The end of a decade

Since 2011, I have done an annual year in review on the last Sunday of December (or on January 1, when it falls on a Sunday). So here we are. Time to review 2019.

January. I wrapped up my job at the Sundance Film Festival, and then I got to attend with the ten free tickets I got (that spilled over into February). I spoke in sacrament meeting, thereby missing President Nelson speaking in my home ward.

Apollo 11 was the first film I saw at the Festival, and it was a good one.

February. After the Festival, I had lots of free time, so I began spending time at the Church History Library to do research for my Pioneer Day book. I spent a week in California with my nephews, who were on a February break.

March. At the end of the month, I accompanied my parents to various state parks, national parks, and national monuments in southern Utah. The season began at This Is the Place, but I had helped out there for weeks, doing field trips, cleaning, scheduling, and other things.

This was the first time I saw Delicate Arch.

April. I saw P!nk in concert with my sister, niece, and cousin. I got my copy of The Saints Abroad, the book I coedited, but it officially came out in May.

On the day before Easter, I wanted to run up Mueller Park Canyon. I got a mile up the trail and had absolutely no desire to finish the run, which is not characteristic. Turns out it was the beginning of a sickness, and I had to take off an entire week of work. I usually don't get that sick! I spent some time purging myrtle spurge from the Wild Rose Trail.

May. I did my second Splash 'N' Sprint Triathlon, and my time was worse than last year, but I was recovering from sickness, and the bike route was much harder.

It was an unusually cold and rainy (and snowy) May, which meant I often got off work early from This Is the Place, which gave me more time for research. But I did have to work late on May 10, the sesquicentennial of the transcontinental railroad.

June. I went to see the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti for its final run; it was a kitschy performance, and I understand why it's ending.

I decided I should apply for grad school, so I bought a GRE practice book to study at work. Near the end of the month, some Tongan kids got overheated on a day trek at the park, and the EMTs told them they couldn't push handcarts anymore, so all of us employees had to go get them. For my mom's birthday, I took her to see a cat circus. And on June 30, I wore my American flag suit to church, while my friend Shane wore his Canada suit.

July. I camped with my family at Lake Washington in the Uintas.

This Is the Place dedicated a monument to pioneer children, but I had to direct traffic. It was a miserable day, but it got better when I attended the Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day concert featuring Sissel. On Pioneer Day itself, I tried to find a Pie 'n' Beer Day event, thereby learning that it really isn't a thing. On the last day of the month, I went with my parents to camp at Moosehorn Lake, again in the Uintas.

August. I hiked with my dad up Bald Mountain in the Uintas.

I received a free sample of Zombie Skittles to review. And I fed the sister missionaries, giving them tomato zucchini cobbler and grape bread, some of my favorite summertime dishes.

September. I took the GRE and did very well on the verbal part and OK on the other parts. I turned thirty-one. On the day after my birthday, I got bit by a leashed dog on a trail, further cementing my general hatred of dogs.

October. I enjoyed running through the autumn leaves.

This Is the Place had Little Haunts, and I played Alice the Dragon a few times. My work there wrapped up for the season, but I started back at Sundance Institute on October 30. On Halloween, I invited friends over, and we watched The Mummy.

November. I enjoyed running on certain trails in Park City (and North Salt Lake) before the snow stuck around.

I saw Holiday Inn with my grandparents and made sweet potato pie and mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving.

December. I attended three Christmas concerts: JD McPherson, Tabernacle Choir, and the Lower Lights.

JD McPherson's Socks is one of best Christmas albums ever.

I worked lots and lots of overtime, but the craziness subsided right before Christmas, allowing me to enjoy more time with family. I age out of the YSA ward.

But this is not an ordinary year. Not only is it the end of a year, it's the end of a decade. (I know some of you pedants are out there saying it's not the end until the end of 2020, but we refer to decades by their digits, so for all practical purposes, it's a new decade.)

Ten years is a long time, and I certainly have changed. I think I worry less, and I'm more confident. I'm more athletic, with much more impressive calves, but I'm also more obsessed with seasonal junk food.

Anyway, it's time for a review of the entire decade as well.

2010. As a socially awkward, freshly returned missionary, I started my studies at Brigham Young University. I declared a major in English language (linguistics, not literature!) and a minor in editing. I joined a dinner group, and I took up running so that I wouldn't gain back the sixty pounds I lost on my mission. During summer term, I took a Dinosaurs! class, and I got to go with my professor on a dinosaur dig in the days before Pioneer Day.

This was during the Great Recession, and try as I might to get a job in Provo, I couldn't find one. So I took the fall off to find a job at home. It took two months of applying before I got a job at the Church Distribution Center, where I put orders in boxes. It was a good thing I took that fall off. If I had attended that fall, I wouldn't have had a scholarship, but with the way scholarships worked in those days, I got one because I took the fall off. (And I didn't even know that at the time!) My youngest nephew, Nathaniel, was born in January, but I didn't first see him until December.

