2018 highlights and looking ahead to 2019

To say this year was a whirlwind would be an understatement. We don't send a Christmas card (maybe some day!), but we hope an overview of our year will help the people we know and love get a glimpse of our highs and lows this year, especially since we moved across the country!

2018 had its ups and downs, but we are ending the year with a sense of hope and excitement for what's to come.

Trips on both coasts and a new job

The beginning of 2018 was an important time of reevaluation for us. After more than a year in San Antonio and nearly a year in our house, we were feeling unsettled in Texas. The end of January marked two years since my dad died and while we were grateful for some much-needed time to recover and heal, it was becoming clear that Texas wasn't a long-term home. JD had reached a turning point at his job and was wanting a new challenge and the enthusiasm of home ownership was waning as we realized we wanted to spend more time pursuing professional goals and passions and less time maintaining a home. 

After some time working on side projects, doing research, and listening to online lectures, JD decided he wanted to pursue a career in Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence and San Antonio wasn't the ideal environment for his growing passion for the niche tech industry. For myself, my love for writing and film was solidified as I continued to work as a freelance critic and on my blog. I wanted to be in a place with a thriving film scene. 

Given our criteria and goals, the field was narrowed quite a bit when we started talking about where we would live if it wasn't Texas. We decided the biggest cities on both coasts were our best bet for finding a thriving tech and arts community where we could both pursue what we love and lean into the gifts we believe God has given us.

With that in mind, we booked flights to New York City (a place we had only visited once before) and Los Angeles. We spent a long weekend in Brooklyn in January to explore neighborhoods and do our best to get a feel for life in the Big Apple. We decided January was the smartest time to go since it is the coldest time of the year and we'd be moving from sunny Texas. If we could do New York in January, we could do New York! With a 16 degree wind chill and nonstop walking and riding the train around Brooklyn, we got a pretty good idea of what we would be getting ourselves into.

Our trip to L.A. in February was a combined "scouting" trip and family vacation as we met up with our sister and brother-in-law and spent a few days in Venice Beach while also dedicating time to drive around the city and get a feel for the different neighborhoods. It was a fun trip and sweet family time. We even got to meet up with some good friends who were coincidentally in CA at the same time.

Even though we talked about not deciding right away, we both felt confident that New York was where we should be almost immediately after our L.A. trip. We spent more time praying and considering it, but we were pretty much settled. The idea of exploring the east coast, living in the biggest city in the country, and having access to some of the best food, experiences, and career opportunities in the world was an adventure we were ready for! We knew we wanted to be there, but didn't know when or how.

Ironically, just before our L.A. trip I had accepted a job offer with a marketing agency in San Antonio. After searching for a few months, it was important for me to start working again, but we weren't sure how it would fit into our plans. At first I thought there might be a remote opportunity, but it turned out that the job wasn't a good fit and it was a rough few months before we moved as my life got incredibly hectic and the demands of the job started to really weigh on me. 

Master's programs and a trip to paradise

As 2018 started picking up, JD worked on submitting online grad school applications, studying for the GED, and narrowing down his top choices for an online Computer Science grad program. After some deliberation between the Data Science program at Berkley and the Machine Learning program at Georgia Tech, we were excited to move forward with Georgia Tech, which is one of the top programs in the nation.

We were anticipating a busy season with my job continuing to pick up and JD starting school, so we decided to get away. We packed our bags and headed to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun for a long weekend in April. It was beautiful and relaxing and we were excited to explore a new region of Mexico.

The end of May and the start of June brought a few hard weeks for us. We were devastated by the passing of our dear friend Chelsa. After a nearly decade-long battle with cancer, she went to be with Jesus. I flew out to Seattle for the funeral and while I was grateful to grieve with friends and family, it was a heart-wrenching trip. She was one of the most brave and beautiful people I have ever known and an incredible friend. She was the closest person to me to pass away since my dad and it was a heavy time and brought a lot of familiar feelings to the surface. Please keep her family and her husband Matt in your prayers.

PDX adventures and putting moving plans in motion

With our sights set on New York and the year moving past the half-way point, we decided it was time to set things in motion for our big move, but not before we made a trip to see family in the Pacific Northwest. We knew there would be a lot of preparation between selling our house and JD finding work, so I quit my job so I could focus on getting our house ready to sell and moving logistics.  

