It's Been A while...

Long time no see? Or shall I say long time, no read? So where to start. We purchased and moved into our first home last August. We actually got into contract on our home the day before my birthday on June 7th...just a day after my last post. The closing had taken longer than expected and I found myself praying to any deity out there that it would come through. I truly believed this home was meant for us and that the universe would find a way. And so it did. Two weeks before our scheduled trip to Italy, we got everything moved. We had gotten a late start due to the fact we did not know if the purchase would come through, so we took 2 weeks to pack and another 2 to get everything slowly moved in between our 9-5's. We also went and got a new car the week after closing. I put it out into the universe a year and a half ago that we'd wait until we bought our home before buying another car. As much as COVID was devastating, it worked like a double-edged sword. Since my husband and I could both work from home, that enabled us to ride out sharing a 19+-year-old car for a year and a half until we could get another car.

Have I mentioned before that movers are God's gift? In between friends or family being unreliable with the moving process and worrying about someone breaking their back- okay that's an exaggeration, but yes, one time someone did break their back helping us move. Plus I'm not sure if we would have been able to move from our 2nd floor apartment in time by ourselves.

Anyhow, the trip to Italy was warmly welcomed and welcoming after a year of uncertainty and isolation. My husband got delayed by a day, but I won't bore you with those details- it was just a bit of a headache in our new normal post-covid world. From Rome to Florence and Venice, we had a lot of fun and pasta. Lots of pasta. My husband said he could live on it daily, but I'll be honest, I wanted sushi on day 9.

It took us months to unpack and organize, in between traveling, our 9-5's, and the holidays, it hit the back burner and we were living out of boxes longer than we wanted. Due to my long-term depression last year, most days I could barely get up and force myself to work, much less clean and organize before the move. I'm pleased to announce that we've made considerable progress these past two months and soaking up the downtime before my trip to Germany in March. We have several trips lined up over the next 3 months that I have a feeling it's going to be a busy year.

We finished off 2021 with a couple's trip to Maui and now it's all I can think about. We spent a week soaking up the sun in November and my husband and I had a thorough discussion about someday purchasing a small home there in addition to moving to SoCal. I'm a beach gal and seasonal affective disorder burns me out. It's something I truly struggle with within the colder months. Not so much being depressed as just feeling overall lethargic and tired chronically. I didn't vlog as it was the first time my husband and I have had a longer couple's trip in some years. It was just amazing and I know I definitely cannot wait 10 years to go back this time around.

Getting accustomed to living with others has also been challenging and I've been struggling with some aspects of my health. I've had major digestive issues lately that have had me bedridden on several days. In some ways, I find IBS tougher than having something like a lactose or gluten intolerance- because then you can just avoid those things, but with IBS, there is a ginormous list of things that can trigger symptoms. Just google FODMAPS. Anyways, I've found that I need to give myself grace and that I need to be more intentional about giving myself downtime without feeling guilty and that I should be tackling the 50 things on my to-do list.

Lastly, I know it's a bit late- but as for resolutions. I like to make them about things that aren't just about losing weight or making more money because let's face it, those fall off the bandwagon about a month into the new year. Does that mean I don't want to lose weight? Certainly not, but I think prioritizing eating better, working out more, and giving myself self-care can also yield those results.

Now that we're more organized and settled, I plan to focus on my book, my copywriting business, getting back into good 'ole Duolingo to learn Japanese, and getting back into my art. I just started setting up my Etsy account and Redbubble will soon follow. I've been getting inspired for my podcast as well, which will start solo and have occasional guests as we ramp up. And of course, traveling more...and updating this website and blog. I forgot how much I hate moving even if it was well worth it.

I'll leave you at that my friends and hope to have another blog back at you soon. If you made it through this post, you're the real MVP.