Cinder's Blog

It's a new year! 2025 was such a wonderful year for me personally (though I know a lot of not great stuff was happening in the world...). I got to travel to six different countries. I made a huge amount of progress in my masters degree (7 out of 10 classes done!). I hit the one year mark at and really enjoyed my job. I made two really great friends. I saw Stray Kids, Jin, and Marina in concert. I made more time for my long distance besties. 2025 was really kind to me, and I'm grateful to leave the year with that feeling.

I'm looking forward to new experiences in 2026! But I will admit, 2025 feels nice and round, 2026 doesn't have quite as nice of a number vibe. However, I won't let this deter me from loving it.

Recently, I've had a lot of energy! I feel like in the past few months- I've generally felt so energized which is such a lucky thing to feel as an adult. With this energy there are so many things I want to do- draw more, create more tiktoks, travel to new places nearby, and organize my life. I also want to start working out more; I'd like to start lifting weights. I cleaned my whole apartment yesterday, and between that and the days getting so long with summer- I just feel good. I have created such a nice life for myself. and there are so many things I want to do and enjoy.

My classes this summer semester are not too hard (im doing a part time data science masters), but I should probably direct some of that energy towards them haha. But sometimes when other things seem fun, you just have to let your energy flow where it goes!

Leaving for a trip to Kenya and Tanzania tomorrow. I'm very excited, but also just feeling grateful. Ten years ago, I never thought I would be able to travel as much as I get to. I never had been on a plane at 18 years old, and now I've visited 9 different countries after this trip. Feeling both proud of myself for prioritizing the goal to see more of the world, but also extremely grateful. This trip is through my job, but earlier this year I also went to Hong Kong and the Phillipines.

I treated myself to a cheap 2005 digicam from Ebay for this trip. So I'm excited to take some 2000s styled photos! I'll probably post some on my Photography page whenever I get that up and running.