2019
I figured in honor of the Lunar New Year, I’d finally finish up a post that’s been in my head since before the start of 2020! A recap of 2019 in photos. I wanted to go through the thousands of photos I snapped throughout the year and whittled it down to simply 12. It wasn’t easy and I definitely broke that rule for June, but just bear with me!
I’d say I’m getting better with my bad habit of procrastinating.. but maybe that’s just the optimist in me. Oh well, onwards and upwards!
January
Okay, to be honest, my January 2019 photos weren’t exactly in the hundreds. I chose this sweet one of Theo in a tiger hat and tail. Calvin and Hobbes is a family favorite between my little brother and I. For Ava’s fourth Christmas, I gifted her the complete set of Calvin and Hobbes. So a sort of Hobbes-ish hat and tail along with chubby baby thighs? Easy winner for January.
February
This month marked when the littlest Long turned a year old! I opted for a birthday party theme loosely based on bees then of course the thought process turns naturally to honey. Once honey is involved, you can’t help but think about the silly old bear that loves honey best of all!
I adore the classic version of Pooh and his friends. One sweet friend even threw me a beautiful classic Pooh themed shower for Ava that I still think of fondly. I wanted a specific banner where the characters are holding a sign that says, “Happy Birthday", but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Mitchell offered to find a way to get it printed after I voiced my frustration with my fruitless searches. That’s when it dawned on me that I was staring at the very person that could make my vision a reality and probably even better. You see, not only is Mitchell a talented ortho. resident (no bias at all, wink wink), he’s also pretty good at drawing.
So after some cajoling on my part (“you made Ava’s birthday banner too, remember??”), he agreed to sketch and outline Theo’s birthday banner. Another fun factoid about us: my artistic capabilities are inversely related to my husband’s. Mitchell didn’t have time to color the banner as well so I went in quite blindly and nervously and just tried my best. I knew I wanted really soft colors so I opted to use soft pastel pencils. I’d color in what I needed to and then gently brushed over what I just shaded with a dry paint brush. I stayed up until the early hours the morning of his birthday party, painstakingly coloring in this banner. You can compare the banner we made for Theo with our inspiration picture here. I think it came out rather well! It’s now framed and hung in his bedroom.
March
And just like that, our Ava turned six! She requested a space themed birthday. I baked a special, allergy friendly birthday cake covered in space themed sprinkles and got complimentary balloons per the birthday princess’s request.
April
To succinctly put it, April was a hard month. Mitchell and I got a dog during our junior year of undergrad. I have always been painfully shy and struggle with social anxiety. This coupled with befriending all the wrong kinds of mean girls that took advantage of me in undergrad left me longing for a furry companion. Mitchell, being the doting boyfriend, wanted to provide whatever he could to make me happy. In hindsight, it was a beyond stupid decision since a puppy was a huge responsibility that we just weren’t equipped to handle appropriately. But somehow, Waffles thrived despite us and our naïveté.
If Mitchell and I are Ross and Rachel from the sitcom Friends, Waffles was our Emma. A lot of fighting, misunderstandings, break ups, make ups, with a chubby corgi that bound us. Waffles was the sole reason why we kept in contact when we were on a break (read in Ross’ voice). We sadly left him behind in SoCal with my parents when we moved to Michigan. The idea of navigating a new state known for its harsh winters with a toddler and a med. student budget made the idea of bringing Waffles along too daunting for me. As residency brought us to New York and I was getting more comfortable with running a household without any help nearby, I was hoping to arrange to have Waffles join us. He was already twelve years old but I was hoping we’d be lucky and get a few more years together.
Of course, in a bittersweet timing, that’s when his health began to decline. I can’t even begin to describe the extent of my sorrow in making the decision to end Waffles’ suffering. I can’t even get through writing this without a dry eye. We humans certainly don’t deserve the love that dogs give. I love this particular comic even though it kind of breaks my heart all over again.
May
This month marked my first time flying solo with both kids. It went surprisingly well, most likely due to the fact that Ava’s so used to flying by now. A 6.5 hour straight flight with two young kids alone isn’t my idea of fun. Luckily for my little brother, he’s one of the few people that I’d do JFK to LAX for in a heartbeat. My mom floated the idea of just saving the money of airplane travel costs and watching the graduation through a live feed instead - he’ll have a college graduation in a few years anyway and the kids would be older so traveling would be easier then. But there was just something in me that screamed no. Sometimes it’s not about money or having an easier time. Sometimes it’s really about just showing up. And for my little brother, I’ll always show up in any way I can. He graduated summa cum laude and is attending Mitchell and my alma mater. Photo is from his Seniors Awards ceremony.
June
This photo was actually taken August 1st. It’s of Theo overlooking a sprawling cemetery that spans several acres in Southern California. I’d imagine it’s weird to talk of a cemetery in a positive way; however, it’s where Mitchell’s father, Mitchell’s paternal grandparents, and my childhood best friend’s maternal grandparents (who were like my own grandparents) were laid to rest. So to us, it’s just a place that’s very quiet and serene. A place to reflect and remember loved ones.
