2021, in conclusion/memoriam

We're all just ignoring any and all goals we set during the pandemic, right? Right.

After the nightmare that was 2020, 2021 wasn't so bad. I submitted my first first-author publication that uncovered a long-standing misconception about airborne transmission of disease, and it got me featured in WIRED magazine. I successfully defended and submitted my dissertation about volunteer health communication in US refugee resettlement. (Those two projects sound very unrelated, but medical rhetoric is the key there :) :))

After 2 years of doctoral coursework and 3 (soul-sucking) years of dissertating, I graduated with a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing from Virginia Tech. My mental health immediately improved.

While I was finishing my dissertation, we sold our townhouse in Blacksburg and moved to a 1910s-era bungalow in coastal North Carolina. My daughter started 1st grade (!) in a Spanish immersion program. We all got vaccinated. I was on set as an extra in a Simu Liu/Phillipa Soo movie (though never made it into a scene). We took a bunch of COVID tests throughout the year that all came back negative. After delaying the trip twice, we finally made it to Costa Rica to visit family.

In August, I accepted a job as a Visiting Lecturer of Technical Communication at UCF, then in November I moved into a position with Church World Service in the APA (Afghan Placement and Assistance) Community Sponsor program, building on my dissertation work with community resettlement volunteers.

A new list is coming soon, maybe--if I can somehow muster up the energy to have any hopes or goals for 2022 that extend beyond "be a functional person." Pandemics: 0/10, would not recommend.

Comments

#29 - write in a journal weekly for six months (1/27)

Ok, blogosphere. It's time to get serious. One of the items on my list is keeping a weekly journal for six months, and since I'm getting dangerously close to not having six months left in those 999 days, I better start now. I'd much prefer to keep a paper journal, but it takes so long to hand-write things. (First world problems, right?) So here we are. I'll be pulling prompts from this website whenever I get stuck...so, basically all the time. I really struggle with blogging because I'm too worried about how I come across to the people reading it, and that distracts me from writing about real things like how I really want to play a Dungeons and Dragons game (I'm serious, you guys) and how I may or may not have left a load of laundry in the washing machine for two days and am writing this to avoid dealing with it. First up is something eerily similar to those Livejournal/Facebook "fill this out about yourself" lists, so consider this m

#88 - buy a kitchen table and chairs

Compared to many of my other 99 goals, this one seems a little silly. After all, what impact will acquiring a table and chairs have on my personal growth? But, let's be honest, some things are just necessary. Ricky and I loved eating on the couch and everything, but it's a tad embarrassing when you have guests...so I was on the hunt for a table, not for my personal growth, but for my social development. And by "on the hunt," I mean "scavenging Craigslist." (As if you didn't already know!) Most of the options down here in southwest Florida fall into two categories: the white-washed, pastel-cushioned, retirement-community style... ...or the metal-and-glass, I-don't-have-any-children-that-may-break-their-faces-on-this style. Give or take a few rattan pieces (which probably could be used as makeshift rafts in a hurricane-induced pinch, I suppose), this was my selection. "Why can't I just find a contemporary, wooden set that just h

#21 - go to the temple at least once every three months

On the last Saturday in September (procrastination, as usual), Ricky and I made the 3 1/2 hour drive to the Orlando, FL temple for what threatened to be a supremely awesome day. (For those of you unfamiliar with the purpose of LDS temples, there's a website !) It was hard leaving our dear Washington, D.C. temple behind--after all, we did get married there--but we were excited for the chance to make Orlando our "home base" for the next few years. Not as impressive as the D.C. "towering over the Beltway" look, but still impressive! Isn't this place gorgeous? You can't see the fountains in this picture, but the temptation to jump in them was pretty strong. It was SO HOT. No Jensen outing is complete without an awkward, "look, we match" picture. 95% of the time this is a total accident. The temple was, as usual, amazing. You know that feeling you get when you're on vacation and you realize that you have nowhere to rush to and n

Katie's 99 in 999 (currently 55 in 555!)

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