With the end of 2021 fast approaching, I’ve taken a look back on the good, the bad, and the ugly that has happened in the past year. For the December installment of my 21 In ’21 series, I’m sharing my list of the 21 most memorable.


Like in 21 In ’21: Blogs To Discover, 21 In ’21: Instagram Accounts To ❤, 21 In ’21: Delightful Reads, 21 In ’21: Helpful Hacks, 21 In ’21: May Flowers, 21 In ’21: Scams To Avoid, 21 in ’21: Love, Hate, And Desire, 21 In ’21: Packing For A Road Trip, 21 In ’21: Highlights From A Road Trip, 21 In ’21: Fitness Tips & Tricks, and 21 In ’21: Holiday Traditions, I set out this year to publish a post on the 21st of each month that lists 21 of my top recommendations/favorites/ideas as they relate to that month’s topic. Limiting my list of “the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2021” to 21 might seem restrictive (or perhaps excessive) however, that’s how I roll and I hope you’ll stick with me to the end.

The list is mostly of good things that have happened in my life although there have been a few sad moments. For instance, in early November, my family went to the funeral of a 41-year-old woman breast cancer warrior who was the mother of two young girls. She was the cousin of my brother-in-law so I’d known her since she was about the age that her daughters are now. We grieved along with her parents, her husband, her daughters, and all the others her life had touched.

When I’d decided to close out on my 21 in ’21 series with a look back on the good, the bad, and the ugly, I feared that I’d struggle to come up with enough content. Maybe I could count each vaccine shot and the recent booster separately? Or I might need to make a list of the five most popular blog posts to fill out the list? Happily, I’ll not need to resort to such tactics as I managed to come up with 21 quite easily. We’ll get the ball rolling with a few that are blog-related and then move onto other areas.

    1. The restart of the Fine-Whatever link-up – I first began hosting a weekly blog link-up nearly 6 years ago but had stopped after a year or so due to a lack of time. I restarted it at the beginning of 2021 and after a few months in, I found myself baffled at the relatively low participation. Back in June, I asked Where Have All The Blog Link-Ups Gone? for which I still don’t have an answer. Keep your eyes open for a forthcoming follow-up.
    2. Year-end Blog Stats – Prior to 2021, my most robust year for blog activity was in 2017, and in each of the following years, the traffic stats declined as I published fewer posts. 2021 was vastly different and by the end of the year, I’ll have published 86 posts. compared to 49 published in 2020, and 23 published in 2019. As a result, traffic to my blog has increased by nearly 50% over last year and exceeds the stats for 2017 by about 10%.
    3. Moved to digital for planning posts – Up until March of this year, I did all of the editorial planning/scheduling for my blog posts in a 7″x10″ composition notebook that I bought in September 2015. I used to carry it with me all the time and I did fear the consequences if I ever lost it. It was getting nearly full and I needed to either buy another or transition to using a digital calendar. I started by using the calendar already associated with my blog Google email account and I’ve gotten quite used to it. So much so that I’m also using the calendar associated with the shared email account I have with The Husband for our personal appointments and doings. While working, I’d keep all of that on my work calendar but since then, there’d hadn’t been so much going on with us sticking close to home for the last year and a half.
    4. Guest post – Back in early July, I did my first guest post which I called “Of A Similar Stripe” that appeared on Curly Crafty Mom.
    5. Oddly popular blog post – The most popular post that I published in 2021 was Recycle-Reclaim-Reuse: Ode To The Denim Jacket. It has gotten nearly 4.5 times as many hits as Fitness Trackers: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, the next most popular post of 2021. Both were published in April so the difference in stats has little to do with how long ago they came out. Perhaps there are a lot of people who like bad poetry?
    6. A full year of retirement – April marked a year since I’d retired and so from start to finish, for the whole year of 2021 I’ve been retired. I did work part-time as a consultant with my former office from late last year through early Spring and I’m doing so again this year but I don’t at all miss working full-time.
    7. Sunsets at the beach – It’s been three years since we bought our current home located just a hop and skip from the beach and we couldn’t be happier.
    8. COVID-19 Vaccine – double vaxxed and boosted … need I say more?
    9. Gym – In June, I marked my return to working out at a gym and the start of a fitness journey that I’ve been reporting on since.
    10. Weight loss – At this time last year, I weighed about 15 pounds more than I do now. Most of the weight loss can be attributed to the increase in my physical activity since I started working out but I’ve also been much more mindful of what and how much I’m eating.
    11. Instastories – I finally posted my first Instastory on the ‘Gram but I still don’t do so very often. Since then, I typically just share a current post and I’ve yet to post one in which I’m talking or moving about. Baby steps.
    12. Husband on Instagram – The Husband finally has an Instagram account and he is deep into watching Instastories as well as posting many of his photos. He even follows a few of you.
    13. New recipes – I tried a few new recipes with great success this year, like this uber easy one for mandel bread that Lesley Wolman shared on her blog. There was also the one-year celebration of my sourdough starter.
    14. Rediscovery of orange – In April, I declared that orange would be the color of the Spring/Summer season and proceeded to prove my point in Would You, Could You? Metallic Jeans With Orange, Thrift Store Finds & OOTDs: April 2021, and Where Have All The Blog Link-Ups Gone?. Tell me I was wrong.
    15. Making a statement – While we’re on the topic of orange, have you ever thought to create a literal statement item of clothing? That’s what I did when met with the styling challenge of statement pants put forth in one of the four Magnificent 8 Collaboration posts this year.
    16. A bird flies north – In early June, our daughter moved to the outskirts of Olympia, Washington with her boyfriend to join up with another couple that they would be partnering with to establish a sustainable farm. You can read more about that venture on their website, Riverbird Farm.
    17. 5 state road trip – In mid-August, The Husband and I hit the road for a two-week journey through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. A summary of the trip was shared in 21 In ’21: Highlights From A Road Trip.
    18. Personality type – This year I finally got around to taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test and found that I’m an INFP-A, otherwise known as an Assertive Mediator. You can read more about different types and my results in Personality Types.
    19. Poshmark – Based on my 5+ years experience as a seller (and buyer) on Poshmark, I offered 5 Valuable Tips For Online Resell Buyers back in March. This platform is a great option for finding specific secondhand items on your wishlist that you couldn’t find locally. It’s also a fabulous way to make money selling your own no longer worn clothing that someone else will adore as much as you once did.
    20. Earl – Just last week, this lovely creature with a giant heart and a gentle soul passed away. A livestock guardian for the first two years of his life, Earl came into our lives after he’d lost his job due to the Woolsey Fire in November 2018 which decimated the grounds of the camp where he had worked. When our daughter Jo and her boyfriend Will (who also worked at the camp) as well as the rest of the camp staff had to evacuate, Jo and Will took Earl with them to care for him temporarily. That arrangement eventually became permanent and Earl retired to a life of domestic bliss, filled with cuddles and scritches and lazy naps in the sun. With their move to Washington, Earl got a chance to relive a bit of his earlier life as a livestock guardian when he accompanied Jo and Will as they tended to chickens and ducks but he remained primarily a house dog. The three of them have been in the area visiting with family and friends since Thanksgiving splitting their time between our home and Will’s parents’ home. Earl became seriously ill unexpectedly and didn’t respond to treatment. He was adored by all who met him. For more on his life, check out Earl’s Instagram account.
    21. All 12 months – Last but not least, I’m glad that I saw this one through to the end. I didn’t miss a month with this 21 in ’21 series. My track record isn’t all that good with completing similar types of challenges in the past. And as of the writing of this post, I have no plans to establish any type of challenge for 2022.

