LYA Update

It’s time for a LYA update!

Can you guys believe it? I have been blogging for almost 7 years! Isn’t that crazy? If you are still hearing reading all about my DIY projects, design jobs, and everything in between, I truly thank you for being here. I thought it was probably about time I gave a little life update since it’s been a while. And since I’m a historian, I have a lot of photos to share too. 🙂

When I first started blogging, I think I wrote on average of about 3 blog posts a week! If I’m lucky, I’ll write 4 blog posts a month now. I’ve had some amazing opportunities to take on commercial projects and it’s been so amazing. After some of those projects died down, I noticed I really missed blogging! So I’ve decided to take the next few months to really focus on writing, content creating, and then sharing them all with you. 

I posted about this on my Instagram last week with some great feedback from my readers. I know that there are a number of you who only follow the blog so I would really love to know what you love seeing here. Is it DIY, recipes, design ideas? Lmk! It would be so helpful so I can create content that’s valuable for you.

The last year and a half have brought about challenges for so many of us. We are still living through a global pandemic, many are experiencing financial hardships and so many other difficult situations are all around us. At times, the world just felt so overwhelmingly heavy and depressing. Throw in the daily struggles of raising kids and juggling work, family and it was a lot for so many of us. At times, I needed to step away from social media and just focus on my real life. 

It seems that every last quarter of the year, I’m working so much that it’s difficult to really be present and enjoy the actual holidays. I made a decision this year to make it different. For bloggers and content creators, it’s normal for the last quarter to be the busiest one. One thing that resonated with me when I went to Haven this past summer was to work smarter and not harder. I’ve started to say a lot more no’s and it has really felt liberating. 

 

I never had a chance to write a blog post about Haven but it was by far my favorite conference yet. Even though I’ve been attending for years, this one was just really special. As an Asian-American woman, it’s been encouraging to see more diversity every year. 

 

I even had the amazing opportunity of being on the panel with The Home Depot. I have been working with them for years and they are one of my top favorite brands to work with. I talked about my unique experience and partnership with Home Depot and how content creators could work with them as well. 

 

During the closing ceremony at Haven, Carmeon asked if we had ever written down our values. After that, write down what success means to you. The values are our whats and the meaning of success is going to be our whys.

 

Success can mean so many different things and it doesn’t always have to be monetary. So I went home and wrote down my values and the definition of success. When I sat down and listed everything, it really helped clarify some things and guide me to prune away the things that weren’t serving my definition of success. One of my definitions of success is the ability to prioritize my family to spending quality time with them. I highly recommend doing this in your life because it will help you make decisions in your work, family life, and everything else. 

 

 

 

Oh yah! I chopped off my hair! It feels so light, airy, and fresh. I’ve been wanting to cut it forever and finally took the plunge and may even go shorter!

 

My brother John and his partner, Stephen visited us right when school started. He cooked us the most delicious meals, made fresh-squeezed lemonade and all kinds of yummy drinks every night. I’ve been making fresh lemonade ever since and I’m hooked! I’ll be sharing some amazing recipes with you soon because he made us the most delicious, healthy, satisfying meals. 

My DIY plate rack made it into HGTV’s 10-year anniversary magazine issue! This has always been a popular project and I’ve loved seeing others recreate it in their own homes. 

I turned 42 and celebrated with family, friends, and at the beach! 

 

 

Within a matter of weeks, we lost my aunt, uncle, and granny June. It was a crazy weird and difficult time with some other hardships thrown into the mix. My aunt was an amazing woman who helped petition our family from South Korea to live in the states. We owe her a lot of gratitude and I’m thankful she passed peacefully. My uncle passed away from Alzheimer’s in Korea as well. Thankfully, Granny June was 94 and also passed peacefully. She had a beautiful service and we watched a bunch of her videos that made us laugh and remember her. We will always remember her sweet face!

I’m so glad I included her in this fun blog post and video for these Halloween teeth snacks. These creepy apple teeth are equally hilarious as they are delicious! We will be making those in her honor for Halloween this month. 

 

When I took the poll yesterday on my IG stories, so many of my readers said they love to see the day-to-day things like organizing tips, simple recipes, and anything family-related. 

So for the next few months, I will be doing that along with catching up on all the content that has never made it on the blog. 

 

Even though my kids are getting older, I’m learning they still need me a lot. I may not be doing nighttime feedings or watching their every step, but they still need me right when they get home from school! I think they need us even more emotionally and spiritually as they grow older. I’m trying my best to be present for them especially as my oldest only has a few more years before she finishes high school. I love including them in my projects and watching them grow in confidence when they try new things. 

Thanks so much for always reading and meeting in this corner of the world wide web. I’m truly thankful! As the busy season approaches, I hope that you’re able to keep stress at bay and really be present with your loved ones. That’s my goal this season! 

 

xoxo,

 

 

 

 

Let all that you do be done in Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14