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Love Your Abode

Recipes, Do-it-yourself, Interior Design and Lifestyle

LYA Update

October 18, 2021

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. 🙂

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We took the kids to Fogel Beach near Charleston during the summer. I love recreating this photo every year. The first one was taken in 2013 when Emmy was 2 months old. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I brought an infant on a beach trip. 

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. 

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with my oldest in Charleston

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.

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We took our parents to Charleston for a last-minute end-of-summer trip and we all had the best time together.

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. 

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Dad having fun in the Charleston market

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. 

 

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I invited Erin, Christine, Erin, and Brittany to be on the panel with me to discuss ways to bring in income apart from blogging.

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. 

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I shared about home staging and private design work. My friends shared about having an Etsy store, selling t-shirts, and providing courses to learn DIY skills.

 

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. 

 

 

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Panel with The Home Depot

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.

 

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I am so inspired by my friends, Monica, Carmeon, and Shavonda.

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. 

 

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My sister and her family visited us this past summer and it was so sweet especially since we hadn’t seen each other in over a year and a half.

 

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Cousins!

 

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My first time back on the plane after more than a year was to Chicago with some girlfriends.

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!

 

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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. 

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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. 

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

 

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We were made for each other. Truly! When we celebrated with family, I told Jimmy not to buy me a cake because we had had enough already with friends. So he half-listened and bought me this small fruit tart instead. 😉

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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!

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

 

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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. 

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Emmy and I have our crate on wheels up on the Home Depot website!

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

 

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Filed Under: Life

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jimmy says

    October 19, 2021 at 8:30 am

    Love it!! So privileged to be on this journey with you..

    • Yuni Min says

      October 20, 2021 at 1:29 pm

      Thank you, my yobs! So thankful for you every single day.

  2. Sheila K says

    October 19, 2021 at 9:02 am

    So glad we will be seeing more from you on this blog – it is one of my favorites!

    • Yuni Min says

      October 20, 2021 at 1:29 pm

      That is so so kind, Sheila. Thank you so much for being here.

  3. Sunny says

    October 19, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    I remember when you first started the blog. You’re such an inspiration!!!

    • Yuni Min says

      October 20, 2021 at 1:30 pm

      Aww I appreciate that so much, Sunny!

  4. Ngoc says

    October 19, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    I have followed you on IG for a few years now, but have thoroughly love reading your blog content. I sometimes refer back to it when I’m looking inspiration. Really enjoy all your DIY projects! I love your aesthetics but most of all I feel like your suggestions on how to start a project feels so approachable. Also, I have really enjoyed reading about your familial journey, cheering on your successes and sharing your challenges. I have also enjoyed reading about your journey as backup to foster families. So inspirational!

    • Yuni Min says

      October 20, 2021 at 1:30 pm

      Hi Ngoc, thank you so much for taking the time to respond with such kindness. I appreciate it more than you know. I’m so glad you find inspiration here. Thank you so much for being here!

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Hi I’m Yuni

Hi I’m Yuni

loveyourabode

Full time non profit @friendsofrefugees . Part time creator at LYA. I’m also a golf ⛳️ addict.
✉️:loveyourabode@gmail.com

Why do Koreans have the funniest names for all the Why do Koreans have the funniest names for all their stuff!? I bought Jimmy this cologne in Seoul and didn’t even look at the name until we got home. It’s not ordinary it’s ODDINARY 🤣☠️. #notsponsored #konglish
It doesn’t get more Korean than getting dressed It doesn’t get more Korean than getting dressed in hanboks walking around Gyeongbokgung Palace. This has been the trip of a lifetime with our kids and friends. 🇰🇷 Feeling so thankful! #koreatravels #koreatrip
All your hard work paid off, Jules!! We are so so All your hard work paid off, Jules!! We are so so proud of you. Congrats to my amazing nephew, Austin!! Love you both so very much. 

Feels like we celebrated all month long with her grad/18th bday party and finally with the actual graduation. Thanks to all our friends and family who celebrated this joyous milestone with our family. 

Korea 🇰🇷here we come! Send me all your Korea travel tips! 

 #grad #graduated🎓
When your girl has been talking about chopping her When your girl has been talking about chopping her hair off for months and you decide to do it together. Jules is donating her long healthy hair to @locksofloveofficial. Here’s to the last month of high school for my soon to be college girly! 😩🥹
22 years on 2-22!! The years have truly flown by w 22 years on 2-22!! The years have truly flown by way too fast. Happy anniversary to the one who thinks I’m hilarious, gives me my daily morning/nightly back scratches, never makes me drive, and lets me take the last tasty bite of his food. If that’s not true love, Idk what is!Wahoooo ❤️ Thank you, Lord!

 #anniversary #fitcheck #anniversarycelebration
No smelly coats around here!! #koreanrestaurant # No smelly coats around here!! 
#koreanrestaurant #koreanbarbecue
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