2022 Reflection

Hello Friends,

It's been a busy year, but obviously not a busy blogging year! The biggest time constraint for me in 2022 was that I spent a total of six months in evening classes 3 nights per week in order to become a real estate broker, and then I completed 90 hours of post-licensing courses immediately after passing the State exam in May. It didn't leave time for much else. I have some goals for 2023 that I will lay out in a later post, but I wanted to share a few highlights from this year.

- Otis's 10th birthday 

- Cam's tonsillectomy

- Brian's 40th birthday weekend in Asheville

- First year of Kindergarten complete; walked to school every single morning

- Promotion to "Chief of Staff" & Duke Star interview

- T-ball, swim team, and ice skating for Cam

- Became a real estate broker; 175 hours of classes + 4 exams over 6 months of the year

- Alaska in June; Seattle in July; Wrightsville Beach in August; Myrtle Beach in September; Abingdon, Virginia in November

- Articles Club!

- Weekly walks with Erin

- NC State Fair

- 100+ Peloton rides

- Tubing on Lake James

- Cam's 7th birthday

- Clearing the woods

- White Lotus, of course! My favorite show of the year.

- Our 10 year wedding anniversary :)

As I look back over the past twelve months, it's been a fun year. Of course it's had its challenges too. 

Here are some things that didn't happen this year:

- Landscaping, mulching, home improvements...we did a lot in 2021 and decided to hold off on most home improvement projects this year, with the exception of clearing the woods.

- Reading didn't happen. I only read 2-3 books this year. The one that sticks out the most is "Into Thin Air" which I really enjoyed!

- Social media didn't happen (year two). Yay! Hope to keep going on this permanently, of course.

- Going to church didn't happen the second half of the year. It's too much to discuss on the blog, but this has been a difficult year emotionally and I just didn't have it in me to attend church each week, although I did watch online every Sunday. 

- Making an effort didn't happen.  I don't know better words to use for this one, but "making an effort" seems fitting, ha! I have let go in many ways for many reasons; some good, some not so good. Dressing up for the office, wearing makeup, keeping my hair blonde, planning hikes or activities for Cam in order to limit screen time, sending gifts/cards/etc to friends, cooking dinner every weeknight.  I don't want to minimize the things I do do. Don't get me wrong, I do a lot.  But these are just some areas where I feel that time and energy constraints got the best of me this year and I wasn't on top of everything the way I normally am.

I'm looking forward to 2023 and blogging in more detail about many of the things I mentioned above. I hope you all had a merry Christmas!

Kelly