Best of 2022 | A Month-by-Month Recap

Putting together my yearly recap is a labor of love. It involves reading through my blog posts from the previous year to remember what I was doing and how I was feeling, as well as sourcing images and putting them into a collage. I’ve been working on this post for about a week now (woof) and it’s a solid 2,500 words. You’re welcome, friends. What a year 2022 was!

JANUARY

• I started off my annual goal of going for a 5K walk in a local park every month with a bang by going for a long walk with my mom and the dogs on Martin Luther King Jr. day. The dogs had fun and so did we!
• I had a terrible anxiety episode on a Friday night when I couldn’t get ahold of my mom for 12 hours. We talk every day on the phone and we hadn’t talked that day, so of course, I imagined the worst-case scenarios. I didn’t sleep at all that night and couldn’t shut my mind off for anything. She was fine, just went to bed early. But it took me a while to come down from that episode, and I really do think it impacted me for months afterward.
• I had lots of family time this weekend, as my brother, nephew, and I spent almost every Saturday and Sunday at my mom’s house to watch the playoff games.
• Bri texted me to say she had been thinking about this podcast idea I talked to her about at the end of 2021 and she wanted to do it. AHH. I was excited to make it happen but also really nervous. It felt like such a big undertaking, starting a podcast, and I was scared I didn’t have what it took. We had a few brainstorming sessions this month, going through what we wanted our podcast to look like, figuring out the name, and coming up with episode ideas.
• On the last day of January, my promotion was officially announced to my team. This was my last month of being a content writer!

FEBRUARY

• I kicked off February by starting my new job as content team manager, and went through some growing pains that first month. It was weird to not be as busy as I used to be! And I had this weird anxiety that I could be fired at any moment because I couldn’t bring tangible value to my role the way I used to be able to (“I’m writing X amount of pages every month!”)
• The Winter Olympics were fun to watch, mostly to see Nathen Chen (figure skating) and Chloe Kim (snowboarding) win their gold medals. But it was also heartbreaking to witness the downfall of some athletes who had trained so long and so hard for this moment.
• I bought a new coffee table and it was super easy to put together. I love it so, so much. It’s the perfect size for my living room!
• We surprised Mikaela with a mini celebration during our February book club, as she was due to give birth a few weeks after our meeting. I brought vegan, gluten-free cupcakes for her and we gave her a gift card.
• Russia declared war on Ukraine, and it was horrifying and so sad to see the images and stories coming out of Ukraine. It’s devastating that the war is still raging even now, but the Ukrainian people are fighting like hell to keep their country.

MARCH

• I started the month with a long weekend, dogsitting Chip and Lucy. It was my first time dogsitting both of them at once, and we had a lovely time together! There were lots of snuggles on the couch, lots of reading time, and lots of outside time.
• My mom woke up one morning to find a rather large lump on her chest. Luckily, she had a doctor’s appointment the next day and while her doctor wasn’t too concerned, he scheduled a breast ultrasound for later that week just to be cautious. Thankfully, it was only a cyst but boy did I worry myself silly for the many days leading up to the appointment. Afterward, we celebrated by getting brunch at The Library.
• My best friend Mikaela welcomed a sweet baby girl, Eleni Kim, on March 21st. She was so tiny when she was born!
• I had to have a mole on my back fully removed as it came back pre-cancerous. It wasn’t a huge deal, but it did require stitches so my mom had to help me change the bandage every few days as it was in an area of my body I couldn’t reach. I was very glad to get the stitches removed after 10 days!
• I bought a sit/stand desk! And I hired someone from TaskRabbit to put it together for me, which was an A+ decision. I hate putting furniture together, and it was nice to be able to pawn that work off to someone else who does enjoy it. The new desk takes up so much less space in my apartment and makes my living room feel so much bigger.

APRIL

• Bri and I recorded our first-ever podcast episode in April. We recorded the intro episode, and we had such a fun time. We actually recorded the intro 5 or 6 times, but ended up releasing our first take since it was the most natural.
• I went back to therapy. After my intake session, I wasn’t sure if this therapist was the right one for me but I decided to give it a few sessions before deciding anything. Our first official session was so healing and helpful, and I realized right away that I had found someone good.
• We had some fun memory-making days with the dogs! Early in the month, we all went to the SPCA 3K Pet Walk and had a great time walking around and enjoying all the doggos. Then, we did a day trip together where we all went out to lunch (the dogs are not great at restaurants: Chip barked ferociously every time our server came by, sigh) and then took the dogs to a dog ice cream parlor for a fun treat. While there, I saw a cat on a leash!
• We had book club at Bri’s house where we did a frozen pizza taste test. The verdict for me: Screamin’ Sicilian frozen pizza is amazing. Mikaela also came to book club and brought baby Eleni who was passed around for snuggles.
• I went out to brunch on Easter with my mom and stepdad. We had mimosas and ate a decent meal. (It wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was fine.) It was fun to get dressed up, though, and enjoy some time with them!

MAY

• I kicked off the month by going to a u-pick flower farm with Amber. There were rows and rows and rows of wildflowers and sunflowers that we could pick and add to our cups to take home.
• I celebrated Mother’s Day with a delicious brunch with my mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, and my nephews.
• I went back to the office to work for one day. It was fun to hug a whole bunch of people I haven’t seen in-person for two years. I also went out to lunch with a few coworkers and then enjoyed happy hour with more coworkers after work.
• Mikaela and I were able to resume our writing dates! She brought Eleni with her, and I was more than happy to snuggle a sleepy newborn while I worked on my writing project.
• I chopped off 10 or so inches of my hair, going back to a “lob” for the first time in many years. It was fun to do something different with my hair, although I think I prefer it long.

