Happy New Year! A fresh, clean page is available to all of us again…so NOBODY SCREW IT UP! 😂 (the 2020’s have been rough ya’ll! 😓)
I mean it! In 2020 so many of us thought it was going to be “our year”…and we had a worldwide pandemic that shut the world down! 😷…
…then in 2021, we said, “It can’t get worse, right?”…and Omicron showed up and brought with it further economic collapse! 😩…
…then, in 2022 we said, “This year has to be better, right?”…and we ended up on the precipice of nuclear war 🤯 and COVID was still “a thing” (some of us caught it TWICE in 2022 and that was AFTER being double vaxi-boosted! 😡 🙄 😤 )…
…finally, 2023 rolled around and COVID is STILL somewhat of “a thing”, we’ve got wars going on in the Middle East AND Europe, and another–probably incredibly painful–election year is looming in the US 🙄…
…so, for the love of whatever you do or don’t pray to, nobody say ANYTHING this year, PLEASE! 🙏 DON’T jinx it! Just let the New Year come in, offer it some tea, and welcome it, quietly. 🙏 🤞 😂
I always feel a little melancholy on New Year’s Eve. I don’t like endings or goodbyes. They feel drug out like we’re forcing something that should be left to rest in peace. I feel this way about most endings, whether that be of the calendar year, a birth year, etc. I find myself impatient to move on to the adventure that lies ahead.
For me, this makes New Year’s Eve somewhat bittersweet. I always have the urge to throw off the shadow of the old year as quickly as possible and embrace the brightness of the new one.
New Year’s Day, on the other hand, I love! I LOVE new beginnings, new journeys, that “new car smell” the new year brings! 😉 New years, new birthdays, they’re all ripe with potential for us to turn over a new leaf, to move away from bad habits, to improve ourselves and our relationships! They’re so exciting!
I’m not gonna lie, at this point, I’m literally anxious about what 2024 might bring. I’m usually really optimistic about the new year and all the fun things that I see on the horizon. Unfortunately, after the last few years, I feel like we’re going into 2024 with our hands over our eyes, sneaking a peak through our fingers, just waiting to see what horrors we may behold. 😮 😝 (I’m also going to have a rough start to 2024, more on that later…)
Some good in 2023!
2023 did bring a few good things for the Trekkers…
—My blog continues to grow! It still isn’t where I’d like it to be, but I’ve survived some nasty Google updates and things are going ok!
–I’m continuing my study of other religions! In the last few years, I’ve read the entire Christian Bible, the Gnostic gospels, the Apocrypha, the Book of Mormon, and the Quran.
This last year I’ve also learned about the Jehovah’s Witness, the 7th Day Adventists, the Christian Scientists, and I read some lengthy portions of the Jewish Talmud.
I also want to read the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Wisdom of Solomon, and maybe the Ascension of Isaiah. I’ve got a book about the various Protestant denominations I’m interested in, and I want to possibly learn more about the Wiccans too…
Eventually, I may narrow my focus down to delving into the religious views of various American Indian tribes. So if anyone has any suggestions on reading material regarding these many groups, let me know in the comments!…
–The Trekkers both turned 40 this year and had some awesome travels in 2023! The Trekkers knocked a few places off our bucket list this year by enjoying Vegas, Death Valley, and some epic alien adventures for our 40th birthdays! We also got to make our usual visits to Colorado and some family on the East Coast. You can read about many of those adventures at the links below:
—7 Things to See in Death Valley National Park
—Drive the Extraterrestrial (ET) Highway
—Tips for your First Time in Vegas!
—Excited to Turn 40!
—Visiting Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak
We also enjoyed doing some hiking, camping, and getting to check out the Medicine Bows (the Snowys) in Wyoming!
I’m prayerfully hopeful 2024 is better for all of us!
Now for some personal news…
I’m going to have a bit of a rough time of it in January. We’ve known for several years that I have large fibroids on my uterus. The doctor has now decided it’s time to evict that troublesome organ (I wasn’t using it anyway. 😉) So, barring any (unforeseen) circumstances if all goes according to plan, I will be undergoing a total, open hysterectomy around the middle of January.
Recovery is going to SUCK, but the good news is, we’ve known this was coming for quite a while and I’m feeling pretty well-prepared for it. Thanks to my incredibly flexible, mostly-work-from-home job I’m hoping to only have to take a few weeks fully off work. I also have a strong support system with my family, some awesome coworkers, and the best hubby I could ask for!
The doctors are pretty confident there’s no cancer or anything too scary to be concerned about. My uterus is VERY large (comparable to a 5 – 6 month pregnancy) so it makes the surgery a bit more complicated, but I’m working with a super-specialist surgeon who has experience in this area. Mr. Trekker says I’m going to have one “gnarly” scar–and I already have some ideas for that in the future if it ends up being “gnarlier” then I hope…(I’ll give you a hint, it involves a tattoo and a SUPER cute little alien 😉 😂 😇 .)
So prayers, good wishes/luck, white light, and anything else you want to send my way are GREATLY appreciated! 🙏 🤞
I DO continue to pray for a happy, healthy 2024 for everyone. Hopefully, we can find some healing of our divisions throughout our country and the world. I also hope we each have something that improves in our lives in the next year. I truly want 2024 to mean better things for all of us!
So Happy New Year folks! (and maybe get a helmet…just in case! 😮 😉)
What are your hopes for 2024? Tell me in the comments!
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