2021

I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that we are in the year 2022. This somehow just doesn’t seem possible to me. Given the global pandemic that we are all very much still living in, life doesn’t seem to be moving at the same speed it used to pre-2020. I haven’t quite made up my mind on whether or not that’s a good thing or bad.

Despite my inability to reconcile with the date on the calendar, I can say that 2021 was quite extraordinary to me all in all. I took five phenomenal vacations, four of which took me beyond St. Louis and each one seemed more incredible than the next. I have to say, given my affinity for traveling, this past year had me feeling particularly blessed.

My Hawaiian vacation in March netted me my single most viewed month in the history of verybeneficial.net! 1,680 views from 670 unique visitors! This trip also earned me my most viewed post of the year, Hawaii: Day Two! It made me beyond happy to have so many of you engaging with my Hawaiian posts from this time! I hope that each and every single one of you who longs to go to Hawaii is able to take that opportunity someday because there is no doubt about it, I’ve never been anywhere quite like it! It has to be the single most beautiful state in our country and the overall atmosphere and vibe were just the best! Not to mention getting to take this trip with some of our best friends, Kamber and Charles (and their three kids), made the experience all that more amazing!

Having California Melissa come and visit me and Melissa in early June and getting that opportunity to show her so many of the St. Louis areas greatest hits was another beloved moment. Y’all know how much I love St. Louis, so having one of my best friends who’s never been here come visit was like a dream come true! She wasn’t here but four days, so you better believe we squeezed every single attraction in we could! We all had the best time because we’re already making plans for her to return this summer! I can’t wait!

In the middle of July I took my annual trip back out to California and got to see all my loved ones that I spend all year missing. I of course went to Disneyland and hit up all my regular spots, but the real highlight of this trip came when Kamber and I saw Christina Aguilera at the Hollywood Bowl while she performed alongside the LA Philharmonic Orchestra! It was a concert unlike any other and easily one of the greatest performances I’ve ever attended. This vacation was showcased in my two Journey to the Forever Purge posts. Another Californian highlight for me that set up the vacation that followed was meeting my near and dear cousin Alyssa’s boyfriend, Cody. He’s simply the best and every bit as amazing as she is. This comes as no surprise though, I’ve never met a Cody I didn’t love, so honestly, as soon as Alyssa told me his name I was just like Savage Garden, I knew I loved him before I met him.

In 1998, I went to Cortez, Colorado and the Mesa Verde National Park with Montessori for our sixth grade graduation trip, I hadn’t been to Colorado since and most certainly never Denver, so getting to spend a long weekend there with Cody and Alyssa in a brand new city was every bit as thrilling and terrific as I anticipated it would be. We also visited Fort Collins where Cody and Alyssa attend university, Boulder where Melissa and I stalked the old JonBenét Ramsey home, and then Estes Park where we stayed at the increasingly haunted Stanley Hotel. Those adventures are best highlighted in Colorado: Day Three, my most viewed blog from that trip.

Lastly, Kamber, Charles, Nancy, Melissa, and I all went to Walt Disney World in October where we got to celebrate Disney Halloween and the 50th Anniversary of that beloved resort! It was pure magic from the second we landed in Orlando to the moment we left. My trip was greatly enhanced twice over, first Colsen joined us for our day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, then I got to spend a day with two of my best friend’s from my California years who’ve both since relocated to Florida, Florida Nancy and Edward. Seeing those three made what was already going to be a perfect trip that much more special.

As I nearly always do, I lived the year at the movie theater and the following five films were my absolute favorites, so let’s see if we agree on any…

Malignant – first of all, I LOVE horror movies! There’s no rush like a good scare and this movie delivered plenty of them. There were some blah parts and slow builds, but the ending of this movie left me shook! There was a one-two punch that I haven’t experienced in a film in ages! It made all the buildup completely worth it and earned its spot as one of my favorite films of 2021.

Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – funny as fuck! I’m not going to lie, I laughed my ass off through this entire movie. Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ryan Reynolds delivered laugh after laugh for me and one particular scene heavily featured one of my signature jams, Tina Turner’s The Best, so for me, there wasn’t anything to not love.

Mortal Kombat – I’ve basically been a fan my entire life. I remember playing the original video game in the early 90’s and I’ve gone on to play plenty of the sequels that have followed. I was beyond thrilled that they finally got a movie worthy of their status in pop culture. I’m already ready for the inevitable sequel because while this first installment featured plenty of my favorite fighters, there are still several I’m looking forward to having their big-screen debut!

No Time To Die – I LOVE 007! I’ve seen every single one of the twenty-five films in the James Bond franchise and while I love most all of them, this one ranks near the top for me. The ending left me absolutely sobbing in the theaters. I went and saw it by myself and was crying so loud in the final scene that people were turning around and looking back at me. I didn’t care though, I was living my best life seeing one of my life-long heroes save the world one last time. This is a MUST see movie.

Encanto – Speaking of crying, I cried four VERY hard times in the second half of Disney’s latest animated masterpiece. My goodness! This was the ultimate feel good movie. With no villain or antagonist I was left with no idea where the plot was headed, but you better believe I love where it arrived. If you only see one movie from 2021, make it Encanto, you’ll not be disappointed, but you will probably spend the next month jamming to the soundtrack as I most definitely did!

I don’t do anything without a song in my head, so here are five from the year that stayed there most often…

If I Can’t Have You, Leona Lewis – Leona is one of my all-time favorite artists, so when I learned she was covering this Bee Gees penned disco classic, I couldn’t wait to hear it and you better believe she didn’t disappoint! I love how her vocals glide across the heartbreaking lyrics making me belt out every single note right alongside her. Then when she drops that choir into the final refrain, wow. Speechless.

That’s What I Want, Lil Nas X – first of all, I love Lil Nas X and think he’s absolutely adorable and an incredibly talented musician. Every song he’s released has been a certified hit, but this one is by far my favorite. The music video makes me cry even so if you haven’t seen it, you need to right now. This song reminds me of the summertime and I want to drive my car with the windows down, wind blowing through my hair, and this song blasting from the speakers as I sing it atop my lungs. I just love it.

Driver’s License, Olivia Rodrigo – not as much now, but when this song first came out, I would cry every single time by the end. The bridge is usually where I get lost in my emotions. “Red lights, stop signs…” oh my goodness. So beautiful, yet so heartbreaking. Additionally, it should be noted Olivia Rodrigo is from Temecula, California where I lived, so I feel especially connected to her and look forward to how far she’ll go in her career.

Don’t Shut Me Down, ABBA – I’ve always loved ABBA and what I love about this 2021 brand new hit of theirs is that it easily sounds like it could’ve been made in 1977! Talk about if it’s not broke, don’t fix it! This was my go-to song all autumn long and I still find myself playing it every so often when I need an energetic boost of positivity and good vibes. Oops!… They Did It Again, forty years later!

Shivers, Ed Sheeran – my first hearing of this song was when Ed performed it on the MTV Video Music Awards and I was like, “what in the crap is this!?! OTHER THAN THE BEST SONG I’VE HEARD IN AGES!” I was hooked instantly and from that moment in early September, I spent the entire rest of the year swinging back to this incredibly infectious jam. Normally I grow really tired of Ed Sheeran’s stuff because each single is way overplayed, but with this one I feel the Britney Spears in me coming out as I keep screaming, “GIMME! GIMME MORE!”

Well, there you have it, my 2021 year end roundup! THANK YOU so much for viewing! I appreciate each and everyone of you! Please feel free to leave a comment below as you already know I LOVE reading and responding to them! I’ll be back soon, but until then, I wish you all, all THE BEST!