Yo no olvido al año viejo

2022 Highlights

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Can you believe this is the last week of the year? I don’t know about you but I get very retrospective this time of year. If someone were to ask me how my year was, this would be my outline. I want to thank Google Photos for reminding me of most things I did this year. Those things I didn’t take a picture of this year probably won’t be remembered. I love living in a time where we have virtually unlimited space to document our day to day.

Yo no olvido al año viejo is the opening line of Tony Camargo’s song which talks about how good the year that is ending has been to him. It would get overplayed in Mexico around NYE so it is fitting to have this as the soundtrack for this post. And without further ado, here are my 2022 highlights.

January

My mother-in-law gave us a master class on how to make tamales. I tried to teach the boys how to play chess but didn’t get very far. My oldest son, Oliver, lost one of his front teeth. My wife, Diana, and I had a date night at Pigtails.

February

We celebrated Oliver’s birthday in Medieval Times. I applied to become a US citizen.

March

Went to most of the Fish Frys at our parish. I aced my citizenship interview and had my naturalization oath ceremony. I was kind of bummed my wife and kids couldn’t attend but still, very special day. Diana and I attended a sacred music concert by Floriani at St. Bernadette Catholic Church.

April

On Holy Thursday, a few friends and I visited the seven temples. Celebrated Easter. My parents visited for Mateo’s, my youngest son, first birthday. Our family went bowling for the first time. Diana and I attended the wedding of one of our good friends.

May

We held our sixth annual mother’s day picnic; one of our family traditions. We drove to Northern California for our nephew’s high school graduation and spent some quality time with family and friends. Diana and I logged three date nights this month. We went for cocktails twice and a wonderful friend of ours treated us to Leanne Morgan tickets, it was a great time.

June

I got laid off from my job, so that was a bummer. We found out Lucia is too shy for dance classes. We celebrated father’s day at Churn, one of our favorite ice cream places. Oliver and Emilio went to Vacation Bible School and has a blast. We went to Fr. Harold Ecarcega’s ordination and first solemn mass.

July

Oliver attended Jiu-Jistsu summer camp with mixed reviews. The three older kiddos were in swim lessons, they got gorgeously tan. After interviewing with around eighteen companies I found a new job, praise God! My parents visited for Lucia’s birthday. We ventured to Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, highly recommended. It was whiskey-sour-month over at the Cantu Household. Diana and I went on a date night. We went out for cocktails. Do you see the trend?

August

Oliver and Emilio had their first day of school. We met Molly of Denali at the Heard Museum. My wife and I changed it up and tried two new places from our bucket list. We went to The Arrogant Butcher and The Rose Garden.

September

We celebrated Emilio’s birthday. I took the two older boys on a hike to Hole in the rock. Diana and I went to Grey Hen Rx, a NOLA-themed bar. To celebrate Diana’s fortieth birthday we met up with some friends in San Diego. One of the nights we went out for dinner and then drinks at False Idol, a tiki bar.

October

Diana and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary with dinner at Beckett’s Table and drinks at 36 below. Oliver and I visited the Shrine of St. Joseph in Yarnell, AZ with our Troops or St. George troop. Diana and I checked another place from our bucket list, Rough Rider, a Teddy-Roosevelt-themed bar. We went camping for the first time. And to close out the month, we celebrated the birthday of one of our good friends at Maple & Ash.

November

November was a double-date month. We went to see one of my favorite bands from Mexico, Cafe Tacvba, with our compadres. And to Tapas Papa Brava with some friends from church. Oliver and I went camping at Timber Camp and didn’t freeze, that’s a win in my book.

December

Diana and I went to see Fiddler on the roof at Phoenix Orpheum Theater. It was so good for my soul to see a musical. Oliver threw a rock through the living room’s glass sliding door so we had to get a new one. Diana and the kids took turns getting sick; it was a rough couple of weeks. We hung the lights, decorated the tree, went to see houses with better Christmas lights than ours, made lots of cookies, and finally got an outdoor nativity scene.

I took Lucia to her first live show Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve Mass and had porchetta for dinner. I had a Montecristo White Series Rothchilde after the kids went to bed, it was a nice smoke.

I turned thirty-nine and Diana gave me the gift of time. I treated myself to lunch and went for an espresso martini afterward. I’m finishing up these highlights as I drink said martini. It is the last year of my thirties and I’m looking forward to closing the decade strong.

Summary

If I had to give this year a rating, it would be a four out of five stars. Losing my job was stressful but it was a good exercise in trusting God. We logged three road trips, a few hikes, and a camping trip as a family. Diana and I went on sixteen dates, which has truly helped us remember that we’re husband and wife and not just parents.

I don’t like to make new year's resolutions because most times they’re vague and they end up being dropped. My engineer brain wants to define SMART goals for the next year. Some say good readers make good writers ergo I’d like to read more this year. And I think twenty-four date nights is an attainable goal too.

How would you rate this year, in your own experience? Do you have any new year’s resolutions or goals?