SHU copied this format from Lisa, and I thought it would be a fun, because 2024 was actually a really eventful year for me. And while I was super impressed with Kae’s Rapid Fire Year in Review, I don’t think I could remember that much from each month (did she write those out as the year progress?!) and I wasn’t quite sure how to go back and recap the year. This will definitely help me.
1) What did you do in 2024 that you’ve never done before? My husband and I went on a six day trip to Mexico City without our kids. We’d never been on a trip without them before.
2) Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope, but very good friends announced that they are pregnant!
3) Did anyone close to you die? No, but a good friend lost her mother very recently.
4) What places did you visit? Well, we did some camping and some traveling this past year.
- Camping at Pinnacles National Park (this was actually the very end of 2023, but it started our attempts at camping)
- Grass Valley with friends for New Years 2024
- CDMX (Ciudad de México/Mexico City) with husband in February
- Camping at Joshua Tree in April
- Camping at New Brighton State Beach (near Santa Cruz) in June
- KOA in Petaluma (w/ 10yo’s friends) in June
- St. Louis (to visit extended family) in July
- Chicago (visiting friends) in July
- Maui (with friends) in August
- Camping trip in September
- Snow trip to Pioneer in December
5) What would you like to have in 2025 that you didn’t have in 2024? A better system with my husband to make sure we’re both getting the time we need to pursue our interests.
6) What dates from 2024 will be etched in your memory forever? January 4th we celebrated our 17-15-10 anniversary. (17 years together; 15 years domestic partners; 10 years married). No other specific dates come to mind. Oh! And whatever day we saw Chappell Roan at Outside Lands! I think it was 8/11.
7) What was your biggest achievement this year? I tested for my high blue belt. My 20 years of teaching was acknowledged by my district. I did a big re-organization of my home.
8) What was your biggest failure? I didn’t keep my home organized.
9) Did you suffer from illness or injury? I injured my knee pretty badly in late February. It was my first major injury and it required an MRI and PT and had changed the way I can move. It’s been a hard adjustment to be sure.
10) What was the best thing you bought? Hmmm. Despite the fact that the first one was broken, and replacing it was a giant PITA, I really do love my Dyson v12 Detect Slim because of the hardwood floor attachment. I had no idea how much gross shit is on my hardwood floors until that little green light showed me.
11) Where did most of your money go? Travel. And that is because we stopped paying for aftercare in the fall. Woot!
12) What did you get really, really excited about? That trip to Mexico City. Except I was also really stressed out about getting my house ready for my in-laws to stay there before we left.
13) What authors did you discover in 2024? Wow, I really don’t keep track of what I read at all (and after reading about NGS’s spreadsheet I know just how much I COULD be keeping track), but I’m pretty sure I didn’t really “discover” any authors, because I can’t think of a book I read because I liked another book written by that author. But some of the books I really liked this year were:
- Momfluenced by Sara Peterson, which led me to the first season of the podcast Under the Influence which I really enjoyed. (Turns out I don’t like to be on social media, but I like to read and listen about social media.)
- In the Dream House; A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado (book club)
- Nuestra Parte de Noche by Mariana Enriquez (Our Share of the Night in English)
- The City and the City by China Miéville (super weird, listened to this in Spanish while my husband read it_
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (great audiobook)
- Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (please listen to this, so good as an audiobook)
- You could make this place beautiful by Maggie Smith
- Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton (the audiobook of this is great – I loooved the first half and like the second half – I read this because my husband got it and it looked interesting
Honestly, I have no idea what I even read this year. I know there was more than this, but I can’t search my checkout history on Libby or Boundless so I’m not sure. I might keep better track this year.
14) What do you wish you had done more of? Getting good sleep? I have seem to have no control over this on though.
15) What do you wish you had done less of? Arguing with my kids about screen time.
16) How did your spend Christmas? We got home from the snow on Christmas Eve, spent that evenign with my parents, Christmas Day morning with my in-laws and evening with my parents.
