2022 check-in: Hello, spring!

I promised to return a few days later. And then days turned into weeks turned into months and now here we are entering spring and the new year feels less...new. 

It's been an eventful start to 2022. I sold two houses and settled into my Director-level role/celebrated my three-year anniversary with work (becoming vested and reaching a personal milestone to stay at least three years). We seem to have finally turned a corner with Covid (settling fully into a hybrid work environment), and the two years of absent festivals returned with a vengeance. Mardi Gras did not disappoint (spice up your mardi gras FTW), and I so enjoyed the Ole Metry St. Pat's parade last weekend. I eagerly await a new fence and maybe will get around to fixing the other Ida-related damages that linger. Too bad I can't do anything to fix the hike in insurance. Thanks, global warming!

I visited Las Cruces, NM for the first time to celebrate the life and legacy of Trav's grandmother and loved seeing a new landscape for the first time, in addition to seeing a dear friend. I'm glad I could be there for Travis and spend more time getting to know his extended family better. I traveled to Houston for a couple weekends, enjoyed having Nat and Wes in town, and welcomed nephew #3 into the world. He's simply the best. I spent a few nights at the new lake house (looking forward to a lot more weekends there this spring/summer). And I checked out a new church, St. Luke's, as a potential contender when I'm craving a communal experience and needing a respite from screen time and online worship. And kickball is back!

So much good. A lot of gratitude. 

Yet the world continues to feel hard. And messy. We're on the brink of WWIII with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a tragic humanitarian crisis. Inflation is raging, and people are sweating it at the gas pumps and the grocery store and the list goes on. There continues to be an uptick in crime, and at times it feels like we've lost our sense of community and everyone is living a "what's in it for me" mentality. 

So I'm striving to pour as much good as I can muster into those around me. My community continues to remain small and intimate, a byproduct of the pandemic and finally feeling that connection can truly be about quality over quantity (something I've always preached but haven't always felt). 

I didn't enter this year with concrete intentions. There was the usual read a bit more, social media a lot less, prioritize what's important, eat better, work out often, and seek more joy in the simplicity. I think I'm doing an OK job so far. Travel to Nashville, French Quarter and Jazz Fests, sunsets on the lake, my 40th birthday, and a trip to Grand Cayman call my name in the next 6 months. So much good. A lot of gratitude.

My hope is 2022, even three months in, is the year we each need it to be, in whatever way that is. Stay well.