We are excited to bring you the January 2022 issue of This Awful Awesome Life. Thank you for reading our ezine.

For many of us 2021 was a hard year. We lost loved ones and watched as our country struggled to right itself after the January 6 insurrection and another year of the pandemic. In 2021 vaccines became available for persons five and older. We expected everyone to do their part and get vaccinated to help end the pandemic, but politics got in the way, and we ushered in new variants of the COVID virus.

Some of us gained weight while many of us started cooking from scratch, eating healthier, and exercising. We remodeled our homes, decluttered, and reassessed our priorities all to find a new normal. Most of us keep wearing our masks and socially distancing… trying to give the medical community a better chance of containing this virus.

2021 was especially hard for me. I lost my son, Christian and my mother. I struggled during the holidays trying to make sense of such profound losses. It will never make sense, but I learned as much as I miss them, I will always love them more and they are with me in spirit every day. This is how I cope and how I will come through stronger and more grateful for each day I get to spend with loved ones.

This month we are celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by recommending books for kids and adults about his life. We also invite you to check out our previous January and February issues for articles about Dr. King.

We’re taking a quick look back at This Awful Awesome Life. Our first issue published in March 2017. We’ve added topics and changed our format and our logo along the way. We’ve also been placed with many talented contributors. Where are we headed for our next five years? I hope you’ll join us as we figure it out.

I switched to a plant-based diet in September 2020 and after finishing out 2021, I’m excited to let you know how it’s going. Linda Cahill is back to help us start the new year right with delicious and easy recipes from Pampered Chef. We’re wrapping up the Twelve Months of Soup and starting The Twelve Months of Vegetables with Cabbage, a new year favorite.

We’re welcoming the new year in with a Rebus quiz about new year’s resolutions.

Orlando Bartro discusses the works of Sir Walter Scott and Lilly Kauffman laments the January let down. I review In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. The book is based on a common interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Fair warning, Serle takes us where we would never expect to go.

I’m thankful for the birds that have stayed behind to brighten my winter days. We have a few suggestions on how to help them through this winter. What else are you watching this winter? I have some suggestions for streaming.

Samantha Sayers has been missing since she disappeared on August 1, 2018, after a day of solo hiking at Vesper Peak near Seattle, Washington. Sam grew up in the Erie, Pennsylvania area where her parents Ron and Lisa still live. Her family is exploring all avenues of inquiry to find and bring her home. In the face of such an enormous challenge, they have chosen hope. Please keep sending positive thoughts to Sam and her family. As promised, we will be displaying a yellow ribbon for Sam on the opening page of each issue of This Awful Awesome Life until she is home.

If you are a person of faith, please pray for her safe return to her family. Because we are an online publication, we can update this article with any news. We will also post information on our Facebook page. Thank you!

Please share our link, thisawfulawesomelife.com with your friends and family.

Be sure to subscribe to our free mailing list and each new issue of This Awful Awesome Life will be delivered directly to your inbox with a personal note from me. We fixed the glitches we were having on our mailing list, so you will receive the link for the new issue the same day it publishes. We won’t share your name or email address. Like us on Facebook for the latest from This Awful Awesome Life!

Happy Reading,

Fran