2024 Reflections: What I did & What I didn't do
2024 was a mess
In 2023, was chaotic. 2024 was… overwhelming emotionally and felt underwhelming productively. But I guess that’s what happens when you “adopt” your grandmother full-time.
Like I’ve done in previous years, it may be good for you check out my previous reflections. It’s not mandatory, but I’m the kind of person who likes to see the growth of others, so maybe you want to read about mine. Here’s 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. If you are looking for 2020 and 2021, let’s just say those years didn’t happen.
Let’s start reflecting on 2024
WHAT I WANTED IN 2024, AS REFLECTED BY MY JOURNAL
Have a LifeOS system to run my life which was in theory was supposed to be a Notion database or some kind of electronic system that would help me navigate the added complexities of my life.
Have a personal project I’m proud of, which I think is self-explanatory, but I essentially wanted to develop a ‘pet project’ that I could grow.
To have my grandma be as independent as she can be. So while I know that realistically, my grandma would never be able to be fully independent like she was in June 2023, the goal was to nurse my grandma back to health and see how independent she could be so she could be happy with the latest chapter of her life.
To have my mom find her footing. I know another goal that is focused on someone else. However, this goal was to ensure my mother could live safely (and happily) on her own so I could focus on my own life in North Carolina.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2024
I moved my grandma to live with me, this was a necessary decision that I needed to make. It was clear in mid to late 2023 that my grandma wasn’t going to be able to live on her own anymore and I didn’t want to continue living apart from my husband and ‘furbabies’. So I worked diligently with my grandma’s doctors to move her down in February.
I STILL traveled A TON back and forth between North Carolina and New Jersey. Mostly by plane. It’s crazy how much these flights take out of me and can make my weeks unproductive. However I believe I’ll do less of these in 2025 since my grandma is officially with me, and I’ve ceased my admin work with an organization that needed me to help with in-person events.
Start Grow Manage left the Tristate area and started to attend conferences and events in places outside of the NY and NJ area. They went to Hawaii, Vegas, and even Georgia. It has been really cool to see the small business I joined with a party of two grow to a team of nine.
Started playing Balder’s Gate 3 with my husband, friends and even my nephew. It was all thanks to this video by Razbuten that I decided to give it a try with them, and it’s been a way to bond with those I care about regardless of distance.
I started reading fanfiction (again) because books are expensive, and I go through them so quickly. So, while last year I picked up several book series, I picked up and read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction (yes, I know, it’s not a great series, but their fanfiction is top-notch and free). A short one that I have listed in my journal is “A Motion for Love” by MarinaJune.
Discovered Xepher Arcade, which is a heavenly haven arcade for rhythm gamers (aka me!). I discovered this place via Instagram ads a week before my 33rd birthday and I was so surprised that a place like this even existed. Usually I would need to fight people in an arcade to play a rhythm-based game, so imagine my surprise that there was an arcade FULL of ‘em. I’ve spent a lot of time here in 2024.
Transitioned from Start Grow Manage Podcasts to Lunch and Learns, and admittedly, this shift worked really well for the company. It allowed us to be more interactive with our audience and also resolved some scheduling issues when it came to recording episodes. If you want to tune in, we typically do these on Thursdays at 12PM ET.
Went to the pool, a ton! I made a rule for myself that if the weather was above 85 degrees, I’d need to spend at least 30 minutes at our complex’s pool. Last year due to all the craziness with my grandmother’s health I wasn’t able to enjoy the amenities provided by my complex, but this year I was determined to do it. And I did quite a good job in both June and July in keeping this rule.
Went to ChannelCon 2024, a CompTIA conference in Atlanta Georgia. As I mentioned before, Start Grow Manage has been on the go! This was one of the few non-NJ/NC trips I took this year and it was a blast. This was a work trip, but one that was a delight since I never went to Atlanta, and this happened around the time the 2024 Olympics was happening, so it was very cool to be able to participate in a group activity event where I got to walk/jog to the Centennial Olympic Park and take a picture with the Olympic Rings there.
I drove to Jersey twice, once during Mother’s Day weekend and the other right after my Atlanta, Georgia, trip. It was certainly interesting learning how to make it work with a packed car (cat, dog, husband, and grandmother). Setting a one-hour timer on my Apple Watch helped me immensely to make sure everyone got breaks.I took care of my hair at Spruce. While I loved Poppy’s salon, this salon was admittedly right next to Xepher Acade so the location was amazing. My stylist, Alison was also the best and I got bangs again!
We had three successful SGM Summits in April, August, and December with our clients at Start Grow Manage. It was great seeing our clients in person, and we managed to even pull off the difficult ‘hybrid’ format thanks to the venue we went to, The Inn at Villanova University (And if you ever want to join our community, you can!)
