Things I wanted to do in 2022

January 24, 2023

Let’s take a look back at the “things I want to do list” that I shared at the beginning of 2022. I am more about intentions than about resolutions.

✔ Stay Healthy.

I am calling this a win, even though I did finally catch Covid last fall (and then gave it to Jon on his birthday!) despite all my ongoing precautions and 2.5+ years of dodging it. BUT, I got through it pretty much unscathed and I didn’t have any other health issues or injuries last year.

In early 2022, I had an upper endoscopy for my random digestive issues (you might recall). The results were non-significant and my symptoms have become less frequent since the summer, which I attribute to a long overdue family vacation and some tweaks in my diet. At this point, I am tempted to think these GI symptoms are purely stress-related, but I still keep a symptoms journal.
I also had an annual check-up including a full blood work panel in the fall and that came back “reassuringly normal”, as my new PCP called it. I am very thankful for that and I also stayed otherwise injury-free.

✔ See my family.

I did see my family. Quite a bit even. Yay! In the spring, I decided to take a quick trip home (after 2.5 years) because our summer plans were still up in the air, but then my family also came to visit in the summer for 3.5 glorious weeks. This was truly the highlight of the year. I am so, so happy this was possible in 2022.

✔ Complete (another) 365 Peloton Streak.

Yup, my second 365 year complete. You can expect this to show up on my list of things I want to do in 2023, although it feels like this is something that has just become natural habit at this point. It’s just still nice to put it on the list.

✔ Complete the virtual Pacific Crest Trail Challenge.

Well, a quick search confirmed that I apparently never mentioned it here on the blog, but I pledged to run, walk, or bike 2485.5 miles/4000 km along the (virtual) Pacific Crest Trail in 2022, and I finished on August, 21. I got a nice finisher certificate and a shiny medal.

✔ Be more creative.

I am not 100% satisfied with the execution of this but I was definitely more creative in 2022 than the previous year, so I call this semi-accomplished. I picked up my knitting again more often and also kept up with my planner (does that count as creative?).

✔ Optimize my diet.

I’ve mentioned above that I was dealing with some on-and-off digestive issues in the last couple of years. I had finally got a referral to a gastroenterologist (after much self-advocating) and had an upper endoscopy last spring. The results were mostly normal (mild gastritis) and still didn’t really explain any of my symptoms (mainly chest and stomach pressure). The gastroenterologist also suggested taking a round of PPIs during flare-ups, but I still don’t believe that my symptoms are caused by too much stomach acid (rather the opposite, which could have been caused by a previous H. Pylori infection, but no western medicine doctor wants to hear anything about this, even though the information is all over the internet). So, what was I to do? I kept making some subtle tweaks and changes to my diet, which was mostly cutting back on meat, salty snacks, and adding even more variety of veggies into our diet.

I also took HCL (hydrochloric acid) supplements on occasion (and I am convinced they helped) and I’ve been mostly symptom-free since last summer. I have my one-year follow-up appointment with the gastroenterologist in a few weeks and he’ll do another upper endoscopy and also a screening colonoscopy, while he’s at it. Fun! (NOT.)

Reorganize my blogging categories.

Haha, no. I cannot say that I haven’t thought about consolidating my category list, but I have not taken any actual steps to do so. Womp, womp.

Read 30 books.

This goal was seriously dumb. What was I thinking? I started the Outlander Series in late 2021 and knew that it would take me a while to get through eight (!) of these weighty tomes. I am currently almost through book 5, and while I didn’t read as much as I would have liked to, I did make some serious progress, but I won’t set any more reading goals until I am done with the series.

I am pretty happy with how things went in 2022. There will always be things that won’t get done, amirite? But I want to – again – embrace what Elisabeth refers to as her “ta-da list”, a list of things that weren’t put on the official list but were accomplished nonetheless.