17) What was your favorite TV program? Hmmm. I’m not sure. Maybe I’m also not sure what I actually watch? I LOVED rewatching the first season of Silo with my daughter. And the first season of Severance. Our family like Monarch a lot. I don’t know if I have a favorite TV program from this year. Actually, it was probably season 11 of Vanderpump Rules. 🤣
18) What did you want and get? A renewed commitment to martial arts and the dojo. Also a ticket to see Chappell Roan at Outside Lands. 😉 Oh, and my good friend was able to join us in Hawaii this summer.
19) What did you want and not get? For my husband to support my time away from home.
20) What was your favorite film of 2024? Deadpool & Wolverine. Fucking loved it. Would watch it a million times.
21) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Went out to dinner with my friends, which is when they gave me the ticket to Outside Lands! Oh, and I turned 44.
22) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Better communication with my husband.
23) Who kept you sane? My cats. And my friend at work.
24) Who did you miss? My college friends. I only saw one of them this year.
25) Who was the best new person you met? The woman who helped me with my back.
26) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024. It might take a long time, but you can heal.
27) Show us one of your favorite photos from the year.
I’m loving these questions on everyone’s blogs! I also want better sleep in 2025. And my cats also kept me sane! You did a lot of traveling- way more than me.
“It might take a long time, but you can heal.” That’s a GREAT life lesson, one that we’ll probably have to remind ourselves over and over again.
I thought you’d like the healing quote. Your assurances definitely helped keep me calm when I was feeling VERY stressed out about how long it was taking to get flexion back. I can sit cross legged again! It’s not as comfortable, but it doesn’t hurt. And after a workout I can sit on my knees for about five minutes before it starts shaking. so I am healing, it’s just taking a while. I really want to get all that back though.
aww, I love this. I would love to see Chappell Roan, too!!! I bet it would feel like a huge party. Will keep my eyes open for future tour dates. I hope some of your communication/support issues improve in 2025!
Chappell Roan was absolutely a highlight this year. She wasn’t even the headliner at Outside Lands and 80,000 people were there to see her at 4pm on a Sunday. Biggest crowd in Outside Lands history. It was nuts. And yes, I also hope our communication/support issues improve in 2025. The one thing that has made it better is planning!
Thanks for the link-back and it’s nice to meet you. We are very close in age – I turn 44 in February. But I am probably 10 years behind you in parenting!!
Figuring out time away from the house with a spouse can be challenging. I travel quite a bit for work so I have a hard to asking for MORE time away… and my husband’s friends are terrible planners so he has very little in the way of social plans which makes it even harder for me to ask for time away. It’s something we need to figure out, but short of me managing his social calendar, I don’t know what the solution is (and he would not like that, surely… I did plan rounds of golf for him for his birthday in August but getting his friends to plan something was HORRIBLE so now I see why he never sees them).
All your travel adventures sound amazing, though!!
Thanks for reading and commenting! I’ve been reading you for a bout a year (probably since last NaBloPoMo) and I’m pretty sure I read God of the Woods because you wrote about it on your blog, and I will always been grateful for that. I loved that book!
My husband also isn’t good at making plans with friends which absolutely makes it harder for me to get out of the house without him being sulky about it. He also just has a much lower energy level than I do; sometimes he’ll have plans to see a concert by himself on a week night but when the time comes, he just stays home. It’s really hard. I can only imagine how hard it is when traveling a lot for work. That would be a big added complication I’m sure.
You inspired me to do Joshua tree! And I admire how committed you are to your physical form, the dojo, and running. All that is really great. I need, NEED to start lifting and moving my butt on a regular basis.
Thanks friend. If you go to Joshua Tree, I HIGHLY recommend you stay at an AirBnB somewhere, not camp. That is what everyone else I know does. We were just doing our crazy camping year, so we camped. And it was fine, but also kind of stressful. I can’t wait to hear about your trip there!
Love the recap! Cheers to a good year, and fingers crossed for more support / a better balance with DH this year so you feel better about that piece of the puzzle as well.