2022: A Look Back

It's hard to believe, but here we are at the end of another year. 2022 was not great. Were there awesome, happy moments? Of course. But overall, I really struggled. Under the weight of endless worries and responsibilities. Never feeling like I was doing enough. Always feeling like I was letting people down. In so many ways, I am fortunate and privileged, and I don't want anyone to think that by sharing when things aren't amazing, I'm looking for sympathy, because I'm not. I just think it's important to acknowledge that life is more than the perfect highlight reel most people see. So my real life share is that this year was really hard for me.

That being said, it was incredibly cathartic for me to go back through the year and revisit all the happy times that too often felt buried under the not-so-good times.

We were very lucky to take several trips throughout the year, and they were each incredible in their own way. Our favorite, though, was the rafting trip on the Colorado River. Our other trips included: WDW in January and again in April; a Disney Cruise in April and another in September; Puerto Rico in May; Dominican Republic in June; Las Vegas in July before the river trip and California in August after the river trip; a day trip to NYC in September; and a road trip to round out the year.

We also went to some fun events throughout the year: a Harry Potter exhibit; two Steven Page concerts; a Miami Marlins game; a New York Islanders game; a St. Louis Cardinals game; a Lantern Fest; a Chinese Lantern Festival; The Office Experience; Columbus Zoo Wildlights; and a Detroit Red Wings game. My best friend Dan also visited for a week during the summer and we went to lots of historical things together.

As for the aforementioned not-so-great things, C and I both got COVID over the summer and then we had to cancel trips to Toronto, Denver, Chicago, and Austin this fall. The biggest challenge of course...all that my mom went through this year, coupled with everything that followed when she was finally discharged from the hospital. This continues to be something we deal with every day.

When I was deciding what pictures to include in this post, I decided to choose a few of my favorite selfies and a few of my favorite travel photos to remind myself of the good times in 2022. I don't know how I would have gotten through this year without C; he is a great partner when things are going well, and an even greater one when things are not!

What a year; let's hope 2023 is filled with more joy and happiness than despair and grief! We definitely have some things we are looking forward to over the next twelve months, including trips to places we've been anticipating for a long time, as well as something wonderful tomorrow to kick off the new year!

Happy Tails to you!

Life Lately December 2022

As months go, December was fine. As usual, school was a bit crazy because everyone is excited about winter break and just counting down the days, myself included. We cancelled yet another trip because my mom was having a hard time and I didn't want to leave her, and the timing turned out to be a blessing in disguise because both C and I ended up being very sick, so traveling would not have been fun whatsoever.

S1 and I were supposed to go to an outdoor Harry Potter exhibit and we were assured that it would not be closed/cancelled due to weather conditions. She drove 90 minutes and I drove an hour, through cold, rainy, absolutely miserable weather, and guess what? It ended up being cancelled due to flooding! At least we got to have dinner together, but still very disappointing and frustrating!

We went to two holiday concerts, the first of which was with framily beyond fabulous, while the second was at the Kennedy Center, and was also very entertaining. At school, the teachers were placed on teams to complete different challenges, and since our mascot is a bear, all of the teams were named after different types of bears. I was pretty pleased to be placed on the Pooh Bear team, and even thought my team didn't even come close to winning, it was fun, mostly because one of my best friends kidnapped the large Pooh Bear I brought to school and I had to repeatedly track him down! My favorite day at school this month was when therapy dogs visited for the day and teachers were encouraged to spend time with them; I took full advantage of their visit. Outside of school, we went to The Office Experience and I finished my postcard challenge before we took a short road trip after Christmas.

Compared with the previous three months, December was definitely an improvement! Hoping this trend continues into January!

another mileage milestone for my car

my nephew Kazak

my nephew Max

Happy Tails to you!

28 Years!

For our anniversary this year, we decided to take a short road trip to see a couple of hockey games. B2 kindly offered to stay with my mom to care for her so we could get away for a few days and we appreciate it so much!

We left on December 27 and drove to Columbus; as I've already shared, the Blue Jackets game was cancelled and we went to the Columbus Zoo Wildlights instead. On December 28, we drove to Chicago, and spent three days relaxing and visiting places we loved when we lived there. On our anniversary - today, New Year's Eve, we drove to Toledo, checked into our hotel, grabbed lunch, and then drove to Detroit for the Red Wings game.

One happy coincidence? Nine years ago, on our anniversary in 2013, we were also in Detroit to watch the Red Wings! It was the alumni game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the teams were actually playing in the Winter Classic the next day, and both games were super fun. This year's game was against the Ottawa Senators and you may recall that we've been to 38 NHL arenas and Little Caesars Arena in Detroit is our absolute number one choice in terms of the best arenas in the league. We had aa awesome time at the game and continue to be so impressed with this arena! The Red Wings won 4-2 and despite some New Year's Eve traffic and congestion, we were able to get out Detroit pretty easily after the game. We drove back to Toledo and will be heading home early tomorrow.

What a great little getaway to celebrate 28 years of marriage with two of our favorite things: hockey and road trips! I'm so grateful for C every single day - for the million little things he does to make our life magical, for planning amazing trips, and for making me laugh on even the most difficult of days. I read a quote once about happy marriages being the result of both people thinking they got the better end of the deal.

I know I definitely did.

Cheers to the next 28 years!

December 31, 2013
Detroit

December 31, 2022
Detroit

Happy Tails to you!