It has been several years since I’ve written last and I suppose there are a few updates within that period of time worth mentioning. In short, I’ve grown a lot.

Until now I’ve always categorized my life into blocks of time that are very distinguishable. For example, high school, college, living abroad, and full adulthood. I’m 4 years into adulthood so now major milestones are fewer and routines have become the norm. I’ve started a career and happily work in the field of my studies. That’s particularly surprising for me considering I studied International Business and live in a small city where those jobs are few and far between. I lucked out by getting a job at one of the largest employers in the state where I work in International Marketing.

We bought a house, fixed it up (twice due to a flood), and we enjoy it immensely. The whole process of getting it to its current state deserves its own blog post, which I’ll get to. Owning a home, however, has truly been a source of happiness and I didn’t expect that going into it. It has been a welcomed refuge when we return from adventures.

Then there’s been rock climbing. Climbing for us, as is the case with most rock climbers, is in a world of its own. There’s a full ecosystem of people, literature, locations, gear, and of course the sport itself. It is a world wherein my husband delves deep on a regular basis, spending hours upon hours reading on the next climbing destination, the newest recommendation for building a proper anchor, or trying to get a copy of a guidebook that has been out of print for 10 years. This world encircled us once we moved back to the United States and it hasn’t let go since.

We spend 2-3 times a week at the climbing gym where most of our friends are. Weather permitting, we spend each weekend climbing and ideally plan our international trips around it as well. We claim it is one of the greatest ways to see the world because you likely are in one of the most beautiful locations that country has to offer. It is an addictive lifestyle and given all the addictions out there, I’m glad to have found this one. I’m not good at it by any real measurable means but I enjoy the adventure and am happy my husband drags me along.

Besides climbing, I’ve taken up Mandarin over the last couple of years. I have a life-long goal of speaking 5 languages fluently and I had always thought Mandarin was going to be the icing on the cake, the last frontier, the whole enchilada. But then, I was able to request language lessons from my company and now I’m able to have a full hour-long conversation with my teacher in Mandarin. Mind you, this is with a teacher who is patient, understanding of the difficulties of learning a language and knows me well enough to fill in the gaps when a word doesn’t come to mind, but I’m still amazed that it has been so learnable! The time would have passed anyways so I’m all the more grateful to have put in a few hours a week (sometimes less) and now be on the other side of 2 years able to have a conversation in Mandarin.

I’ve also taken up sewing and quilting with the help of my mom. I completed my first quilt with her and she taught me how to make dresses, purses and gave me the motivation to explore my own projects. It’s not as daunting as it first seemed! I’ve begun baking and playing a lot more piano too. Learning these “old” skills has been a desire of mine for years since it seems that with each passing generation these skills are lost. As we switch from milestones to routine, picking up these hobbies has been fun for me.

So these last 4 years of full adulthood have been busy with work, home, and hobbies. We’ve also done a fair share of traveling and each of those trips will get its own post in due time. Now that we’ve optimized this period of time, it only seems right that we segment it yet again. There’s exciting things coming that will make me look back at these 4 years with nostalgia. At the same time, we’ll be back with even better routines and hobbies than before. Here’s to the next adventure!