a jam-packed update.

As mentioned in the prior post, seven months have slipped by unnoticed since I even thought about blogging. Seven months. And it's not even like I felt guilty about neglecting this space...it didn't even cross my mind until—bam—seven months later.

So let's discuss why that might've happened.

1. We moved three times.

As you can see in the lovely diagram below (documented by my Instagram), we moved from Seoul, South Korea to LA (move #1 in December 2013), then from LA to Raleigh, NC (move #2 in March), and finally from Raleigh, NC to NYC (move #3 in June). And while each "home" proved to be an amazing time packed with adventures and irreplaceable family bonding, it also presented its own set of challenges with all the transition. Thankfully, there's this thing called grace that made everything infinitely smoother and easier than it should have been. Especially when we found out...

2. We're pregnant!

Three days after arriving in Raleigh, NC (where we worked and hung out at my brother-in-law's ridiculously-awesome-too-good-for-words chocolate factory), we found out we were pregnant. Excitement coursed through our bodies as we processed the adventure that awaited us. Knowing we were moving to New York in a few short months, we went into major money-making/money-saving mode. It was super fun, extremely intense, and all around magical.

Being almost five months pregnant, we packed our life into a tiny car, drove it to Manhattan, dropped off everything at my father-in-law's, drove back to Raleigh, flew to California for a wedding and short vacation, and jumped back on a one-way flight to New York City. 

Pregnancy itself has been quite wonderful and pain-free. During the first trimester, I averaged 14 hours of sleep per night and felt like I was constantly car sick. My appetite also changed drastically: vegetables and fruit were repulsive, I couldn't eat the same meals back-to-back, and I didn't know what I wanted (I only knew that I didn't want something after Mark cooked it and put it in front of me...poor guy). But that's as bad as it got, which I know is pretty mild compared to some other mamas out there. I did have an aversion to coffee, which was strange and ironic because I normally love coffee and I was also working as a barista twice a week at the time. The second trimester, I'm happy to report, has definitely been that "honeymoon" phase that I keep reading about. My energy came back, the baby started growing/I started showing, and it became all the more real when we found out we were having a girl! To think we're entering our third trimester next week is just nuts. We can't wait to meet our little bebe girl!

3. Making a home.

New York City has been in the making for at least two years now. And that's only counting the serious planning. I can't tell you how many years both Mark and I daydreamed about being in the city. It wasn't until re.write magazine launched and presented an opportunity to pursue it full-time in the city that it became a reality. Quite frankly, I didn't expect to get settled here as quickly as we did. Within one week of arriving, Mark got offered an amazing full-time job with ridiculous benefits, we found our apartment, and we chose our prenatal care provider. I know that's unheard of, and we try to remember every day how blessed we've been with how quickly everything has fallen into place. 

Since then, we've slowly made moves to make this city our home. And we're getting into the groove of things here. I'm working on the magazine full-time, which is exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time. We've met some pretty incredible people in the city who will soon be featured. And we're working on some new partnerships as well as this year's annual print edition, which I can't believe is right around the corner already. 

So there you have it. Life got the best of us...in the best way possible. 

Until next time...

Elysabeth