Still in the midst of a pandemic that should've ended months prior, we rang in 2021 in the same fashion we spent most of 2020... avoiding crowds of people and trying to stay as safe as possible. In a lot of ways, 2021 has felt like a sequel to 2020. While there was a LOT of change, progress and big life events... a lot of 2021 felt similar to the year before. So much of the year seemed to be consumed by discussion of what we could and couldn't do because of the Coronavirus. Just think, a virus that was SUPPOSED to be done after a two week quarantine, is still part of our daily lives over two years later. Even after receiving all three doses of my vaccine, we are still impacted on the daily. So, what were some of these big life events that I mentioned?! Let me talk about the top five big things that happened to me and those around me in the year 2021:
The On-going Pandemic!
2021 started on a hopeful note when vaccines started to become available to the general public. Megan got hers almost immediately, perks of working for a hospital group. It was kind of a booger getting Mom and Nick scheduled for their shots. I finally got my first shot through a connection from a classmate, then got my second one when the health department brought the vaccine to guys out at Firstep. I seem to remember a brief reprieve, like life might've been getting back to normal eventually. Then came the "Delta" variant, followed by some normalcy, followed immediately by the "Omicron" variant. These constant waves of illnesses, people who refuse to listen to mandates and the advice from the scientific community is downright infuriating. All I can do is try to keep myself and those around me safe. Maybe we'll see some improvement in 2022.
Record-Breaking Snow!
Around Valentine's Day, huge portions of the county were hit by this absolutely massive snowstorm. The Oklahoma City area was walloped with snow, some areas receiving a foot or more. In 36 years of life, I had never seen that much snow at once. It was insane. What was even CRAZIER was how low the temperature got. I don't recall ever seeing temperatures where the HIGH temp for the day was still in the negative. Like I said... insane. What was REAL fun about it was when the heater in our house FROZE OVER, therefore causing us to have no heat in record-breaking cold. Megan and I had to pack up and move into a hotel for a week until the weather warmed up and our heater thawed out. My poor little C-Max couldn't handle that snow, so I somehow managed to get the car over to my parents' (getting stuck plenty of times along the way) and borrowed their CR-V. This storm had a HUGE impact in me deciding that I wanted an SUV for my next vehicle. LOL.
Moving... Again
2021 brought on this massive buying surge in the housing market. Everyone was selling their houses and even MORE people were buying houses. Because of this, our landlord decided that they wanted to hold off on renewing our lease and potentially putting that house up on the market. Rather than sit there and wait for them to decide to boot us out at an inopportune time, we gave them the finger and decided to move. We moved into a brand new apartment complex on the northside of Norman. It was supposedly this luxury apartment. Supposedly. While it looks nice, the build quality is pure crap. I think the walls and flooring are made of papier mache. Combine that with the fact that we have young kids with four MASSIVE dogs that live above us. Megan and I just simply aren't cut out for apartment living. We're super hopeful that, by the time our lease is up, the housing market has cooled down and we can find a house to buy. If not, we're moving again... into a rental house. Megan might not like that, but I am NOT staying in that apartment any longer than I have to.
Four Years!
In November, I celebrated four years of sustained sobriety from alcohol misuse. I didn't attend near as many AA meetings as I should've, but I stayed in contact with my sponsor on a very regular basis. Working for Firstep kept me plugged into the world of recovery. I'm surrounded by friends and family that are supportive of me in my recovery, and aren't judgmental when I have those rough days. Instead of being critical, they can help me make the right decisions. It's because of all of them that I have managed to reach year four!
John Cloud, MSW
The hard work, countless hours, tons of Zoom sessions and essay after essay finally paid off and I am officially a college graduate! I graduated from the OU School of Social Work with my MSW. I somehow managed to hold on to my 4.0, graduating with honors. I was also honored with the "Outstanding Graduate Student" award for our cohort. I know I worked my ass off, but still not quite sure I deserved that one! But, the hard work paid off and I am excited to start my next chapter as an official LMSW.
Wedding Bells
After an exciting engagement, 11 months of planning, plenty of arguments and trying to make sure that everyone involved wasn't getting their feelings getting hurt... Megan and I officially got married. While we can't remember a lot about it, the ceremony and reception were beautiful. Our official wedding cakes/cupcakes were tasty. The groom's cake was super tasty. The food was tasty. It was very moving to see the people that showed up to celebrate our special day with us. We're excited to take our honeymoon next week and start the next chapter(s) of our lives!!
2022...?
So what will 2022 have to offer? Only time will tell. I know some things that ARE on our radar include: starting a new job! I'll be a therapist with a shiny new agency in Oklahoma City, working towards my clinical hours to get my LCSW. We'll be moving into a new house (ours or a rental), I'm probably going to start looking for a more gas-friendly vehicle and we'll (hopefully) be starting a family of our own! I'm excited about 2022. I pray that it doesn't just turn 2020 into a trilogy, I want something NEW and DIFFERENT. That's right, you heard me say that I'm welcoming CHANGE!
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