Question...?

 Since I always do a year-in-review post, it means that the first (or in this case, second) week of January describes two weeks.

The week between Christmas and New Year's, I went into the office Tuesday through Friday. On December 27, I went to Brownies! Brownies! Brownies! for the last time. I first went there in 2019, since they were right by the church where I helped tutor youth in a Tongan ward. But then inflation (after a pandemic) has forced them to shut down. I think it also doesn't help that they were kind of in a weird location. I'm sad they're closing down, but I also don't make it out to Sugar House that much these days.

My niblings returned to California on December 30. New Year's Eve was very boring; I spent some time reading all my journal entries from 2022. I often find myself a little sad when a year ends, but I wasn't sad this time.

On New Year's Day, I made a New Year's Day soup with blackeyed peas, ham, and vegetables, served with a side of cornbread. Blackeyed peas are a traditional New Year's Day food in the South, so I've adopted that, since we don't really have any New Year's foods here. (Maybe Martinelli's? I had some of that too.)

I was off work January 2, so I decided to hike the Wild Rose Trail in the freshly fallen snow, wearing my new boots. It was busier than I expected, but I guess everyone had the day off, and what else are you going to do during this time of year? This is seriously the most bland, bleak period of the entire calendar. (Speaking of calendars, I still need to buy a new one!)

This week I started taking swimming lessons for adults. My only formal swimming training was Swimming for Non-Swimmers at BYU back in 2013, so I signed up for the Beginner class at the South Davis Rec Center. There was one other person signed up for that class, and the instructor said both of us are more at an intermediate level, so we combined with the intermediate class, which only has one person. So we get a full hour of training instead of just a half hour. Fine with me! I have these lessons every Tuesday and Thursday in January. My goal is to do both cardio and strength exercises every day.

My life is one big question mark right now. My internship with the Church History Department is ending, but I will be working part-time as a contractor. And no one there knows what's going on, and it doesn't help that people have been out of the office for the holidays. Will I have the same cubicle or any cubicle at all? Will my badge work? Who is my supervisor? No one really seems to know. I have also applied to a couple of jobs in the department.

I also interviewed for another part-time job, and they were going to get back to me this upcoming week. But I've decided I don't want to take it. Having two part-time jobs is not ideal, just something to do until I get something permanent. The same can be said for having one part-time job. So I would rather just have one job, especially since I have enough money saved.

I had an interview this week for another job, which sounds like it would be fun, and I thought the interview went well. That job is in Utah County. What would my life be like if I got it? Would I commute? Would I move closer? With roommates or solo? Would I take Reggie with me? Who knows. What a weird time of my life!

Queer year

Wow. What a year it has been! The year 2012 was one of the most important, memorable years of my life, so it only seems fitting that the tenth anniversary of that year would also be important and memorable. When I started this year, I didn't expect to enter a quarter-life crisis. I thought I already went through that three years ago. But I have learned and grown in unexpected ways in 2022.

January. I had a week off before I started my internship at the Church History Department and my final semester of grad school. I did my internship for credit, and it was the only "class" I had, so I didn't actually go to campus. I would go to work during the day, then every night I spent an hour and a half working on my graduate portfolio. I didn't have much time just to have fun. I began another year of teaching a youth Sunday School class. My new cat, Reggie, was still getting used to us, and it took a long time for him to warm up.

At the end of the month, I got sick, so I self-isolated in my room, since COVID numbers were high. But it turned out not to be COVID. 

February. A pretty boring, bleak month. I went to Fillmore for the funeral of my great-uncle, even though I barely knew him. Most of my time was still devoted to finishing my graduate portfolio.

March. Fitbit recalled my watch, so they gave me a refund, and I got a Garmin watch, which is definitely better than Fitbit, even if the app is less user friendly. Because COVID numbers had subsided, I commuted by bus with my UCard. In the middle of the month, I had a severe bout of food poisoning, maybe from Lucky Charms. Later in the month, I took a field trip to BYU for work, and then that evening I saw Carol Burnett live.

 

April. Trail season resumed in earnest. 

As I wrapped up grad school, I decided that I should start attending activities with the mid-singles ward, so I looked up upcoming events. It just so happened that the first activity I found was a fireside with Ben Schilaty about ministering to LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints. Attending this fireside was extremely important and helpful to me this year as I came to terms with my own orientation. 

May. I attended both convocation and commencement ceremonies at the University of Utah, where Doug Bowser, CEO of Nintendo (yes, really), was the speaker.

The day after graduation, I went to a Mat Kearney concert. A few days after graduation, I defended my graduate portfolio, which was a nerve-racking experience. I passed, but it seemed a little anticlimactic because I had already attended my graduation ceremonies.

June. I went to the Mormon History Association conference in Logan, and I went to a March for Our Lives rally at the capitol.

 I also began consistently pulling up goathead plants, which I continued to do into the fall. I attended the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But most significantly of all, I had PRK surgery, so I no longer wear glasses. Everything was blurry for a week.

July. I got a new phone. My family observed Bountiful's Handcart Days parade and fireworks, and I did the 5k the following week. I attended the unveiling of the Pioneers of 1847 monument to Black pioneers at This Is the Place. 

I heard myself on our local NPR station, having recorded a clip explaining my Pioneer Day playlist. At the end of the month, I first attended the mid-singles ward, and I was struck by how open and vulnerable the sacrament-meeting talks were. They spoke to me in a way that family-ward talks do not.

August. I began seeing a therapist. I enjoyed the wet weather. 

I helped out with a stake service project. I finally had COVID, but it was a relatively minor case. (My sister was not so lucky; she got it shortly after I got it, but not from me, and she spent a while in the hospital.) Once I recovered, I saw the Killers in concert.

September. I was sad about the insanely hot temperatures at the beginning of the month. I went to an outdoor Lower Lights concert. Trail running continued,

and I even went on a fifteen-mile run in North Canyon, the longest run I have ever done. 

October. I attend the Restore Gathering put on by Faith Matters, which was a beautiful conference. I came out as gay! (Side note: I know of at least three instances where people shared my coming-out blog post with other people without asking me first. I can't help but feel violated. Like, you never talk to me, but you think you can just share my stuff willy-nilly?) And trail season continued.

November. I reviewed Figgy Pudding Spam. I did some volunteer editing for Wayfare magazine. I enjoyed working downtown again to see the Christmas lights after Thanksgiving.

December. I attended a launch party for Wayfare. I went to the Lower Lights Christmas concert and Elf the Musical. I officially joined the Bountiful SA Ward. My brother's family came into town.

My two New Year's resolutions for 2022 were to watch a holiday-themed show every day during each holiday season and to get rid of something every day. Both of these goals were harder than I expected. Watching TV is boring, especially in the summer and fall, when I would rather be running on trails or picking goatheads. 

I'm kind of a hoarder (not like what you see on TV, but still), which is why I made my goal to get rid of things, but being a hoarder also made it harder. The tree hugger in me feels bad getting rid of things that are functional (the "reuse" of "reduce, reuse, recycle"), even if they aren't fully functional, even if I haven't used them in years. A lot of the things I got rid of were random papers or rotting food in the fridge. But I did try to get rid of some more substantial things. I'm only wearing this tie because I feel like I should wear it since I own it. I don't actually like wearing it, so I should get rid of it. Sure, this water bottle holds water, but since the tab to open the straw is broken, it makes it incredibly difficult to use, so I don't use it. Why keep it? I didn't clear up a lot closet space, but it did help me reevaluate why I keep things.

I really don't know what 2023 looks like, especially because I don't know what my job situation will be. But I am optimistic for a fresh start!