I don't know about you, but 2021 absolutely flew by for me. It felt like as soon as one month came, the next was starting. It felt super hard in a lot of different ways, and as I think about 2021 compared to 2020, I definitely feel like I'm ending this year feeling much more exhausted. The year 2020 was completely insane; it caught us all off guard, and the whole thing felt very new and overwhelming and uncertain.
Now, it's still overwhelming at times, but it's way past being new, and I'm just kind of over all of it (it being life), specifically lately, people taking to social media with rants and outrage about this or that. Opinions aren't bad things, but just because you have an opinion and a phone doesn't mean you should immediately shared said opinion online. I digress.
Perhaps it's extremely cliche, but I decided to take at least January completely off of social media: no Facebook, no Instagram (those are really my only 2 social apps that I use since I deleted Twitter back in 2016, and I've never gotten on Snapchat or TikTok). So far 2022 has been so busy that I honestly haven't even had time to miss it. We are only six days in to the year, but hopefully we can find a groove soon. It's been crazy so far in our house!
A few years ago I realized that I don't like making new year resolutions. I think it's great that other people make them, but for me, thinking about setting a goal or resolving to do something over the course of a year is too long a timeframe. I prefer to set more immediate goals or think more specifically about realistic improvements. I've taken short breaks from Facebook and Instagram before, but never at the same time, and never for a full month, so I'm excited to start off the year and see where that takes me.
For the past few years I've shared 10 photos that shaped my year--a prompt that a print shop I follow emailed out one time. My list for 2020 ended up not getting on the blog (not surprised given my lack of blogging last year), but here is my post about 2019 if you are interested.
I'm including the full list below, mostly to make it easier for me to grab this time next year. As always, I had a hard time narrowing these down. There are so many photos I could choose for any of these, and I went back and forth about several, but in the end, these photos are a pretty good summary of the things that stand out to me from 2021. Feel free to use this list to make a summary of your own!
1. A photo from the year's greatest adventure, big or small
2. A photo of a significant moment
3. A photo of something you are thankful for
4. A favorite photo of you and the people you love
5. A photo of a morning you want to remember
6. A photo that represents joy
7. A photo of the people who shaped your year
8. A photo of you trying something new
9. A photo of something you are proud of
10. A photo you will want to pass down for generations to come
2021: 10 Photos that Shaped My Year
1. A photo from the year's greatest adventure, big or small
There were a lot of adventures to choose from--small ones, generally speaking--but the girl started kindergarten this year, which was a huge transition for all of us. It's been really great, and she is loving school, so I'm very thankful! (I wrote about this a little here.) This is a photo from school supply shopping, which felt so weird to me to be doing since I can remember doing that with my mom!
2. A photo of a significant moment
My grandpa Bernie passed away in September, and all of my cousins came from around the country to be there. It was a lovely reminder that no matter where life takes you or what happens, family always comes together. I'm very thankful for mine. We had a great time reminiscing and celebrating the life of my grandma and grandpa. I wrote about it here.
3. A photo of something you are thankful for
Jordan and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in May!
4. A favorite photo of you and the people you love
It's impossible to choose one favorite photo, but this one makes me smile because it was taken on our family trip to Tulsa in April. (I shared more pictures here.) It was our first trip as a family of five, and we had so much fun! Especially after the craziness of 2020, it was nice to get away and take some time to explore. It was also fun to revisit the place we went on our 1-year anniversary and think about all that has changed in the last 9 years.
5. A photo of a morning you want to remember
I think this morning gets a spot in this list every year. Strawberry picking at a local farm is one of our family highlights. The kids have fun, and so do we. This year they took appointments, so we had the greenhouse to ourselves for a half hour and got two bins of juicy, delicious strawberries that we ate on all week!
6. A photo that represents joy
This photo of J is a favorite of Jordan's and mine.
7. A photo of the people who shaped your year
Obviously the people who most shaped my year were these clowns. This year we did the same thing we did last year for new year's and it was so much fun. We streamed the London NYE countdown on YouTube, listened to Big Ben chime, watched the fireworks, and rang in the new year six hours early so we could all get to bed at the usual time. It's perfect because I get that new year feeling without the hangover of staying up until midnight.
8. A photo of you trying something new
2021 was the year of cookies! I made my very first sugar cookies/royal icing in December 2020, and I spent 2021 trying out new cookie cutters, icing colors, and decorations. These are the sets I made for R's and J's birthdays, and I'm proud of how they turned out. It's fun to try new things, and the cookies taste yummy too!
9. A photo of something you are proud of
I'm proud of my commitment to my marathon training over the summer, finishing the race, and I'm proud of the way I worked through some of my feelings post-race to ultimately end up in a good place about the entire experience. I'm still disappointed that race day wasn't "my day" in terms of feeling really good and having a spectacular race, but the real reason I wanted to run this had nothing to do with time or even having an amazing race. It had to do with setting a big goal, completing a huge bucket list item, and working really hard toward something that was just for me.
Transitioning to working at home full time, plus the lower social interaction in general due to the pandemic, has been a challenge for me. Marathon training gave me a reason to get out of the house, move my body, and keep my mental state in check when I started to freak out about the state of the world. I ended up running in total 525 miles in 2021!
10. A photo you will want to pass down for generations to come
We were lucky enough to see my grandparents several times this year. This is my mom's dad, not my grandpa who passed in September (my dad's dad). My grandparents stopped in OKC on their way to Texas for Thanksgiving and spent a day and a half with us. F and my grandpa really bonded and had such a sweet time together.
This is a really cool idea! I took January off all social media last year and it was the best. I’m doing it again this year and pushing for February, too. You won’t regret it.
That last picture is too good for words!
This is a beautiful collection of pictures. I love all the family pics and I especially love what you do for NYE!! I'm going to have to use that as M gets older and understands the excitement of the holiday (possibly next year, lol). Do the kids know it's London time? Or do they think it's midnight here when you do it?
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