When I asked the universe for something new and exciting this year, I didn’t think it would’ve happened right away nor did I expected this – I caught Covid and was tested positive on January 1st. When I started coughing two days before the new year, I thought it was because we were in Georgia and the air was much drier there and/or I was suddenly allergic to dogs. I am so happy that it was Covid and not being allergic to dogs. I caught the cold a few weeks ago, and that was much worse than Covid for me. Beside the cough that went away few days later, I didn’t feel any other symptoms.
Overall, January was really rough for me. But I won’t let that ruin the rest of the year. Beside catching Covid, we came back to the biggest storm I’ve ever seen since living in the Bay Area. It started raining a week before the new year and it didn’t stop until a few more weeks. We had recently just installed drywall in our garage (our future ADU/master suite) and basement area. We got back to CA on NYE, and on new year’s day – we found out our basement had water damage. P quickly realized what the issue was, but unfortunately – we had to wait until it stops raining to address the issue. Beside this huge hiccup we had, we both are very grateful that we found out that the basement can get flooded (2 years living here, and we never seen a drip of water there until this storm). Although the drywall is up, only the bottom portion of the walls had to be redone and we are very grateful that we didn’t install floors yet.
In addition to the hiccup we had with the drywall, I started to get bids for building/tiling out the two showers (labor only). We recently paid $3K (labor only) to do the kitchen backsplash and I was guesstimating that it would range roughly $10K. I was astonished when we received our first quote at $22K. From there, I had received quotes ranging from $12K to $25K. Even at 12K, P and his father didn’t think that was reasonable so we (more like P and his father) will be building/tiling together soon.
I started a 12 week workout program and have not missed a day yet! It’s 5x a week, and I’m really enjoying this program. I’m feeling lean, and strong. I usually talk about my workout on Instagram stories, but this time – I wanted to show my results in 12 weeks. I’ve been taking weekly videos and photos. This week is week 5, so we are almost half way there. So excited to see my progress in a few more weeks!
I am finally getting a hang of my new role at my job. And as I get more familiar with this role, I noticed some pros and cons. I do not regret my career pivot. One of the biggest blessings that happened to me. I believe the biggest challenge for me is that I was more of an independent employee before, but now – I rely a lot on people around me. Some good things come out of this. It’s making me a better manager; learning to work with all sorts of personalities. I’m learning a lot. Like a lot. Doing a lot more. I never take that for granted. When I turned 30, I looked back at my 20s and I felt accomplished at all the things I’ve done, but also wished I could’ve done more (especially in my career). I want to make sure that when I’m 40, I can look back at my 30s and say that I did the best I could and didn’t “waste time”. With that being said, pivoting my career had made me more confident. It’s scary at first, yes. It’s still uncomfortable at times as I’m adjusting, but it opened a whole new mindset for me. How so? In two ways:
- Being uncomfortable in any situation makes you grow. It will push you in a way where you’ll do better because you want better.
- I now have the confidence that I can change career or start something new and I’ll be fine.
I happened to also come across this video today (what a good timing) of Reese Witherspoon speaking on “You just need the confidence to begin”. YES. YES. And YES. Don’t think this only applies to careers, it literally can apply to anything and everything.
Anxiety. I had my first anxiety attack in 2018 and I probably get ~3 a year. But by the time it was January 15th, I had about 10 already. My attacks usually lasts no more than 3 minutes, and most of the time – I’m alone. Twice, P was around me and he does such a great job and making sure I feel loved and not alone during these attacks. With him, my attacks are even shorter (maybe one minute). I haven’t had one this week, and I am seeking help for this. More on this in the future if I end up finding the right therapist/medication.
That’s a little snippet of my life so far in 2023. Thanks for reading my life update and I hope you have a wonderful 2023!
1 thought on “Life Updates – January Felt Like Mondays”