in time!
3. Receive a bachelor's degree. <--- I finished my associates, still working on it... slowly but surely.
4. Increase my Spanish language knowledge by minoring in it, or at least taking a Spanish class each semester. Also, talk to my Spanish speaking relatives in the language when I am with them. <---- I'll give myself half-credit on this one. I haven't taken any more Spanish classes, but I practice when I can.
5. Live outside of Utah. <--- We have lived in California since 2019.
6. Remake my workout routine and attend classes where other people go, instead of always exercising alone. <--- I did orange theory monthly for almost 1 year and I plan to go back. I also took 1 month of yoga at a studio in Livermore.
7. Have a job working with youth in a mentoring position. <--- I volunteered as a CASA for 12 months.
9. Learn more about my own family history so that visiting Scotland may be more meaningful. <--- I have done some family history, but not specifically regarding my Scottish heritage.
11. Make each place I live into a home. <--- I have gotten significantly better at feeling settled where I am and making my space a home.
14. Make time to hang out with each of my siblings. <--- I did this to the best of my ability!
15. Go on a girls trip. Make it happen. <--- I did couple weekend trips with girl friends and my sister-in laws. We went to Midway, Saint George, and Half Moon Bay.
16. Take Trinity out on sister dates. <--- I have taken her out when I could and done face-time Starbucks dates as well.
17. Dress up for Halloween. <--- We dressed emo for Halloween this year.
19. Practice taking charge of my thoughts and emotions after listening to Jody Moore tell me how. <--- This is still a work-in-progress.
20. Go all in on the things I say I am going to do. This means fully committing to church callings, my job, etc. <--- This is a work-in-progress as well, but I have been much more committed to the things I choose than I used to be.
21. Compliment those around me instead of criticizing. <--- I am still working on not judging, but I am getting much better and more conscious of what I think and say.
22. Run another marathon in under 4 hours 30 minutes. <--- The last marathon I ran was the Utah Valley Marathon in 2019. I was on my period and had to stop a couple times to use the bathroom. I don't remember what my time was honestly. But I remember feeling good once the race was over.
24. Choose to believe in God and the goodness of people. <--- There has been a lot of flux with this one. I don't always believe in God.
25. Road trip along the west coast. <--- Ryan has planned many west coast road trips that we have done on weekends. We have gone up the California coast toward Oregon many times and I always love it.
26. Have at least one baby with Ryan. <--- The bun is in the oven.
27. Own a pet. <--- We adopted Willie, our cat, from the humane society in 2021!
28. Pay off all my student loan debt and my car. <--- I haven't had a car payment since 2019, but I still have some student loan debt from when I was younger.
29. Take notice of the things people like. Write those things down for gift ideas. Especially for Ryan. Also for myself. <--- I have done a lot better at this.
30. Grow my hair out long again. <--- My hair is about as long as I know how to get it!