A retrospective look at 2021

Looking back on this year I feel a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Sure, it hasn’t been the most fun year and it has been stressful, to say the least, but I have had so much fun, had so many opportunities and met some amazing people. The year started out with working a LOT of overtime because the hospital was so short-staffed for nurses. I was able to make some extra money to be able to go on six vacations this year! Three trips to California, two trips to Utah, and one trip to Ohio. I was truly blessed to spend so much time with my husband, friends, and other family members. I met some great people, we reconnected with some old friends that we hadn’t seen for a couple of years, my cousins added two little girls to make my family a little bigger and add a lot more love, and I spent quality time with my husband and made our relationships even stronger.

But it wasn’t all vacations and laughter. It was tough working as a nurse while still in the middle of a pandemic. I worked fifty to sixty hours most weeks so that the hospital was a little better staffed. I worked nightshift most of the year which was hard to be able to function on my couple of days off in between stretches of work. I got more frustrated with little nuances because I was so tired and felt overworked and underappreciated at my job.

It took me eight months, over three hundred applications, and over twenty interviews to finally get my first job as a nurse practitioner. I even did three of my interviews while on vacation because that was the only time that worked for the interviewers. It was a long and frustrating road to get to where I am now and I was so discouraged by getting passed over for so many positions. I know everything happens for a reason and works out how it is supposed to because I now have a job that I am so happy with. I truly believe that if I was offered any other position, I would not be as happy as I am now.

Working a day shift job has allowed me to see more of my friends and family in the evenings and on weekends and not feel exhausted every moment of every day. I was able to see Hamilton in the theater with my sister, enjoy weekend events with friends and family, and even learn to ride a motorcycle. I will write about all these things in the coming year but I can say for sure that 2021 has been a great year. I know 2022 will bring with it many joys and sorrows but overall, as long as I can be with the ones I love and take each day as it comes, it is going to be another wonderful year.