New Year's Eve :: 2022 in Pictures

I saw a neat idea today to share "A Year in Review" through pictures – basically one picture from each month that represents that month. Here goes...

January :: We saw our first death in our immediate family when my brother-in-law Paul died. He had been battling heart issues and other health problems at the end of 2021 and just couldn't go on. He was the sweetest. We had many adventures over the years and we all miss him!

February :: Jim and I joined a group of about 20 friends and went down to Milwaukee for the weekend to see a up-and-coming country artist named Cody Johnson. Later in the year he won an award for best country video so I guess we were onto something. Mainly, it represents a year of getting to some live music and entertainment from Marshall Tucker Band and The Who to The River Dance, Pentatonix, and Book of Mormon.

March :: My mom went out to Phoenix to stay with Rayna after Paul's funeral. I had the privilege of going out there to spend a little time and be mom's much-needed travel companion on the flight back. Later in the month, we celebrated Mom's 90th birthday. She's doing pretty amazing.

April :: After 2 years of successfully dodging the 'rona, the virus caught up with me in late April. While it was a mild case, it still forced me (well, us) to miss two weddings of our friends' children. Darn COVID. I had the bouts of tiredness for a few weeks after, but otherwise it wasn't terrible. We're all caught up on all shots and boosters for that.

May :: Rising inflation was most evident in gas prices but we quickly noticed it in groceries and everything else. Thankfully, gas didn't reach $5 a gallon here. But it's still been quite a few years since we've seen it this high. Yikes.

June :: After 823 days of working at home, we returned to the office in June. We have a permanent hybrid schedule of working at home Mondays and Fridays and in the office Tuesday through Thursday. The exciting part, besides seeing coworkers I missed, was the return to golf league at SentryWorld. Jim golfed in a league in town so we both definitely got a lot of swings in this summer!

July :: We celebrated 20 years of wedded bliss and later in July, Casey and his fiancee Emily visited from Portland so we could see their wedding venue (and take in a Twins game). They'll be married this September over by the Durand-Lake Pepin neck of the woods in Wisconsin. Exciting!

August :: The month was basically booked with senior photo sessions. I got spoiled and got to sit behind the wheel of some awesome cars – including this Mustang and a replica of the General Lee.

September :: Nothing can really top seeing a president in person. For work, I attended a marketing conference in Boston and heard some amazing speakers, including Jane Goodall and Viola Davis in addition to Barack Obama. Pretty amazing!

October :: Per usual, one of the highlights of autumn is my sister weekend – this time up by the Spooner area. We can't take for granted how blessed we are that all 7 of us can take the time off – and actually want to spend it with family!

November :: In a word, the month was heart-breaking. First dealing with the sudden death of my long-time friend Cindy, then the next week losing my Aunt Gwen, then the following week losing Jim's mom the week of Thanksgiving. It made for some quiet holidays. But we have been so blessed beyond measure with the support of friends and family.

December :: Yes, we've had a ton of ice and snow already. But this picture also represents how helpful our neighbors (and many others) have been while Jim recovers from his two knee surgeries. He had the left one replaced in October and the right one in December.

He's doing well and we were both able to celebrate New Year's Eve singing in the guitar choir at Rudolph church and sing (and eat and laugh and whatever) with the guys for a few hours afterward, too. It was the type of fun, uplifting evening we needed! 

Here's to a year of many more blessings than tears in 2023. Happy New Year!