I believe most years on New Year’s Eve I have said a few words on social media on what that particular year brought. This year and hopefully moving forward it seems fitting that I do this on my blog rather than on a social media post. I also saved this post for the first Monday and workday of the year!
2021 started with an EXTREMELY last minute trip to Charleston with friends. NO JOKE this was decided and hotel was reserved on December 23, 2020. If I’m being honest I was definitely hoping for some sort of last minute trip again this year to welcome 2022 but it did not happen.
We welcomed the new year traveling with friends and I believe that 2021 is definitely a year where we settled into a great group of friends and have grown those bonds!
2020 was they year where COVID entered our lives and everything changed but 2021 was the year that it got the Casais family. While needless to say it’s not fun to get COVID, it did leave us with the peace of mind that COVID will not likely send any of us to the hospital and that our immune systems can fight the virus.
One of the biggest goals I decided on during 2021 was my ’30 kinda hard challenge’ where I stuck to a nutrition and fitness plan for 30 days while also giving up alcohol. There was more to the challenge which you can find out about in my blog post 30 Kinda Hard Challenge.
Shortly after I created this blog! It’s still definitely something I am excited about and I enjoy working on, although a 2022 goal is definitely to find more time for it and to post more consistently. I share on this blog post, my very first one, why I decided to start this blog Why am I here?
We did travel a good amount over the summer specifically throughout the state of Florida. We visited Universal Orlando for the first time with the kids and discovered whether or not they were old enough for the bigger thrill rides which I shared about in my blog post Universal Orlando with Little Ones. Natalia also FINALLY competed in dance and we visited Daytona with her dance team over 4th of July which I shared about in my blog post Daytona Beach and Why I want my Kids in competitive activities. We then spent the remainder of the summer in Key Largo where I continued to fall in love with the Florida Keys! Most of my early blog posts were actually about my favorite spots in the upper Florida Keys! I ended up dedicating a whole category on here to the Keys because I have so much to share about! You can find those posts here in Florida Keys Life.
The kids were able to start school in August with more normalcy since they’d seen since March 2020. Ultimately the last item to be checked off the list was the mask requirement at school which was eventually lifted shortly after Thanksgiving break. Unfortunately the masks are coming back when they return to school now in January, however I am praying it is only for a few weeks. Our school community events also resumed and we were able to enjoy our lechon cook off Swine and Dine and our first ever Trunk or Treat with our school community!
Peter continued with baseball as always but he also had an opportunity to play on a soccer team this year with all of his friends! He really enjoyed it and I am hoping to have him do a soccer camp this upcoming summer to see if he wants to become more committed to the sport!
We also FINALLY attended post COVID concerts! We had so many plans, specifically for concerts, in 2020 that fell through so it definitely felt surreal to see live music again! We saw Jason Aldean and Chris Stapleton….for which we rented a party bus with friends so it was quite the adventure! hahah
I did Beachbody workouts most of the year, but, this year Peter suddenly decided he wanted to try Crossfit! I have done Crossfit on and off for 10 years now and it is something I always wanted him to try. We signed up at IMT Crossfit and have been going strong for over 2 months now! It is definitely something we enjoy doing together.
At the end of the year in December I decided to do an Emmaus retreat. It was a beautiful experience that I definitely recommend which I share about in my blog post My Emmaus Retreat Experience.
While we did finally get to have most of our family together on Easter and for Thanksgiving, unfortunately Noche Buena and Christmas were not what they usually are thanks to Omicron. Sadly much of my family tested positive for COVID before the holiday and could not be here to celebrate with us. Our party was about half the size it usually is.
I can’t say 2021 was a bad year since I feel it brought so many beautiful memories with friends and family! We did get to travel within the state of Florida and we do have our beautiful memories over the summer in the keys! It brought back some more normalcy for all of us. I learned that I need to be more grateful for the things that I have… although I’m still working on that one since I’d be lying if I did not admit that I wish we were traveling over New Year’s Eve and I’m totally jealous of those who are traveling!
I get scared to set new year’s resolutions and goals. Mainly, for the most part if I set a goal I try my best to follow through so I do not like to set any unrealistic goals. One of the biggest New Year’s resolutions I made years back was to start having dinner as a family and to this day, for the most part, we do stick to that one. As I mentioned in my Emmaus retreat post, definitely a goal I have for 2022 is to be more consistent with waking up a bit earlier to read my devotional and scriptures, journal and express gratitude. I started to do this after the Emmaus retreat but needless to say, winter break and lack of routine got in the way of that.
Another goal I have has to do with this blog! I definitely want to find more time to write and to post more consistently. I think a big part of that would be to schedule specific times in for writing into my week.
Finally, I am embarassed to admit that every few years it feels as if our house spirals out of control a bit as far as organization goes. I am not one of these people who enjoys organizing closets Additionally, our life is pretty busy these days with the kids activities. I am hoping to slowly but surely organize our house a bit more. We got a head start on this over winter break by cleaning out our home office and adding an additional work station to it for Peter. We actually added some more artwork after this photo but I’m sharing so you get the point!
I’m definitely hoping this project helps to increase my productivity both with work as well as with my blog! Additionally it should help with the mess in the house since Peter has been working from home in the afternoons since March 2020 on our dining room. He will now have a workstation in a home office!
I can’t say I really have any fitness goals this year other than staying consistent with Crossfit and definitely cleaning up my nutrition from what it has been the past few weeks. I hear calories do not count the last week of the year right?
I do hope to travel to new places in 2022. We are in strange times so it may be difficult but there are places I want to visit here in the US which hopefully are realistic for us despite all the craziness the past couple of years. At a minimum we are supposed to go to Pigeon Forge, TN with Natalia’s dance studio over the summer. I have been to this area of Tennessee many times, however, always in the winter over NYE so I am looking forward to experiencing it in the summer! We will also be visiting LegoLand Florida for the first time in January which I think the kids will really enjoy!
Peter is also starting to play under a new baseball organization this upcoming year! The coach he has had private lessons with for many years will now be his main coach. We are looking forward to new beginnings and to see what is in store for his new team! Fortunately, we will still be with mostly familiar faces!
2022 will bring Natalia’s first communion which is going to be a very special moment for our family. It will also bring Peter and my 10 year wedding anniversary. We have considered doing a party and renewing our vows at Lazy Days in Islamorada surrounded by family and friends but we will see if that all works out. We’ve considered doing a big trip too, like Europe which we have not visited since our honeymoon, however, these may not be good times for overseas travel.
Finally, after this winter break at home, I most definitely hope to be out of town for NYE next year! haha I am hoping 2022 brings everyone many blessings, love travel and NORMALCY!
Thanks for visiting!
-Jenny