Another pandemic year, sigh. 2021 was, as expected, better than 2020. We were better at assessing and managing COVID risk, and we got out and about more – even traveling a few times. I’m cautiously optimistic that 2022 will bring more improvement, maybe gradual, but I have hope.

January got off to a rocky start, as we all know. I was downtown on January 6 – not close to the Capitol, fortunately; I was at my office on K Street, taking a deposition – but we didn’t know what was going on or what parts of the city might be dangerous, and it was a white-knuckled drive through Georgetown before I crossed the river into Virginia and breathed a sigh of relief. I stayed home the rest of the month, with great relief at having the ability to do so. A blanket of snow and a host of winter visitors to my bird feeders brought much-needed peace.

In February we had more snow, but it warmed up toward the end of the month and we cautiously poked our heads out of our den. After a year of almost complete solitude, we began to explore ways to manage COVID risk and get more socialization in. My law school bestie, Carly, drove her kids out to the exurbs for a play date one warm day, and we hit up a new-to-us playground. It was a small thing, but it felt monumental. Also a small thing that turned out to be monumental: at the end of the month I received an email from one of my law firm colleagues, noting that a client of his – a west coast-based tech company – was looking for an addition to their legal department. Dream job! I threw caution to the wind and my hat in the ring.

I spent most of March working on my application – and then on preparing for multiple rounds of interviews – to the tech company. Recently, relating the experience to an acquaintance, I reflected that I’ve never poured so much time or effort into getting a job before. I spent hours almost every March evening, and over multiple weekends, on the project. It didn’t leave much time for adventuring, but we did manage to scoot out for a hike toward the end of the month, to explore a little reservoir in Ashburn, Virginia, where I was hoping to paddle once the weather warmed up. We’d first visited in January, when the rushes in the shallows were crusted with ice, but the trail around the lake was beautiful – a winter wonderland – and I made plans to return again and again.

Here comes the sun! All that work in March paid off, because the first Friday of April brought the news that I landed the dream job! April was another busy month as I started the onboarding process with my soon-to-be new employer, told my firm I was leaving, and worked round the clock to transition my cases to other attorneys. But again, we made time for fun – spring arrived in earnest with the return of warm, sunny days, and our traditional bluebell hike. For the past couple of years, we’ve bluebell-spotted at Manassas National Battlefield Park. We hit the peak just right in 2021!

May was a roller coaster. I started the month with a week of “funemployment” – that delightful period between one job and another. The week coincided with the beginning of really warm weather, so I had big paddleboarding plans (and I did make it out twice), but a death in the family sent me up to New York twice – first with Nugget in tow, to say goodbye to a cherished person, and then a week later for the funeral. Water always helps, so I paddled a lot in May. At the end of the month, a hot weekend drew the kids and me to the beach with my dear friend Carly and her family, and we took turns duffing the kids in the Chesapeake Bay. Meanwhile, amongst all of the upheaval, I started my new job and discovered right away that it was exactly the move I needed to make.

June was wonderful. Looking back, it feels like I spent almost the entire month outside (although I know that can’t possibly be true). Between paddleboarding, the start of our family kayaking season, a new mountain bike, and cheering for Nugget at his weekly tee-ball games, it does seem like I never went indoors. As a die-hard summer fan, this is about right for me.

Joy bookended July. We rang in the month camping on Chincoteague over Independence Day weekend (my favorite holiday). Saw the famous wild horses three times, toasted marshmallows over our own campfire, and charged into the surf at Assateague Island National Seashore – perfect. Most of the month was spent getting used to my new job (and to feeling truly happy as a lawyer for the first time EVER), and playing outside whenever I got the chance – taking my paddleboard to Beaverdam Reservoir as much as possible, mountain biking with Nugget, and hiking and kayaking with Steve and both kids every weekend day. At the end of the month, we drove up to New York State for my cousin Jocelyn’s wedding celebration – it was postponed by a year because of the pandemic, but worth the wait. Both kids were in the wedding, along with Jocelyn’s niece and nephew. It was seriously cute.

August brought adventure! First, at the end of July, Steve and I fulfilled a long-cherished wish and bought touring kayaks (as a fifteenth anniversary gift to each other, two weeks before our sixteenth anniversary – the pandemic had interfered with our plans for almost a year). My parents wanted the kids to themselves for a week, so we took the kayaks off for a week of paddling in the Adirondacks; we hit up Schroon Lake, Lake Placid, Lake Flower, Upper St. Regis Lake, and Spitfire Lake. We also found time to hike almost every day, and knocked off our fifth Adirondack high peak. The rest of the month was quieter, at home, but the hot Virginia sun was comforting and life-affirming to this summer-loving girl.

The start of September brought mixed feelings. The kids were back at school, which is conflicting for me. On the one hand, it’s easier to work without them around (self-evident truths…). On the other hand, I always worry about their safety when I send them out into the world. It’s hard being a parent in 2021. We found pockets of joy, though. Time on our favorite trails – always restoring. And at the end of the month, I made my way back to a start line – this time with my bike, not my running shoes. Twenty miles of car-free biking in D.C. was a treat (despite a flat tire midway through the ride).

October took us all the way across the country! I had a weeklong business trip to my company’s headquarters in Seattle, and since it happened to coincide with my birthday, Steve and the kids accompanied me so I wouldn’t have to ring in the year alone. We made it fun: bookended the workweek with one weekend of Seattle tourist treats (including a ride to the top of the Space Needle!), and one weekend of hiking and beachcombing at Olympic National Park. Back at home, we found the BEST trick-or-treating street in our neighborhood, and the kids both chose to wear costumes they already owned (Peanut was a veterinarian, and Nugget was a baseball player), so I didn’t have to spend a dime on equipping them for Halloween. A treat indeed!

November saw us on the go again, traveling to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law. Uncle Dan loves playing tour guide, and we were treated to the very best highlights of western Colorado (including Uncle Dan’s Dinosaur Tour, parts one, two, and three) and Utah. Three national parks, one national monument, an adorable Alpine adventure town, pizza at a famous spot in Fruita, lots of doggy petting, Thanksgiving with our people – lots of stories to come, but it was all wonderful.

Bringing us to December. Jingle and sparkle, ahoy. Although our celebrations have been curtailed this year – a nod to what feels like a never-ending pandemic – we’ve found ways to make magic. I went back to Seattle at the beginning of the month (alone this time) for work, and got to see Pike Place in its Christmas finery. Back at home, we chose and decorated our tree, walked our old stomping grounds at Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria, and celebrated the fact that as of early December, all four of us are finally fully vaxxed against COVID (and Steve and I are now boosted, as of just this week). Yay, science! And yay us, for making it through another pandemic year and finding SO MUCH JOY along the way.

Here’s to an even better 2022, for all of us!