I drove across the country, moving back to the South.
I started a new job.
I rejoined an intramural sports team.
I was accepted into a fully funded fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were beginnings and endings.
Relationships formed, relationships released.
I trained for a 10K, learning patience, discipline, and what it means to show up even when motivation fades.
This year stretched me. It grounded me. It reminded me that growth doesn\u2019t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it happens quietly, in the act of choosing and continuing to show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the year came to a close, I felt deeply grateful. Grateful for my loved ones. Grateful for a career that aligns with my values. Grateful for health, curiosity, and the ability to explore both the world and myself. I\u2019m blessed to see another year and as I step into 2026, I do so with gratitude in my heart and openness in my spirit. I am excited not just for what\u2019s ahead, but for who I\u2019m continuing to become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheers to a happy New Year!\ud83c\udf8a\ud83e\udd42<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accra, Ghana<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s wild how quickly time moves when you\u2019re living it. One year can hold so much, more than we realize while we\u2019re in it. Looking back now, I see how full this past year truly was. Not just busy but lived. I started the year celebrating my birthday in Tulum, Mexico. Sun-soaked days, sonata freshwater…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,11,47,70,90],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home","tag-bliss","tag-blog","tag-friendship","tag-oohjulie","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"nucleare-normal-post":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Julia","author_link":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/?author=1"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"It\u2019s wild how quickly time moves when you\u2019re living it. One year can hold so much, more than we realize while we\u2019re in it. Looking back now, I see how full this past year truly was. Not just busy but lived. I started the year celebrating my birthday in Tulum, Mexico. Sun-soaked days, sonata freshwater…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1812"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1861,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions\/1861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.oohjulie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/photo-output-1024x1024.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n