Life Lately: December 2024 & Yearly Reflections

What a lovely and busy holiday season! To be honest I am kind of glad it’s over. I am ready for a fresh new start and I just looked back at last December’s post and said the same thing! These life lately posts are such a gift to myself because I can see what we got up to over the whole year and it’s a great reminder of how great my life is. I am grateful for my husband, cats, family, and friends and am so looking forward to making new memories in the New Year! Here’s what we got up to this year and some of my reflections. See you in the New Year!

Life Lately: December 2024 & Yearly Reflections

Catch Up’s with some of my favs

I love getting to see people over the festive period. This month I had a get-together with my friend Kristine for one last catch-up of the year. We had cheese pizza and a fabulous conversation. I had a video game night with my brother and his friend Amanda where we played the new Mario Party game.

Then I headed down to Tacoma to have breakfast with my cousin Lydia. We ate and then I hung out at her house while she baked cookies and we caught up because it had been so long since we last hung out! After Christmas, my friend Amy was in town from Portland and she came over and we had a catch up and started watching the new season of Squid Games on Netflix.

Christmas Market at Seattle Center

We headed to the Christmas Market at Seattle Center with our friends Kevin and Wendy. It was so beautiful! They had live carolers, a bunch of gift and food stalls, and a carousel! I had some mulled wine and Jake got an epic hot chocolate. Then we made our way over to the Queen Anne McMenamins for a drink to finish the evening!

Gingerbread House Decorating

We always have a get-together with our friends and their kids before Christmas. We usually have dinner, watch a festive movie, and do a fun festive activity. This year I made a quiche and they brought a yummy green salad. We decorated some cute little gingerbread houses and then watched both Home Alone movies. It was a fun and cozy evening!

Christmas hang out at a karaoke bar

Before Christmas, Jake and I headed into North Seattle to get together with some friends. We had a few drinks and sang karaoke at the top of our lungs!

Hosting Christmas Eve

Like last year, we hosted my family and some of our friends for Christmas Eve. We made a turkey, mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots (from the garden), homemade rosemary rolls, and homemade cranberry sauce. I also made my homemade cheeseball and baked brie inside some puffed pastry with cranberry sauce for appetizers along with some olives and other pickled goodies. Jake’s friend Josh came from Oregon, and Justin and Nora came with their kids along with Justin’s parents, my mom, brother, dad, and aunt were there, and my dad brought my grandpa which made the evening even more special!

Road Trip to Salem, OR on Christmas

On Christmas Day we went to my mom’s for breakfast like we do every year. We then decided to head down to Salem, OR because Jake’s sister was in town but unfortunately, her plans changed and she left before we arrived. But, we were invited to join Jake’s aunt and uncle for Christmas dinner. Jake’s aunt made prime rib, a green salad, and baked potatoes. It was a lovely evening. The next day, we were able to have lunch with another of Jake’s uncles and his family. We went to a yummy Mexican restaurant in downtown Salem. Then, before we left town to head home, Jake and I stopped and had a drink and explored an antique store!

Live Music at the Odd Otter Brewing Company

This last weekend, Jake and I went to see some live music at a place in Tacoma called The Odd Otter Brewing Company. Afterward, we made our way to a bar local to our house to finish the night singing more karaoke!

Highlights from 2024 by Month

January

Jake’s friend Randy stayed for a few days, we had a video game night with my brother and his friend Amanda, we shopped for furniture, got together with friends old and new, I had a 4 1/2 hour video call catch up with two of my close college friends, and I got a head start on planning for the 2024 gardening season!

February

I headed back to the gym, we went and watched the Superbowl with friends, celebrated Valentine’s day, went for a short hike close to home, and I helped my parents with doctor appointments, and was able to have 3 catch-ups with close friends!

March

We went to my Uncle’s memorial service, celebrated our friend’s 50th birthday, celebrated my mom’s birthday, got into playing pickleball, had our friends over for dinner and trip planning, had a taco night with my dad and aunt, went to a brewery and dinner with our friend Calvin, and I got to watch the Era’s tour on Disney+ with my cousin Lydia!

April

I had breakfast with my mom and aunt, we went on vacation with our friends to Las Vegas, we were able to hang out with Jake’s step-sister there and visit his mom and stepdad, saw the Grand Canyon, and I had lunch with some old co-workers!

