December Monthly Recap + 2021 Review

2021 has been a wonderful year overall! There were ups and downs, but I’m so proud of the growth this year in my personal life, career and small business. I look forward to 2022 and all the opportunities there. Especially, welcoming Baby Boy Walters in May!

Creative Business Activities

Read. Watch. Listen. Learn.

Read

I am using Goodreads to track my reading, rate books and write short reviews. I cannot believe I have read 61 books this year! I love reading and I definitely made it more of a priority this year. I listened to audiobooks, joined a few book clubs and made sure to always have a book accessible to read.

Books Completed in December: 6 books

• A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J. Maas
  • YA Fantasy loosely based on Beauty and The Beast (a re-telling) that turned into the Hunger Games. It was interesting. I’m not sure I’ll continue the series.
• Boss Up! – Lindsay Teague Moreno
  • Business book on small business. I actually found this quite helpful and highlighted a few takeaways.
• Wrapped Up In Christmas – Janice Lynn
  • This was perfect for wrapping Christmas presents. It was like reading a Hallmark movie (but I listened to the audiobook… so more like listening to a Hallmark movie). A feel good story about a soldier looking for the maker of his valor quilt.
• The Comfort Crisis – Michael Easter
  • Such a fascinating read. I read this for my HLT book club and I cannot wait to talk it over with the group. I may or may not have started looking into rucking.
• Forgiving What You Can’t Forget – Lysa Terkeurst
  • This was a tough book for me to get through. I kept setting it down. I finally finished it.
• Badass Habits – Jen Sincero
  • This is much better than her Badass at Making Money book. It was practical and very relevant for reading right before the New Year (and the season of resolutions).

YTD Total: 61 of 41 books (Most books read in a year!!)

Watch

• The Bachelorette
  • Finale, Men Tell All, After the Final Rose (Finally done! I don’t think I’ll watch the next season)
• The Grinch
  • Lexi has decided this is her favorite Christmas movie so it’s been playing on repeat.

Listen

I listen to a lot of podcasts, audiobooks, and music. Here are the highlights from the past month.

• Mormon Stories Podcast – Specifically, Chandler Roberson’s interview (both part 1 and part 2)

Learn

I love learning new things and am making space for more future learnings.

• Decorating Gingerbread Houses will not become an annual tradition. We even bought the prebuilt house, and it still wasn’t great. We did it. But I would rather decorate sugar cookies.

• Not scheduling any sessions from Thanksgiving to New Years has been delightful. After busy season and pregnancy fatigue, taking a break from photos has been just what I needed. I am looking forward to the sessions I have lined up in January and February.

• Organizing and decluttering is my version of nesting right now. I have used the days between Christmas and New Years to completely go through my Master closet, Craft Room, and craft closet. I have been purging a ton of items that I no longer use and it has been invigorating. I feel like I have space for the things I do have and those things have a place.

Any plans or dreams or intentions for 2022?

Let me know in the comments.