2022: Year In Review

Hello friends!

Another year (and a half, almost!) has passed with no blog posts from me! I miss writing and the time and space it requires. I am setting an intention to get back to it this coming year… but before I go there, let’s start by reviewing my 6 goals from 2022.

Goals For 2021 + Reflection

1) More physical fitness

Holy cats, I fell off the wagon in a major way with this one last year. Looking back, I’m not exactly sure how this deteriorated, but it probably started pretty early on, likely with the craziness that ensued after the next item happened…

2) Buy a beach property in Mexico

This one materialized in the second month of last year! I mentioned a “romantic partner” in last year’s update — their name is Kali, we are still together, and we actually ended up buying an amazingly cute little studio in Tulum together at the end of February.

After we returned from that trip, this purchase immediately added a pretty big layer of complexity to life, as neither of us had ever bought a property out of the country before and our Spanish is a little, ahem, rusty. Thankfully, we eventually worked through the mess of contract negotiations and other intricacies. It was just starting to be built last spring, so it was finally completed in the fall.

Right now we’re just making it available for family and friends, so if you need a great place to stay in Mexico please hit me up!

3) Go back to Europe for pleasure

Oops. This didn’t happen.

4) Build relationships

Yes, I see this one as a success! I focused on building depth within my family and my business, rather than going broad.

I invested a lot of time, energy, and love into my relationships my kids and with Kali last year. (BTW, someday the world hear more of Kali’s story, and, well… I would need a whole other blog post to even scratch the surface of how world-changing a human this is, my friends. I am truly honored to know them.)

Also, as you’re about to read below, I had quite a relational journey with the company last year… the team experienced some massive, tectonic shifts, and though I truly believe it will all work out for good, it was also very hard.

5) Create great memories with kiddos

In my view, I did… “OK” at this last year. I did try my absolute best to get to as many of their activities as possible — and I was able to attend almost all of them! — AND I will say I want to work on being more fully present with them over this coming year.

6) 10k users in #lovework

We did not make this goal last year. Turns out, 2022 WAS a “growth year” for #lovework… but NOT in terms of users on the platform.

I didn’t know it when I wrote this goal, of course, but 2022 was going to be a growth year for the #lovework TEAM.

Almost the entire team is different now than it was a year ago — and it’s exponentially larger. My confidence in the new team we are building is a huge reason you see another audacious goal for #lovework below.

But before we do that, here are the most notable things that happened in my 2022!

Notable Events From 2022

COVID — Successfully avoided it until the very beginning of 2022 and then BAM. Happy New Year.
Mexico Trip In February — This trip was life-changing, in so many ways. It provided the beginnings for our Airbnb adventure and also catalyzed Kali working more with #lovework, which has been transformational for our company.
Accutane — I had struggled with adult acne my whole (adult) life, and decided to try a 5-month adventure with this craaazy drug. I won’t lie to you; it was terrible. But the results on the other side have been worth it, thankfully!
Rocky Horror — Believe it or not, I’d never been… until now! (~~VIRGIN~~)
Kiddo Musical Performances — The oldest created her own show for DCPA’s Musical Madness and was Mrs. Potts in Beauty & The Beast. The youngest was in Tangled and The Infamous Shoe Gang. The oldest also joined a children’s choir, which was just absurdly adorable. Overall, it was a pretty spectacular year for musical performances.
Harry Potter + Quidditch — The oldest got WAY into H.P. this year… I think she’s read all 7 books now… twice. The youngest is on board, too, now (phew)…! We also got to play Quidditch for the oldest’s birthday, which was a blast.
“Roadie” Activities — I got to tag along to a whole bunch of Kali’s shows. Expert tip: if you’re going to be a roadie, do it for a vocalist (not much gear!).
Investor Fundraise — Completed our first small fundraise for #lovework via a “friends and family” Angel round with a great group of investors.
Red Rocks w/ Kiddos — Pro: got to take the kiddos to Red Rocks for their first time! Con: the band was KidzBop. (Oh alright… it was quite fun!)
Fast Company Innovation Festival — Attended this innovation-focused conference in NYC. The on-site events around Manhattan were pretty cool, but otherwise not worth the hype.
HLTH — Attended this huge, health-focused conference in Vegas. Overall, it impressed me. Highly recommend watching this video from it.
Elitch Gardens — Believe it or not (again), I’d never been!
Thanksgiving — Traveled with the kiddos to meet some of Kali’s family. It was a delightful trip!
Holiday Disneyland Trip… This Time With Even More Magic — Had an awesome time going back to Disneyland/California Adventure again this year… and this time surprised the girls with a trip to Harry Potter at Universal. The ride inside Hogwarts is one of the Top 3 coolest rides I’ve ever been on… I’ve never experienced anything like it.
Mean Girls @ DCPA — Right around the holiday, we took the kiddos to a fun immersive game activity and all wore our pink hats. Someone passing by on the street asked me, “Are you going to Mean Girls?” We weren’t (didn’t even know it was in town), but of course we looked it up, and were somehow able to get tickets for that night. What a fun show! The girls know all the lyrics to all the songs already.

Goals & Intentions For 2023

Physical fitness — I gotta sort this one out. Gonna give myself a bit of grace, though… I just want to have a solid routine in place by the end of 2023 that I can and will stick to.
Build more adult friendships — This is harder than it sounds for more people than just me, right?
Start writing and speaking again — By the end of this year, I want to be on some kind of regular cadence of writing again, and I want to start making myself available for more speaking by then, as well.
Create great memories with kiddos — In addition to being consistently more present, I also want to be intentional about more kiddo time this coming year. I’d like to start doing 1:1 dates with each kiddo, maybe 1x/month…? Seems like this should be easy, but the logistics are REAL tricky! Intending to sort out a plan for this by the end of the year, too.
10,000 paid users in #lovework — Yup, let’s try this again.

Thank you so much for caring enough to read this whole thing. Even if we don’t talk often, I appreciate you and send you love for your 2023!