So, here’s my 2022 TA-DA LIST:

I went on a horseback ride with my niece at Bryce Canyon, UT. What a fantastic experience. (I can’t link to it because I still haven’t gotten around to blog about it – but I will. I promise.)
I celebrated my 10-year anniversary of becoming a US citizen.
I successfully completed another year of NaBloPoMo with a bunch of lovely (new-to-me) people.
I found Italian plums and made my German Plum Streusel Cake again.
I participated in three PeloFondo weekends and completed four Power Zone Pack Challenges.
I continue to bake my own sourdough bread almost every weekend and it’s been one of my favorite weekly rituals (not to mention, a delicious one). I started this at the beginning of the pandemic three years ago and have not stopped.
I enjoyed many walks to the park with Jon.
I kept up monthly Skype-calls with a dear 91-year old family friend. The conversations were delightful and enriching.

Did you set goals for 2022? Or, what made your ta-da list?

Suzanne
January 24, 2023 at 10:34 am

I swear I already commented, so apologies if this is somewhat a duplicate!

Love your ta-da list. Those are all excellent, and I really wish that the whole sourdough process didn’t overwhelm me so much, because weekly fresh sourdough sounds amazing.

It will be so interesting to see what your GI says about your gastritis! One thing I have learned from living with doctors my whole life is that treating the body is often more art than science (except in the more mechanical aspects, like setting a bone or removing a tumor or a tonsil, etc.), and that if a treatment isn’t harmful, then why not pursue it? If you are finding success with alternative methods, and you aren’t causing harm to your body, that’s fantastic! I hope your GI is supportive.

The 365 Peloton streak is astounding to me. What an accomplishment, to do something every day! That takes such diligence and commitment and mental fortitude. I wish I could borrow some of those traits from you and NGS and Nicole and other people I’ve come to know who are so excellent about consistency and follow through. Way to go, San!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:10 pm
  
  Thank you Suzanne. I loved hearing your perspective as a doctor’s wife. My experience with my (former) GP and GI doc is that they like to just prescribe PPIs for stomach issues… and they haven’t really listened to my concerns. I’d much rather address the origin of my issues, not just treat the symptoms. I am just glad that “bigger health issues” have been ruled out… so I keep plugging along and finding what works for me.
  
  If you ever want to talk more about sourdough, I am sure gal :)
Sarah
January 24, 2023 at 11:44 am

Love these and can’t wait to see your 2023 goal list :)
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:10 pm
  
  Thanks so much, Sarah.
NGS
January 24, 2023 at 12:29 pm

Sometimes I think about organizing my blog tags and relabeling things and then I get exhausted because I have thousands of posts and I don’t want to do that, so I don’t. I say you never have to do it and I’m proud of you for not doing it in 2022!!

But you did make such great progress and I know you were so happy to see your family and it makes me happy to know you got to spend so much time with them. Can’t wait to see what 2023 brings.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:11 pm
  
  Haha, thank you, Engie. You make me feel much better about that blog tag relabeling goal ;)
Melissa
January 24, 2023 at 3:01 pm

The peloton streak is amazing, seriously, wow! I look forward to reading about the Bryce Canyon horse ride. When we took the kids there we were blown away by the rock formations, so spectacular.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:11 pm
  
  Bryce Canyon is so absolutely breathtaking!
Elisabeth
January 24, 2023 at 3:29 pm

Love this! What a great list of Ta-Da’s. I’m a big fan of “goals” but I hold them…loosely. I try to set very manageable goals and, if I don’t achieve them, give myself partial credit or even just write beside that goal: my priorities changed! My favourite goal ever might have been to “use more stickers.” As you know, I put “run in an organized race” down for 2022; having it as a goal is the only reason I ran a 5K at Thanksgiving. So I definitely find goals motivating.

My son has been feeling unwell for several months – stomach pressure and consistent nausea. We are seeing a children’s gastroenterologist this Friday and I am hoping for some answers. He was also put on a PPI (by an ER doc; we thought it might be appendicitis at first, but every test we’ve run has ruled out any major issue – a relief, but also SO, SO frustrating); it didn’t seem to help much (they seem to put everyone on PPIs), but then he finished his course last week and had a huge regression a few days later. Sigh. So I did actually put him back on the PPI, I’ve inclined his bed, he’s off dairy and gluten and I’m doing every trick/suggestion I know or have heard of. Needless to say, I was reading all your backstory with GREAT interest on this topic. It’s so hard to watch him suffer and it’s also such a nebulous issue; he doesn’t feel good, but it’s not acute (i.e. no vomit or he’s not contorted with sharp abdominal pain). I’m slowly going crazy watching him go through this (plus he’s home from school because he’s so anxious about feeling sick at school). I am so, so sorry you’ve walked a similar path. Thankfully, we have a great family doctor and the gastro doc we’re seeing is at a very highly regarded children’s hospital so…fingers crossed!

