The memorable moments from 2018—new family members, tropical adventures, and career pivots.

Family Addition

February brought the newest member of our family: Scrambles, a 10-year-old floofy Maine Coon who immediately captured our hearts.

We rescued Scrambles from a stressful situation, offering her the calm, loving home she deserved. And judging by her behavior, I think she genuinely likes us. 😸

It only took a few years of me bombarding Miranda with cute kitten GIFs to finally wear down her resistance. Persistence pays off! 😻

Hawaii

Spring brought an epic Hawaii adventure with Chris and Adriana, split between Kona and Hilo.

What. A. Blast.

We packed our days with incredible experiences: ziplining through lush canopies, snorkeling with manta rays under starlit skies, witnessing an active volcano up close, and indulging in amazing local food and drinks.

Career Changes (Multiple)

Chapter One: In April, I officially left University Services to join the Enterprise Data Warehouse team—though I’d been unofficially working with them since November 2017. They’re genuinely good people who’ve built something valuable at UW.

I’ll admit the role stretched beyond my existing skillset, but I was eager to learn and grow.

Chapter Two: In November, I made another move, this time to Enterprise Web-Services and Events. While I genuinely liked the EDW team, I struggled with the work itself and never felt confident in my contributions.

I felt terrible about leaving—I really cared about my former teammates—but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t adding value.

Working with the EWSE group should be a better fit for my skills and interests. At least, that’s the hope.

Honestly, after all these years at UW, I sometimes wonder about life beyond the university. I know I could earn more elsewhere, but I’d probably work significantly more too. There’s something to be said for work-life balance, even if it sometimes feels like complacency.

NYC (Redux) + Philadelphia

While we were sad to see Chris and Adriana relocate to Brooklyn, their move gave us the perfect excuse to visit NYC again. We scrapped our tentative New Orleans plans to spend time with them in their new city.

The timing worked out perfectly—we were able to celebrate Adriana’s birthday with them.

Woot woot.