I don’t know about you, but I rolled up into 2020 with a swagger and a smile, thinking…this is going to be an epic year. Back then my definition of “epic” was filled with nothing but good intentions. You could even call it childlike giddiness and innocence.

I never knew I would move away from Portland without having a chance to say goodbye to a single soul after living there for six years.

I felt like I was skipping town after botching a bank robbery. Except that when I skipped town, the world was cloaked in silence and isolation. We drove through snowy mountain passes, spotless highways, and empty hotel parking lots in a moving van…just us and the cats in a strange new world.

I never knew I would learn how to do ballet with a mask. But here I am, pirouettes and all. Before 2020 I would have thought I was about to be robbed on the sidewalk when a masked hooded person approached me. Now harmless people are picking up dog poop, looking like assassins, ninjas, and gangsters.

I never know I would become closer than ever to my home and to my husband. But, that happened too.

Continue reading “Just One More Thing Before This Epic Year Ends” →

Jungle insects whispered and the air conditioner whirred, but otherwise, the air was thick with humidity and silence in our Balinese bungalow. Some disturbance had jolted me out of bed, an odd feeling since I had slept like a stone up until that night. I realized that disturbing energy was radiating from my phone. I saw the crack of light from my phone screen on the nightstand, glowing with news I knew I didn’t want to hear.

I was tucked away in a picturesque rice field just outside of Ubud—the only chaos that happened here was early morning rooster noises. I swiped my phone from the nightstand and squinted at the numerous missed calls, texts, and Facebook messages from my family.

My mom’s voice was angry and shaky in her voicemail: “Now would be a really good time to talk to me!”

It was 2am, two days before Christmas, two years ago..and we were two weeks into our three-week trip in Bali. The night before, on December 22, 2018, part of the Anak Krakatau volcano collapsed into the sea in Indonesia, generating a tsunami that swept over the coastlines of southeastern Sumatra and western Java.

Continue reading “Touched by an Indonesian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina” →

On August 31 I hit a pretty significant milestone as an entrepreneur…3 years without a steady paycheck. The last day of August in 2017 was my last day at my last salaried job. I’ve been self-employed ever since.

Like many celebrations, anniversaries, birthdays, and miscellaneous special occasions in 2020, this milestone was completely overlooked because of the insanity of this year. I only noticed it when somebody else helped me notice it.

Continue reading “Celebrating 3 Years Without a Steady Paycheck” →