Looking Back at 2016

To celebrate our first year of being married, Jeremie and I went to Iceland in December and ended our trip to Rome in early January.

It was my first time flying alone to the other side of the country. I went there to attend a friend’s wedding which turned into a mini-reunion with my high school classmates.

Moved to a new home and upgraded from a studio to a one-bedroom apartment. We were very lucky to find a more spacious place that cost a third less than our first apartment. Hooray for Craigslist.

Two months after seeing my high school friends, we met up once again. This time on the western side of the country.

Started my new job as a designer for a company in downtown SF. It was great to be around people again after working from home for three years. You learn so much from being around new people.

The best way to explore this country is by driving. And thanks to Getaround, it was easy for us to grab a car and drive all the way to Muir woods, two hours from the city.

For the fourth of July holiday, we rented a car and drove for about four hours to the lake. I remember watching movies or reading books about this place and we finally got to see it in person.

It’s no secret that I’m afraid of heights and I would never do anything like this but Jeremie convinced me, so I gave it a try. Then, I saw that I was less afraid of heights and was actually stronger than I thought. Months later, I’m still climbing. I don’t regret taking that first step.

The city was surprisingly great. I’m surprised because I expected to be disappointed. I hear a lot of stories from people who’ve been there, hating New York and saying it’s too touristy and overrated. But our experience was actually pretty great. You just need to find the right neighborhood. I loved how diverse the art scene was compared to SF, I love how different the locals are, and the food…I can’t even…

I’ve always been curious about why people behave the way they do so I took this course to learn about how to conduct proper interviews, how synthesize information, and create a solution from it. Plus, I met some cool, new people!

We flew to Las Vegas, met up with a couple of friends, drove to Utah, saw some amazing canyons, drove to Arizona, saw some more amazing canyons, and slept in a cabin in the middle of nowhere owned by a Navajo Native American couple, drove to Yosemite where we were nervous about driving through a layer of snow, then drove back to SF. This was the longest drive we’ve done so far, jumping between four states.

I saved up all my time offs so we could come home for two weeks. So much has changed since we left almost two years ago–heavier traffic, more malls, and a variety of cool shops. Yet, there’s still that wonderful feeling of warmth on this little island. Oh, and the beaches are still awesome!