Another year has come and gone, and the world is still as unpredictable as ever. At this point not testing positive for Covid or one of its variants is like avoiding the ghosts coming at you in Pac-Man (okay now I’m really starting to show my age).
2021 was a lot of things – it had its triumphs and challenges. Reflecting back to 2021- I kicked off the year visiting one of my best friends in San Francisco and made a weekend trip to Carmel. I enjoyed many sunny days in Santa Barbara, but also got to experience the rare sighting of snow when Evan and I took a trip to Seattle in February. In March, we celebrated Comet the Corgi’s first birthday, complete with dog-friendly cupcakes, party hats, and neighborhood pup friends. Of course, Evan and I celebrated our birthdays too with a conjoint picnic get-together with friends at the Santa Barbara Mission. We popped the champagne (Comet sneaked some of my mimosa), ate lots of yummy charcuterie board items (prepared by the amazing @andeemationcooking) and sipped on wine in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone. We finished out our time in Santa Barbara hanging out with friends, enjoying the best Ramen at Santa Barbara Craft Ramen, soaking up the sunshine at the beach, and my getting PRK eye surgery so I could finally see things clearly (p.s. totally worth it and not as scary as one might think). Once June arrived, I accepted a job offer as a college counselor at Utah Valley University, specifically working with first-years. So we moved out to Utah (just outside Salt Lake City County) and upgraded our apartment and standard of living BIG time. In Utah, we have enjoyed many adventures like boating around Pineview Reservoir for the Fourth, excursions to Thanksgiving Point’s Ashton Gardens, Oktoberfest, camping and strolling around Park City, fall foliage drives through the Wasatch Mountains, murder mystery and wine and cheese parties at our friend’s house in Ogden, Lagoon Amusement Park for Frightmares, bar hopping in Salt Lake City (but probably won’t do this again for awhile since it was around the time I got Covid), holiday light sight seeing at Utah’s Hogle Zoo, ice skating at the Gallivan Center, and snowshoeing in the mountains. Finally, we finished off 2021 visiting family and friends in our home town, South Lake Tahoe, where we received record breaking snow coverage (over 200″)… that was an experience!
Looking back on it, 2021 was a pretty good year, with some bumps in the road (which is normal- life isn’t perfect). Nonetheless, I have my goals and plans for 2022. In the next month I will be switching managers at the department I work at, where I will be advising for the College of Humanities and Social Science (aligning more with my background in Communication and Psychology). I’ll be attending a work retreat in February and the Utah Advising Association Conference in May. Work-wise, I have other plans moving forward in hopes of obtaining either an academic management type of role or college clinical position, which might bring us out of state (but we shall see how things unfold – stay tuned). We still want to enjoy all the things Utah has to offer though, such as the Midway Ice Castles in January/February and seeing the flowers bloom in the Spring at Thanksgiving Point.
In terms of travel for 2022, we are planning to go to Tulum/Cancun in March, but with recent events in the news, we are going to decide whether to send it or can it in the next month. If we don’t go to Mexico, then we have other trip destinations in mind: New Orleans, The Outer Banks, Charleston, Nantucket/Martha’s Vineyard, Miami or Tampa, or San Diego. Regardless, I plan to be on a beach somewhere with a spicy margarita in hand. What’s more, since Evan and I are at the age where more friends are getting married, we actually have a good amount of weddings on the books so far:
May - Tahoe for Ali's reception June - Oahu, Hawaii for Amber's wedding. I am so excited to be a bridesmaid! August - Park City, Utah for Caroline and Jesse's wedding September - Minneapolis, Minnesota for Koda's wedding October - Tahoe for Lauren and Elliott's reception
I’m sure there will be a few more wedding invitations as well, so there is a good chance there will be other weddings on the books this year/next!
As you can see, Evan and I have lots to look forward to in 2022. Ps we’re in demand for a dog sitter with all this travel. Of course, the thing I wish for most is happiness and health as we move into a new year. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22!
