The defining moments of 2021—a year of bold moves, career changes, and ongoing pandemic challenges.

Moving

We bought a house in Bellingham, WA, trading city life for something altogether different.

I’m excited to explore everything Bellingham and Whatcom County have to offer. After eighteen years in Seattle and King County, this represents a significant change of pace—one that feels both necessary and invigorating.

We also said goodbye to our Seattle townhome. Farewell, Seattle—you’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

Seattle was my home for nearly two decades, and I genuinely loved it for most of that time. But the city I once adored has fundamentally changed, and frankly, so have I. While I think the whole “Seattle is Dying” narrative is largely overblown political theater, I can’t deny that for me personally, Seattle has lost much of its former magic. The pandemic only highlighted everything that felt broken about urban life there.

So we’re taking a calculated risk on Bellingham. And yes, it is a risk—neither of us has official approval to work this far from our respective offices. But remote work needs to become “a thing” permanently, not just a pandemic necessity.

Only time will tell if our gamble pays off.

New Job

After nearly fifteen years and roughly seven different roles at the University of Washington, I decided it was time to move on. The institution had changed dramatically over the past five to eight years, and this transition had been building for quite some time.

In April, I started a new position at Stash, a NYC-based fintech company. It’s fully remote, which means I no longer have to worry about being summoned back to a physical office—a perfect fit for our Bellingham experiment.

I’ll keep the details brief to avoid running afoul of any social media guidelines, but I’m genuinely enjoying both the work and my new team.

COVID-19 - Round Two

COVID-19 isn’t just still with us—it’s more infectious than ever. As I write this, the Omicron variant is rapidly becoming dominant, leaving many of us wondering if this nightmare will ever truly end.

I’m deeply saddened by how our country has handled this pandemic. The fact that basic public health measures somehow became divisive political issues speaks to a fundamental breakdown in our society that extends far beyond any single virus.