2021: Our Year in Review
If anyone would have asked me a year ago if I thought COVID would stop interfering so much with day-to-day life, I would have said ‘no’. Yet here we are walking into 2022 optimistic, yet cautiously as COVID continues to surge relentlessly. I think we can all agree that we are tired of COVID. It has kept families apart, took so many lives, become a political tool and obsession and interrupted lives considerably. But I’m not here to discuss COVID; I’m here to discuss 2021 and my hopes for 2022.
We had some exciting times this year as a family. We hit up Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells for Braxton’s birthday in March shortly after Beckett’s ear surgery. Which, that’s another issue because as of his last appointment in the Summer, his ear drum still hadn’t corrected itself, so praying we get good news on that in February.
Braxton started both Taekwondo and T-ball and he’s excelling in both sports. Jason and I were able to coach him for his first year, and it was so regarding. We had a great group of kids, and we all made new friends. Braxton is now an orange belt in Taekwondo and he’s working towards his next belt. Virtual school ended after first grade, so Braxton has loved being back in school in-person. He’s thriving, and he was so fortunate to get the same teacher he had for first grade. He is also still in Cub Scouts, and he’s really enjoying it!
Beckett is thriving in his speech therapy. He’s surpassing expectations and continues to amaze his father, myself and his therapists. Beckett learned to ride his bike this year, shortly after his 4th birthday. He randomly decided one night to borrow his friend’s bike and rode it around. A week later, he was riding without training wheels and cruising down the street with his brother and Leo (his bestie).
Beckett also cut off most of his locks! He immediately grew by three years upon getting his hair cut. It was hard to let him make that decision, but he looks pretty darn cute.
Another big thing with Beckett that happened this year is that he’s sleeping in how own bed almost entirely. That was huge. He only wanted to sleep with us, and we finally broke that habit earlier in 2021.
Both boys are really picking up on fitness. They love trying yoga and lifting weights with Jason and I. Braxton is starting to get into running, and loves trying new things exercise related.
We did a lot of arts and crafts this year, and the boys loved it. Braxton is really getting into collecting rocks (like his Aunt Christy), loves drawing, especially military things, and has just started getting into wood carving. His new obsession is his Pixicade Christmas gift which allows him to create his own games. Beckett loves drawing also, but his passion is around building things. He loves building tall, sturdy towers. He also is obsessed still with Matchbox cars and monster trucks. He also still likes playing house with his mock-kitchen, ice cream stand and refrigerator. Braxton is also trying to be an entrepreneur which is awesome.
We went up North a few times and explored the outdoors, hit up some cider mills, searched for Petoskey stones among others and enjoyed time with family. We also spent a lot of time outdoors locally as well and spent as much time outside as we could.
The boys made a lot of new friends, and it’s been so cool seeing their friendships blossom and mature.
Our kitchen, laundry room and 1/2 bath remodel were finally completed in February, and we loved how it turned out!
Jason and I were in Florida in April for my work, and we got to spend some time together, between meetings, to enjoy the sun and beauty of Florida. We had a great time!
Jason and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. We went downtown and ended up at two of our favorites: Shakespeare’s for our favorite food (BBQ Chicken Pizza) and Principle for our favorite dessert.
We spent a lot of time in water.
Braxton went to his first Tigers Baseball Game. He is obsessed. He loves Cabrera and now collects Basbeball cards!
We celebrated all of the birthdays.
We hit up the zoo and fed our favorites, Giraffes!
We went to our first Race at the Kalamazoo Speedway.
We celebrated all of the holidays!
I ran alllll of the miles. I had a goal of running 750 miles, but only ran about 680. I ran through all of the weather, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.
I read a lot of books too, and really worked on growing my blog and social sites.
I think it’s so important to reflect on the previous year before goal setting for the next. And man, it was fun reminiscing over the past year!
For 2022, I have a lot of goals. I’ll list a few below.
-Run 550 miles
-Read 20 books
-Start up a new podcast
-Learn more conversational sign language
-Grow closer in my faith
-Declutter my house!!!
-Find root cause of migraines
-More date nights
There were some hard times with injury, sickness and Jason’s job and company going on strike, but we survived all that 2021 threw our way and we cannot wait to see what 2022 has in store for us.
