Hello….again!
It’s been a few years!
When I last posted back in 2023, I was already feeling burnt out from trying to develop a coaching business, while working a full-time marketing job, while also dealing with everything life was throwing at me.
I tried to get back into the swing of creating, but I realized I needed a full break. I logged out of my creator account on Instagram, released any pressure to create content for this site and all of its channels, and focused on other priorities.
What’s happened since then? I’ll give you a quick recap of 2024…
Our One-Year Wedding Anniversary
My husband and I experienced quite a year together, including him experiencing an unexpected second layoff, and the company I work for being acquired and merging with a company based in Europe (which has been a good thing!). We moved into our current, two-bedroom apartment, which has been a huge upgrade from our previous one. And got to meet our first niece! We love that little nugget so much.
To celebrate our anniversary, we went back to the Getty Villa, where we went after we got engaged, and Inn of the Seventh Ray for dinner, which was where we both celebrated our engagement for brunch and where we got married! It was a beautiful day, even though it started hailing while we were at dinner!
Traveled to Lithuania for Work
If you told younger me that my first trip to Europe would be to Lithuania – I would have said…where’s that?
The company I work for was acquired by our now parent company, who’s actually based in Lithuania. To kick off merging the teams together, our founders, CTO, and me went to Lithuania for a week to meet everyone in person and hash out important details. On the way there and back, we had a one night layover in Copenhagen, so I was able to explore this city a bit as well!
Overall, Lithuania was lovely! I wouldn’t say it’s a main destination to travel to for vacation, but if you’re looking for a multi-stop trip in that part of the country, I do think it’s worth visiting! What I found most interesting about the country is that since it was never destroyed in a war, it has some of their oldest buildings and infrastructure still in place. However, it’s a newly booming early start-up tech economy, like the early days of Silicon Valley, so you can see some of those modern buildings as well! For example, we walked up a very old bell tower, and at the top had a beautiful view of multiple angles of the city. You can see the European style towns, and in the distance, modern-glass window buildings you usually see in more developed tech areas of the country.
Traveled to Washington and Canada
We flew up to Seattle for a wedding in Port Angeles with a group of friends, and got to explore not just the gorgeous nature, but we took a ferry up to Victoria for a little day-trip to Canada! I loved the European architecture, and felt like we could have spent so much more time in the area than we did. However, we were grateful for the quick visit, and now we can say we’ve been to Canada!
My Brother Got Married! …and we got COVID
It was my brother’s turn to get married in 2024! It was a gorgeous wedding in the Bay Area, and I’m very happy to welcome my sister-in-law into the family. Unfortunately, my husband and I finally got COVID for the first time right after the wedding…which took us out for at least a week. We couldn’t believe we were able to last more than four years before finally falling victim to the damn virus.
Dove Into Embroidery
I started this before I took a break from blogging, but 2024 was really where my experience with embroidery blossomed. I participated in several secret exchanges, challenged myself with new techniques and patterns, added new patterns, templates and stickers to my Etsy shop, and made new friends! Including one who is now one of my closest friends IRL – we try to see each other at least once a month, usually at Disney! (Hi Chanci, if you’re reading this!)
Honorable Mentions
Throughout the rest of the year we went to a few plays, enjoyed our Magic Key Passes in Disneyland, spent time with family, visited Knotts Berry Farm, went to drag brunch, attended two more weddings, tried crocheting, and my husband got a new job at Activision Blizzard (after about a year of unemployment…the job market is no joke). It was a very, very challenging year but there were thankfully some highlights like the ones I mentioned above. We learned a lot, and what we experienced during 2024 definitely stuck with me into 2025…which I’ll share more in a future post.
What’s Next?
I’ll share a bit more in my next post about what’s led me to returning back to blogging and creating, but I don’t plan on having any set rules or structure to this at this time. Or possibly ever!
Blogging has changed a lot in the last couple years. Not to mention…AI boomed and is taking over pretty much everything. I do use AI at work and other areas of my life as a tool, but I want to challenge myself to avoid it as I dive back into this blog. I want every part of this to be authentically me – warts and all.
I hope you’ll come along with me in this next phase of my journey!
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