Looking back on 2018 it has been quiet here. In fact since 2016 it has been pretty quiet here, but this year in particular brought with it a load of change that was wonderful and hard.
2018 was the year of change for us.
Side note: I say “us” because we are a team, and while I am an independent person (stubbornly so, some might say) my husband and I are a team.
A few highlights:
If you’ve been around awhile you know this website started out of a need to get our finances in shape and share what I was learning with others (mostly friends and family), but over time turned into a part-time and then full-time career. I learned skills that I have been able to translate into contract and freelance work for a variety of clients.
In April this year I landed a freelance contract that turned into a full-time job by July (new role, amazing team, great company) and have been happily working in downtown Minneapolis for the past six months.
Around the time I went full-time my husband, Bob, got a new role at his company moving from projects to coaching within the organization. It is not only innovative and interesting work, but suits him incredibly well.
That also means we get to commute into work together, and thanks to our carpool takes no time at all. Spending that time together is a pretty neat perk.
Around the same time our oldest son, who is now a full-fledged adult (and the same age I was when I had him!) landed a great job as well. He’s got the dream job of every video game fan - testing video and mobile games.
This year also marked a big change with our second oldest kiddo attending a publicly-funded art school in the area and living on campus! It’s an adjustment to have one less kid in the house, but it’s a great environment for fostering growth as an artist. It’s also a nice trial run as a soon-to-be adult learning all those skills needed without being too far away from home.
The other two kiddos had great years and made huge leaps in other ways, with kiddo three headed to high school and joining way too many clubs and activities while kiddo four mastered the art of never having to take the bus and developed a love of skiing.
Another big change that has been wonderful is that my parents have moved in with our family in April. My mom and dad had previously been living in Virginia, but moved to Minnesota to be closer to our family, and since we have space we convinced them to stay with us. It’s been a great boon to us all to share the responsibilities of one household and they’ve not only been incredibly helpful as we started up new jobs, but also have been so much fun to have around. I love being able to take my mom to lunch or work in the yard with my dad. I guess this means I’m officially part of the sandwich generation!
And since I don’t send holiday cards, consider this my holiday card to you all. It’s been a wonderful year full of change, and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2019 brings!
