Can't believe the year is almost over already! It's time to wrap up this 'workful' year and gear up for another round of busy season as I enter my 8th working year. Ughh..feels old! As usual, I'll end the year with a final post to recap:
10th Blog-niversary!
I started this blog on 11 March 2007, and since then I've published a total of 424 posts (pretty persistent despite not making any money huh!). I've pretty much documented my entire 20's on this blog and it has served as a great platform to help me remember all the memorable moments that will put a smile on my face when I look back in the future. Memories fade, and that's why I chose to make an effort to cherish these memories.
Turning 30
One of my major milestone this year is turning 30! To commemorate this milestone, I've put together a summary of my Top 30 Experiences Before 30. A great way to pause, reflect, and be thankful for all the experiences I've had thus far.
New Website
The number of posts on this blog hit its lowest in 10 years this year mainly because of I've been spending time building a new website - "ALABA+MA+LAYSIA". I've been wanting to have a drop down menu for all the places I've traveled to, and I'm happy with how it turned out on this new website. =)
Work
This year seemed to be a year of hustle for the both of us at work. Hubby switched job earlier this year and every change comes with learning curve. As for me, I feel like I've established myself as the one who doesn't mind traveling out of town for work, which I really don't mind (can't speak for hubby though). I'm thankful for such a good set up being a telecommuter.
Apart from Texas & Ohio, all my work travels this year have been stuck in the Southeast:
- March - Texas, Ohio, Atlanta
- April - Atlanta
- September - Atlanta
- October - Tampa
- October - Tampa
- December - Auburn
Promotion
Last year's accomplishment was completing the CPA exams, and this year's accomplishment was getting a promotion (finally)!
Travels/Round-the-World Trip
To celebrate my promotion and our birthdays, we rewarded ourselves with a trip around-the-world, and the entire trip costs only $625 per person (all-in including shopping!), thanks to points and miles! We visited 5 countries in 3 continents (UK, South Africa, Germany, Japan, Malaysia) during this trip, and I'm glad that I was able to squeeze in a home trip as well.
Summary of my travels for 2017 (work+leisure):
- Number of hotel nights - 85 nights (SPG-59; Marriott-13; Hilton-13)
- Number of hotels - 18 hotels (SPG-8; Marriott-6; Hilton-4)
- Number of flights - 49 flights (Delta-28; AA-8; United-3, South African-2, Lufthansa-2, ANA-2, MAS-2, Airasia-2)
- Number of airlines - 8 airlines (Delta, American Airlines, United, South African, Lufthansa, ANA, MAS, Airasia)
Another travel win this year was getting super cheap flights for my parents to travel from Malaysia to visit us for 3.5 weeks.
Gardening
After being overwhelmed with tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchinis last year, we decided to scale down and focus primarily on broccoli this year.
To celebrate my 10th year of blogging, I'll wrap up this post with a compilation of all the year-end recaps over the last 10 years (impressed that I didn't miss a single year):