Most would say these last two years haven’t been the greatest. There have been struggles for so many of us and we are still in a pandemic. It’s all overwhelming. Truthfully though, 2020 wasn’t horrible for us, yes it was scary with the unknown and the shut downs but our actual life didn’t change much. However, 2021 has been a tremendous year for us. With so much happening – good and bad. Our life hasn’t felt this overwhelming for many years. Which is why the blog has been so darn quiet this year. I just haven’t had the energy or head space to create as I would have liked.
Now I have been itching to get back to work, yet it’s been hard with a now 3-month old to find a good rhythm to do so. And in addition, my mind is still somewhat scrambled and heavy with this year’s events. This is why I thought it would be helpful to look back at this year and see what all happened. Not only will it be a good look back for me, but it’ll also explain to you all why Angie’s Angle has been so sparse.
Are you ready to read our year in review?
In a Nutshell How 2021 was a Tremendous Year For Us
Let’s be honest, likely this post will not be short or in a simple nutshell. I plan to go through month by month to give you a good sense of where my head was. How my mind couldn’t grasp all that was happening. Some things I might not remember clearly, but I am going to do my best to give a highlight of each month.
January
This month I was feeling so off; I had been feeling this way throughout December. My period skipped in December, but I didn’t think much of it because it’s been known to happen when I was stressed or just because. I didn’t pay much attention to that missed one, but I felt horrible, which made me worried. I swore I had cancer though, being pregnant didn’t seem feasible.
By the time another period didn’t show for January, I had thought it was time to take a test to see what it said. And by now, you know what that said, but I still doubted it. I kept reading how you could get positive pregnancy tests while having cancer. No matter what the actual results were, I was scared. Even being afraid, I put on my big girl pants and made an appointment with my doctor. Sadly I couldn’t get in until the beginning of February, but I still opted to wait for my doctor.
January was a waiting game.
February
The day arrived for my doctor’s appointment, but I indeed found nothing out at that first appointment. They had me go down to get blood before my appointment in hopes that the results would be in before I got into my appointment. That wasn’t the case at all. She felt my stomach but didn’t feel anything, but she said that was common this early on. She said congratulations, but I was still doubting I was pregnant. Later that night, my blood results came in, and my HGC was high, but again it could be with cancer as well. My mind still had doubts it would be a baby.
It was until the middle of February that I was able to get an ultrasound scheduled. I’ll freely admit that I was once again a nervous wreck. But as soon as I laid down and they put the wand on my belly a baby appeared. There was no question now that was going on with me. Plain as day and as a clear as a bell was a baby imagine staring back at us. I couldn’t hardly believe it.
We let our family in on the secret, then did our big social media announcement.
March
Was actually a pretty quiet month. I made the full blog post announcement on baby. And I grabbed my first maternity clothes from Amazon Wardrobe. My belly was really starting to show itself.
Ending the month with a video appointment and another ultrasound but nothing really to be noted otherwise.
April
We found out we were having a girl! I had a feeling it was a girl even before I knew for sure I was pregnant. I also already had a name that came to me at the same time. No one knew but for Jason. Throughout the pregnancy, Jason would throw out a million names, but in my heart, I already knew what her name was supposed to be.
Belly was growing like crazy and baby gifts started to roll in.
May
We made our one quick getaway for pleasure while pregnant to Bend, Oregon, for an overnight adventure. While there, we took a nice hike and a late lunch/dinner at Worthy Brewing. I had big plans to do an entire blog post about it but lacked the energy, and then big things happened in June that left me quiet until recently.
There was also lots of yard work that I tried to do. And was ever thankful for grabbing the cute overalls.
June
At the beginning of the month, I decided it was time to do a quick photoshoot. Now looking back, I am so glad we did it when we did because if we hadn’t, it likely wouldn’t have happened after what occurred after we did this.
At the beginning of the month, they also had me start doing non-stress tests weekly. They determined I had high blood pressure though I genuinely didn’t. They’d take my blood pressure as soon as I got into the room, which would be high (hello anxiety). The second time they took it, it would be perfectly normal. Never once during my non-stress tests was my blood pressure high. I think, though; I only ended up having to do them weekly throughout this month. After that, they determined it was OK for me to do them every two weeks.
I received a call early in the morning of June 9th/10th from my Mom’s boyfriend, Tim. Mom was taken to the hospital because she was confused and other things. After being at the local hospital, she was transferred to the bigger hospital in Spokane in critical condition. She was in the ICU there for over a week, sedated. She had a heart issue going on that they said it wasn’t a heart attack. Her liver was shot because of her cirrhosis that she ignored for many years. Initially, what landed her in the hospital was aspiration pneumonia, likely from her drinking.