    There you have it, a look back on 21 of the good, the bad, and the ugly that happened in 2021. What were the most memorable events for you in the past year? Were you able to achieve all that you’d hoped for? And, one last question … what are you most looking forward to in 2022?

    Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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    Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.

    Feature and final photos: MMPerez

5 Comments

  1. mireilleftm

    Love the orange and those fun statement pants you created. Earl was a beautiful dog!! And that sunset: gorgeous! I always find it interesting to look at the stats from the year but I haven’t done that yet. Busy, busy lately!
    http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

  2. I’ve reluctantly moved to digital calendar for getting everything else scheduled and I need to get scheduling blog posts on there too! You’ve inspired me!

  3. Rena, I have enjoyed your blog for a long time…mainly as a lurker before I became a blogger myself and learned the importance of subscribing and interacting. Sorry about that! I’m very impressed with your list of accomplishments. I am terrible at remembering what happened when. You’ve got me thinking…maybe start a Word document detailing a highlight every couple of weeks? And, I have absolutely no clue what a digital calendar is…I don’t even use a paper calendar! I just never was one of those kinds of people…and I taught for over 20 years!!

    What a full and beautiful life Earl had. May his memory be for a blessing.

    Here’s to 2022! It can only get better, right?

    Have a wonderful holiday season!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

  4. it’s nice that there are so many good points in the year even if there were some lows! I am inspired by how you plan posts too! Because I just share my outfits I just wait until I’ve worn two kinda similar outfits or loosely themed together outfits and can put them in a post, I really need to try plan things better!

    Hope that you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂

  5. thestylesplash

    I love the floral print dress with the long cardigan and orange fringed bag – that’s how I plan to style a similar dress (that I’ve only worn in summer so far) for winter. Those photos of Earl are so precious. I don’t want to make too many plans for 2022 just in case Covid has other ideas! I’ll just keep an open mind and hope for the best! Thanks for linking up, wishing you a very Happy New Year!

    Emma xxx
    http://www.style-splash.com