I’m doing my best to ignore that yet another year has gone by (and the fact that despite my best wishes, the pandemic is still a thing), but this past year has been full of excitement and I thought I’d try and sum it up a little! Despite the pandemic, I spent 2021 in three different countries, and while I’ve documented a lot of it on here, I couldn’t help myself from summarizing it in a nice little list. In the past 12 months, I:

• Spent the first four months working in Dijon, France
• Baked several loaves of challah
• Got my three doses of the Covid vaccine (and a fun sticker to go along with it each time)
• Experienced record breaking 115ºF heat
• Took nine nasal swab Covid tests, and way more lateral flow tests
• Moved to London
• Completed the Tower Challenge in York
• Saw a handful of shows (fully masked)
• Had a few successful TikToks

Okay, I know that when written out in a list, it doesn’t seem that impressive, but I’m super proud of myself for all of it (even the Covid tests, because that’s just been a part of this year). 2021 will forever be the year where I achieved my goal of moving to London, and even with the struggles that have come along with that, I can’t get over the fact that I actually managed to do it. When the year ends, I’ll have spent nearly four months here, and not only have those months been amazing, but I feel like I’ve managed to do a fair amount, even with the stress of moving and pandemic restrictions. Some highlights include:

• Visiting Hampton Court Palace
• Touring Arsenal Stadium (did I decide to support them purely because their mascot is a dinosaur? I’ll never tell)
• Finding green spaces to wander (I personally really enjoy Hampstead Heath at the moment)
• Watching Tower Bridge lift several times
• Starting a new job
• Consuming a ridiculous amount of Pret barista made beverages because of their subscription
• Going back to the theatre (I managed to see seven performances in my four months in London in 2021)

I think that’s a fair amount to have accomplished in a small amount of time, don’t you? I’m so excited to see what future months in London have in store for me, and I’m even more excited to experience living somewhere in a permanent way, and all that entails (the longest I’ve spent in one place that isn’t where I was born was nine months, so I’ll be excited to pass that date in 2022). I still have a list a mile long of things I’d like to do in London, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make a dent in that as the next year progresses. I’m also just eager to see all the personal growth I’m sure I’m going to do, both from a professional angle, as well as a personal one.

I was re-reading my 2019 recap post (somehow I forgot to do one for 2020, whoops), and I wrote that “obviously the future isn’t crystal clear.” The irony that that statement is just as true now as it was then (and even more so now I feel) isn’t lost on me, and it almost feels silly to make any kind of resolutions or goals when we have no idea what 2022 might look like. Here’s to hoping the next year is a good year, nonetheless – happy new year!