2022: A Year in Review

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great year, and a great night celebrating. I wanted to start this post by saying thank you to all my readers. You’ve made bringing this site back online so much easier on me. So, thank you! I also wanted to say thank you to all my followers. Whether it’s through WordPress, email subscription, or social media – Thank you! Today I wanted to recap my 2022, and talk about all I learned.

Again, thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome on here. A few years ago I started this website and it took off. I had many interviews and a lot of content. About a year after I created this site something happened, and it made me lose confidence in my writing and my blog, so I ended up taking it down completely. I don’t want to go into the details, but I’ll just say this – someone I had interviewed back then (who’s story I did not re-post when bringing the site back) was pretty rude about how I wrote a certain part of their interview; even though I quoted them word for word. So on a young writer like me, back then, it hurt a bit and I decided after a while to just get rid of it. Big mistake!

In the early months of this year I decided to bring my blog back. I decided I was going to fix it up, make it look better than it was before, and I wasn’t going to rely on other people for content (i.e. interviews), unless I thought they’d be interesting or they reach out to me. I started writing and writing and, well, you all know how it goes. I found all of you and you found me. So, again, I am so thankful for all of you! Now, let’s recap the rest of my 2022.

January: The beginning of the year was not ideal. It was pretty rough. Towards the end of January my dad passed away. It was a long time coming and we knew it was going to happen, but it still sucked and we miss him every day. Thankfully as our house was being built, Lea and I were living with my parents. So we got to spend some extra time with him which I appreciate. One thing I learned from this experience is to spend as much time with family as you can! You won’t regret it in the long run.

February: I don’t think anything significant happened this month. My dad passed at the end of January so we were all still dealing with that.

March: In march our first cat passed away at eight years old. Our KitKat was the first cat Lea and I had gotten together. We were in college and a friend of ours mentioned this cat that was at the pet store, so we went and found her and loved her instantly. She’s been with us through it all. She was there while we were in college, she was there when we graduated and moved in together, she was there when we got married, and she was there when we built our new house. She was the best cat ever and had such a personality! We miss her very much. One thing I learned from this was to love your pets and show them you love them every day! And also to take them to get a check up every now and then. She never showed signs that she was seriously ill.

April: April was a good month. Lea and I have birthday’s three days apart, so we’ve been celebrating them together for a while now. This year we went to Florida and stayed at my aunts condo. It was so much fun and so pretty. The condo is right on the beach, so you know I loved waking up every day and seeing the Atlantic. It was so relaxing. We would wake up early and go sit on the beach with our cooler and Bluetooth speaker. There was hardly anyone there when we would go so we could play music as loud as we wanted. Then later in the week we decided to do some fun stuff for our birthdays. We went to dinner with our family that lives down there, and we also went to the zoo! It was great, it’s been a while since either of us have visited a zoo. The animals were pretty cool but I couldn’t help but feel bad for some of them (the cute ones). Being trapped in there must suck. Without too much detail, it was a fun trip and I look forward to doing it again. A couple things I learned from this trip: 1) It’s okay to relax and enjoy yourself. 2) It’s okay to have a beer at 8 a.m. on the beach. It is vacation after all!

May: As I mentioned before I brought my blog back, and May was the month it happened. It’s been a fun ride since then and I can’t wait to see where it goes. May was also the month a college friend of ours got married. It was a great time seeing old friends and hanging out for a day. The wedding was down in Terre Haute, Indiana. That’s where Indiana State University is, and that is where Lea and I met, and where we met all our friends! We drove down for the wedding. I was in my suite and Lea wore a dress. However, I did not know that the wedding was going to be outdoors, and it was a scorcher. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much before, and to make it worse I was in a suit! I was so uncomfortable lol. Two things I learned this month: 1) Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re not good enough (which is why I brought my site back), and 2) NEVER wear a full suit to an outdoor wedding and always ask if a summer wedding is indoor or outdoor.

June: In June I took one golf lessons with a guy I grew up in church with. He’s pretty good, and I think one lesson was all I needed. I’m not saying that I’m a good golfer, but all I really need to learn was how to make contact with the ball. Once I was able to hit it I figured out the rest myself. I enjoyed practicing golf the rest of the summer and into the fall. If I learned anything that month it was to always try new things! I’ve realized the last two summers I have picked up a new hobby. Who knows, maybe this will be a new thing I do each summer!

July: July was a really fun month. Probably the best month in my entire 2022. The reason I took a golf lesson in June was because I was going to my cousins bachelor party in July, who’s wedding I was in, and on one of the days we were having a golf tournament. Well, I don’t want to brag but…my team won! lol I have no idea how, but I played pretty well. I was surprised and my teammates were surprised. My cousin was definitely shocked to see myself and my two teammates sitting there at the clubhouse once we finished, talking about our win. It was a good day, besides my intense sunburn I had from the day before on the lake. That was a great weekend, with great people. And the wedding was fun too! In July, I learned it’s a great time meeting new people and to wear sunscreen.

August: This one will be short. In August my younger cousins, who are in high school, asked me join a “cousins fantasy football league”. I don’t really get into that kind of stuff but I figured it’d be a fun thing to do with some family. Well, to wrapt this up quick, it never happened. No league was created, no fantasy draft took place. Moral of the story: don’t trust high schoolers to set up anything!

September: This month seems like a blur to be honest. I don’t remember much except that Lea’s grandmother passed away. I don’t think we did anything else that I can remember this month. She was a great woman who loved her family a lot! Although she lived in California, she always kept in touch regularly with her family, and mostly her grandkids. We all loved her and miss her like crazy! Again, I learned that every second with family is precious. Don’t waste it!

October: In October I was in a wedding. One of my best friends from college got married, so we had his bachelor party and wedding this month. A few weeks before the wedding the bachelor party was held in New Buffalo, Michigan. It’s a little beach town up there, and we had rented an airbnb. It was a nice weekend. We went to dinner and had a few drinks, and wanted to go to the casino. However, with it being such a small town they didn’t have Uber and/or Lyft, which was insane to me – but I get it. Although it was a tinier place to be, the casino was still pretty far, and we had missed the shuttle that comes to take you there. So we hitched a ride with two young guys who agreed to take us there. I know…not safe! But there were six of us and two of them so I think our odds of survival were pretty high. We had three guys laying in the truck bed, and three in the back seat. Looking back it was such a stupid thing to do, but I can also laugh at it and remember how much fun we had. Lesson learned: Don’t get a ride from strangers.

November: Oh man November was a great month! Lea and I found out we were picked for adoption, and that a baby boy is due in March! We were and still are THRILLED! We can’t wait for our little guy to get here. This month we also hosted Thanksgiving. It was our first time hosting and Lea did a great job. The food was good, the company was great, and people’s faces when we told them the news were priceless! Overall, it was a great month. Lesson learned: trust God and keep praying! He’ll answer on his own terms.

December: December flew by didn’t it? It was a fun month and we spent a lot of time with family, celebrated Christmas, and started prepping the baby’s room for his arrival. Yesterday was also the ninth or tenth New Years Eve Lea and I have spent together. We went to Gino’s Prime and Surf in Dyer, Indiana with my mom. It was delicious and a good time! We ended the night at a family members house and welcomed the new year with heavy eye’s and full bellies.

Overall, it was a good year. It had its ups and downs, but we made it through. Now we look forward to what 2023 has to bring, and all it’s love and challenges coming our way. I hope you all had a great 2022, and I hope you all have an even better 2023. Thank you so much for following and reading this past year. I hope you continue to do so!

Have a great day!

Peter

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