Happy new year, friends! It’s been a loooong time since I have written here on the Sunny Side. Probably for a bunch of reasons. But I guess the biggest reason is that it hasn’t felt very sunny around here lately. I honestly do not even know where to start?
The pandemic. I think we all have similar feelings about that. 2020 was actually a pretty good year, all things considered. John and I were still newlyweds when the lockdown began, so I was actually excited to have him home every day. Fast forward almost two years, he is still working from home and it’s become our normal. I am going to be very sad if his work decides to send them back to the office. In 2020, we also accomplished a lot of home improvement projects which I did pretty well about documenting on the blog.
2021. We all had high hopes that things in the world were going to turn around and “go back to normal.” As we all know, they did not. John and I started going to a fertility clinic to help us start a family. So far, no baby. And I gained a lot of weight. In July, we found out that my step-son at the age of 8 has Type 1 diabetes. It was a complete shock to us all. And while this is a totally manageable disease, it is life-changing in a lot of ways. Then in September, we found out that he also has celiac. And let me tell you, managing that is way worse than diabetes. But I will save that for another post…
In December of this year, I got Covid and it was pretty bad, despite being vaccinated. While I was at the height of being sick, our sweet old dog Jackson went into kidney failure. We had to make the hard decision to say goodbye. Thankfully our vet was really accommodating with my Covid situation and made it so that I could still be with Jackson when it was time. And just to end the year with a bang, I had to go to the ER for kidney stones the last week of December. Everyone compares the pain to childbirth, which I cannot comment on but holy hell that was awful!
And then of course lastly, there was the kitchen renovation. We demoed the first week of July and we are still not. done. It’s been a thing, y’all. And certainly will get its very own post once it’s finally complete. ETA is still TBD.
So all in all, good riddance to 2021! We started off 2022 by going to church, which is not the norm for us. We are more major holiday-church-going types. We ended up having Drake that day (usually he is at his mom’s on Sundays) and it was really nice. The minister was talking about the lull that we often feel after Christmas and before the new year. There is so much hype and work that usually goes into the holidays and then sometimes you are left feeling, once it’s over, is that all? That’s kind of how I felt about these last two years. After two years of worrying about our family, our health, the economy, the world, work, our kids, and then there was the hope that by now it would all be fixed. But I look around and just think, is that all? Covid cases are running rampant, it doesn’t feel like progress. It doesn’t feel like things are back to normal. I still feel stuck in 2021.
Yesterday I had lunch with one of my girlfriends and she shared with me her 2022 vision board. I have always been into making new year resolutions, but I loved the visual she shared with me so I decided to make one of my own (thanks Molly for the inspiration)!. So here we go!
- Consistant Exercise Routine. My plan is to keep up with my 10K steps a day and I also want to get into jump roping. It will be fun to learn a new skill and it’s also like, really hard. Hard things usually motivate me 🙂
- Write More. Check! Right now I want to commit to writing on the blog twice a month. One, because I like writing and find it theraputic and two, because it help hold me accountable to my goals! Also, I need to be better about writing to my two sponsor kids in Rwanda.
- Address Stomach Issues. I have have had chronic stomach issues for about 25 years. And it’s been about 15 years since I have really seen a specialist to help with the pain and symptoms. So yesterday I went to a brand new doctor an shared with her my litany of issues and I am scheduled for an endoscopy next week!
- Landscaping. For that last two years we have been really focusing on updating the inside of our home. This year we have decided to focus on getting the outside looking pretty. Since we are on a budget this year (spoiler alert for #5) that means I will be doing a lot of this myself (well, we, me and John). I absolutely loathe gardening. It’s by far my least favorite chore. So while I am not looking us to win any landscaping awards, I don’t want to be the crappiest lawn on the block any more!
- Save Money. 2021 was an expensive year with the kitchen remodel. So this year will be all about replenishing the pile. We have a meeting with our financial advisor later this month to go over our investments and develop a budgeting plan that allows us to hit our savings goals along with still being able to have some fun.
- Travel. Omg, I missing traveling so much! Now, I know this one sounds counter productive when I just stated #5 was to save money, but I think we can still accomplish this without breaking the bank. Last summer we were all supposed to go to Maine for two weeks and stay at my family’s house. However, Drake was diagnosed with diabetes two days before we were supposed to leave so we didn’t get to have that family vacation. So hopefully we will all get to Maine this summer! And, then I’d love to work in a few other family road trips to see some new places.
- Oh baby. Well, I am not going to go too far into this right now, but we are planning to do IVF this year. Another major expenditure. But before we do that we are going to spend the time between now and the spring to prepare. Meanging, get my stomach issues resolved (or at least better than the current status), lose some weight and over all be healthier.
- Cook at Home. Part of being healthier and addressing Drake’s dietary needs is that we need to start cooking at home. Not having a working kithen for 6 months made that very challenging but now that we have a stove and oven (hooray!), John and I are both looking forward to making delicious GF meals.
- Gluten Free Household. As part of Drake having celiac he cannot eat gluten. Which that part is pretty easy to control. The hard part is avoiding the cross-contaimination. So we have decided to become a gluten-free household (or like, 95% GF). I think in the long run, this is going to benefit all of us.
- Giving Back. This is something I just want to do more of, especially with my time. It’s very easy to write a check or donate to someone’s fundraiser, which I will continue to do, but I need to spend less time focusing on just me and doing more in our community. My goal is to do something once per quarter. I will keep you posted!
- Read More [less social media]. So, if I am being honest, this is going to be the hardest one for me. So rather than set myself up for failure, I will say that this also includes audio books or podcasts. Plus, that is a good way to stretch out my walks.
- Improve Flexability. Many, many moons ago I was a fairly good gymnast and I was also quite flexible. Today, I can touch my toes, but just barely! And I am pretty sure my back would break if I did a back bend. So stretching will be incorpoarated in my exercise routine!
- Practice Spanish. Again, this is something that is on my list every year. I just need to do it. You would think since John’s first language was spanish and my in-laws speak spanish that I would do this. But this year I am going to dedicate 10 minutes a day (min) to my duolingo app and also try practicing with John.
- Go to Church. And last, but certainly not least, is going to church more regularly. I really liked going last week and I got a lot of the message. While we probably lowered the average age by about 30 years, it was nice.
I know that was a lot! And if you made it to the end, and you’re not my mom, thank you for reading! Are you making resolutions this year? Tell me in the comments!
