Proof of Life: 2021

I have been a blogger on and off for 20 years, from LiveJournal and Diaryland to when my friend bought me the domain aubreyann.com to, well, this blog.  But the advent of shorter form social media (mainly Instagram) has made this medium less appealing because it requires me to sit down in front of a larger screen and keyboard and make more of an effort to put together coherent thoughts.  These days, those quiet moments without a child or cat trying to press keys on my laptop are few and far between.

Top Nine in 2021

1. I went back to work in January after a short maternity leave with Freddie, and he started at the same daycare as Kenny.
2. We celebrated Kenny's 3rd birthday (with a Cars theme) with all three of his grandparents.
3. I was named Tennessee DAR's State Outstanding Junior, and I was also a National Finalist (one of eight) for the national contest.
4. We road tripped to 30A to spend a week at the beach with friends and family.
5. I traveled to Connecticut and Disney World to spend time with my BFF Lindsey.
6. We road tripped to Wisconsin Dells with my parents for a vacation, then cut over to Pittsburgh to celebrate my mother-in-law's 70th birthday.
7. I traveled to Washington, D.C. twice for short DAR trips.
8. Freddie turned 1 and had a birthday party focused on Korean family traditions... and he started walking too!
9. We explored Indiana, including the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Zoo, and Carmel's Christkindlmarkt.

I also started strength training this fall about twice a week, have been able to enjoy a lot of podcasts, and I joined Bloomington's chapter of Tri Kappa, a philanthrophic sorority.  I didn't live up to my resolution for 2021 of trying to be better at keeping in touch with friends.  I think that balancing family and work has consumed me for the most part, and even just adding exercise to the mix was challenging.

But life is good, it really is.  We love our home.  We love having family close by.  I love my new career, even when it gives me grey hairs or the stock market is having a wonky day.  It's a good life that I have, and I'm thankful every minute of it.

I do want to write some blog posts about our travels, albeit late in the game as I even have one from 2020 unpublished.  But at a minimum I may check in here once a year or so, just to say hello to my old friend and to preserve something on the internet for posterity.