2021 in Review

I love taking time to stop and look back at the past year before we hurdle headlong into the next one. 2021 was not without its challenges. We experienced more death this year than we have in many other years combined (and to my knowledge, none of the deaths were associated with Covid). We experienced relationships being torn apart because of Covid fallout. I honestly have struggled through a lot of doubts in my faith this year, and I've chugged through a lot of depression. But we also welcomed new babies into our family, Justin and I both started new jobs (or positions), both we and our loved ones have made it through year two of a worldwide pandemic, and God has continued to show us grace despite our anger, bad attitudes, and doubts. Here are some of the noteworthy events of 2021 . . .

1. A major change for me this year was going back to college. Honestly, I can't believe it's only been a year. It feels like longer. Haha. I've been taking online classes full time in an attempt to finish my associate's degree, and for the most part I have loved it. I loved the library classes and have gotten even more excited to pursue my dream of becoming a school librarian. If all goes as planned, I should be done by the summer of 2022. 

2. Justin's grandpa died on Justin's birthday. He'd been sick and declining for years, but the finality was still hard. Thanks to Covid restrictions we weren't able to have a funeral until many months later, but it was a beautiful testament to a life well lived. 

3. We were able to spend another week in Florida with Justin's parents, and even sneaked in a couple days with my sister and her family who happened to be vacationing nearby at the same time! I just booked our tickets to go down again in February, and I'm forever grateful for Justin's parents' generosity in accommodating us!

4. My niece Saylor was born the day we came home from Florida. 

5. My step-grandma died, and my grandpa moved in with my parents. 

6. The government threw money at us for having so many kids and being so poor. Justin and I just talked about how we need to be more careful with our spending now that all the stimulus packages have expired. 

7. Some friends and I started a mom group/Bible study. 

8. Justin started redoing the "bedroom" in our basement that I affectionately referred to as "the dungeon." 

This is the only "before" picture I have. Cement floor, unfinished walls. 

It's still not done, but the drywall is up and painted, electric is finished, new lights are installed. Of course the flooring we have leftover from the bathroom reno is discontinued, so we have to pick out something else. But once the floor is done, it's pretty much just finishing touches after that! Despite my assertions that this room would make an amazing library, Justin has plans to make it his workout room/fishing supplies storage.

9. My niece Thea was born in April.

10. I had my Mother's Day plans cancelled because we were worried Lucy had Covid. It was a false alarm. 

11. Lena despised her gymnastics classes, but taught herself all kinds of tricks on our trampoline. She can now do walkovers on the ground and handsprings/flips on the trampoline. 

12. Lena successfully completed her first sleepover at a friend's house with her longtime BFF Harper. She also stepped outside her comfort zone and spent the day at a school friend's house without me for the first time!!

13. That said, anxiety still abounded in many ways this year. Lena suffered through her usual separation anxiety, fear of dying in her sleep, fear of me dying, etc. Levi discovered a newfound phobia of loud noises - namely the train and the carnival. These earmuffs became his best friend.

Even in the pool. 🤦

14. Our church put on its first annual Soccer Camp in lieu of VBS. I helped with the planning and loved working behind the scenes. 

15. Justin took a position as the varsity soccer coach at our alma mater, where our kids currently go to school. They had a great season, and while it was a big time commitment, Justin loved it and is looking forward to coaching again in the fall. 

16. I started my dream job as the school librarian on a very part time basis. 

17. Levi lost his first tooth way earlier than the girls lost their teeth.

18. We went to the zoo without realizing Levi wasn't wearing shoes. Lol.

$9 gift shop socks for the win!

19. We went on an unprecedented two camping trips and lived to tell the tale.

20. I threw out my back again and thought I was going to die.

21. I did the Keto diet for 28 days and wanted to die. I lost 8 pounds, but decided it wasn't worth it.

22. As if Keto wasn't bad enough, we all got Covid while I was dieting. (See? My body needed the sugar/carbs. It was susceptible to disease when I was abstaining!) Thankfully, none of us had it very severely. I had it the worst and only knew it was Covid because I lost my sense of smell. I've definitely had worse colds. I will say I've had lingering joint pain, though, and my sense of smell still isn't totally back to normal. 

23. My nephew Tayton got married to the beautiful Madi and the whole day was so fun. 

24. Justin and I got away for a little "couple's retreat" with our friends Bob and Kris. We spent the weekend at "The Shack" with a bunch of Amish people and had such a great time.

