Hi friends, it’s been a while! 2021 has been a crazy year for me, and I wanted to hop back into the blogging world with a little life update. But before that, how are you? I hope you’re doing well and enjoying some beautiful fall weather!
Self-Care + Reading
The beginning of the year was fairly chill. Just work, normal life things, etc. I spent a lot of time creating routines and doing lots of self-care things after the year we had in 2020. Then, the hubs and I got our covid vaccines in the spring once they opened availability for our age group! I also started reading more. I read a ton in high school but hadn’t much since then. After only reading a handful of books a year for the past few years, I really wanted to get back to reading several a month! I’ve already surpassed my reading goal for the year by 10+ books. I’ll definitely be sharing more about the books I read here!
Losing a Loved One
Fast forward to the end of April, we unexpectedly lost my father. I was at work when I got the call, and living out of state made everything a nightmare until I could get into town. I was in charge of getting everything taken care of, and this is the first time I had ever had to deal with a funeral, life insurance, etc. Thankfully my sister helped me a ton. I loved being able to see family that we hadn’t been able to see since before the pandemic started, but aside from that the whole 5 days we were there was a blur and I couldn’t wait to get back home where I could finally rest and take a moment to process everything. I spent the next few weeks making a ton of phone calls to people, and as an introvert, this was extremely exhausting. If you’re an introvert, you get it!
Family Visits + Going Gluten-Free
Shortly after that my mother and sister came down for a visit in June. This was my mom’s first time in Wilmington, and I was beyond excited to see her and show her around! I also found out (through a reaction to eating too many birthday cupcakes lol) that I have a gluten allergy. This didn’t shock me a ton, because my mother found out she has celiac disease earlier this year, and first-degree relatives have a higher chance of developing it than other members of the family. It’s definitely been an adjustment, but thankfully I’ve found some great brands to purchase snacks, foods, etc. from that are gluten-free!
More Visits from Family
At the beginning of October, my sister and brother-in-law came to town for the weekend! This was his first trip here as well, and we took him to a few of our favorite spots in town: downtown, the beach, the aquarium, and several bookstores! We also spent some time watching scary movies and celebrating my sister’s birthday!
We Moved!
We also moved! We wanted to upsize from our cozy 1 bedroom, and we found a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment the first day we started looking! I immediately went home and applied. It was still being built when we applied, so we had to wait around 2 months before we could move in, but it was so worth it! We now have a guest bedroom (that doubles as a place for all of my husband’s tools for work) and I have an office again! We’re still waiting on a new couch and have a ton of decorating to do, but we love our new home so far!
This year has definitely been full of good and bad, but through all the stress and uncertainty I still feel grateful and in a good place. I’m excited to share more with you guys soon!