😻 Living with 3 cats

My partner and I love living with our 3 cats: Xena (adopted in February 2021), Sophie (adopted in October 2022), and Midna (adopted in August 2023). Their presence in our household brings a lot of joy, comfort, and laughter.

🗣️ Staying in touch with family and friends

I was born in California, but I live in Iowa now, so I have to be intentional about staying in touch with loved ones who still live in California (or elsewhere). Even though I'm introverted, I try to prioritize keeping in touch with family and friends, and I definitely prefer chatting on the phone to texting!

🦉 Working at KnowledgeOwl

I'm grateful to be able to serve as the Executive Assistant to the CEO & Friend of Felines at KnowledgeOwl, a small team with a big heart. Hoot!

🌲 Trying to overcome lifelong allergies

I've been highly allergic to pollen and many other plants, animals, and other things for as long as I can remember. Thankfully, consistently taking allergy drops has seemed to reduce the prevalence and intensity of my allergy symptoms.

In early March 2024, aspects of the changing season (increased pollen counts and wind) catalyzed some unpleasant and severe allergy symptoms. I searched online for potential long-term solutions, which led me to learn about sublingual immunotherapy allergy drops. They’re basically allergy shots without the shots. I got a prescription from a company called Wyndly (but there are other companies that offer allergy drops) and I’ve been taking the allergy drops every day since 3/18/2024. The drops contain some of the main things I’m allergic to, and the purpose of taking them every day is to gradually condition my body/immune system to stop responding strongly to those allergens. Here's Wyndly's description of how sublingual immunotherapy works: "By routinely exposing your immune system to your allergy triggers, over time, you will become tolerant. This leads to natural, long-lasting relief."

🎮 Enjoying being a Nintendo fan

I got back into (mostly Nintendo) video games in early 2021 after taking a long break from playing video games (more on that here). Now Nintendo Direct presentations feel like how Christmas morning used to feel when I was a kid! 😄

Here are the games I'm currently playing and my favorite games. Also, for more video game content, see the "🎮 Video Games" header on this page.

🎧 Listening to lots of podcasts

I love listening to podcasts for entertainment and education. They've introduced me to a lot of cool people and ideas, and they make doing dishes and other chores more bearable! Here are some of my favorite podcasts.