Goodbye 2022

Even if you aren’t someone who gets energized about a new year, it’s always interesting to review the previous one because it’s amazing how much can happen over 365 days.

My business goals were to sell at a Saturday market and to make a logo. We applied for the larger Saturday market in our area and were unfortunately denied. When we asked for more insight, they told us there was some overlap with the products sold at the market. So, we will apply again, but for the 2022 season we decided to try the Wednesday market again since it was at a different location than it was in 2021. We had some mild success there and made some nice connections with customers and fellow vendors. It’s interesting to experiment with different ways to offer our flower products and what appeals to the customers. We make mixed bouquets and market goers usually choose the ones with brighter colors rather than pastels. Customers also enjoyed selecting bunches of individual varieties and single stems so they could make their own bouquets.

And we finally had a logo made! We like it a lot, but don’t feel like it’s our final logo. We hired someone off of Etsy to make it and what should have been a fun creative process felt very awkward. She was great and responded quickly and delivered what she promised, but we felt like we were telling her what to design and she would send us back the bare minimum without any of her creative input. We had envisioned some assistance and ideas, but we still like how it is for now. One day we will update it with someone else and see how the process differs.

One of my creative goals was to finish the draft of my story and while I did not succeed, I made a ton of progress behind the scenes. I really fleshed out the outline to a point where I feel like it has more substance rather than just an idea. I completed long character development exercises to get to know my two main characters better. It was a list of 43 questions and it was really cool how I would usually know the answer about the character immediately. As if I knew them but the questions were bringing out this information I didn’t realize I knew, does that make sense? My draft is at 9,275 words – up from 6,000 at the beginning of the year. Not much, but not nothing! I’ve been trying to lean into the practice of letting the writing flow and not worrying about choosing the perfect words, especially since now I have a more robust outline to guide me. I fluctuate between feeling really excited to write this story and feeling like it isn’t anything special. Either way, I plan to work on it more in 2023!

Another goal of mine for the year was to visit a National Park we haven’t been to before. I looked on a map and realized that Great Smoky Mountains National Park was only a 5 hour drive from our house! I did some research on it and discovered it was the most visited National Park in the United States! I chose an interesting hike that we could backpack to a campsite in the backcountry for a night and we had a really great experience! It is a huge park and we only dipped our toe into the central region of the map, so we will definitely return one day to see more! You can read more about our weekend adventure here!

Speaking of hiking, I had a goal in 2022 to go on a hike at least once a month over the year. We succeeded in 9 months out of 12! Since we live near Shenandoah National Park, there really is no excuse. We found some shorter hikes near the entrance to the park that we could do easily. This goal encouraged us to get out there in the forest, which we really enjoy, and we found some fun trails that provided us with some outdoor time in the woods without taking up our entire day. It even encouraged us to get out there in less ideal weather like rain and cold, which was still a fun experience!

I did some reading this year through hard copies and audiobooks. My friend and I finished the Court of Thorns and Roses series and decided to read the same author’s Throne of Glass series next. We’ve read 4 out of 8 and I felt like the books were a little lacking at first, but I’ve heard they get better from here on, so here’s hoping! I listen to audiobooks when I am working out in the flower field and I can get many hours of listening in that way! I listened to the second and third books in the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, I re-read all of the Harry Potter books by listening to them for the first time which was fun, and I started listening to the Witcher series which I am enjoying as much as the show.

Here are some highlights of 2022!

• February
  • My best friends from high school visited with their significant others and we had a great time chatting, hiking, doing an escape room, and visiting Monticello.
  • The impending visit also forced/motivated us to finish renovating our second guest room! It’s been a long time coming and we are so happy to have it finished (and cleaned up!)

• April
  • My parents visited for Easter.
  • Greg cut his hair after growing it out during the pandemic. He donated 12 inches! He kept his beard though!
  • We had an intense hailstorm that dented my Jeep and we lost power for several hours. It even dented our copper roof!
  • Greg’s brother got married in Michigan.

• May
  • My brother got married in Florida.
  • Greg’s brother and his new wife visited us on their honeymoon road trip.
  • We visited our hometown for a theater reunion.

• June
  • We visited my parents for Father’s Day.

• July
  • We started our farmer’s market season at a new location.
  • Our friends came to visit.

• August
  • We arranged flowers for an out of state wedding.
  • We sold to a local florist for the first time.

• September
  • Visited our hometown/family.
  • Celebrated our 5 year anniversary.
  • Hiked in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  • Went to Elton John’s concert in DC on his farewell tour.

• October
  • Arranged flowers for a local wedding

• November
  • Visited my parents for Thanksgiving.

• December
  • Attended the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest experience in Leesburg, VA.
  • Visited my friend Caitlin and finally got to meet her 8 month old baby.
  • Spent Christmas in our hometown.
  • Saw Lindsey Stirling’s Christmas concert on New Year’s Eve.

Thanks for reading!

-Rebecca