2011. In winter semester, I got a job cleaning up after sporting events. But I don't think my boss liked me, and I wasn't invited back. (Good thing I don't want to be a janitor!) In the spring, I got to go to Disneyland for the first time with my family.

My niece, Allie, at Disneyland

On May 1, I started this blog! During summer term, I had no roommates, and my air conditioning was out for six weeks. I declared a geology minor, but I didn't have any geology classes that year. In the spring, my dad had to work in Chicago, and then he was laid off. Since funds were tight, I once again took fall semester off, and I got back my job at the Distribution Center. And then my dad got another job and all was well again.

2012. For some reason, 2012 seems to be one of the most memorable and important years of my life. When I think back on things, I often think, "When was that? Oh, 2012, of course it was." I feel like I really became who I am in 2012. I made many friends, including some whom I referred to as "horses" after I had a dream about a horse that took a liking to me. I took my first real editing and geology classes, including one that took me on a field trip to Death Valley. In April, I fainted while running and ended up scraped up. The next week, I got an editing internship with BYU Studies, which changed the direction of my life. I was obsessed with YouTube singer Jan Terri. Even though I took classes every semester and term, I had an enjoyable August, during which I spent some time with my nephews, who had recently moved to California.

This is my youngest nephew, Nathaniel, or Qi-en, but we called him Baby at the time. I absolutely adore this picture of him.

2013. This year wasn't quite as memorable as 2012, its twin, but it's still a major year in my memory. On January 24, we had freezing rain, and I slipped and landed on my teeth. They were chipped and cracked, and I had to get a root canal. That initiated a tremendous fear and hatred of ice, which persists to this day. (At least I no longer have recurring nightmares about ice.) I had a relaxing summer term because I only worked part-time, with no classes, and I got to go to Disneyland with my family again, but my nephews were not impressed. I took many memorable classes, including geology of planets, structure of English (all about ambiguity), the editing capstone, groundwater, swimming for non-swimmers, and Old English. But most memorable of all was geology field studies, during which time we spent two weeks camping, making geologic maps, and exploring the rocks of Utah.

I didn't shave during those two weeks, because when else would it be acceptable to have a beard in a BYU class?

2014. When I think back on 2014, I think of it as a sad year, even though good things happened. On Valentine's Day, I went home to visit, only to witness my mom destroy her leg on the stairs. On Mother's Day, my sister's husband left her. Even the good things were bittersweet times of transition. I got a job with the Church History Department, but that meant I had to leave BYU Studies. I worked for the Church remotely from Provo for a few months after I graduated, but then I moved home in August, bidding Provo and the life I knew goodbye. I began to explore trail running, and running thereby became a hobby rather than simply exercise.

The first and last time I hiked the Y was the day I graduated.

Our cat Jenny sleeping in an interesting position

 2015. This really wasn't a very interesting year. I kept working at the Church History Department, but I transitioned to the team that worked on the book that ultimately became At the Pulpit in 2017. This was the first year I formally celebrated Pioneer Day.

2016. The book A Historian in Zion, which I had coedited, was published. 

 In the summer I went on a family trip to several national parks in California and Oregon. In the fall I was called as executive secretary. And I got my reviewing gig over at The Impulsive Buy.

2017. While 2017 wasn't as fantastic as 2012 or 2013, it was still a wonderful year, because I made it that way. I made bucket lists for every holiday, which led me to do things I wouldn't otherwise do. When I turned 29, I began completing a bucket list of things before I turned 30. So I bought a car (2017 Toyota Rav4 hybrid, which is now paid off!), ran a half marathon, and did other things. In July, my family went to New York City. On July 10, we had to put down our 15-year-old cat Jenny. That was the last time I cried. On October 21, I adopted an 8-year-old cat and named him Jimmy.

I just adore him!

 My job at the Church History Library ended.

2018. I spent months applying to jobs before I landed one at This Is the Place Heritage Park, a job for which I am vastly overqualified.

Here I am with my niece and nephews on the Fourth of July in the print shop.

 As part of my bucket list, I visited all 29 county seats in Utah while I was 29. My family visited New York and New England in June. On Halloween, I began working for the Sundance Film Festival.

2019. I attended the Sundance Film Festival after my job with them ended. I resumed my job at This Is the Place, began spending lots of time doing research for my Pioneer Day book, took the GRE, and applied to grad school. I returned to Sundance Institute in the fall.

In June, I got my copy of The Annals of the Southern Mission. I spent the summer of 2014 making sure every handwritten word was transcribed correctly. It finally got published, so I added it to my shelf of books I've worked on.

"It's the end of a decade.
In another ten years' time,
Who can say what we'll find,
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of [twenty]-nine?"
—ABBA