Looking Back at 2020

We were lucky enough to be able to go home before all the lockdown and shelter-in-place orders. The best part was being able to spend even just a few days with our families.

One of my oldest and closest friends finally got married in our hometown. I’ve known jes since we were in grade school and we pretty much grew up and seen each other’s ups and downs.

Another wedding in another island–Oahu! There’s something about beach weddings that make you fall in love all over again!

Back in the US, COVID-19 began to surge in New York. Our city enforced a shelter-in-place order discouraging people from leaving their homes for non-essential activities.

I always had the idea that making budbud (glutinous rice with coconut milk) was hard. But being stuck at home, I decided to google the recipe and discovered it was actually easy to make. Mmm…tastes like home.

Jeremie convinced and taught me to create my own ‘world’ through Blender. We collaborated on a project, creating a bite-sized beach. You can tell, I love the beach so much.

As if being stuck indoors wasn’t bad enough, there had also been a lot of smoke from the wildfires in the bay area. Our apartment doesn’t have air-conditioning so it was hard to concentrate on work. We decided to get away to the Big Island where the air is better. As responsible citizens, we followed their quarantine procedures before we were able to explore the island.

We had been talking about moving to LA for some time even if just for a year or two. It took a lot of courage, conversations, and sleepless nights before we took the leap!

With bouldering gyms still closed, we climbed outdoors instead. It had been more than 8 months since we last climbed so we were stoked to even accomplish v0s and v1s!

We brought our first puppy home with us! A lot of times I question whether we made the right decision. Sleepless nights, distractions, and whatnot, I’m constantly questioning my ability to care for another living thing. Anyway, I’ll write more about it when I get the chance.

I just love real Christmas trees. I love how they smell and how they make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Christmas is probably one of my favorite seasons of the year. We celebrated at home with some simple home-cooked meals. What more could you ask for?

The pandemic made me reconsider a lot of things but it also brought me closer to family. I’m thankful for every second we get to talk and see them happy even if it’s just through a blurry screen.