Goodbye to being 26, and Goodbye to 2018: My Top Moments of Last Year
finally I am getting around to posting this even though it's 10 days into 2019... I think we can all agree that 2018 was a long and difficult year. It was genuinely one of the best years of my 20’s, but overall one of the worst years of my life. I accomplished a lot personally, but ultimately the loss of two close family members took a major toll on my entire family. All of my accomplishments felt like selfish side stories to everyone else’s struggles and busy schedules in the mourning process. I’m still learning to find the balance… So without ado, here is my top moments of being 26 (Me, a small December baby) and for the year of 2018!
A sunny day on Minnesota’s North Shore at Gooseberry Falls Park, one of my favorite spots on Lake Superior!
The Impromptu North Shore day date!
I was going through a weird thing earlier this year that I couldn’t really speak on, but there was someone going out of her way to harass and heckle me online. I had laid low sometimes, which is crazy because I loved my instagram and I loved my social media accounts, but I never knew when they would decide to grace my social media with their unwanted presence, so I was on edge and full of anxiety often. 0/10 I would not suggest being lightly stalked, guys!
One day Eric and I decided to go on a day trip to Gooseberry Falls, which is a favorite spot for both of us. It was nice to look at the amazing views and just live in the present, and not worry about what some random person thought about me. We went and hiked the falls, jumped into a 38 degree Lake Superior, sifted for agates, and then ate dinner at OMC Smokehouse, and had a beer flight at Bent Paddle. I remember on the ride home, I was so grateful for my boyfriend Eric, and his positivity. He told me to ignore the person bothering me online, and to live life without worries, and I really needed to hear that.
“ain’t got no time to partake in all this hate, we’re out here vibin’…” -Ariana Grande
New York City with Eric!
My whole life I was afraid of heights, rides, and not being in control. I always knew one day I would get the courage to go somewhere by plane, I just didn’t think it would be when I was 26! It just took two of my friends (Hannah and Sarah) moving to Brooklyn to get me to finally test my courage! Airplanes are big boxes in the sky, and you don’t have any control over it… BUT I learned after my first plane ride that its really not that bad. this lead to multiple plane rides in 2018.
New York City was so dope. It was great to be out of the midwest where sometimes people can have too much time on their hands and not enough confidence to just do what they want to do. New York was the opposite of the Midwest in all the best ways. People did not care what I was doing, and it was so freeing to live without judgements. If someone wanted to talk to you, they would. If someone was nice to you, it wasn’t a fake nice, but a genuine kindness… I actually walked into a coffeeshop and ordered a charcoal latte I saw on instagram, and it was apparently a secret menu item that was created a week prior, and they turned off the lights so we could get natural light for our instagram pictures, and we met a dog who had a social media account and he gladly posed with our lattes. Like… These things just don’t happen in Minnesota!
Hannah and Sarah were amazing hosts who showed us all the best that Brooklyn had to offer! Also it was just fun to catch up with two of the coolest, most creative females I know, duh! Probably the best part was exploring the city with Eric. He thought he wouldn’t like NYC because he likes nature, but we found many restaurants with plants, city parks, and obviously Central Park was huge. We went in January 2018, so there wasn’t a lot of greenery, but the city has a great essence that we both enjoyed to the point of considering moving there.
My biggest challenge, but a great personal success: My Zine called Tiny Uptown
Flexed My Creative muscles (Also bought a skateboard?)
26 year old me was on one. I created a blog, took photos regularly, and I created a zine that I self distributed to many local coffeeshops and stores! I also learned how to use other programs other than photoshop to edit my photos. I actually took 3 months of the year to learn Lightroom Classic and CC.
Also I took the plunge that many creatives eventually often do, and invested in a Macbook, and Adobe Creative Cloud. I just knew it was what I had to do to move forward in my creative endeavors, and surely it was the investment of a lifetime because less than half a year into this laptop I have created more than I did at age 24 and 25 combined.
Oh… also, I bought a skateboard, lol. It was a way to get out of my apartment and cruise around with my thoughts and it honestly made me feel a lot more creative afterwards, so that’s why I included it here.
North Carolina
Eric and I went to North Carolina to visit his eldest brother, whom we’ve been meaning to visit for 3 years now. It was an amazing trip that really opened my eyes to so much. First of all, we stayed on a military base, and it was cool to meet the marines that Eric's brother works with. Second, it was fun spending a week with their family enjoying activities such as going to the beach, the birthplace of Pepsi, and the aquarium! Eric and I don’t have kids, so it was nice to hang out with his nephews and do some uncle-ish activities!
This is completely random, but I have only been to the ocean a few times as a toddler/child so I have never remembered the ocean. It was so hot in May in the North Carolina, with a 90% humidity, so the ocean felt like the air… hot! Also I have only ever seen beaches on many of our 10,000+ lakes in Minnesota, so I had no idea you could see shells EVERYWHERE on the beach. Our sand in Minnesota is made of just rocks! Plus they have wild plant life! Spanish Moss and palm trees??? I was so confused by how tropical and beautiful it was!
back 2 skool
Another big deal of 2018 was my strides towards my education! I do social media for Sound Unseen, a local music doc film festival, and l knew I wanted to improve my skills in web development, content strategy, and professional writing, so I went back to college to finish my bachelor's! A late start is still a start. Though I already have an associate's degree, I always knew someday I would work towards a Bachelor of arts in writing, specifically for the web.
My official major is Technical Communication and Professional Writing, the most practical, design/web dev/writing/editing major ever lmao. And I do all of this full-time, alongside my full-time job at a local brewery, and social at SU as well! The hustle is strong in this one.
I'll be done in spring 2020! Can't wait!
NYC again... a second time!
So NYC, you got me. I loved it so much that I had to go back! This time I asked my friend and coworker Hayley to join me to once again visit Hannah and Sarah, and it was great to be back, and specifically with the three coolest girls I know. New York in the summer is just... Something else.
I'm glad I went with a girl friend, so I could go to some girlier places. No woman can deny the Glossier Showroom and 2pm brunches in Nolita. Hayley and I stayed in Bushwick with my friends, but we actually loved Williamsburg so much that we spent the day in that area twice.
The best part was all four of us riding the L train back to Brooklyn and singing the DK Rap together bc the whole train was bumping to the beat with us! A time I will never forget! Nothing but love for my Sonic Squad!