JUNE

• We took Chip and Lucy to the dog beach. It was very cute to watch them swim in the ocean for the first time, although they were a bit unsettled by all the big dogs around them!
• My mom and I spent a week in Canada and New York, exploring Toronto, both sides of Niagara Falls, and the sweet town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
• I got Covid. I managed to make it two years and three months without ever getting brought down by this nasty disease, but it happened and it was very unpleasant.
• Roe v Wade was overturned, in a Supreme Court decision that makes no sense and had has disastrous effects to so many women already. This is a horrifying reality to live in.
• My company announced that they were giving us unlimited PTO. What a relief to not have to worry about “saving up” for PTO when I want to take time off.

JULY

• My mom got Covid (likely from me) and I had a lot of anxiety about her. We had to postpone all of her birthday celebrations and then my stepdad got Covid and my brother got it, too, and it was just a month of sickness and sadness.
• I had an emergency therapy appointment because I was not handling my mom’s Covid diagnosis well, and cried a lot. I don’t normally cry in therapy, but this was really restorative and what I needed.
• Bri and I finished recording all of our podcast episodes for season 1! I had so much fun recording with her, way more fun than I thought I would. (This is not a diss on Bri; I always have fun with her! It’s more that I’m not someone who likes to talk a lot, or so I thought, so I wasn’t sure how I would take to being behind the microphone.)
• The girls’ big birthday gift, a new cat tower, arrived and they immediately took to using it, which I was surprised about. They still love this cat tower a lot, although Lila never uses the hammocks, which was the sole reason I bought this cat tower, ha.
• I scheduled my first date since my breakup, only to have the guy cancel on me the day of the date. Sigh.

AUGUST

• We launched our podcast into the world this month! The Friendship Paradox has been a delight to release and the reception has been nothing short of fantastic. Our listenership is low right now, but just the fact that we have nearly a hundred people listening to every episode feels crazy!
• Biden announced his student loan forgiveness program that would forgive all of my student loan debt and ensure I don’t have to think about student loans ever again! (Of course, Republicans are doing all they can to quash this program, but I am holding out lots of hope that they won’t succeed.)
• I went through some major bouts of loneliness this month (and previous months, honestly) and things felt really hard for a long time.
• I spent a weekend with Chip and Lucy where we did our usual: snuggling on the couch together while I read my book and they snoozed.
• Bri and I started recording podcast episodes for season 2, which had a much different feel than season 1 but were still really fun to record!

SEPTEMBER

• I kicked off the month with a fun Labor Day getaway with two of my best friends, Bri and Amber. We spent three days at a resort in Orlando where we floated in the resort’s lazy river, went mini-golfing, went to a cat cafe, and took a sunset airboat ride.
• I got injured for the first time all year on said vacation, after tripping down a few flights of stairs at our condo. I sprained my big toe and it hurt like hell for a few days.
• The NFL football season started! It was so good to have Football Sundays with the fam back in my life.
• At the end of the month, I evacuated with my mom, my stepdad, my fur-siblings, and my two cats when we thought Hurricane Ian would be coming directly for the Tampa Bay area. We snagged a last-minute Airbnb in Ft. Lauderdale, and we’re very grateful when the hurricane took a turn south and missed our area completely.

OCTOBER

• We launched season 2 of our podcast!
• My mom’s car needed a very costly repair ($5,000) so she opted to get a new car instead. Unfortunately, the car she bought had to be ordered and delivered so she was car-less for nearly a month. I got to be her Uber driver for that time, shuttling her to appointments and dinners out.
• I did a fun bathroom refresh where I changed out the shower curtain and rugs, got new bath sheets (which are so luxurious), and added cute lil Command hooks for my towels right outside the shower stall.
• I got my flu shot and bivalent Covid boosters at the same time on a Friday afternoon, and was very pleased that my only symptom was a sore arm.
• I bought lots of fun fall decor for my apartment, my first time ever decorating my apartment for fall!
• I experienced lots and lots of anxiety spirals and spent a lot of time in my head, worrying about endless scenarios.
• I spent Halloween at my mom’s house where I dressed up like a cat to pass out candy. We had hardly any trick-or-treaters, though!

NOVEMBER

• I did NaBloPoMo 2022 and published 30 blog posts in 30 days! We had a really great, big group of bloggers join in this year, which was a lot of fun. (And a lot to keep up with!)
• My mom and I attended Running of the Wieners with Chip and Lucy, and Chip got 2nd place overall! We’ve never had a dog even win in their heat, much less make it to the finals and win, so it was so very exciting.
• I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. My stepdad cooked dinner and it was delicious!
• My mom and I went on our first cruise since 2019. We rode a hot air balloon and sipped cocktails poolside in the Bahamas, jumped into a waterfall and tubed down a river in Jamaica, and painted pottery in Haiti.
• I turned 35! We were in the Bahamas on my birthday, and it was a lovely way to spend a birthday.

DECEMBER

• I participated in San’s Secret Santa Mug Swap and was delighted by the mug and extra goodies that my Secret Santa, Anne, sent to me.
• I spent a fun Saturday with friends: a writing date with Mikaela, lunch and making gingerbread houses with coworkers, and a dinner date with Amber.
• I was shocked and saddened by tWitch dying by suicide. I am still trying to process this loss, and my heart is broken for his wife, his kids, and everyone who was impacted by his life.
• I enjoyed a lovely Christmas with my family: we went to a candelight Christmas Eve service at a nearby church, had our annual steakhouse Christmas Eve dinner, and had a lovely Christmas Day at home.
• I ended the year by having coffee with Amber and talking about our goals for 2023.