I’m so glad the tweaks you’ve made have resulted in an improvement and gold stars for advocating hard.

As a semi-related note: back when they were worried it might be “slow-burning” appendicitis our family doctor got us a face-to-face with the head of pediatric surgery at this same children’s hospital three days before Christmas (!!); after more testing, he eventually determined it wasn’t the appendix and we needed to see gastro and put in a referral. I hadn’t heard anything and knew the wait times were long and all I was looking for was a rough estimate – was it weeks or months left to wait? So this Monday, when my son was feeling very crummy, I made a few calls to the hospital to get the number for the right booking office. I called through and we weren’t going to get a slot until at least March…but they had a cancellation for this Friday and because I called – we got that slot. So it’s incredible what a simple phone call can accomplish!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:12 pm
  
  Elisabeth, I really hope you got some answers/help from the pediatric gastro-doc! Fingers crossed that things improve for Levi!
J
January 24, 2023 at 8:35 pm

Wow, you did 365 days of peloton while going through COVID? That’s amazing.

I’m sorry for your stomach issues, that is horrible. I’ve had health issues of my own over the years, and as Suzanne said, sometimes the best thing is a combination of Western medication and more alternative options.

I don’t even remember if I had any goals for 2022, to be honest. I don’t think so. I like your categories, and your goals are the best kind, the kind that make your life better. As someone who lives far (though not as far as you) from my family, I am definitely hoping to see some of them this year. The goal is Alaska to see my brother and SIL. I did see my sisters in 2021, but haven’t seen my brother since 2018.
1. J
  January 26, 2023 at 7:20 pm
  
  Now I remember, I did have a goal for 2022, which was to declutter my house. My house is still pretty cluttered, but at least now we have a lot less stuff that we don’t want. We got rid of a lot of stuff, and things were more organized for awhile at least.
2. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:13 pm
  
  Thanks so much for the praise – keep in mind, a 365 Peoloton streak also includes rest days where I just did meditation or some light yoga ;) (see: Covid!)… but I did get my “blue dot”.
Susanne
January 25, 2023 at 3:24 am

My goal for 2022 was to learn to handle the stresses of life with more calm, and to declutter life to create calm in life. I pretty much succeeded with this.
I’m surprised about what you say about gastritis and ulcers not being caused by H Pylori infection according to Western medicine, because where I worked as a nurse it was the normal consensus that ulcers and gastritis could be caused by this and with gastroscopies they always took H Pylori tests.
Stomach issues are so debilitating and I’m glad to hear you’ve been better. I’ve been suffering on and off from gastritis and to me it seems to be mostly triggered by stress and too greasy food, I’ve been a lot better lately when I’ve started to look over my diet.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:16 pm
  
  Thanks for your input, Susanne. I think I wasn’t perfectly clear… they did do an H pylori test when they did the endoscopy (negative) and the gastritis could have been caused by H. pylori…. but I read over and over again that H. Pylori does cause LOW stomach acid, not high… (and home tests confirmed that for me), but my GE never wanted to hear anything about this but treat me with PPIs. He says there is no test for low stomach acid, which is not true.
  
  I believe you’re right that stress could be a major factor in my case.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
January 25, 2023 at 7:53 am

I didn’t set much in the way of goals in 2022… one goal was to read The Count of Monte Cristo which was a big undertaking since it’s over 1,000 pages. But I finished it! My other goal was to go through all the videos I have saved on google photos and I accomplished that, too. I’ve set some pretty “gentle” goals for 2023, though!