25. I finally finished my chronological read through of the Bible that I started January 1, 2020. I really enjoyed reading it chronologically. It made so much more sense (especially the Old Testament), and brought it to life in a new way.

And now for the year's stats. I love these kind of things.

Blog Stats: I racked up 31,000 views this year. Thanks for your faithful reading and commenting. I love running into people who tell me they read my blog. It's the closest I'll ever get to being a celebrity. 😂

Books: According to Goodreads, I read 82 books this year. I'd guess there are a few more that I forgot to log, but my goal was 75, so I'm happy to have met that. Sadly, I didn't read very much that struck me as outstanding this year. I only gave 5 stars to 3 of those 82 books:

Mama Bear Apologetics by Hillary Ferrer - Christian nonfiction

Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans - general market romance (pretty clean as far as I remember)

Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality by Hillary Ferrer - Christian nonfiction

    - I just finished this one today and can't say enough good things about it. I really want to do a study on it with other moms. 

Things That Saved My Life in 2021

I follow a blogger that shares a list of what's saving her life every month. It's a bit tongue in cheek, but these are the things that made life easier/better this year:

• Instacart Express: I've been using this for a couple years, and I hesitated to renew it this year now that Levi's in school 3 days a week, but I still use it just as much. Thanks to working one day a week, I only have two kid-free days, and I don't want to spend them grocery shopping. Instacart is worth every penny!
• The Notes App that came on my phone - In my old age, I never remember anything and constantly need to write things down. I have used this app religiously this year for everything from grocery lists to blog ideas to reminders of who I owe money to. Haha.
• Kindle Unlimited: Reading as much as I do has the potential to be a very expensive habit. Thanks to the library and KU, though, I have access to as much as I can read for $10 a month. I definitely get my money's worth from this one.
• Discovery Plus: I binged so many DIY shows this year I should be able to build my own house from the ground up. Favorites included Good Bones, Design Star, Fixer Upper, Fixer to Fabulous, Rock the Block, Flipping Showdown, Hometown, and Battle on the Beach. 
• Pull-on jeggings: aka maternity jeans for women who aren't pregnant. Despite my attempts at dieting this year, we all know my affinity for carbs is going nowhere and I carry my weight in my belly. Jeans with no zippers or buttons are my friend.
• Diet Cranberry Ginger Ale: apparently I'm not the only one who loves this stuff because I have the hardest time finding it on the shelf. When it is in stock, I buy as many as I can fit in my cart. It's my go-to in the evenings when I shouldn't be drinking caffeine or consuming calories. 
• Red, the Robo-Vac: I got a robot vacuum for Christmas last year and love it more than I ever expected. I could sit and watch him clean my house all day.
• SoCozy Curl Spray Leave In Conditioner: it's no secret that I have struggled with Lucy's hair for years. Well I finally found something that helps! Honestly, I'm not sure it's 100% this spray that has helped, because we've made a few changes with Lucy's hair this year, but it has definitely contributed. She's also been using Aussie shampoo and conditioner that is made specifically for curly hair. And she's been way more diligent about showering regularly and letting me brush out her hair every time. Hallelujah!

For 2022

As I finished my Bible reading plan and made my way through Revelation, a verse jumped out at me that is going to be my mantra for 2022: "So be diligent and turn from your indifference." (Rev. 3:19b) My biggest struggle in life is laziness. I don't want to be that person. I don't want my kids to grow up with a lazy, complacent mom. I don't want to be like the Christians Paul describes who have been Christians for a long time, but still subsist on milk instead of meat. So I'm going to preach that verse to myself this year. I know that diligence in my Christian walk and in my parenting and marriage and everything yields rewards. I just have to make myself do it - quit being indifferent and grow up. 

I intend to achieve that by continuing in daily devotions. I got Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies for Christmas. It consists of 365 devotionals paired with a portion of scripture. I started it already this week to give myself a buffer for next year. 😁

I also got a stack of Christian Living books for Christmas (to add to the stacks I already own and haven't read). Once again, I'm going to force myself to plow through them. I always enjoy them when I get started, but I'm much more inclined to pick up fiction than nonfiction. 

As for non-spiritual resolutions, I only have one: make my kids brush their teeth every day. I think the girls are pretty good about this, but I don't remind them to do it or check to make sure they have. Levi, however, never brushes his teeth. It's disgusting and I'm sick of being disgusting. So I'm laying down the law this year! Wish me luck! Haha. 

So here's to 2022. May we all be diligent and have good dental health habits!