Spotlight 2022: Andrea

Andrea, still 40-something :)

Highlights from 2021: 

January overnight getaway with Andrew. 

Stained the back deck. 

Topsail Island for Spring Break. 

Sisters trip to Galveston, TX. 

Hilton Head Mother's Day Getaway with Marianne. 

Road Trip to TX to celebrate Grandma Cuca's 90th birthday. 

Anniversary getaway to Lake Norman. 

HUGE 9500 mile road trip that included Grandma Hiatt's funeral in Salt Lake 

and Barb and Dennis' 50th wedding anniversary celebration on the Oregon Coast. 

Visit with Celeste who was working a travel job in NC. 

Visit from Erik and Heidi Norman. 

Watched BYU football play Georgia Southern. 

Dollywood with the family at Christmas. 

Wow, that was quite the year!

*Something you're good at: Meeting new people. And remembering faces. I'm OK with remembering names, but I have a REALLY good memory for faces.

*Something you're proud of:  Having a happy marriage where we not only love each other, but we LIKE each other, too.

*Something you earned, won, or accomplished: We earned enough tickets at Spare Time to buy an Oculus! I loved it when B let us try his Oculus, so I was so excited to have our own! I'm the one in the family who definitely likes it and uses it the most. 

Two of my tennis teams made it to states! That was super exciting. I lost both of my singles matches that I played at states, but it was still fun. And then my 6.5 combo team made it back to states for the fourth time. I won two of my three matches with them and LOVED it. It was the first time I didn't get super nervous to play at states.

Combo team! Back Row: Lynette, me, Debbie, Brenda, Stephanie, Kimberly, Sara

Front: Jennifer, Serena, Elisabeth and Teresa

Some of my singles friends: Me, Katherine, Heather, Tracy, Leigh, Jennifer

*If you could sum up the year in one phrase, what would it be? Travel as much as possible. Ha! Looking back, I can't believe how much I traveled in 2021. It may be an unmatched year! Was I trying to make up for the lack of travel in 2020? Not consciously, but maybe somehow subliminally I was.

*Any other notable changes/events for 2021: Volunteered with GUFI (Greensboro Urban Farming Initiative) a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed it. Continued to serve in the YW presidency at church, which I have loved. Also continued to volunteer at NAI once a week, which is always one of my favorite days of the week. Visited a recording studio and recorded three songs: White Winter Hymnal as a family and Whitney recorded The Girl in 14-G and Si Mes Vers. So fun! Found our 100th geocache. Got vaccinated for COVID and managed to avoid getting it. (so far). Got our Master Bathroom remodeled. Got to meet Morgan, the girl that B started dating in May. Served on a jury for a first-degree murder trial. Our temple re-opened and we finally got to back after a year and a half. Hooray! Also got to attend the temple with Luke Ostertag when he received his endowment.

Follow-up from last year's hopes:

*That the COVID vaccines that have been invented will help alleviate this pandemic so we can resume many of our normal activities. I especially miss going to the temple, which I haven't been able to attend since March.--YES. Well, kind of. Restrictions have eased and temples re-opened. But even with the vaccine, there was a huge surge in COVID numbers at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. 

*That I can continue to volunteer at NAI and anywhere else that works with my schedule.--YES. Well, mostly just at NAI, but I love it. Our classes have changed over the time that I've been there. Currently, the majority of our students are from Afghanistan, with a few other African nations as well (DRC, Burundi, Sudan and South Sudan.)

*That my girls can have successful school years. They are still doing remote learning right now, but should be returning to in-person learning in the next month.--YES. I can tell that the quality of learning that they had remotely is not the same as it would have been in person. That stinks. But both girls were diligent about going to their virtual classes and keeping their grades up.

*Vacation plans: Girls trip to the Gulf Coast of TX with my sisters at the end of April. I hope I can visit with Grandma Cuca. She turns 90 this year and I'd love to celebrate with her somehow. Attend Grandma Hiatt's memorial service in Utah in July. Celebrate Barb and Dennis' 50th wedding anniversary at the Oregon Coast in August.--YES to all of them! Yippee!

Hopes for 2022:

*To have a fun spring break road trip around the neighboring states.

*That Whitney will adjust well to the college life in St. George.

*That Caroline will have a good start to her freshman year of high school.

*That Brandon will have a good semester starting back to college after a year and a half break.

*That Andrew's right heel will continue to improve and we can get his left heel fixed as well so we can FINALLY go back to playing tennis together.

*That I can continue to find ways to volunteer in the community.

Hobbies:  Board games, video games, tennis, reading, traveling, walking/hiking, geocaching, fantasy football

Something you like about being a homemaker: My super flexible schedule.

Something you don't like about being a homemaker: Not keeping the house as clean as I probably should.

A job you might want when you're older: Teaching English to refugees and/or immigrants or Dental Hygienist

A compliment you receive on a regular basis: You have a great smile!

What can usually make you smile? Playing Jackbox or Telestrations

What do you most enjoy doing when you're alone? Walking and listening to podcasts or audiobooks

If you could have a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go? New Zealand!

What's the best gift you've ever given? Caroline's guinea pigs were a pretty big hit this year.

What's your dream car? I guess I'd still say a Lotus. But I don't know that I'd actually ever buy one. But if I was just granted a wish for the car of your dreams, I'd pick a dark green Lotus.

How have you changed in the last ten years? Hmmm... That's so hard to tell. I have more discretionary time now than I did ten years ago. I find that I spend more time on personal gospel study and trying to learn Spanish than I would've at that time. I don't spend as much time with friends as I used to. 

FAVORITES:

Restaurant: Mad Greek Grill, Panera, Southern Roots

Sport:  Football to watch, tennis to play

Recent reads: Radium Girls, The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Just Mercy, Outcasts United (2021 was by far my most prolific reading year. I read or listened to 50 books! Many of them were YA or Juvenile fiction that Caroline and I listened to on the road. But still. That's a lot of reading!)

Candy or other treat: Smarties, Take 5 candy bars, Turkey Hill Triopolitan Ice Cream with mint and dark chocolate

Color: Red, black, purple

Snack: Popcorn, pretzels, Cheez-Its, grapes

TV show:  Survivor, Jeopardy, The Amazing Race

Place: Carolina Beaches and the temple

Season:  Spring! It's just the best watching the world come to life.

Meal:  Chicken and rice and beans with homemade tortillas, especially if made by Grandma Cuca

Song: Whitney singing The Girl in 14-G

Game: Wingspan! Andrew got it for me for Christmas and we're obsessed! We play it 3-4 times a week every week!

App: Wordle (not an actual app, but deserved to be recorded), Words with Friends, Duolingo, Walmart (for online grocery ordering)

Podcasts: Follow Him, Duolingo, Freakonomics, BYU Speeches, Y Religion, Radiolab, Planet Money

RANDOM FACT: I got a Fossil Sport smartwatch this year. I use it to track my "heart points" when I go on walks or play tennis. But my favorite part is that you can set a "smart alarm." You can choose a window of time (I usually choose 20 minutes) and it will keep track of your sleep cycle and try to wake you up when you're in the midst of light sleep instead of deep sleep to make it easier to rouse. I like it!