I was super pregnant, and because I was considered high risk driving 8 hours was not recommended. In the end, we ended up making two trips over in June to see Mom. She was in the ICU and sedated still the first time, so she had no idea I was there. The second I visited, she was in a regular room, and I visited two days in a row before heading back home. I am not sure if she knew I was there or it was me. She’d sometimes talk on the phone and realize it was me. But you couldn’t always understand her.
A break…
We had a weekend trip planned with my sister Carmita and her husband Butch for months before all this. We were afraid we would have to cancel, but it ended up working out that we could sneak away and spend the weekend together while Mom was in the hospital. Staying in Long Beach, Washington, and had a great relaxing time. Much needed little getaway/reprieve. They also surprised us with a little baby shower.
After all that happened this month, our house got officially changed into our name. We now own our home outright. There are lots that need to be done that we had hoped to get done this year, but it just wasn’t possible with everything that happened.
July
My Mom ended up passing away after being placed in hospice. She was taken from the hospital to hospice and never woke up again after being taken there. She lasted one evening. I am hopeful that she was just more comfortable, and that is why.
I started to swell in my feet at the end of July, so I ended up having to sit more than I would have liked. While also trying to sort out the details I needed to from Mom’s passing.
The little girl was moving and shaking a lot in my tummy and growing beautifully. I was still tired and was tired the entire pregnancy, but thankfully never sick.
August
Baby month! My doctor wanted me to induce early in the month as soon as I hit 39 weeks. I was able to push it until the weekend before my actual due date. She ended up scheduling me for the 13th of August but got a phone call from the hospital before I checked in to say, wait, please, that they had lots of babies coming. So we ended up going in early Saturday morning, the 14th of August.
Our car ended up getting hit in front of our house the night we were supposed to go in. Thankfully the people came to find us, and their insurance covered the fix. You can read the whole birth story here.
Birth, though, was quick and relatively easy. She came into the world ready to be seen and held.
Our front porch also finally got done by Jason’s work.
My sister, Kris, came to stay with us after Lily was born for a week. So she could get baby cuddles and help us out.
Jason also was on his first 3 weeks of 12 of FMLA from the state.
September
Jason went back to work the day after Labor Day. So it was a whole new world with just baby, I, and Roxy home alone. It was a lot. But we muddled through, but getting actually to work here didn’t even come to mind besides getting back to my Catch the Moment 365 series.
Jason surprised me for my birthday by taking me out to dinner and inviting his parents and sister. It was a pleasant surprise, something he usually doesn’t do.
At the end of the month, we made our first road trip to visit family. Jason also started his second FMLA. We did a figure eight on visiting, first making a stop in Kennewick to meet up with my brother Stacy and then heading up to the top of Washington to visit my sister, Carmita. After that, we made our way across to Mullan to stay with my sister, Kris. And we were making a trip down to St. Maries to try and assess my Mom’s house. We still had her boyfriend Tim living there, but his health was going downhill, and he was looking to be placed somewhere for care.
October
Some of October still found us on the trip above. We made our way back home on October 10th because our car was finally going in for repair the next day.
As quickly as we made it home, we got the call that Tim (my Mom’s boyfriend) was heading into hospice. We talked about heading back over to St. Maries to change the locks and start cleaning up the house and finally deciding, even though we didn’t want to, to head back over at the end of the week. We made a swift trip over and back.
We got loads cleaned at the house and locks changed. All in two days, not even quite two days. We left the house late Friday and came home late Sunday. Tim passed away shortly after getting to hospice as well.
I was finally able to get a lawyer to start Mom’s probate on her will officially. I was named the official owner of Mom’s estate and could move forward with everything else.
It was all a lot.
Jason went back to work, again, on the 14th of October. He ended up being sick when we got back home and had to get tested for COVID. He got the all-clear and went back in for a little over a week of work.
Then he took a week of vacation before it expired at the end of the year.
November
And here we are with the current month, November. Jason started his final FMLA the 1st and won’t go back to work again until December 20th.
We were sponsored to visit Santa at the Vancouver Mall, which was cute this year with Lily. Lily is growing big time and has a fantastic smile. It’s even better when you can capture it on camera. She is also starting to giggle, and that is the cutest thing ever.
We just had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with family and are looking at heading back over to Idaho real quick before full-on winter hits. One more good cleaning before Jason heads back to work and the Holidays set in.
Quite a Year
It’s been quite the year. If you read the whole long year in review, you are the best. It just better explains where I have been and why the blog has been so darn quiet. I am so hopeful that next year will be much better overall. I have high hopes of getting Local Tuesday back and getting more adventures in. As well as showcasing some more sponsored content to get my income better again.
Sadly, I am not feeling the Holidays at all this year. If you know me, you know that is weird—just so much stress on many different things. Next year I am sure it will be much better, and luckily Lily won’t remember this year. I plan to take photos and play the part, but it feels so different this year and just not fun. I won’t be buying as many people gifts either, which saddens me and probably doesn’t help my feelings for the year.
Here is hoping that your year was much better and calmer than ours.
