2014: A Year of Milestones

Right now I’m sitting in our hammock, soaking up the breeze on a sweltering hot day. It’s the last day of holidays; tomorrow I return to work. Day 4 of 2015 and this new year is finally sinking in. But first, I need to close off last year.

This was the year I became a permanent resident of Australia; in just over three years I may be eligible to apply for citizenship. This blows my mind. If I decided to apply I would hold dual citizenship –  I can’t imagine ever giving up my US passport. I also got a job as a market reporter for an online publication that covers the commercial office leasing markets in Australia and New Zealand. (Let’s just say it’s a niche market.)

I worked 4 days a week and kept freelancing, which left me with very little free time. I also started my yearlong writing internship with A Practical Wedding. My dad came to visit. Jared started a new job in logistics that has him working shifts – a mix of 4 or 5 days and nights on followed by 4 or 5 days off. We bought a house.

By July, wedding planning was getting real and so was life. I applied for a new job in marketing for an international education company and got an interview on the day we flew to Melbourne. I got the job, which meant I had to cut way back on my freelancing commitments. It also meant returning to a Monday-Friday office job for the first time in two years, but I was ready to stop juggling multiple income streams and find some balance.

In September I turned 33. Jared flew to Vegas; we met up in Oahu a week later and drove straight to the north shore. Over the next few days 25 of our friends and family trickled into paradise to help us celebrate. We got married. (You can read more about the wedding here and here.)

The rest of the year vanished in a succession of events: starting my new job, converting our upstairs into a bar, Jared’s 31st birthday, the holidays, summer. Looking back, 2014 really pulled out all the stops.

If last year was a series of milestones, 2015 will hopefully be a return to adventure of a different kind. In less than 2 weeks I’m going to Singapore and Vietnam for a weeklong work trip. I am trying hard to remind myself that it’s business, not pleasure, but at the very least I’ll be squeezing in a Singapore Sling and multiple bowls of pho.

In July, we’re taking 3 weeks off and heading to Chicago for my sister’s wedding, with a side trip to either Quebec or Montreal in the works. There’s talk of Sri Lanka down the track, and we’re hoping to keep taking advantage of living in this big, gorgeous country while we can.

Enough words for now. Here’s a look back at my 2014.