A Year in Review - 2022
A summary of the past year
What can we say about the past year? It has been a year of significant highs and lows. As I look at the world around me, I felt like
captured it best with this newsletter post:
I learned a lot of personal lessons during the course of the year, but I have to say that overall, 2022 was the best year that we’ve had in quite some time. Have we experienced some significant hits? Yes. But we’ve bounced back from each of those hits stronger and better individually and as a family.
As is often the case for writers, it is time for some reflection about the past year as I prepare to look forward for 2023.
On the Journey
We did not travel or camp nearly enough in 2022. Yes, Jeff and I went to Hawaii. Yes, the kids and I drove all the way to Houston and back before heading out on our family vacation. But when I counted up the number of campsites that we had during the calendar year, I only counted eight. EIGHT!
But those camping trips that we took refreshed our family and helped our kids fall in love with Indiana all over again. We spent some time on the road to visit our parents in Michigan and watch Michigan games. And we are making plans for next summer, to be announced once we settle the details. With two camping trips already reserved for the spring, we are ready to get back out there, once our camper is back from being repaired from the tire blowout we experienced on our last day of travel as we returned from Harpers Ferry.
My 2022 in Books 🎧📚
I may have set a new record for myself this year by hitting 52 books read and listened to during the year. You can follow me on Goodreads to see my favorites.
Book Progress 💻
I have sent off my “final” draft off to my editor to make sure I haven’t missed anything. I may be a high school English teacher with a Master’s degree in English, but I suck at figuring out how many commas I need in a given paragraph. Thankfully, I have an editor at The Educator’s Room to help keep me in line, but as I am working on my own work for publication, I needed one last set of eyes. I will probably make a few adjustments/additions before I finish the last draft and upload it to Amazon for publication, but we are getting close! Subscribers will get first notification of news regarding publishing and Instagram followers will get much of the marketing for the book.
My Word for 2023
I have completed this practice for the last three years, and while every year there has been some kind of irony to the word I have chosen, I have been able to reflect on each past year and see that word at work in nearly everything I have said or done.
What Is Coming Up in 2023
I continue to consider getting back to the podcast and am looking at doing a national parks series over the summer, but for now I need to focus on my getting my book published. I will continue weekly travel posts on Fridays. Other writing content will drop when I have time and I’m feeling inspired.
I’m continuing with making all posts available for all readers as I work to grow my readership. I’m not quitting a day job that I enjoy and I’m still doing this as a hobby, so if you feel moved to support me through paid membership, thank you so much! Support helps me justify my regular writing habit. Please continue to share my work with others on your social media channels as well. And please consider following us at litthinkpodcast.substack.com. We’re putting together a lot of really great content in our current season and we have some exciting plans for 2023.
Keep following me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for additional updates.
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