2022 Year in Review

This year is hard to sum up, a lot of it felt stagnant, like I wasn’t making a ton of progress on anything. But I also know that’s not true, I know I met some goals this year. Or made good progress on them at any rate.

2021 Goals Reflections

Travel Goals

I did see my grandparents this year, but not because I got to Ireland, but because my grandparents came over for their formerly usual annual visit. It was great to see them, although I didn’t get to see any of my other extended family.
Quarterly city visits: I think I definitely did meet this. I was in Guelph and Toronto last New Year’s, Winnipeg in May, Minneapolis in June, and then quite unexpectedly Toronto/Mississauga for a conference in November. It was really good for me and so long as I live where I do I will continue this.
I did not go to the Calgary Stampede, I looked into it and it is a much more expensive trip than I ever imagined and there are many other trips I would rather do for that amount of money.

Financial Goals

I did not do very well with my financial goals. I started off very strong, I had my credit card balance down to $800 by May, and then proceeded to rack it right back up again. I also had a $1000 emergency fund, but then an emergency came up and I used it. I’ve been slowly building that back up and am nearly half way there again.

I did not start a sinking fund at all, but it is a huge priority for me this year.

I also did not get anywhere with my moving fund, however (!) I did get CAA, and have yet to use it lol.

Food/exercise

I really found my groove with intuitive eating and exercise especially over the summer. I’m struggling a bit to bring it into winter and busier times at work, but I’m feeling rejuvenated with the new year and one of my most intense projects coming to an end finally, hopefully by February.

I also did Dry January, I think I may have had one glass of wine during the month, but I can’t quite remember. I don’t know if I need Dry January, but I do like to make sure that I can still abstain. I think that kind of check in is important.

Apartment

I also did not do superbly on this front either. I did not get a kitchen island, replacement curtains for over the kitchen window, a folding table for crafting, nor a daybed/spare bed for my second bedroom.

I did however, get matching curtains for the living room AND hemmed them. I think that’s superb.

I haven’t done anything with my second bedroom, I don’t use it really at all anymore now that we are back in the office and I don’t really know what to do with it. I’m really not sure I want a roommate, but the rent money could really help speed up my financial goals. But I love living alone.

Fun/Weird

The dating apps goal made me actually laugh out loud. I set a goal to message every match. But I haven’t been on a dating app at all this year. Well, I was for about a week in the spring, but I started thinking about how much I hated how I was thinking about the men I was coming across. The things I was thinking about them, how judgmental I was being. So I deleted them, and haven’t missed them. I do currently have Tinder downloaded to my phone but have not made a profile and I can’t decide if I want to or not.
I did improve my finishing this year for needlepoint, I did not finish any ornaments but I will be this winter and a stand up.

I was also successful at not buying any canvases and only stitching my stash.

Not Goals Related Content

2022 was also a really great year socially? friendship-wise? I’m not sure exactly how to put it, but I think it takes about a year of living somewhere to for a social group and really settle in. Tinx also says this so I think I’m on to something. I have made a truly excellent friend, someone I think I will be friends with for the rest of my life and have a really solid social circle now. It has made that tiny town so much more fun and enjoyable.

This was one of the best days of the year. I don’t remember what day it was anymore, but it was the very first day we were back in the office full-time. My first day working in the office after nearly 16 months working there. It was so hot, I think 40 or 41 degrees plus insane humidity (40C is 104F). We were fine on the first floor, the air conditioner is much stronger down there, but the third floor staff were melting. It was so hot the power went out. Because the power was out we all got sent home, but three of us went to the beach. It was the best day. From the beach we went back to our houses, rounded up some leftovers and all met back up to eat and watch the storm roll in. It was perfect.

One of my city weekends was to Winnipeg which was extra special to me because that’s where my parents lived when I was born. The first place they lived after they immigrated. We moved again when I was a baby so I don’t remember it, but they really liked it and I had always wanted to see it. I also went out to Steinbach and found the farm they lived on. Apparently it’s totally different now, which makes sense it’s been like 26/27 years, but it was still cool to see. It was also my first time staying in a fancier hotel which was also very nice.

In June I went to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a concert. It still blows my mind that I can be in another country’s major city before I can get to Toronto or Ottawa but I really like Minneapolis and it was so wonderful to go to a concert again after the pandemic. I saw Aly and AJ, their last album was one that I think will be a classic and they are also kind of a nostalgia act from their Disney days. I also shouldn’t have gotten to see this show as it was supposed to be in April, the weekend of a massive snowstorm in Northern Ontario. Originally, I didn’t buy tickets knowing that it was going to be snowstorm season, but because AJ and some of the crew got COVID they had to post-pone a couple shows, including Minneapolis and it got rescheduled for June. A very safe time for a road trip.

In September I went to Montreal with on of my best friends from undergrad. I had never been to Montreal despite being a teenager just a few hours away from it. I had a great time, ate some great food, and just enjoyed being in a city. It also really cemented for me that I need to learn French.

2022 was, in a way, a year of rest. I stayed in one job (until the very end), stayed in one apartment, one town. I allowed myself to settle in to working in public health, to an office job, to not being a student, to having a bit more money. Really, into being an adult. I know there has been a lot of discourse in the millennial age about “adulting”, but there is a difference I think between “adulting” and being an adult. Adulting is when we were trying to figure it out, being an adult is having, at least the bare minimum figured out. No one has it all figured out, but I do feel like I figured a bit more of it out this year.

Have a fun and safe New Year’s Eve!

Laura