The Last Four Years: A Retrospective

Once upon a time, I documented my professional life religiously, then life got busy, as it does, and the digital manifestation of my existence fell by the wayside. I can assure you that though my virtual presence waned, my corporeal form continued to do all of the activities you would expect. Here’s a brief catch-up on what that looked like.

2020: Covid

2020 was, as one might expect, full of anxiety around Covid and what I could control in my own life. I learned what it was like to work remotely, nested in a new home, and generally stayed inside our family bubble.

2021: Covid-Lite

2021 went by in a flash – I was promoted from Senior Consultant to Software Architect which meant a new role and new responsibilities to get accustomed to. Personally, there was still a mixture of getting to know new neighbors, figuring out the maze of getting vaccinated, curating a garden, and traveling with or for family.

2022: Normal? Normal-ish.

Whatever normal really is. The year started with grief after the passing of an elderly family member, but that didn’t dampen the tone of the year – seeing the Seattle Kraken play in their first season, going to Houston for a Women in Tech conference, traveling to Chicago to work and road trip to an Iowan wedding, learning how to bake the perfect croissant.

2023: A Year of Projects

I was promoted from Architect to Senior Architect, angling my way into consulting on technology strategy and enterprise architecture for clients. More impactful to me, however, is that as I emerge from the cocoon of the last few years I have been reminded how much I enjoy creating things – photo projects, gardens, living spaces, fiber art. I am still exploring what that looks like as something to be externally shared and consumed – it can be fun to be a product, but it can also be exhausting.

Looking forward to the next, whatever life holds.