Got a membership at RipTide Care Wash, though technically my husband got this membership, I was the one who was using it in the summer and fall. It was really interesting adding this to my Sunday
routine and it admittedly felt great to be driving in a clean car.
Started listening to EPIC: The Musical, with my husband. We binged the musical, listened to the tracks, watched the animatics, and eagerly watched the releases of The Vengence Saga in October and the final saga, The Ithaca Saga in December (on Christmas!).
I spent a lot more time with my dog, Freya this year since I was actually in North Carolina. For those who don’t know, Freya is my Tamaskan dog (she looks like a wolf, but she’s a domesticated dog). While she still is “daddy’s little girl”, I’ve had the pleasure of walking her, chatting with her, and even taking her through some dog training lessons. She got to have a one-on-one session with my husband’s mentor this year and then a six-week course with someone else.
UNEXPECTED EVENTS IN 2024:
I got my first (and last tattoo). My husband got a tattoo before our 1st-anniversary wedding in 2022, and the intent was for me to get a matching tattoo on the opposite arm. Well that day finally came in February at Twisted Sixs Tattoo. The staff there was amazing; I even got a free pink t-shirt with my tattoo. But it took over two hours. I was clutching onto my husband’s hand the entire time and even cried for 30 minutes… It’s just not for me, but I have a lot of respect for people who willingly get tattoos.
My grandma continued to fall, a lot. Every morning I would check my cameras on my Wyze app to see if my grandma was once again on the floor. While gratefully none of the ‘falls’ she had was really a stumble and fall that did damage, it still was stressful waking up every morning unsure of if we’d see her on the floor or sleeping safely.
My grandma was in and out of the hospital. Which I should have expected thanks to my experience in 2023, but what was frustrating was that we couldn’t pin-point what was going on with her legs and causing the excessive swelling.
The medical support in NC is amazing. Not that our nurses and doctors in NJ aren’t good, but my experience dealing with the medical teams in the Durham area has been a delight. The phlebotomists have no issues finding my grandma’s veins (she would be bruised in NJ), and the doctors here are prompt in seeing you and don't make you feel like they are rushing you.
My mom decided to join the ‘fall + hospitalize’ club, which was stressful since I had just gotten my grandma settled in North Carolina when this happened. However, thanks to the fact that my mom is bilingual and can speak for herself, I didn’t have to resort to getting another one-way ticket to Jersey… But it did certainly throw a wrench in the equation.
I got a ton of support from Christine, after my grandma’s hospitalization in August, I got calls weekly from Christine and goodness. This woman has been one of the lights of my life in 2024. It’s so hard to find someone who really gets the toll it takes to be taking care of an elderly parent and she gets it. Since November I’ve been touching base with her once every three weeks, but let me tell you, she’s the best.
WHAT I DID NOT DO IN 2024:
Develop my LifeOS system, this was one of my goals and admittedly, I totally messed up on this. I tried the Passion Planner, the Daily Schedule Planner, using primarily Google Calendar, Notion, notecards, and started the Second Brain course, but nothing stuck. I was a disorganized mess this year and I’d like to remedy that ASAP.
Go house-hunting (again). My husband and I DID go to several open houses this year, but since the finances didn’t make sense, we didn’t follow through with purchasing a home. So here’s to hoping that in 2025 I’ll be able to say that we finally have a home we can be proud of.
Have a personal project I’m proud of. Which yeah, this never happened. What I had been able to do is play a slightly more active role in my husband’s side hussle, Lobo’s Vault.
Go as minimalist as I hoped, for my apartment is still cluttered with things and I’m sure I could have done a better job at decluttering and reorganizing my apartment.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT 2024:
Honestly… Similar to last year, I feel like 2023/2024 have been floppy years for me. This is a bummer because I was really hoping that after my dramatic move from NJ to NC I’d be able to do a great 360 turn with my life and really start this new chapter on a strong foot.
However health and family are most important, and while I complain about my productivity, I am very proud to say that my grandmother is significantly better from December 2023 to December 2024. So that’s honestly my biggest accomplishment and takeaway.
Another thing I’d like to note, I didn’t have a vision board, and I think that really made me lose track of my goals and ambitions for 2024. So that’s why, after doing these recaps, I’m going to do my 2025 vision board.
You may think it’s silly for me to say this, but having a vision board really really helps. I do think it helps manifest what’s in your mind and it’s put into reality. It also can serve as a visual reminder, though admittedly many years I just glance at it from time to time.
But for 2025, I intend on putting it as my desktop’s wallpaper, so let’s see how that works!
Feel free to share how your year went or what your goals/plans are for 2025.
