Reflecting on 2022

Happy New Year friends! As we begin 2023, I'm looking back at 2002 and highlighting the good times.

I'm not going to lie - 2022 kind of kicked my butt.  I wasn't worried about finishing the year strong.  Just finishing was going to be good enough.  And I limped to the end!  It's behind us now and I'm hopeful that 2023 will be great.  Throughout 2022, I learned a lot about myself.  The growing pains I went through made me a stronger person and that's the person I'm taking with me into 2023!  

We kicked off 2022 still under the cover of covid.  We weren't going out as much as we did pre-pandemic, but felt it slowly coming back.  One thing Eric and I started doing during the pandemic was puzzles; we found them to be something we still do today.  Our kitchen table had a puzzle on it most of last winter.

January also brought a work trip for me.  This was the first time I had planned a meeting where we were gathering in person in quite a while.  The hotel industry was just coming back and pulling together a meeting wasn't as easy as it had once been.  We were in the Miami area and I remember standing on my balcony looking at this sunrise.  So beautiful!

February arrived and with it came a huge snowstorm!  Eric invested in a snow blower and we reaped benefits the very next day!  Hoping we don't need it too much this year.

Our niece and nephews got a Valentine's surprise and we worked on more puzzles.

Girls' weekend was at our house in March and I was so excited to host!  Our tablescape reflected the fact that it was Mardi Gras weekend.  

We went ax throwing, saw Mean Girls at the Fox Theater, ate great food, and did some retail therapy.  Being with this group filled my cup!

March was also the month of the Oscars (remember the famous slap!).  We hosted a party and enjoyed watching the show surrounded by friends.  The whole house was decked out for the awards show, including our tiered stand.  See all the decorations HERE.

Some of our friends also got Spring treats!  Find out how to make these candy flowers HERE.

For Valentine's Day, I gifted Eric tickets for a March trip to the St. Louis Symphony to hear the songs of John Williams.  

We got to hear more live music in April when we went to the Bon Jovi concert in St. Louis.  My friend Debbie and I have traveled all over to catch Bon Jovi in concert and this was the first time we took our husbands with us.  

We also celebrated a St. Louis holiday - Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals!  Attending Opening Day is like no other experience and we love it!

April also took us to Memphis to see our niece Sarah in a play and we got to meet our great-niece in person for the first time.

In May, we traveled to Gulf Shores and spent a week on the beach.  Much of the week I spent working, so it wasn't the vacation of our dreams.  We were able to find moments to rejuvenate and soak in the sights and sounds of the ocean.

Each year I help with two weddings and our first one for 2022 was in June.  We pulled off a beautiful event!

Our friends' daughter graduated from high school and we helped her celebrate the big event at her party.  

The momma of the graduate and I have been friends since the first grade.  Our friend Linda joined in sixth grade and the three of us have been friends ever since.  It was great to be able to celebrate this milestone event with her!

We kicked off July by selling Thelma's ice cream sandwiches at Fair St. Louis.  Eric loves working for this company and I'm glad when I can help out.  

Our family suffered a loss in July that hit us hard.  Our daughter-in-law's father, Mark, passed away in July.  He was a remarkable man and is greatly missed.  Mark's wife and daughters had a celebration of life event for him.  It was a wonderful tribute!

Our niece-to-be's shower was in July.  It was fun celebrating her before their big day!

For a week in July, we hosted our two nephews and niece.  It was a week full of fun!  Three six-year-olds can be a handful!

August brought a shower for my friend's daughter.  It was fun working on the invitations and details for the shower.  We did a wine tasting and instead of bringing gifts, the bride requested bringing your favorite bottle of wine.  Such a fun event!

Eric and I also made a quick trip to Phoenix.  I needed to do a site visit for work and even though it was HOT, we made the best of it.  We took our first hot air balloon ride and took in as much of the area as we could in just a few days.

Visiting the Missouri State Fair also was a highlight of August.  We took my parents and spent a fun day enjoying all the fair had to offer.

