A Love Letter to 2024
Hello? Anyone here? I know it’s been awhile but—
OH MY GOD LOOK AT THE DUST.
Oh, this is embarrassing. Sorry, y’all, for the layer of dust here on Pomegranate Seeds. It’s been quite a year. The first six months of 2024 can be summed up with two words: job hunting. And then the second half of 2024 has simply been a rollercoaster of emotions and milestones.
January dawned with few job prospects. I was working at a clothing warehouse part-time to keep myself busy in the mornings, leaving my afternoons free for me to job hunt. I spent the following months of February, March, and April working, interviewing, and enjoying time with my Northwoods church family. I also attempted to get caught up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as I cross stitched a gift for a friend. I lost track of how many times I cried—alone, to Adam, to my mom—about how finding a job in Massachusetts felt hopeless. And then…
May brought hope. Adam and I hadn’t seen each other since the early days of January, so I flew out to visit him in Massachusetts to get away for a little bit. We visited the New England Aquarium and the WNDR Museum, walked around Boston Commons, and ate some really good Italian food in the North End. I also was able to schedule a few in-person interviews while I was there, one near Boston and the other in Worcester. The day after I got home from my trip, I had an interview with a different company, and then a second round interview with them four days later.
June changed everything. On the first of the month, I hopped on an airplane and flew back to Boston for an in-person interview with this new company. And ten days later, I signed my job contract with LCB Senior Living, a luxury senior living company. After a year of job hunting, I felt like I could breathe again.
June was a whirlwind. I left my warehouse job, packed up most of my worldly possessions into Moby, my 2003 Yukon Denali, and with Adam, drove from Houston to Boston. Everything went well, except for the AC compressor quitting on us in Memphis. Thank God that the nearest mechanic shop was 0.2 miles away from our hotel. After a nail-biting six hours, we were on the road again. Our estimated four day cross-country road trip took five instead. It was a great litmus test to see if Adam or I would kill one another. (Spoiler alert: we both lived.)
July was crazy hot and crazy busy, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. I moved into my new place; my Massachusetts driver’s license officially says Boston, but I’m on the farthest edge of the city’s suburbs. After 2+ years of living in separate time zones, Adam and I now live exactly one hour apart—hooray!! And on July 8th I started my new job, working in the marketing department at LCB.
August and September consisted of settling into my new place and new job, as well as attempting to make new friends and reconnect with old ones.
October was surreal. I visited one of my former college roommates for a weekend. We attended a book festival and yapped for hours. With fall officially in full swing, my drive to upstate New York and back was gorgeous. A New England autumn is absolutely divine. Sometimes I can’t believe that I really live here now.
And then Saturday, October 19th came. At a nature preserve in Worcester, Adam got down on one knee, called me “Princess,” and asked me to marry him. I said yes, and surprised my future husband with a ring that I had been carrying around with me for months.
November was more or less the same as October. I started my car buying journey and on November 22nd sold Moby. I am not embarrassed to admit that while watching Moby’s new owner drive him out of the parking lot, I cried. I learned to drive in my white whale, and he was a faithful companion to me for almost ten years. We humans will truly bond with anything.
December has been a satisfying way to end the year. I bought a new car: The Pequod. I hung out with some new friends at a holiday craft fair and bonded with my fellow colleagues at the annual office Christmas party—I even won 2nd Place in the Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest! The best part though? Flying to Houston with Adam to see my family during Christmas week. I can’t think of a better way to spend the holiday season: eating good food while surrounded by loving family.
Thank you for everything, 2024. You gave me some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows—and I wouldn’t change a thing.
May 2025 be a year full of joy and contentment. Life is good, and I hope yours, reader, is too.
Happy New Year.
