Monthly Life Update, March 2023

The latest update on my life and behind-the-scenes
A quick life update about my health, our cabin, our pets, my business, and more. Hanging out on a sailboat during golden hour

March was one of the busiest months I’ve had in a really long time! From my birthday, to my best friend visiting to many, many trips to Seattle, it’s been hectic… which probably explains why my monthly life update post is nearly halfway into April. OOPS.

Monthly Life Update: March 2023

My Health

Aside from some raging allergies, I am feeling pretty good! My energy levels are definitely increasing as winter ever-so-slowly decides to move along and give me longer, sunnier days.

The Tiny Zoo

Milo and Adeline continue to settle in now that it’s been just over 3 months. Honestly, they’ve proven to be really challenging… or rather, Milo is really challenging! He’s got some pretty intense separation anxiety and has bonded fiercely to Sean. He gets really stressed out if Sean is outside, but also doesn’t seem to really like me. It’s been hard. Plus he doesn’t seem to be fully understanding the concept of potty training, so I’ve had a few super-stressful moments with him… my favorite being when he literally peed on my wedding dress. I wish I was making it up. But we’re working on getting him some proper training since his needs are beyond the scope of my capabilities and hopefully that will help in the long run (I really, really hope).

The other ‘situation’ is that my two ganders are in mating season and have definitely gotten rowdy. I’m pretty sure they think I’m some weird combo of their mother and their wife these days. It’s to the point where I can’t go into the goose yard unless I have heavy clothing and gloves on! Fending off a pair of horny geese has made gardening even more fun.

The Cabin

I feel like spring is really our cabin’s season. It’s the perfect time to raise all of the blinds, position the disco ball and revel in a cozy sunny afternoon… when it finally stops raining. I am so close to finishing my puzzle nook (coming soon!!) and made some changes to our living room as well. My best friend Danielle was here and she helped us get super-duper organized, too. It finally feels like there’s a place for everything so that we can actually put it away. I’ve been on a purging spree and I think I’ve actually addicted to the feeling of decided we no longer need something and then donating it.

Business + My Blog

As you can probably tell from the lack of blog posts in the last few weeks, I’ve been quite busy with freelance work! I’m absolutely loving the teams that I’m working with and so grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given to use my experiences in new ways. After so many years of working for myself, I’ve really come to embrace and enjoy working on cross-functional teams!

Balance has been a challenge to maintain, especially when it comes to working on my own projects here on the blog and on my social media channels. But I’m hoping now that March is over, I can settle back into a routine again!

Us

Spending time with Sean is always my favorite… but spending time with both him AND my best friend really made my heart explode. It was so heartening watching my two people get to know each other more, joke, laugh, drink and eat, and generally just be in the same space as me. It was truly such a special moment for me and one that I look back on so fondly.

So that’s a snapshot of what life’s been like for us for the past month. As always, thank you so much for following along on our journey and being so wonderfully supportive of everything I share here and on social media.

Photography by Andrew Carlton.

Behind The Blog

Joanna Hawley-McBride is a Pacific Northwest-based social media strategist, content creator, and former textile designer. Joanna is the founder and editor-in-chief of Jojotastic, a lifestyle blog focused on Joanna’s work-in-progress cabin, finding the best pair of underwear through #UnderwearThesis, and empowering women to explore nature — all in her signature unfiltered style. Her work has been featured in Domino, CNBC, and Eating Well.

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