1. What did you do in 2021 that you'd never done before?
Ha. WOW.1. Fired a realtor. (Adam says technically he did it, and I suppose that is fair.)
2. Tore apart the interior of a house to have piers put in the foundation.
3. Touched both sides of a canyon.
4. Turned 40.
5. Worked to stop caring so much about stupid things (like what other people think) and started trying to take up more space in the world (DO NOT cut in front of me in line, Old White Man, because 2021 Jen will NOT have it).
6. Moved to Kansas.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All three of us in our little family. We made it to the other side of some really crazy times and some really hard things.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I wouldn't say appalled but a person in my family disappointed me in a lot of ways this year.
14. Where did most your money go? Renovating the house (again, HA!), realtor commissions and closing costs, moving, restaurants while we lived in temporary housing, thankfully, OH SO THANKFULLY we got to spend some money traveling this year again.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? waiting. It felt like I was always waiting for something this year.
20. How did you spend Christmas? We drove home from Preston's wedding in Colorado and had 4 glorious days off that we spent organizing our house and garage and we had a really quiet day at home. We went to the movies to see Sing 2 and it was kind of a debacle, life in the Covid world continues to be ridiculous at times.
21. Did you fall in love in 2021? with Leawood, Kansas. Aka Mayberry.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Ted Lasso
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? probably not? Other than really any politician that I was unaware of in 2020 and know now, I probably hate them.
24. What was the best book you read? Atomic Habits
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Doja Cat
26. What did you want and get? a move out of Houston
27. What did you want and not get? the move to have taken place before school started
28. What was your favorite film of 2020? Sing 2 was awesome, In the Heights was also great
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 40 and we went to Arizona for 5 days. It was great, we got to climb Camelback, do the spa, cross two off the bucket list (Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon), spend time with my cousin and we ate and drank a lot of really great food, including a best meal at Mariposa in Sedona. Arizona just has a vibe that I dig so it was a very happy time.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not having the Delta or Omicron variants.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2021? having to actually buy business type wear
32. What kept you sane? the idea that we were GTFO Houston
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Covid continues to irritate me - how it's political, how one side is moronic in their feelings about how science works and how the other side continues to spew all this "we're ALL GOING TO DIE" rhetoric. It's so dumb.
34. Who did you miss? I miss our friends in Houston and moving so far away made me miss our friends in Dallas and Chicago quite a bit, too. It was weird to feel homesickness pangs but not really for a place, more the idea that we weren't quite home.
35. Who was the best new person you met? Pretty much everyone in my new department at work. Everyone is incredibly nice, supportive and we have a lot of fun while getting shit done.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021.
I think I learned how to assert myself a little bit more and I also realized that I had to demand solutions to being sad and depressed, that life wasn't going to get better unless I worked toward that.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make resolutions but I think, despite all the things, I did pretty darn well with my to do list. And the good thing is that I make my to do list with the expectation that 50% of the stuff might turn out to be epic fails.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Hmmm. I don't think so? Our neighbor in Houston had a baby but that's about all I can think of.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No funerals that I attended this year so that is a small win. We had a close family friend pass away but that's all I can think of.
5. What countries did you visit? COVID IS STUPID. But I'm booked for two trips in 22 and I WILL BE GOING unless the world falls apart or something stupid.
6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you didn't have in 2021? Pretty much the same answer as last year. "Normal" life back. And I don't mean that as much as I did then in the nostalgic "life before Covid" sense but more so in terms of us finding our routine and balance here in KS. I feel like 21 was one long year of crazy.
7. What dates from 2021 will be etched upon your memory, and why? September 23rd. We drove from Houston to Wichita, KS. Didn't quite make it all the way but it was 3/4 of a really long journey that was a really long time coming.
8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? { 2021 answer: Not being admitted to a mental hospital. Seriously. } 2022 answer: Same (ha!) but also surviving. It felt like a long slog of a year due to all of the things we had going on as a family. Every day was just a lot to get through.
9. What was your biggest failure? It's complicated but it's all related to the way things ended at my job in Houston. I shouldn't classify it as a failure, it's more just a sad state of affairs that things wound up the way they did. Instead of failure, I think I'm landing on "crummiest thing" of the year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Hmmm. I don't think so? Our neighbor in Houston had a baby but that's about all I can think of.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No funerals that I attended this year so that is a small win. We had a close family friend pass away but that's all I can think of.
5. What countries did you visit? COVID IS STUPID. But I'm booked for two trips in 22 and I WILL BE GOING unless the world falls apart or something stupid.