I chose this photo for the month of June even though it was taken in August because June was the last time we saw Mitchell’s maternal grandmother alive. We try to make the effort to visit them once in awhile, especially now with their great-grandkids in tow. She was later hit by a car a few weeks after this visit and passed. We have several photographs of her grinning ear to ear with Ava, Theo, and their two other cousins from this last visit. I’m appreciative that my kids have this last, fleeting token; however, they felt a bit too intimate to post on a public blog. In some ways, I felt like this photo taken during her burial conveyed the same sense of intimateness but through a different lens.
Life can change quickly. Don’t squander it.
July
In June, I did the JFK to LAX haul again solo with the kids to spend a majority of the summer in SoCal with family. We spent a week with relatives in SD and much to Ava’s delight, they have a pool. This photo is from her splashing around in their pool. By the time July rolled around, she was sporting a nice, deep tan.
A quick history lesson.. bear with me here. A history of colonization in the Philippines ushered in a prejudice against dark skin. Dark skin was associated with workers whereas a fairer complexion meant wealth. A gross prejudice that I myself am very familiar with. I recall distinctly visiting the Philippines when I was sixteen. Some relative commented in Ilocano (without realizing that I still understood the language) that I was dark for an American. My tendency to tan easily was always something I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to embrace or reject and avoid at all costs growing up.
Now, in my thirties, I see the foolishness in it all. I wish the language had been about emphasizing that I was beautiful the way I was made, regardless of supposed societal ways. I desperately needed that ability to feel confident in my own skin and it took a long time to cultivate it. So I look at this photo of Ava and think of Beyonce’s Brown Skin Girl. My hope is that for my child, I can do what I so longed for. Help her realize that she is beautiful, just the way she already is.
Oh, have you looked in the mirror lately?
Wish you could trade eyes with me 'cause
There's complexities in complexion
But your skin, it glow like diamonds
Dig me like the earth, you be giving birth
Took everything in life, baby, know your worth
August
Mitchell took a week off in August to visit SoCal and so that I didn’t have to do another LAX to JFK leg by myself again. I was able to “take the day off” without the kids since Mitchell was there to take care of them. It was the first and only time I was without the kids for a majority of the day in 2019. I don’t think that’s something that people really comprehend about my life. I rarely get a break from simply being a mom. We can’t afford babysitters at this point and everyone (grandparents, parents, family, friends, etc.) still work as well so it’s not like someone can just swoop in and take over my role while I recharge. It can be a grinding existence so I’m deeply appreciative for moments that I can still be just Arianne, even if they’re rare and fleeting.
I spent the day at Disneyland. One of my best friends has the ability to get me in for free and I’m forever thankful for her doing so (although I did joke around that Ava now has a skewed sense of reality and thinks Disney is something that you can just go to whenever). We stayed until closing and I was able to snag a few photos of an empty, lit up Disneyland. I even let down my hair and bought myself a Disneyland sweater even though I’m fiercely against spending money on frivolous souvenirs. Such a fun time!
September
Photo was from the first day of First Grade! Fun, random tidbit.. Theo totally tripped over his own two feet right after I took this shot, fell, and cried so I had to hold him the rest of the way. I’d say Kindergarten was a struggle in some ways because it was hard dealing with a baby while still trying to attend to my oldest’s needs by myself 98% of the time.
The school year is now roughly halfway over and I’ll say it’s been going a lot more smoothly than Kindergarten did. It’s amazing watching Ava learn. Her appetite for learning is voracious and leaves me shocked at times. I hope she has this zeal for learning her entire life.
October
A quiet month. Photo is from a hike a fellow resident’s wife friend invited me on. I did it with Theo, who was surprisingly a great hiking partner. He did most of it by himself and was surprisingly surefooted (he’s generally my more clumsy kid). The hike took place at Bayard Cutting Arboretum and reminded me of our time in MI. It was a very lonely time for Ava and I so I filled up a good amount of our days with outdoor hikes. I’d say nature plus kids is always a winning combination.
November
November saw our first trip as a family (and my first time ever) to Disneyworld, courtesy of my in-laws’ generosity. We stayed at the Grand Floridian and spent five days visiting all four theme parks. This photo was taken during the hottest day of our trip, high eighties with the Florida sun beating down on us. I grew up in the Mojave desert (100+ degree summers) so heat isn’t a foreign entity to me; however, Florida heat is just a different beast. I can’t imagine visiting during actual summer months. More power to anyone who does!
So yes, horribly hot day, everyone was in a sour mood. I decided to ask the riverboat operators if there was an opportunity for Ava to steer the riverboat as a sort of Hail Mary to distract us from the suffocating heat. As luck would have it, one riverboat operator said yes, she’d take Ava. We were ushered up to the captain’s private quarters and Ava was able to hold and turn the huge ship’s wheel for the entire excursion around the Rivers of America. She got a keepsake certificate afterwards as well. Just thought I’d share in case anyone else may need such a Hail Mary.
December
I’ve seen some joke floating around the internet that the real miracle regarding Jesus is that he was able to have 12 close friends in his thirties. Why is it so much harder to make friends as adults?! We have been fortunate enough to cultivate some great friendships with some of Mitchell’s medical school classmates and their wives. One of these sweet couples and their kids visited us at the end of December. We spent the last day of the year at one of the Longs’ favorite spots in the city: AMNH.
