My word of the year for 2024 was steward, which to me means taking good care of the things you already have. I chose this word because being content and not chasing after bigger and better things is incredibly hard for me. Instead of new, I wanted to look at what’s right in front of me and be a good steward of what I have.
Some areas I wanted to focus on stewarding well are:
Our home: Hosting and gathering friends and family in our space has always been in our hearts and in order to do that, we wanted to create more seating space. I also wanted to be intentional about making our house into a home and designing a space we loved coming back to.
Family planning: We had 3 miscarriages in 2022 and 3 failed IUIs in 2023. In 2024, I truly wanted to embrace the present and be thankful for the family I do have! And throughout this journey, I’ve learned how to be content while also wanting more. I know it sounds counterintuitive and I thought it had to be one or the other. I’m finally learning to embrace what I have today while having hope for tomorrow and love that they can coexist.
My health: In the last few years, I’ve worked hard to balance my hormones, work on fertility and improve my gut health holistically. After years of trying to do it on my own, I finally decided to take the advice of 3 different doctors and somewhat begrudgingly take some medication. Needless to say, after taking a low dose of thyroid and progesterone, I’ve been seeing a massive improvement in my health! I still don’t love the idea of being dependent on medication, but for now, I am willing to support my body and embrace modern medicine.
Now that you have a better understanding of the big picture, here’s a recap of my year, month to month!
January:
We decided to start the year with a bang. Literally, a bang to our rock fireplace! We demo’ed the whole thing ourselves and updated it to give it a fresh look. We also moved our kitchen island to create more space in the living room and got a new couch. We knew adding more seating would allow us to host more comfortable gatherings. Looking back, we did host more this year so I’m so glad we made these changes!
February:
February was a really fun month. My sister flew in and we all drove down to spend a weekend in Chattanooga, which was a blast. I also flew to one of my favorite cities, San Diego for a wedding! I brought my husband with me and we explored some of his old stomping grounds when he attended college there.
March:
March was filled with lots of travels. We did our first 30a trip of the year and I went to California for a live art event. The event was hosted by actress, Ashley Tisdale with Janie and Jack, who was the first brand to hire me for live art back in 2016! It was definitely a full circle moment. Another highlight was getting my US passport (finally!) just in time for a trip to…
April:
London! I had been dreaming of visiting London since high school so it was surreal to be there for my birthday. Thanks to grandparents, it was a kid-free trip so we explored to our hearts content. We visited the most beautiful art museum and saw a bunch of Monet paintings in person, which was surreal. We also drove to the English countryside and visited Bath and the Cotswolds before returning back home.
May:
Another month, another trip! I flew to Washington D.C. for the first time for an event with Chase Bank. They had us do live painting of logos for small business owners, which was a fun change from traditional portraits. We also flew to California to celebrate Mother’s Day with mam and we took Everett to Disneyland for the first time. When we got back, we took a second trip to 30A, with friends this time!
June:
I started having some digestion issues so I started looking for doctors specializing in gut and women’s health. After a few trials, I finally found a local doctor and have been working with her since! 6 months later, I see a huge improvement and I’m so thankful. Outside of health, I also hit my mid-year goals in business and traveled to do live art for a beautiful wedding in Philadelphia.
July: Summer is typically a slower season, but it didn’t feel that way this year! July started off on a high note, lighting fireworks and celebrating 4th of July with friends. Ev started taking swim lessons, then I took a week long trip to California. First, I flew into Santa Barbara to paint for the most beautiful wedding and spent a few days solo there. Then, I drove down to Orange County and met up with our whole family for a funeral. Mam was like a grandmother to me and it was an honor to paint for her during her celebration of life.
August: August was a lovely month. We went to a local fair with friends, ate junk food and rode fair rides. There’s nothing that screams summer like a fair! I also did a little road trip with my family to Atlanta, which is my parents’ favorite city to visit. We ate LOTS of delicious Korean food, visited the Korean spa and played pickle ball — my perfect version of a family trip.
September: I returned to San Diego for a live art event - this time for a gala for an art museum right by the beach! The view was absolutely stunning and the formal attire was so fun to paint! My sister also drove down to spend the night with me and it was nice to get that quality time with her. Back at home, I joined a local book club with friends and recorded a new mini course!
October: October was FULL of travels. In short, I was home for just 9 days! We started off the month in 30A. It was Fall break so we got to have extended time at the beach, which was so nice! We spent the first half with friends who flew in from California and the second half with family. Afterwards, I made a quick trip to Georgia to paint at a wedding. Then, we packed our bags for our big international trip to Germany! We visited Berlin and Hamburg, then flew down to Switzerland.
November: Our Europe trip was absolutely amazing. Switzerland was extra special because Patrick’s best friend lives there! We all made a weekend drive to Lugano and got to spend some quality time together with our kiddos, which was a blast. After Europe, I jetsetted again for a really quick work trip in California. Afterwards, I had another live event but this time back at home! We ended the month, hosting Thanksgiving at our house. P.S. If you don’t spatchcock your turkey, I would HIGHLY recommend trying it out next year.
December: We made it to the end of the year! I had two events this month, one local and one travel. The local one was a charity gala in Nashville for Folds of Honor, which is a nonprofit that supports families of fallen veterans. It was incredible to learn more about what they do and be a part of their big event! The second event was a rather spontaneous one, but one I couldn’t say no to! Vans, the shoe company, invited me out to tour their headquarters and paint at their holiday party. I’m a huge fan and couldn’t say no! It was such a cool experience to wrap up the year with. Outside of events, I’ve been putting my head down and working on launching Live Art Biz.
And that’s a recap of my year!
It was definitely full of adventures and special memories. I can’t believe I did over 20 trips this year! That includes visiting 5 countries, 10 work trips and 3 trips to the beach. While it was fun, it was definitely a lot and not one I will repeat next year lol
Business wise, we increased over 25% in average booking, which was a huge win! I didn’t hit all of our business goals, but did about 90% which I’m content with.
I also prelaunched Live Art Biz, which I’ve been dreaming about for years… And it’s launching in just a week! I’m so excited to welcome students in and help them build their own live art businesses. 2025 is going to be a good one 🙂
I hope my recap inspires you to do a yearly recap of your own. It’s so good to reflect and reminisce about all the special moments from the past year!
I’ll see you next year — xo.
