‘I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.’-D. Bowie

I can honestly say that where 2021 has ended is beyond anything I could have imagined. In January, I was going through a hard time. Covid had made things uncertain, I missed my family, live anything, and trying to figure out my steps. I knew Bend wasn’t for me, I had created a wonderful life but things were missing and I was simply making do. As the world began to reopen, the claustrophobia took hold. I had applied for jobs but nothing had come to fruition and I was working with my therapist on steps to take to be okay living in Bend until the summer of 2022 when I planned to move…somewhere.

Things weren’t all bad, I loved the university I was at and the restaurant job that I had taken to simply survive became family. Then, out of the blue, I received an email from a school in Spokane, Washington inquiring if I was still interested in the position I had applied to over a year prior. I kid you not, the first thing I did was google ‘Broadway in Spokane’ and ‘Concerts in Spokane.’ The city has a preforming arts center that gets the Broadway touring productions and then there was an advert for The Weeknd performing at the local arena (an artist I don’t care for but he’s massive so a win). Then I accepted the position. It was a summer of driving back and forth to put things into storage while looking for an apartment.

Finding a place in Spokane proved harder that I thought, I had hoped to save a lot of money on rent but there were no apartments and a population boom (rent prices also rose dramatically during covid due to this demand-similar to Bend). I had found a place that was fine and in a nice area (an area where, if I were to buy a house here, is where I would prefer to be). There was a delay in my approval and I had kept searching online to see if something better popped up. Well something did, in the best neighborhood in the city and less than the other place. I put a deposit down sight unseen. I still had only seen a virtual tour stock video when I signed my lease. My jaw dropped when I walked in and saw the incredible view of the city skyline. My best friend, Whitney, said that it is so much more than a view but a representation of everything I had gone through the last couple of years. I love laying in bed at night looking at all the lights. I love that I can walk downtown in minutes. I love that there is a trail across the street. I love everything about my apartment, well other than I no longer have covered parking-cleaning off one’s car in the snow sucks and also delayed my plan of getting a new car, lol.

During all of this, I was able to see my brother…twice! After a long delay, he finally was able to come and visit me in Oregon. We did an epic road trip and it was truly so much fun. I was able to cross a bucket list item in visiting Mount St. Helens as well as visiting Mount Rainier and Seattle for the first time. I also love the Oregon Coast, so it was cool to show B! When he left, we truly didn’t know when we were going to see each other again but turns out, it would be very soon! He had accepted a position at a record label and had the opportunity to see the one of the acts at the Grand Ole Opry! He invited me to come along and two days after moving out of my place in Bend, off I went to Nashville. A dream weekend that still boggles my mind that I was able to do. Seeing a show at the Opry, standing in the circle, a show at The Bluebird Cafe…I still cannot wrap my head around it was real.

I was also able to see my dad and best friends-family I created, Bob and Kim, for the first time in two years! I had a trip that crammed a lot into a little bit of time, crisscrossing Pennsylvania. But it was all worth it to hug my dad and celebrate my godson’s second birthday. A lot of family and it was so good for my soul.

My year culminated with an epic road trip over Christmas, visiting parts of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. I knocked off two states and two childhood bucket list items-Monument Valley and the Four Corners, in addition to Antelope and Grand Canyons. I will be telling you all about the trip in the coming weeks. It was inspiring and lovely and what I needed after a bit of a stressful winter.

All of this is to say, you truly never know where you will end up. In January, I couldn’t have imagined where the year would take me. A friend who was in town recently for a wedding told me how genuinely happy I seemed and I am. I don’t know what will happen in 2022 but I am open to where the road will lead.

Thank you all for another year of love and support. It means a lot that more than my dad read this little part of the internet. My 2022 will be off to a great start when I head to Seattle on New Year’s Day to the Van Gogh Experience, I am very excited and hopefully the weather cooperates. Cheers to 2022!