Hey guys! Ah, I can’t believe I am 26 years old. I don’t know why, but that feels so much older than 25 haha! To celebrate, I wanted to share a quick recap of my 25th year… it has definitely been one to remember—with lots of ups and some downs; so many blessings and lessons learned.

Let’s do a quick summary of each month since November 2019, shall we?

November 2019: Honestly, life was kind of “eh”. On the surface, I had lots to be excited about, but on the inside it was a different story. I had kind of lost my own identity and confidence but hadn’t realized it at the time. It wasn’t until my life had been turned up-side down (for reasons personal) and I had to move back home with my parents that I finally felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but it was truly such a blessing! Late 2019 was also around the time I found brand design for the first time. I stumbled upon the Better: Brand Designer Podcast by Jen and Giselle (I forget how lol) and enrolled in Branding with Bre. I loved the idea of brand design—how it combined my passions of entrepreneurship, business/ consumer psychology, and being creative. I started working on passion projects to build my portfolio and get some practice. I had also booked my very first client within the last month’s of 2019. The project had only been around $500 (I had so much to learn about pricing myself!) but I was sooo proud and excited!

December 2019: Christmas time is always the best and I made a point to enjoy being home again for Christmas. December was also when I started talking to Grant—on December 26 to be exact 🙂 He was the greatest Christmas present! I had been surrounded by friends November into December, something I didn’t realize I needed so much and appreciate to this day.

January 2020: January felt like such a great fresh start! I met Grant for the first time in person on January 11th 🙂 I also started my own journey of finding my confidence again. Lots of reading and journaling started!

February 2020: My family and I took a trip to Arizona to watch my brother play in a hockey tournament and it was such a fun road trip!! Grant and I celebrated our first Valentine’s Day and it was overall a really great month.

March 2020: Quarantine started and work (at my dad’s) slowed down a bit. I picked up roller blading (lol) and started a book club. So many of my days were spent by the pool reading… it was great. Grant and I started sending snail-mail letters to each other during quarantine too. It was such a fun thing to look forward to! It was also the month I’d say I fell in love with him (although we didn’t start saying I love you until later in the summer). Mushy, I know ????.

April 2020: I was kind of bummed Easter was “cancelled” but it ended up being great after all! My sisters and I got back into Church via online streaming and we enjoyed Easter service and a day by the pool together with our family. Grant had sent the most beautiful bouquet and gifts for Easter, too. It was such a different, but special holiday 🙂

May 2020: I booked my first client over $1,000 ($1,200 to be exact)!! It was SUCH a fun project and Ashley, my client, was incredible. I loved working with her on her new branding and am so grateful for her!!

June 2020: June was kind of a quiet summer month. Not much happened but overall, summer 2020 was such a nice break filled with slow nothing-to-do days!

July 2020: I went on my first trip with Grant and his family to Lake Shasta and it was so much fun!! Grant and I stayed one night in Sacramento on our drive up, which was also such a fun adventure. Once we got to the lake, we met his family at the house boat and stayed with them for the weekend. I had never been on a houseboat before this trip but it was so much fun and the lake/scenery was absolutely beautiful!

August 2020: Poised Avenue had started to slowly grow and I finally felt pretty confident in my processes. My sister, Paige, had taken some branded photos for my site during August (twice) and we had so much fun doing them! We woke up at 4am both times—once headed to my dad’s office and once to my college campus—to get the best lighting. I still love the photos and can’t wait to take more as my business grows!

September 2020: In September, I was hired on to Jen’s team as a contract brand designer and started our first project together. It was such a blast and I love having Jen as a mentor and friend!

October 2020: I was hired on to the Sarah Olivia Marketing team as a contract brand designer and also hit my first $3,000+ month in Poised Avenue!! I love being a part of Sarah’s team and can’t wait to share the projects we’ve worked on together! I am so grateful for everything that I’ve learned from her and can’t be more excited for the opportunity to be a designer on her team.

November 2020: Only half way through the month, but it’s been such a good one! I had a fun birthday week celebrating with family and friends and I feel so so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life. I truly can’t wait for what’s to come in my 26th year.

Cheers to what 25 was and what 26 will be! ????????????