Our nephew's wedding was in September on a beautiful fall day.  It was my first experience of being the officiant at a wedding!  The whole day was magnificent.

We had the opportunity to catch another concert - Michael Buble!  Going to concerts is one of my most favorite things so I'm glad live music made a comeback.

We closed out the month with another opportunity to sell Thelma's ice cream sandwiches at the Ascension Golf Tournament.

October took me back to Phoenix for a work trip and my second time doing a hot air balloon ride.  

                    

I had a fun Halloween-themed girls' weekend, did some hiking with Eric, and saw Rachel Hollis live with a couple friends.  That rounded out October!

November was full of weddings!  The first weekend was spent celebrating my friend's daughter on her big day.  She was a beautiful bride and the wedding was a blast!

We helped with our final wedding in 2022 in November.  My friend TW came to town to help and we saw the lights at the Zoo while he was here.

Closed out the year with lots of holiday activities,  We saw the lights at the Botanical Gardens and hosted our niece and nephews for a few days.  

Santa also paid a visit to our house while my family was visiting!

We closed out the year in by celebrating New Year's with our friends in Kansas City.  It was a great time and also a spectacular way to kick off a new beginning.  The theme this year was Through the Decades.  Here we come 2023 - hope you're ready for us!

 

2020 In Review

The year 2020 brought with it a tsunami of emotions for all of us!  Many, many times I thought of the 80s Ozzy Osbourne song lyric "I'm going off the rails on a crazy train.".  Who knew 40 years after writing the words to the song they would still stand so true...

Crazy, but that's how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Maybe it's not too late

To learn how to love

And forget how to hate

Even though 2020 was nothing like I thought it would be when I rang in the new year with my friends in Kansas City back on December 31, 2019, we still managed to squeak out some great memories.

We Travelled 

In February, before we knew the world would be locking down in a matter of weeks, we met our son and daughter-in-law in Las Vegas to watch our beloved St. Louis Blues play hockey.  

At the end of August, we drove to the beach for a glorious week of relaxation.  We toted our food for the week with us and stayed in our own little bubble.  It was just what we needed to release some of the built-up stress.

We found outdoor hiking trails and chased sunsets.

In November, we drove to Tennessee for a long weekend to hike and enjoy the outdoors.

We Zoomed

We've been attending church virtually for most of the year.  I've watched author events and taken a cooking class all over Zoom.

Happy hours on Zoom have taken the place of meeting in person.

Holiday parties even happened on Zoom.

Most recently, my friend Linda and I have figured out how to sync our televisions to watch the Chiefs football game together.  It's definitely the next best thing to hanging out in person!

Pre-Pandemic

Before the lockdown, I was able to host a girls' weekend and we even enjoyed live music!

A couple of our favorites turned 4!  Glad we had the opportunity to watch them blow out their candles before the pandemic kept us apart.

We also got to celebrate Ian's birthday, a 50th-anniversary celebration, and a 60th birthday all before the lockdown started in March.

Pandemic Highlights

I learned how to cut hair (kind of).

We loved going to the mailbox to see if we had gotten a note from our niece and nephews.

We even got in on the sourdough craze.

We puzzled, enjoyed sidewalk chalk designs, and delivered quarantine treats.

Our family was blessed with a new addition, which we are anxiously awaiting being able to meet in person.  Our nephew and his wife had their first baby and he is absolutely adorable!

In 2020, Eric and I both completed our church's Walk Through the Word and read the New Testament.  I started participating in a bible study reading the Old Testament and completed a book study with friends on the book White Fragility.  And I started making our bed every day because I'd seen and heard countless times that doing that is supposed to improve your attitude.  

Through all the ups and downs, we have been blessed to stay healthy.  We've done our best to keep a positive attitude and above all things, we've tried to remain kind.  As we enter 2021, we know that we still have challenging days ahead.  But we also know that being mean and disrespectful to others won't make the challenges any less challenging.  

Thank you so much for joining me in this little space I take up on the web.  I hope you join me in making this year one where we can be proud of our actions and bring out the best in each other.  Happy 2021!