My very child-like tiger scribbles
My “Happy New Year” has now landed in February. My New Year 2020 and New Year 2021 posts are not looking so late anymore! But get this…now I can wish you a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! It’s the Year of the Tiger, my friends! I am a blob fish Tiger, so this is totally my year! I’m going to really try to be positive and make things happen! Yay!
Looking Back on 2021
Last year was pretty challenging. It was that “are we done with the pandemic yet” feeling where we wanted things to return to normal, but COVID didn’t seem to have any plans to go away. At the same time, we were pretty content with keeping to ourselves and not having a ton of plans.
That said, we had some pretty big events this year. My sister Ruby moved back to Virginia with her family. She left back in 2003 (I think…it was a long time ago, regardless) and while she and her fam have visited almost every year, it wasn’t quite the same. So it’s pretty exciting to have her back in the area!
The other big event was my book signing at the Renaissance Festival in Maryland. I had been invited by Page After Page books in 2020, but the pandemic shut down everything that year. I was super happy to be able to attend this past September, and even happier to have so much support from family and friends. We all dressed up and had a blast! I met a lot of wonderful people and sold all the books I had in the shop. This event might seem trivial or silly to some, but this was really important to me. Having my family and friends support and encourage me for this was extremely special and really highlighted the people who are very important to me.
As I reflect, there were several other moments in 2021 that I cherish.
Celebrations at Clarity, 2941, Trio, The Wine House, and Randy’s (to name a few)
K-pop! Getting way into BTS, Monsta X, NCT Dream, Stray Kids, etc.
Haikyu!! (more and more), My Hero Academia, We Bare Bears
Exercising every day (I know this is weird, but I’ve actually stuck with it!)
A week of crepes and exploring
Long hikes in the heat
The start of whisky evenings
When you step back and look at all the blessings, it’s much easier to forget about the tough times.
Looking Forward to 2022
This is my beautiful Hobonichi Techo planner…featuring Sugawara
There are several milestone events in my family this year with birthdays and anniversaries. I look forward to a lot of life celebrations!
You know what’s also been nice so far this year? Taking Sofs out for Korean BBQ. Mark and I hadn’t been since before the pandemic, so the return to all the meats has been glorious.
As far as reading goes, I totally hit my 24 book goal for 2021! Yes, I had to binge my Haikyu!! manga at the end there, but I’m not complaining! My reading goal for 2022 is 24 books. It’s February, and I’ve already finished three books! Granted, two of them were manga, but still!
One Word for 2022
My word/theme for 2022 is CHANGE. I’ve already made a pretty significant change with my day job, and I’m feeling really good about it already. No doubt it was a scary decision to make, and Mark and I spent a lot of time talking through all the details. Even after I made the decision, I questioned myself. But now, I’m feeling pretty good!
The changes I’ve made will hopefully allow me to spend more time on my family and my health, but most especially with clearing my head for my writing.
So Where’s Your Book, Emily?
I was supposed to finalize book 2 last year. That didn’t happen. It was rough with the writing. So rough. But I’m not going to spend time beating myself up about it. I’m pressing forward. Making changes. I’m writing and editing. It’s going to happen. Please continue to hang in there with me. It’s going to be amazing when it finally comes out! Aren is…well, Aren is in Rose, trying not to get himself killed.
Let’s make this year amazing!