Reflections on 2022

I quite enjoy the approach of end-of-year where I take some time to look back on the past 365 days and reminisce the beautiful (and less-than beautiful) moments that occupied those days. This year brought the most "normalcy" since the start of the pandemic in early 2020 - whatever that even means.

It was a year of many highlights, of course some lowlights, and unfortunately a whole lot of devastation. I always struggle to find balance between embracing the joy in my life, acknowledging the love, privledge, and beauty that comprise my world, while also not ignoring and undermining the harsher realities some are facing. Some atrocities that has defined this year:

• Russia's onging, violent, senseless, and absolutely unecessary assault on Ukraine.
• Police murdering a highschool classmate while they were in mental distress requiring support & care, but instead ended up senselessly killed.
• The murder of Mahsa Amini by "morality police" & subsequent deaths as a result of the protests for gender equality and freedom of choice.
• Ongoing lack of action on the Truth & Reconcilliation Commission's calls to action, demonstrating a lack of respect and care for Indigenous life in Canada.
• Mass shooting/murder at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs

In pursuit of this balance between celebrating beauty, while acknowledging pain and hardships, here is a list of some personal highlights from 2022:

• Wrote and passed my National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam (phewww..) 
• Moved from what has been coined "Cranhole" to the lovely little mountain town of Kimberley.
• A wonderful weekend getaway to an off-grid "cabin" (mansion) with a barrel sauna, close access to cross country ski trails, and cinnamon-topped lattes delivered to us in bed.
• Snowmobile-access skiing in the Rockies & the Purcell mountains; some of the sweetest turns I have been fortunate enough to carve out.
• Adopting my sweet, sassy, furry companion on my mother's birthday (March 21).
• Ski touring to natural hot springs and having them all to ourselves.
• Successfully convincing one of my best pals to move and live with me in Kimberley. Having a best friend for a roommate is pretty great & lucky!
• Monty's first birthday party where 8 dogs came to party and eat doggy cupcakes.
• Four months of summer fun-employment - and the eventual recieving of EI after a sketchy financial period...
• Learning how to mill wood & (somewhat) learning to build things.
• Celebrating one grandmother's 80th and my other grandmother's 90th birthday with each of them respectively.
• Many summer days spent getting (slight) air on Mercy Me & Hell's Bells at Panorama Bike Park.
• A trip to Nova Scotia for a friend's Cape Breton wedding & visiting my very fond old stomping grounds and dear pals in Halifax.
• First bike-packing trip, on the Sunshine Coast trail; filled with epic scenery, some beautiful single track, and one onverly exhausted dog.
• A surprise date night to a fire tower atop a mountain (very sketchy drive up there) to a view of almost the entire Columbia Valley - with wine & cheese to soak it all in.
• Joining Braille Mountain Initiative on their 5-day hiking trip through Mount Assiniboine as a guide for a visually impaired hiker; experiencing an epic thunder & lightning storm, and seeing a grizzly mama and cubs.
• A 3-Welly reunion to Valemount for some extremely windy camping & some fabulous mountain biking (featuring many bud-light mangos).
• Hiking Mt. Fisher on a stunning day with great people.
• Starting my new job as a private practice OT; both terrifying, challenging, and exciting.
• A trip to Mexico to witness my dear pal Fish marry the love of her life + a week of adventure & fun with FiFi and Nico.
• A Fall work retreat in Kelowna to spend time getting to know and team bonding with my colleages across the province
• Re-starting a yoga practice with a wonderful woman who runs a small studio out of her home and offers a truly unique yoga experience.
• Helping my sweetie work on building the "addition" on his house; drywall mudding, Grinch-green painting.
• Spending Christmas time surrounded by loving family & friends in Vancouver.