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Winter 2024

January 15, 2025

In these kinds of blog posts, I talk about what I’ve been up to for the past season. The topics may include design work, hobbies, and more. At the end, I include the top five songs I listened to for any fellow music lovers out there.

Thanksgiving

Each holiday season, we usually alternate between my mom’s and dad’s sides of the family. This year, we spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents’ farm in Wisconsin. At this point, I was burnt out on work and in life. It was a whirlwind of eating food and catching up on sleep. I always tell people that I sleep so well there because it’s so quiet, and all the problems in life seem to disappear while you’re there. It was great to see my aunt, uncle, and their four children. The oldest is a junior in college, and the youngest is a freshman in high school. I’ve enjoyed watching them grow into their own. Hearing about their experiences as teenagers has been really interesting as I have no younger siblings. Apparently, Snapchat has become the new dating app for younger Gen Z. I chuckled at this at first, but it totally makes sense.

Christmas

We had a change of plans for Christmas. We were supposed to go to Missouri to spend Christmas with my boyfriend’s family, but to save some money, we decided to stay in Minnesota and have a small Christmas celebration with my dad and my brother. It was honestly really nice to relax and not have to do a lot of driving. I hosted Christmas Eve at my apartment, and it was perfect with homemade tacos. Then, my dad hosted Christmas Day with a ham and other side dishes. We waited a couple of days to open gifts until my dad’s girlfriend was in town. A week later, we all went to Arizona to visit my late mother’s side of the family. We enjoyed time with my grandma there (see photo above of the Desert Botanical Gardens). Tia also came from Florida to Arizona. My favorite activity that we did was the glow-in-the-dark mini golfing.

Health & Sickness

My dog Abby had been vomiting before we left for Arizona, and by the time we got back, it was clear she needed to go to the vet. We had thought she just had a bacterial infection that would go away on its own. She was very lethargic and had no energy. She didn’t even greet us when we returned to Minnesota, which was extremely odd. It turns out she had a hard mass in her intestines and needed emergency abdominal surgery. The foreign object turned out to be Velcro! It is Day 6 of her post-surgery recovery as I write this, and she’s back to her old self—begging for food and playing. Half of the Arizona family also got hit with COVID-19, so they’re all recovering from that. The holidays ended on a bit of a chaotic note but also ended with a new job on the horizon!

New Year, New Job

I recently accepted a new job and I’m super stoked for it! It is for a small firm in Virginia. They have people who are remote from California to New York. It is a much better fit for me as I’ve missed working for smaller companies a lot. I’m excited to help and contribute to the team and the clients. I start in early February so I’m enjoying these three weeks I have to continue resting up, see my grandparents in WI, and prepare for the new job!

Top 5 Songs of the Season

  1. “Heaven or Las Vegas” by Cocteau Twins
  2. “Too Much” by girl in red
  3. “I know it won’t work” by Gracie Abrams
  4. “Mulholland Dr.” by Bartees Strange
  5. “Bottle Rocket” by Jimi Somewhere
My Linh Olsen
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