In lieu of a card...

Merry (almost) Christmas! In lieu of a normal blog post this week (and since Ben and I didn't send out a formal Christmas card) I thought I'd make this week's post into a Christmas newsletter of sorts.

It's been a pretty great year. Last year was marked by big, monumental changes like graduating from college and getting a job. While this year had plenty of changes too, it felt more defined by how I've settled into Charlotte with Ben and made a life here.

At the beginning of the year, I moved in with my then-co-worker Kelsey. I spent the first half of the year living with Kelsey and her two cats in NoDa — Charlotte's arts district. At the end of May (just days before my 23rd birthday) Ben packed up his car and moved in with us. Ben and I spent the better part of the summer apartment hunting, before finding and falling in love with the place we now live, less than a mile from where we were living. At the end of July, my sister Megan and her husband Ryan helped us move in — and we've been making it feel like home ever since.

It wasn't all smooth sailing — I'd be lying if I said there weren't hiccups. Ben and I were passed up for multiple places we envisioned ourselves living in, and when we took my pup Tucker from my parents, his tenure in Charlotte was less than a week. But in hindsight, I'm happy with how things have ended up this year.

This year, I've been fortunate enough to have traveled plenty, and we've had a lot to celebrate. I flew to Los Angeles to reunite with my college roommates, drove to the beach to spend much-needed time with family, and went up to Minnesota for my cousin's wedding (additionally, just this past weekend, we got to celebrate the wedding of two dear friends in Charlotte). I don't know that 2020 has quite as much travel in store, but I'm thankful for the new and familiar places I was able to see this year. I will say, in a little over a month, Ben and I will be traveling to Nashville to celebrate our two-year anniversary (our fingers are crossed for a trip to Boston later in the year).

For me, 2019 was about finding joy wherever possible and making most of what life throws my way. As the year wraps up and we look toward the start of a new decade, I can't help but think of where I was this time last year. In the words of Corinne Bailey Rae, "the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same."

Merry Christmas + Happy New Year, from me to you.