Well, here we are.
We’ve reached the end(ish) of 2021 and it was….a year.
I’m not exaggerating at all when I tell you that 2021 was, hands down, the worst and hardest year of my life. My mom had a life-altering accident and nearly died. I almost lost another dear friend. The world was in chaos and it seemed there were horrifying news stories happening every other day. We dealt with the worst freeze our area has ever seen and were stuck at home dealing with chaos and cold for 9 days (several of those we had no water, either). We had multiple other crises come up that I won’t even get into.
To put it simply, this year was pretty terrible for me.
But, as I sit here at the end of December reflecting on the year, I have to take a moment to just be thankful.
I have a beautiful home and the ability to spend my time updating it.
My mom is still with us, despite all the odds (it’s a legitimate miracle).
I spent a lot of time working on my running this year and completed my first half marathon.
My sweet boys are happy, healthy, and thriving.
I have a partner who has weathered all the storms with me this year.
Things are good. We’re good!
I’ve had a hard time feeling celebratory when I reflect on this year, but despite everything life threw our way in 2021, we are all here, we’re all healthy, and we’re all still taking things one step at a time.
And really, that’s all I can ask for, right?!
So, today I’m going to take a minute to shake off all the awful that this year brought and acknowledge all that we accomplished. This is always one of my favorite posts to write because I love reflecting on all of the posts from the year, so I hope you enjoy it too!
2021 Goals: How we did
At the beginning of each year, I write a post detailing our home goals for the year. I often end up forgetting what they were by the time the end of the year rolls around, but it’s always fun to see how much we accomplished.
- Add a fireplace to the living room. DONE! This was, hands down, my very favorite project I’ve ever done. This fireplace feels like it has always belonged in our living room and I can’t imagine our home without it anymore. This project was shared on the blog in three parts – click here for part one, click here for part two, and click here for the big reveal!
- Finish replacing (almost) all of the builder-grade lights. Whoops. If I’m being honest, I don’t know if we replaced any! Oh wait – we replaced the fan in our living room with this beautiful chandelier…but that’s it. I still haven’t decided what I want to do with the rest of the lights, but maybe we’ll make it a priority in 2022!
- Make some exterior/landscaping progress. Definitely accomplished this one! This year, we had three new trees planted in our backyard, and I built a giant playhouse camper for the kids! We still have tons of things we want to do outside – and we basically haven’t touched the front of our house – but I feel good about what we did this year! I have some front yard landscaping plans in mind for the spring, so hopefully we’ll continue to inch forward each year!
- Complete at least 4 projects for other people’s homes. Well, let’s see. This year, I added an accent wall in a friend’s house, added an epoxy floor and some board & batten in Parisa’s garage, and gave Parisa’s youngest daughter a room makeover. I was on track to complete this goal in December with (another) room makeover I have planned with Parisa, but holiday (and other) chaos got in the way and it got pushed to January. So, I’ll give myself an A for effort here!
- Complete one other large-scale project. Done and done! Other than the fireplace and building the camper, we did a big makeover in our bathroom, adding a skylight and giving everything a big refresh. The room still has a long way to go (someday I’ll rip that shower out and start fresh!), but I love it so much more than I did at the beginning of the year!
All things considered, I feel great about how we did on our home goals this year! I haven’t even begun to think about what our 2022 goals might look like, but what I do know is that I plan to take at least the first half of the year nice and easy.
other 2021 projects
Of course, the projects I linked above aren’t all we did this year! Here’s a quick roundup of a few other highlights from 2021.
DIY + Home Updates
Guides + Resources
And that, my friends, is a wrap on 2021 here on the blog. I’m taking the rest of the year niiiice and easy. I’ll be popping in on Instagram from time to time (be sure to keep an eye on stories if you want a peek at our post-Christmas vacation!), but the blog will be quiet until January.
I hope you have a lovely Christmas and New Year – I’ll see you back here in 2022!
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