It’s been a while…

Hello, lovelies! So, it’s been about 3 years since my last post. You can guess that a lot of changes have happened within those 3 years. Not even sure where I could start, to be honest…

I guess, since the last post was Dec 23, 2017, I can start with maybe the worst thing that’s happened in my life thus far: losing one of my best friends. Briana Chavez, one of the most caring, loving, and non-judgmental people I’ve ever had the honor of knowing left the world on Dec 26, 2017, just 3 days after my last post. I know that’s what sparked me to just drop my blog and I never went back since, until now.

Briana will forever live on in my heart and memory, and I still never stop thinking about her even 3 years later. I’m not a religious person and I have no clue what happens after we die (none of us really do), but I like to think that her soul or her essence of some sort still lingers around the ones she loved. I hope she would be proud of me now.

On a lighter note, I will give a suuuper quick run down of only the major things that have happened to me since the last blog. Believe me, it’ll be a very vague list because how the hell are you supposed to give a 3 year update on your life? Things change so much!!

I know most of you don’t care and won’t read to the bottom but this is also just for me to document and look back on too!)

Major updates from 2018 – 2021:

May 2018: Spent spring break visiting another other best friend of mine, Brandon, who I’ve known since early high school!

I hadn’t seen Brandon since 2015 so this trip was so nice to finally catch up with him and also see his home town! We did a lot of hanging out, drinking and laughing, and also went on a hike!

June 2018: Went to DC Pride and got to visit El Paso

DC pride was super cool because I had only gone to DC once or so before this. I went with my girlfriend at the time and my other best friend, Jen, who I met in Her Campus when I started at CNU!

July 2018: Visited family in Germany

My brother Jacob and I went to see family again for the summer. We hung out with the fam in Hanau, spent a weekend with my Tante (aunt) in Verona, Italy, and then did a weekend trip with our Oma and Opa to the Allgäu in Austria!

October 2018: Started a new relationship!!

This is noteworthy because..I’m still in this relationship! It’s been wonderful! He’s such a sweetheart. His name is Corey. Going on 2.5 years now!

December 2018: Spent birthday in Richmond, VA

This was the first real trip that Corey and I took together and my parents were sweet enough to pay for the hotel room there so we could spend the entire day there! We went to Maymont Park and ate at a really cool vegan pizza place!

June 2019: Saw TØP in Charlottesville, VA

Corey was the one who got me into Twenty One Pilots and I’m so glad he did. They’re amazing! This was the first concert where I got really close to the stage. We were almost close enough to touch their feet! The ending was the best part, it gave me so many goosebumps! We also found this cool art exhibit in downtown Charlottesville and took some pics there.

August 2019: Went to Niagara Falls/Canada

This was the last family trip that my parents and my brother took together before I graduated and moved out and before my brother went off to college..definitely bittersweet, but it was so fun and we made so many great memories, as we always do! We got to see Niagara Falls from both sides and then explored a little bit of Toronto and tried poutine!

December 2019: Went to Germany for Christmas!

This was Corey’s first time ever out of the country, so it was definitely a big deal aside from taking him to meet the rest of my family! We had sooo so much fun. We took him to so many Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) and had him try a bunch of traditional German foods and beer! We also showed him Köln (Cologne, Germany) and engraved a love locket for the famous bridge. We are already planning to go back soon!

March 2020: COVID Pandemic began

This is when everything changed completely. All plans to travel were on halt, and we all started to isolate for our own safety. The world has permanently changed, I believe. Even after this all gets under control, there will always be an unseen scar on the world from this pandemic. But, I can say things are getting better from when it started. I even have an appointment scheduled to get my covid vaccine this month! Things will get better, I can already tell.

June 2020: Moved into first apartment

Corey and I took our next step in the relationship and decided to move in together. We chose a cute, quaint little townhome nestled in a family friendly and quiet neighborhood in Yorktown, VA. We are still working on decorating the house exactly how we want it, but we are more than halfway done now! For safety reasons I won’t be posting photos.

October 2020: Started new job with the Army!

After I graduated college in May, I found a job in Norfolk working for a non profit organization called the LGBT life center. I thought it was my dream job but quickly realized it wasn’t the case. Luckily my dad told me about this really great internship opportunity with the Army that guarantees a secure job after the two years are up. I’m so grateful, and I’ve loved it ever since I started in October! I definitely recommend any recent grads to look into this program!

February 2021: Adopted a cat!

Ever since I was a little girl I knew I wanted a cat someday (and a dog, too!). Our dog Heidi never did well with other animals so we never adopted one growing up, but almost a year after moving out we finally decided it was time. Her name is Luna and she’s definitely the queen of the house now!

March 2021: Got a new tattoo!

To bring this entire post back full circle, I just got a tattoo that I’ve been wanting for about 4 years now: a memorial tattoo for Briana. Briana and I had nicknames for each other and we loved bonding over makeup and would always do our makeup together while blasting music from our phones. One day, she got a new highlighter that she loved and would wear it every single day. I immediately told her it reminded me of a mermaid scale because of the colors and the way it shined. From then on I always called her my Meerjungfrau, which means mermaid in German. Because of that, I got a beautiful mermaid half sleeve in honor of my Meerjungfrau.

So now that we’re all caught up, I plan to try and blog more again. I’m not sure what this blog will turn into or what I’m going to post about but if you’re interested to see what becomes of this please follow the journey. Thanks for reading!

– N