Courtney's 2021

It's typical on New Year's to write a post reflecting on the past year. Although I have been mulling over all the thoughts and feelings on 2021 as a whole, I am opting to keep those thoughts internal for now, and I'm more motivated to document some of my personal experiences in this year-end review post. Read on for a bulleted list!

January

  • Went to the emergency room for what ended up being diagnosed as my first stomach ulcer. The cause seems to had been a perfect storm of naproxen (for back pain), triggering foods, and the stress from the January 6 insurrection.
  • Celebrated one year with our sweet kittens.

February

  • Hunkered down for the first winter storm of the year (10 inches of snow, if my memory serves me).
  • Made the decision to sell our house of seven years, the first house we'd ever purchased!
  • Spent a lot of the month sorting through and purging a lot of the belongings we'd accumulated over the past seven years.  Started moving out of our home gradually.

March

  • Completely emptied our house and did a bunch of painting and prepping for staging.
  • During the moving process, I injured my back so horribly that I could not get out of bed. Full recovery took a couple weeks, which unfortunately made me a bit slow with our prep for selling. I am endlessly thankful to Robert for balancing out moving, house selling tasks, and taking care of me through all this. <3

April

  • Staged and listed our house, and quickly received multiple offers!
  • Accepted an offer and the house welcomed its new owners by month's end.
  • Signed off of work for three months as I started my three month sabbatical!
  • Got my first vaccine dose on the first full day of my sabbatical.

May

  • Started a daily habit of going for wandering walks and sitting in parks.
  • Got my second vaccine dose!
  • Got my hair professionally cut (with the return of the undercut!) and colored for the first time since
  • Voted in the special election.
  • Subscribed to MasterClass and started learning new things.
  • Bought a waffle iron and waffled all the things (favorite waffled food: tater tots)!
  • Met with a friend for the first time in a year and a half <3

June

  • Witnessed my baby nephew turning one year old!
  • Went for our first vacation since December 2019, to Palm Springs. I spent a heck of a lot of time doing nothing in particular, sitting in the pool and reading.
  • Went on multiple day trips to the Oregon coast (Manzanita Beach is our favorite) to sit on the beach and watch the waves.
  • Continued my daily habit of walks with podcasts, and sitting & reading in the park.

July

  • Went back to the movies for the first time in 19 months, to see Summer of Soul.
  • Traveled to L.A. to visit our close friends (incidentally, the last folks we traveled to see before the pandemic began).
  • Continued my daily walks and park sitting.
  • Inspired by a MasterClass, I picked up a DJ controller and started playing around with DJing.
  • Went to the art museum for the first time in years.
  • Went to Retro Game Bar for the first time, with my brother for some bonding time.
  • Wrapped up my sabbatical and went back to work!
  • Published a post of my recently consumed media.

August

  • Published a post with my thoughts on my sabbatical.
  • Bought an espresso machine and started to attempt to perfect my latte technique.
  • Traveled to Newport for our 9th wedding anniversary. Visited the Oregon Aquarium for the first time and enjoyed some more time staring at ocean waves.

September

  • Went on a hike to one of our favorite waterfalls for the first time since the wildfires in 2017.
  • Celebrated Robert's last day of a job he'd had for 9 years, and his start at a new one!
  • Participated in a project with a group of rad AAPI women and non-binary people.
  • Rang in my 45th birthday by celebrating my inner child at Disneyland, back for the first time in 3 years.

October

  • Welcomed both sets of parents for a visit in Portland early in the month.
  • Celebrated Robert's birthday with early dinner at his favorite restaurant, and a low-key evening at home.

November

  • Started a new role in Designer Experience.
  • Created a new office space at home (since I had been working from a desk in our bedroom since I returned from sabbatical in July).
  • Had a nice intimate Thanksgiving dinner with just a few family members.
  • Celebrated 16 years together with Robert <3
  • Got my vaccine booster.

December

  • Back at Disneyland at the beginning of the month to spend time with family!
  • Started a new hobby with Robert of assembling jigsaw puzzles together.
  • Celebrated Christmas with just the two of us at home for the first time.
  • Stayed up till 3am on New Year's eve listening to records while working on a puzzle!