Settling into All 2022 Has in Store

The sun setting over our new backyard with pine trees and power lines

For the last few years, rather than set a New Year’s resolution, I’ve chosen a word to focus on. In 2020, the focus was on investing; last year, I thought a lot about cultivating. After some debate (as well as two months into the new year and a full year since my last blog post), I’m spending 2022 with the word “settle” in mind.

Settling might be interpreted as being okay with “good enough” but that’s not how I’m thinking about it. In 2022, I want to settle into all of the wonderful, life-changing events taking place this year.

By the end of this year (if all goes according to plan, which we all know is not guaranteed these days), Cody and I will be celebrating our first Christmas as husband and wife, as well as our first holiday season in our new home. I want to lean into the (long) journey of making our house a home and enjoy the process of planning a wedding the reflects who we are and the people we love.

For me, settling into this next stage is about stepping back and appreciating the hard work that got me (and us) here. This is the reward for late nights finishing work for freelance clients, a year of house hunting and the willingness to see past (and scrub off) decades of cigarette smoke.

I tend to reach a milestone and push on toward the next. Not this time. This year is for taking a deep breath and settling into exactly where I am.