But in my personal life, 2017 was a great year! I'm usually a little sad at the end of the year, but I'm not really sad this time, I think because I felt satisfied with 2017. A new car, a new cat, solar eclipse, three major concerts, holiday bucket lists--I enjoyed this otherwise terrible year.
January. January wasn't very eventful, so my blogs were about topics, rather than what was going on in my life. (I was going to provide links throughout this reminiscence, but all my posts are accessible on the sidebar, so I'm not going to put in the work, especially if no one would read them.) I went to a fireside with Cherie Call, my favorite singer, and she offered to send me a copy of her first Christmas EP for free, since I'm her biggest fan and it's not available for purchase.
February. Our fourteen-year-old cat, Jenny, became very sick and quit eating. We took her to the vet, and they cleared an abscess from her hindquarters, which restored her to health. It bought her five more months.
March. The snow melted, marking the return of trail running season.
April. I wanted to attend an Easter concert, and I actually went to two. One was at St. Olaf's Catholic Church, and one was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert.
May. My ward went to the Salt Lake City Cemetery, and I worried I came across as a know-it-all. I got new running shorts that had mesh pockets, so whenever my phone in my pocket hit my thighs, it acted like I was touching it, and my phone did all sorts of crazy things--playing music, taking pictures and videos, calling people, drafting texts. On Memorial Day weekend, we fed the missionaries of my ward, and on Memorial Day, I ran up Kenney Creek Trail to an old miner's cabin. ("Ran" is generous; I did run up the whole thing, but I did lots of stopping.)
June. I picked lots of cherries from my sister's tree to use in various dishes. My ward took a three-day trip to Fayette, Utah, which might have been my first time in Sanpete County. I went to Yuba State Park, and we went to the Manti Temple, where there were cattle roaming freely across the temple lawn and through the town.
July. July was a very full month. On July 1, the ward outing went to Palisade State Park, and I returned home. On July 2, my nephews (and my sister-in-law and her sister) came into town. On July 3, we went to North Salt Lake's fireworks. On July 4, we went to the Centerville parade. I started to run up Holbrook Canyon, but I twisted my ankle. I still went to see the National Parks (band) in northern Davis County. During my nephews' visit, Jenny got really sick, and on July 10, we had to put her down. That was the saddest I've been in a while. We buried her in the backyard. I went to the Draper Days parade and to my high school ten-year reunion. My family took a vacation to New York. We flew into NYC on a red-eye flight. My fatigue made me hate the city the first day. After I was better rested, I didn't hate it as much.
August. We met a long-lost great-uncle who is an astronomer, who was passing through Utah on his way to see the solar eclipse. I went to my uncle's house with my friend David in Lander, Wyoming, that we might be in the path of totality of the solar eclipse. Everyone in the country was excited about the eclipse. Sorry, but if you didn't see totality, your experience wasn't as interesting as you think it was.
September. Pumpkin season returned! As I was preparing for my twenty-ninth birthday, I test drove lots of cars. I made lots of homegrown grape juice. I was given tickets to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I had my golden birthday--29 on the 29th--and the next day I bought a shiny, blue 2017 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid Limited.
October. I drove my new car to Fish Lake to see Pando. I ran my first half marathon, the Halloween Half wearing my Vector costume, which was more exhausting than I expected it would be. I bought a new used cat, Jimmy. I feel bad for him, because he had all four paws declawed, he's missing a tooth, and he had been at the Humane Society for a long time. But I'm glad we can give him a nice, comfortable home. He's about eight years old, and he's the sweetest kitty, though he's pretty skittish.
November. I thought it would be fun at Thanksgiving time to go to Plymouth, Utah, so I went with my friend Shane, and we also went to Crystal Hot Springs.
December. I went to see my other favorite singer, Lady Gaga's Joanne tour. I went with my sister and niece again, and this time my sister-in-law joined us, because she and my nephews came in for Christmas. I had one of the best Christmases I've ever had. And as of Friday, I am unemployed. My contract with the Church History Department is over, so I am beginning my job search.
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| I cleared room on my shelf for the books and journals I helped with at BYU Studies (2012-2014) and the Church History Department (2014-2017). |
Here are reviews I wrote that were published on The Impulsive Buy in 2017:
Red Velvet Kit Kat
Brach's Dessert Hearts Conversation Hearts
Malt-O-Meal Cookies and Cream Cereal
Hostess Shamrock CupCakes
Hershey's Eggs with Pretzel Bits
Chick-fil-A Smokehouse BBQ Bacon Sandwich
Little Debbie Red, White, and Blueberry Creme Rolls
Cookies & Screeem M&Ms
Werther's Pumpkin Spice Soft Caramels
Brach's Chocolate Mint Cookie Candy Corn
Nature Valley Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars
Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Cobbler Cookies
Hostess Peppermint Twinkies
Gingerbread belVita Breakfast Biscuits
Brach's Fruit Cake Nougats
Life Savers Butter Rum Candy Canes
7-Eleven Mint Oreo Hot Chocolate
This year I also did a holiday bucket list. I accomplished most everything on it (except New Year's isn't over yet). However, I did not attend a St. Patrick's Day parade; all the close ones were the day after, and that didn't count, so I just walked the parade route. I didn't hear an owl hoot at Halloween, even though I put myself in positions to hear it, but I did have my Echo make owl noises. And my Christmas caroling was just me walking around singing to myself.
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