Iztaccihuatl
Hello everyone!
2021 is almost over, and so is year 27 of my life. Last year's Christmas card was essentially an answer to the question: "How were you in spite of the pandemic?" And this year's is sort of similar? Definitely got back more to normal life but pandemic was still affecting working in hospice quite a bit. But all in all it was a good year and I'm grateful.
I certainly developed my routines throughout the year and stuck to them - maximizing the fun and enjoyment of daily life in Asheville. Here is what occupied my free time the most throughout 2021:
Physical Therapy - I wrapped up with PT in May, and while my right knee will never be perfect again, it currently isn't preventing me from participating in any of the physical activities I enjoy. Special thanks to Anna for not only helping heal me but educating me on how to continue to take care of my knee.
Student Ministry - I continue to be involved with our Church's student ministry every Monday night. Special thanks to Mikey for still putting up with my goofiness while I entertain the students and do my best to be present in their lives.
Spikeball - Every Tuesday night with good weather you can expect me to be playing Spikeball at Carrier Park. Absolutely love playing the sport and will continue to do so in 2022. Special thanks to Serena for bringing a many others to Spikeball which started a new group of friends that I spent most of my fall with.
Survivor - Every Wednesday night I'm watching, and on other nights of the week I'm helping on the production team for multiple other fan-led Survivor games. A great outlet for my creativity mixed with love of game-development.
Dog Sitting - I love dog sitting for my friends when it consists of minimal work and effort. I dog sat for friends 27 times in 2021, which came out to 141 days (and 114 nights). Always appreciate being paid to eat other people's food and hang with their dogs. Special thanks to Lucy for being the dog I spent the most time with - 9 times for a total of 32 days! A whole month worth of time with Lucy this year!
That's pretty much all the main ones outside of work! Here's a fun chronological gallery with more highlights of the year:
January
Year started with winning a 17 week Survivor game that I put a lot of time and effort into. I love how startled Lucy is by my celebration haha she's so cute. Special thanks to my awesome brother David for being my closest ally and competitor throughout that whole game, I had so much fun doing that with him!
Had a lemon themed birthday party to celebrate the start of year 27 - lemon pepper wings, hard lemonade, and this INCREDIBLE cake made by my awesome roommates Jon and Aubrey!
February
Didn't do too much in February other than a lot of dog sitting. Got vaccinated, so that was cool! Here's a photo of sweet Marlow who was by my side loving on me while I was experiencing those gnarly second dose symptoms.
March
Okay so I didn't do much in March either. According to my calendar I worked, played some flag football, Spikeball, had drinks with friends, and dog sat one of my favorite pups Boone. He's the best snuggle buddy, and whenever I dog sit for him I get to enjoy the Maki's sauna as well.
April
Highlight of April was Alaina and Jonathan's wedding! It was so much fun to see some high school friends - essentially getting a preview of our 10 year high school reunion happening next year. Special thanks to Mrs. Schuster for the very meaningful condolence for my grandfather - an unexpected highlight of the year.
May
In May I had to say goodbye to former good friends of mine who abandoned me by moving to New Hampshire. They aren't pictured above, but they were on the same hike to Tennet Mountain where we convinced Mark to Lion King his 35 day old child.
Also in May was the bachelor party for my best friend Mat Walls! We were all ready to do a bunch of kayaking on a river in Pennsylvania, but the cold May rain prevented us from doing so. Shout out to Reptiland which gave us a fun impromptu activity and is easily the most ghetto zoo I've ever been to. Seriously - even on their website they have to remind you first thing that they are a real zoo. They threw a dead deer in the komodo dragon exhibit and it was one of the gnarliest things I've ever seen presented to the public. Also there were cute frogs.
June
Jess and Abby Teeter came to visit! They're the best, and I always enjoy showing friends around Asheville! If you are reading this and haven't visited yet, plan a trip in 2022! I can provide many references that will confirm that I am a great host and tour guide.
No better way to follow up a bachelor party than with a wedding! Congratulations Mat and Emily! It was a great time and I loved being part of the wedding party.
June also featured a flag football game. This year I experimented with strapping a GoPro on my head for some cool footage. Want to see more? Check out my YouTube channel that serves as a GoPro visual scrapbook for random stuff.
July
I always travel up to New York for 4th of July - New York is the perfect vacation destination for the summer! Special shout out to Zeruviah for capturing some fantastic family photos. This one and my current facebook profile picture are my absolute favorite photos with my grandma ever.
Special shout out to Anna for putting together the bucket list group where we checked off a list of multiple to-do items in Asheville. One of the highlights was attending an Asheville Tourists game. Minor league baseball is the best form of baseball.
Thanks to Audrey, I also played a bit of tennis as well. Highlight was this video captured by the GoPro of the tennis serve going perfectly between Jay's legs in a hilarious moment. Miss you, Jay.
August
August featured the establishment of the friend group that I mentioned above in the Spikeball section. Special thanks to Michelle for having a birthday in August which brought Mari to Asheville. Pictured above was my favorite Asheville hike of the year - Catawba Falls. It's the perfect spot and I haven't been there as often as I should have in my 5 years in Asheville. Shout out to Mari for being the superior Survivor fan and correctly picking Erika to win season 41.
September
September started with an incredible Labor Day boat day on Lake Jocassee. It was an absolute blast and the best use of $50 ever. Thanks to Mackie and Nikki for putting it all together!
Highlight of the year was traveling down to Mexico City to see David and Elizabeth before they moved back to the states. It was an incredible trip with too many photos for this Christmas Card, so make sure to check the rest of them out on my Instagram - @jeremysglidden
...okay one more - have to include the gif of me drinking/eating a scorpion!
October
Every year, I make it down to Charleston at least once. I love that city and the beach there. Special thanks to Abby and Brady for giving me a place to stay every time I visit.
November
November featured the best Spikeball of the year. It is an incredibly fun sport, but it's the people that make playing any sport truly special. Special thanks to all of them for being a part of it.
December
December has been pretty much the same routine plus a million Christmas parties with some more memories to be had before the year ends! Wanted to take this space with this photo to give a special shout out to Chris for hosting multiple events, driving the boat on Labor Day, running with me several early mornings this year, and many other things that make him an incredible guy.
Was able to go back up to NY for Christmas - best photo was with Mat and Emily who stopped by Conesus Lake on Christmas Eve to visit!
...and that's a wrap! Incredibly thankful to anyone who is willing to read through all of this. I appreciate it very much and hope you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2022!
-Jeremy