inexistence

I need to journal more. It was such a good hobby of mine when I was living abroad. But I guess there are other cool things I am doing here, maybe connecting with other great outlets. I’ll try to work backwards- Ally visited last weekend, and we had so much fun! I am so happy she came before she whisks her way too to Spain! I can’t wait for her to travel, visit, and live in a new country. It’s so amazing and opens your eyes to so many things. On the relationship front, sometimes I feel like we are up against so much, but we spent a really nice day off together, and it makes me hate my lab job a little less. If I become a teache,r then we would be working completely opposite schedules, but I think I would make more money, so it becomes a balance of what is more important. Just taking it one day at a time. I was also accepted to be a volunteer diver at the aquarium. Again, it’s a large time commitment, but I think the experience will be top-notch. Ok, so back to reminiscing – my parents visited for 8 days as well before Ally. It was really good to see them. I was sad for them to leave. They had a fantastic time with Bob. We went to the Griffith and some cool restaurants. My sister graduates in May, and we are thinking about doing a short trip to Spain, hopefully we can pull it off! The marathon is 36 days away. I think I ended up getting an entry off Craigslist that was way cheaper than online, so I am officially doing it! I am getting serious in these next few weeks because it’s go-time. I ran with snickers the other day…omg so good to run with. 

Well, what little changes can occur in a span of nine years, while so much has changed. It is hard to believe I am the same person as I was in 2016, but these tendencies are just echoes of my present life. Do I need to journal more? Do I have other hobbies taking up my time? Am I equally as enthusiastic about how traveling opens your eyes? Do I still wonder what my career path might be? Am I still having great visits with my parents? And did my sister recently book a trip to Europe? Wow, the similarities are a bit creepy. While my day-to-day life is drastically different from what it was in 2016, my musings were not too far from what they are presently. Are all these events happening simultaneously? That is a question for a different webpage. 

I enjoy this reflection of my career path here. I was working in an analytical chemistry lab, and I did not like it. The conditions were fine, but the monotony of the work would later lead me to pursue diving more intensely, which, thanks to my weekly volunteering at the aquarium (typically a 60-70 minute drive from my home one way), opened up these pathways. It was this consistent commitment to a task that pushed me to follow my own path and also to make tough decisions and be okay with the discomfort.

Speaking of discomfort, how does working full-time, volunteering, and training for a marathon sound? Well, this might have been something I could only do in my 20s, but what a satisfying journey that was. Yet, here I am, 34, and training for the longest endurance race of my life thus far…the Vasaloppet. A 90-kilometer cross-country ski race in Sweden. It is in two weeks and yes, I did just start cross-country skiing this year… like December was my first time skiing. I guess some things will never change. 

Some things, though, will change, and forever, like the rest of my existence as I am also due with a baby on July 11, 2026, or at least around this time 🙂 What a life. 

I took a small break from the blog as many of these things (work, baby growing, skiing) have occupied my meagre existence, but I am back and will continue to try to deliver two reflections monthly. Here is to 2026, a year with marked change.