Empire State Building at sunset

It’s been a year since I last picked up my computer to write.  I apologize for the radio silence. I had all the intentions of writing, but each time it just didn’t feel right and the words were stuck somewhere in the back of my head and I’d sullenly promise myself that I would write again soon. Now a full year has passed – isn’t it scary how fast time flies?

Let’s quickly catch up on the last 12 months.   As the title suggested, 2019 have been a year full of unexpected detours. We found an apartment in Brooklyn, signed a scary bank loan that makes me feel like I’ll be in debt for the rest of my life, and moved into our new apartment – all of that happened before February.  Between the inspections, paperwork, and closings we managed to travel to Colombia, Bahamas, and Mauritius – all pre-booked before we decided to buy the apartment.  I’m not going to lie, it was a stressful few months.  Next, we had to pack and move into our new place.  If people tell you that they like furnishing a new apartment, they are crazy.  We spent a few months, sitting and eating on the floor while waiting for our furniture to arrive.  At one point, we had 3 tables, and no couch – please don’t ask.  When things started to quiet down and we had a place to sit, that’s when I discovered that I had a very large fibroid in my uterus.  Given the size, it was recommended that I take it out, but I had a choice between cutting out the fibroid or removing my uterus all together.  I decided to remove my uterus; given my history of breast cancer, I didn’t want to take any  chances.  While waiting for my surgery, I discovered that all the panic attacks and heart palpitations I’d been having were because of a heart arrhythmia. These premature ventricular contractions  (PVCs) were causing a lot of stress to my body and it was recommended that I have an ablation procedure.  So if you’re counting, that’s 2 surgeries within 2 weeks of each other.  I am not going to go into details about these surgeries here, but I would love to share one day – especially if you guys are interested.

New York skyline from Greenpoint

It took my body 2 months to recover.  There are still bad days, but mostly I feel like I am back to normal again. I am even happy that I got the all clear to start exercising again.  Even though 2019 is not even over, it has already been jam-packed full of ups and downs.  I didn’t travel as much as I would have liked, but staying home meant I got to explore my new neighborhood, spend time with my family, enjoy my terrace and take care of my plants (I am now officially a plant parent!)  Remind me to show you pictures of my garden one day.

Sometimes you really don’t know where life will take you, but the journey is always exciting isn’t it?  Now that I finally found my words, you can expect to hear more from me in the future.  I can’t wait to share with you about my trips.  Next up, we are heading to Jordan, so watch out for my blog posts soon. 

xo, Caitlin