Your peloton streak is super impressive!! Way to go!!!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:17 pm
  
  Hey, the best goals are those you accomplish – so kudos for setting realistic goals in 2022 :)
Tobia | craftaliciousme
January 25, 2023 at 10:10 am

Such a wonderful goals list and you really did manage so many of them. That is so great. But I may like the Ta-Da list even more. And that zoom call with the old lady seems so nice. But also the walks in the park and the joy of a plum cake. I could feel that right through the interwebs. Will be looking forward hearing about your goals for 2023.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:18 pm
  
  I really love the idea of a ta-da list – so thank you to Elisabeth! :)
Nicole MacPherson
January 25, 2023 at 12:57 pm

These are all so great, especially taking control of your health and seeing your family! I didn’t really set goals but I have had a Peloton streak since Dec 27, 2020! I love those blue dots!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:18 pm
  
  Woot! Your streak is going strong as well. Great job, Nicole! :)
Kyria
January 26, 2023 at 4:25 am

I am curious about this peloton streak — how far do you have to go each day? I have a friend who did that with running; I think he had to do at least one mile. It really motivated him, especially in the winter when it was dark and cold or rainy etc. and he stuck with it for over a year.

Hurray for seeing family; that was rough over the last few years and I definitely am glad that I can go and see my parents now! We also started a habit of weekly video calls during the lock down and we still do them now! It is nice to see their faces and I feel it is important, especially as they age, to keep in touch more often!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:20 pm
  
  The Peloton streak really is just taking a class on the platform every day – it can be a ride, a run or simpler things like meditation or yoga. There were definitely days where I just took a 10 min stretch or meditation, but it really solidified a habit for me.
  
  I love that you’ve also started facetiming with your family during the pandemic. It is really nice to be able to see their faces!
Stephany
January 26, 2023 at 6:04 am

I am so impressed by your Peloton streak! What sorts of workouts did you do during COVID? I can’t imagine working out during COVID!

I am pretty happy with the goals I accomplished in 2022, even though I didn’t achieve most of what I set out to do. But that’s okay! I don’t put too much pressure on myself to complete every single goal.

I’m glad to hear alternative methods have helped your stomach issues!
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:21 pm
  
  The Peloton streak really is just taking a class on the platform every day – so I did meditation and stretches during Covid. Nothing too exhausting LOL
Ally Bean
January 26, 2023 at 7:44 am

Years ago I decided to reorganize my blogging categories, consolidating a few + I streamlined my tags. I am happy I did it, BUT I understand why you put it off. It was work and I about pulled my hair out a few times trying to decide who I am now [as a blogger] and where to put old posts, what tags to use so I’d be consistent. That being said I feel like it was one of the best improvements I ever made to my blog. I am much clearer about what I’m doing now.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:21 pm
  
  Ally! I was just thinking if I should just scrap that goal… but now I am reconsidering ;)
Ally Bean
January 26, 2023 at 7:46 am

Years ago I decided to reorganize my blogging categories, consolidating a few + I streamlined my tags. I am happy I did it, BUT I understand why you put it off. It was work and I about pulled my hair out a few times trying to decide who I am now [as a blogger] and where to put old posts, what tags to use so I’d be consistent. That being said please know that I feel like it was one of the best improvements I ever made to my blog. I am much clearer about what I’m doing now. [second try to get this comment through]
Meike
January 27, 2023 at 10:43 am

I usually don’t do goals for the year what you probably already know by now. But your list looks great! I am so relieved to read that I am not the only one who can’t finish 30 books ;)
Extremely impressed with your 365 day peleton streak. Friends have one and I got to try it out when I was there and it seemed really fun. We just don’t have a space to put it right now.
The absolute highlight of my year was the wedding of my brother in law in Germany. They got married first in Lueneburg and had a destination wedding with ceremony in Scharbeutz on the beach. It felt like a mini vacation and we got to see lots of family.
1. San
  January 28, 2023 at 11:22 pm
  
  We all have priorities… reading is a habit but not a priority in my life right now. I wish I had more hours in the day ;)
  
  So glad you got to attend a wedding and see your family in 2022.