A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 26th birthday. I am officially in my LATE twenties. WHAT!? While I’ve seen more than a few grey hairs appear this past year, I’m really satisfied at where I am in my life and feel like I’ve found my stride both personally and professionally. Of course, there are many many more goals I have set for myself, but I also like to sit back once in a while and reflect on my accomplishments and what better time than a birthday?
At this time last year, I was working at a job that didn’t even begin to fulfill my creativity and passion, dreaming of getting out and starting fresh. I would tell anyone who would listen that I wanted my next job to be blogging-related. I didn’t know what kind of job I wanted, but I knew I wanted my professional life to be endlessly more fulfilling. I was living in the tech and innovation nexus of the world and not feeling inspired in the least, and it was time for a change.
Sawyer and I were living in Walnut Creek in a somewhat outdated apartment that he loved and I always tried to make do with. I’m such a homebody that having a home I love to spend time in and make beautiful is extremely important to me. As fate would have it, we received a no-fault eviction notice on our door (they were renovating the entire complex and giving everyone 90 days to move out) this past August. This was a massive blow to us – we were being uprooted in the most competitive housing market in the country with a ticking clock. We felt like fish out of water with every passing second leading closer to impending doom.
As they say, everything happens for a reason. After months of Craigslist hunting and going to 5+ open houses a week, and getting rejection after rejection, I was getting frantic. I’d stay up at night wondering what we were going to do and if we’d end up homeless. Then, by a stroke of pure luck and nothing short of a miracle, we found it.
It was everything that I had been hoping for and more: a two bedroom house (one bedroom for The Wink HQ, of course) with tons of natural light, a washer/dryer, big kitchen, a roomy backyard, and in our price range. It felt too good to be true. After spending 30 minutes meeting the landlord at the open house, we got into our car and looked at each other with huge smiles. Before we had pulled away, I had emailed the landlord all our paperwork and included a pretty little PDF I had designed about us. By the next day, the place was ours.
A year sure seems to fly now that I’m older. The passing of time is no longer demarcated by semesters and summers off. In California, every day feels the same; there are no seasons to let you know that Autumn is coming, or that nip in the air to let you know that Christmas is on its way. It can be dangerously easy to slip into a rut and not realize that weeks and months are slipping by, only to look up and realize that you’re another year older and haven’t worked on accomplishing the goals you set for yourself on your last birthday.
I’m now 26. I’m working at a company that I truly love with some of the most wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, doing work that, yes, is blogging-related. I’m sharing a wonderfully cozy home with the person I love. Thinking back on my journey this past year makes me feel accomplished and proud. I have so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. Thanks for sticking with me all these years; it has been a privilege and a delight and I’m so so excited for what the future holds.