6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you didn't have in 2021? Pretty much the same answer as last year. "Normal" life back. And I don't mean that as much as I did then in the nostalgic "life before Covid" sense but more so in terms of us finding our routine and balance here in KS. I feel like 21 was one long year of crazy.
7. What dates from 2021 will be etched upon your memory, and why? September 23rd. We drove from Houston to Wichita, KS. Didn't quite make it all the way but it was 3/4 of a really long journey that was a really long time coming.
8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? { 2021 answer: Not being admitted to a mental hospital. Seriously. } 2022 answer: Same (ha!) but also surviving. It felt like a long slog of a year due to all of the things we had going on as a family. Every day was just a lot to get through.
9. What was your biggest failure? It's complicated but it's all related to the way things ended at my job in Houston. I shouldn't classify it as a failure, it's more just a sad state of affairs that things wound up the way they did. Instead of failure, I think I'm landing on "crummiest thing" of the year.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All three of us in our little family. We made it to the other side of some really crazy times and some really hard things.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I wouldn't say appalled but a person in my family disappointed me in a lot of ways this year.
14. Where did most your money go? Renovating the house (again, HA!), realtor commissions and closing costs, moving, restaurants while we lived in temporary housing, thankfully, OH SO THANKFULLY we got to spend some money traveling this year again.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? MOVING OUT OF HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hawaii. MOVING OUT OF HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
16. What song will always remind you of 2021? Pretty much anything by Doja Cat, Levitating by Dua Lipa
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
16. What song will always remind you of 2021? Pretty much anything by Doja Cat, Levitating by Dua Lipa
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) FIVE MILLION TIMES HAPPIER. Seriously. Moving and subsequently turning 40 and losing a lot of the ability to give a fuck has been amazing for my mental wellbeing. Also not working in a toxic hellhole with actual terrible people helps a lot. Midwest Nice People make it really hard to be sad.
b) a little thinner (thank goodness) but not by much. Dammit. Ooops. Will remedy this in 2022.
c) richer, thankfully. But about to spend all the monies ripping apart our master suite.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? exercised. I'm such a bitch without endorphins and I consistently suck ass at remembering that when life gets hard.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? exercised. I'm such a bitch without endorphins and I consistently suck ass at remembering that when life gets hard.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? waiting. It felt like I was always waiting for something this year.
20. How did you spend Christmas? We drove home from Preston's wedding in Colorado and had 4 glorious days off that we spent organizing our house and garage and we had a really quiet day at home. We went to the movies to see Sing 2 and it was kind of a debacle, life in the Covid world continues to be ridiculous at times.
21. Did you fall in love in 2021? with Leawood, Kansas. Aka Mayberry.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Ted Lasso
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? probably not? Other than really any politician that I was unaware of in 2020 and know now, I probably hate them.
24. What was the best book you read? Atomic Habits
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Doja Cat
26. What did you want and get? a move out of Houston
27. What did you want and not get? the move to have taken place before school started
28. What was your favorite film of 2020? Sing 2 was awesome, In the Heights was also great
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 40 and we went to Arizona for 5 days. It was great, we got to climb Camelback, do the spa, cross two off the bucket list (Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon), spend time with my cousin and we ate and drank a lot of really great food, including a best meal at Mariposa in Sedona. Arizona just has a vibe that I dig so it was a very happy time.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not having the Delta or Omicron variants.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2021? having to actually buy business type wear
32. What kept you sane? the idea that we were GTFO Houston
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Covid continues to irritate me - how it's political, how one side is moronic in their feelings about how science works and how the other side continues to spew all this "we're ALL GOING TO DIE" rhetoric. It's so dumb.
34. Who did you miss? I miss our friends in Houston and moving so far away made me miss our friends in Dallas and Chicago quite a bit, too. It was weird to feel homesickness pangs but not really for a place, more the idea that we weren't quite home.
35. Who was the best new person you met? Pretty much everyone in my new department at work. Everyone is incredibly nice, supportive and we have a lot of fun while getting shit done.
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021.
I think I learned how to assert myself a little bit more and I also realized that I had to demand solutions to being sad and depressed, that life wasn't going to get better unless I worked toward that.
Jen, reading this, I can feel your happiness coming through. I wish we were closer in proximity, but 'm so glad you made it to a good place physically and mentally. May 2022 continue on that upward trajectory.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Kansas! Let me know if you need any recommendations. :-)
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