Our trip to Portland was a perfect opportunity to gear up for the transition. We had a great time with family. I got to visit Bend for the first time (I highly recommend it!) and we split our time between the brewery-saturated small town and a great Airbnb in Portland. Our trip also coincided with one of JD's cousins weddings, so it was a fun time to catch up with extended family and share our moving plans with our PNW friends.

When we got back to Texas we hit the ground running. JD started applying to jobs and we started working on all of the "fun" logistics that come with selling a house, getting rid of two cars, and preparing for a 3,000+ mile drive across the country.

It was an intense push to get here, but through a series of really amazing events, God provided JD with an awesome job after he made a connection with an old client he worked with in Seattle. It was pretty much the fastest and smoothest hiring process we've ever encountered and JD accepted a position as a Lead Digital Analyst at My Web Grocer (now Mi9). Similarly, we were grateful to find an apartment in our favorite Brooklyn neighborhood right next to Prospect Park (where Max enjoys off-leash time) and a short walk to the subway line for JD's commute after a whirlwind weekend trip in September.

The road trip was rough. After scrambling to pack, clean our house, and load up our U-Haul, we hit the road later than planned and had a hell of a time at each stop along the way--having to book, cancel, and re-book lodging all on little sleep and squished in a crowded U-Haul cabin. It was one of those experiences you laugh at later, (still not laughing yet) but we made it and it was a relatively smooth experience moving into our apartment with the help of two guys from New Jersey who were complete pros and somehow managed to get our King-size mattress up four floors and narrow hallways.

Life in New York and a health update

Right after quitting my job I started experiencing some concerning neurological symptoms. Namely, my speech was slurring and I was experiencing muscle weakness in my right hand. Even though things were already crazy I set up an appointment with a neurologist who recommended I get an MRI and an EEG.

The day before we moved I had a follow up appointment with the doctor to review my MRI and they told me they found some "abnormalities" on my MRI scan. I was a bit shaken, but as is much of life, I had to keep moving forward because we were LITERALLY MOVING the next day. I was anxious to find a neurologist in Brooklyn and made it a priority once we moved here.

After finding a great doctor whose practice is literally blocks from our new place I set up an appointment with her and she immediately scheduled a few tests to give me a confirmed diagnosis and they determined that lesions on my brain and spinal cord meant I have MS. It's been a difficult diagnosis, but my doctor has been very reassuring that MS is very manageable with the right treatment and medication. I have a final appointment to finalize my treatment plan next week, so prayers would be appreciated!

As I said, it's been a whirlwind, but we are really grateful for God's faithfulness in our life and we are trusting that he has good things for us in this next season. Getting answers about my health issues was my priority when we first arrived, but in the new year we hope to settle in even more to our life here. We love our neighborhood in Park Slope, Brooklyn and JD works in a really awesome area of Manhattan - only a few short blocks from Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and right next to the beautiful New York Public Library.

A couple of ways we'd love your encouragement and prayer for 2019:

- I'm still looking for a job and while I've had some momentum between appointments and procedures, I'm hoping to settle into a new position soon!

- We are also still trying to sell our house in San Antonio and we hope now that the holidays are winding down we will find a buyer.

- I'm not sure how my body will respond to MS medications. I'm hoping the symptoms will be minimal and we will find an effective treatment right away to keep any more damage to my nervous system at bay.

Much love to everyone and happy new year!

JD and Hannah

Other random highlights: 

• I got to pet and feed a sloth! It's pretty much everything I'd hoped and more!

• We had some amazing meals! Most notably, Beast in Portland and Signature in San Antonio along with countless other great foodie memories with our Finer Things Club friends (you know who you are!)

• We saw some awesome films. Here are some of our favorites: 
• BlackKklansman
• Isle of Dogs
• Mission Impossible: Fallout
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Won't You Be My Neighbor?

• We visited the last surviving Blockbuster in Bend.

• Max turned 4.

• Our awesome friends, Vanessa and Eli, came to visit us in NYC for Thanksgiving.

• We celebrated 8 years of marriage.