May

We celebrated my 37th birthday, went kayaking on Lake Washington, had a delicious dinner at our favorite pizzeria in Renton, celebrated Mother’s day with my mom, had Jake’s friend from Anchorage to stay for the weekend, and had a birthday BBQ for my brother!

June

We went camping on Orcas Island to celebrate my friend’s birthday, we sang karaoke, celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, celebrated father’s day with my dad, went to the Solstice parade in Fremont, and had dinner at a yummy restaurant in Capitol Hill!

July

We celebrated July 4th at our friend’s annual neighborhood block party, I helped my friend get her house ready to sell, we floated the Cedar River, made wine with our friends Rose and Greg using marionberries from her garden, celebrated my cousin’s son graduating high school, and got to see Something Corporate at Marymoore Park!

August

We spent some time at Seward Park in Seattle, went to celebrate my grandpa and aunt’s birthdays at my grandpa’s house in Ellensburg, spent Seafair Sunday on a boat with friends, I went to the Haunted Farmer’s Market in Tacoma with a friend, we had a failed outdoor movie night, spent an evening on our boat on Lake Meridian, bottled the wine we made with friends in July, attended our neighborhood block party, celebrated our neighbor’s birthdays at a game night at their house, and celebrated my friend’s birthday and the fact that her and her husband are now new homeowners at their house in Olympia!

September

We spent a day on Lake Washington on our boat with our friends Rose and Greg, celebrated my dad’s birthday, went to another local lake for the evening and then had yummy bbq for dinner, saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, had a lovely bon fire in the backyard, decorated for Halloween early, celebrated our niece’s 13th birthday, and I was able to catch up with a few friends this month.

October

We celebrated Jake’s 40th birthday, supported my mom when she got her heart valve replaced, had some friends from Portland come to stay for the weekend, went on hikes in Issaquah, went for a pizza night in Maple Valley, celebrated our friend Rose leaving her job for a new one at a dinner party at a friend’s house, went to the Cider and Ale Trail event in downtown Kent, enjoyed all of our Halloween decorations and watching nostalgic movies, had dinner with our friends who were in town from New York, had our annual pumpkin carving party, I started a new job and I celebrated completing another fun Blogtober!

November

We went to our friend’s daughter’s dance recital, caught up with friends both locally and in Portland, went to a family baby shower in Salem, OR, and spent Thanksgiving in Salem with Jake’s family!

2024 Reflections

When I set out to plan 2024, I didn’t want a ton of large specific goals like I have in the past. I split my life into 5 different areas of focus. Under each category, there were specific type goals but there were also things that felt more like intentions and how I wanted to feel. I loved this approach and when I went back to look at what I planned out I realized that I was able to achieve a lot of what I intended to! I am so pleasantly surprised and am using the same approach for 2025!

My garden has been my sanctuary this year and I can see it being that way for years to come. I get so much joy out of sharing what I’m growing and spending time out there even if I’m just pulling weeds. My intention is to spend as much time out there as possible next year rain or shine!

I have loved trying new things this year like growing pumpkins, trying pickleball, and winemaking and I hope to try even more new things 2025.

Taking care of my parents and going to the doctor’s appointments with them has been a little tough but I am so happy I have the opportunity to do it. Not only does it help with my anxiety around their health because I know exactly what is happening with their health, but it makes me feel so close to them. My family means so much to me and I hope to have more get-togethers in 2025.

This year I have tried really hard to catch up with friends on a regular basis. I haven’t been super great about it but while I was going through all of my previous life lately posts, I did notice a lot of friend catch-ups which I love. Besides Jake, my friends know the most about me and it feels good to talk with them about what’s going on in each other’s lives. I hope to have more in person catch-ups in 2025!

Jake as always has been the best support system I could ever ask for this year. I am so happy to be doing life with him and I can’t wait to see what 2025 has in store for us.

In the Garden…

The garden is sleeping for the Winter but I do have some cabbage, kale, and broccoli growing out there that we should be able to harvest in Spring! I have been collecting kitchen scraps and taking them out and incorporating them into the soil in different growing areas. Composting is something I am really interested in trying in the New Year so stay tuned for more of what I am learning about that! I have some projects that I would love to get started on this Winter and I am really looking forward to getting my seed starting plan put together for the 2025 growing season!