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2022 Wrap Up

I thought it would be hard to top 2021, but 2022 was the professional equivalent of ‘hold my beer.’

This year, I learned so much about myself – as a person and a professional. I honed my technical writing skills, dove into user experience writing for one of the Fortune 500’s top 5 companies, and created a nifty little course (complete with workbook) on Business Storytelling that’s currently roaming the halls of one of the largest and most well-known tech campuses in the country! I spent weeks interviewing people from around the globe to write a series of just under 30 stories for the largest commercial real estate firm in the world – helping to create a collection that showcased growth, success, and innovation across the industry. In addition to that, I wrote a year-long middle school Critical Thinking course that launched a few months back in several states – because leaving the classroom doesn’t mean I don’t still want the very best for students everywhere. And last, but certainly not least, I worked to edit some really incredible K-12 curriculum this year, including my very first English Language Learner curriculum! In sum, your girl had a year!

Throughout it all, working remotely meant I got to spend more time than ever before with my family and friends, have the time and energy to do a little bit of traveling, and meet a lot of incredible people along the way. I feel so blessed to have had all the experiences that I did this year and I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings. Here’s to continued diversified writing and editing experiences and continued growth!

P.S. Hands down the best part of my year though…not working weekends (lol all current and former teachers know exactly what I mean).

P.P.S. #Impostorsyndromeofficiallyover

#wrapped2022 #writing #editing #education #curriculumdesign #technicalwriting #uxwriting #versatility

Welcome February! Black History Month BuJo Setup

We’re one day away from February and I cannot believe how quickly this year is moving. Clearly, 2021 did not come to play and I need to get with the program.

I’ve been steadily setting up my February bullet journal spreads over the past few weeks and I’m excited to share what I came up with with you guys!

In honor of this fantastic month – I mean Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, AND my grandfather’s 98th birthday – I wanted to focus on black culture, in all its beautiful complexity and diversity, in my spreads.

I’m really happy with the final results. I (unintentionally) ended up using only three colors again this month, so I think that’s something I’ll try to keep up as the year goes on.

Without further ado, here is the flip-through of my February spreads…

I’ll drop a few still images below, so that you can get a closer look at some of the details.

How beautiful is this panther?!? I’ve never drawn a panther or any large cat before and I just love the way this turned out. I used a reference photo that I came across after a quick Google search. It turns out there is a specific panther to represent The Black Panther Party, which I actually didn’t know until this drawing.

Adding in a ‘self care bingo board’ worked out really well in my January spreads and I decided to keep doing it.

I don’t typically add quotes to my Brain Dump page, BUT I don’t think my drawing did Angela Davis any justice and I needed her words to hint at her identity!

I changed my Meal Planning spread for February. I think I might even need to change the title moving forward – as it’s now less ‘meal planning’ and more ‘meal and calorie tracking.’

Here is what I had last month – it was cute, just not useful…

Finally, I’m extra excited about February’s theme because I think it will be a good opportunity to focus on portraits (and improving my portrait-drawing skills). I’m like 85%/90% sure that I will include portraits in all my weeklies this month, but we’ll see.

Here is my first rolling weekly for February…

Well, that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed the spreads and my little tribute to black culture. Keep an eye out for the rest of the February weeklies =)

xoxo YoshiAnn

January 2021 Bullet Journal Setup

Like many others, I am so excited to start fresh in 2021. My January bullet journal set up represents a mini- departure from last year’s notebook, in that I am attempting to draw more minimalist spreads that still make me feel like I’ve had a chance to “do some art.”

I created a really fun quote page using line art and a quote from Susan Hill (see above) during my yearly setup, and I loved the style of it so much that I mimicked it for my January setup! I added some florals and a fun color scheme and voila, my January spreads were born.

Interestingly enough, there weren’t very many kinky-coily-curly-haired line art female figures online to use as references, so I had to improvise a bit.

Watch my quick video flip through below!

I love how this month turned out – I say that almost every month, but I really do think this is my favorite of all the spreads I’ve ever created.

Here are a few still shots of some of the pages for this month…

I’m a big, big fan of this Leland Jacob’s poem and was so excited to be able to include it this year!

Do you all see my meal planner spread? It’s new this year, I’m hoping that it will inspire me to cook more, eat out less, and just always have a ‘healthy’ option in hand.

Also, can we talk about how much my hand lettering is improving; like I literally started doing this in December!

Happy New Year y’all! I’ll see you a bit later in the month with some of my weekly setups.

xoxo YoshiAnn

2021 BuJo Setup: New Year, New Journal

When the pandemic closed schools and businesses in early March, I began working from home – and I quickly realized I needed an organization system to help me stay on track and achieve some sort of balance between work and life.

Enter bullet journaling…

I’d come across bullet journal videos on YouTube a few times before and I was intrigued, just not enough to actually start. Well, in March that changed and once I started I could not have been happier!

Long story short, I’ve been journalling for the past 10 months, I love everything about it, and now I’m riding this pony all the way into 2021.

Here is my setup for 2021…

I’m really excited about this set up and the new year! In case you’re wondering, I’m using a Seqes Journal with 160GSM that I bought on Amazon – this is my second Seqes notebook and I’ve been enjoying them.

Next on my list, my January 2021 set up. I’m so excited to begin sharing this journey with you all!

xoxo YoshiAnn

#bujolife

Moving On…

It’s officially time, y’all. I’ve done the packing, given away countless things I knew would be more useful to others, found the best place (finally!), signed the paperwork and moved *most* of my things (thank you UHaul lol). 


It’s been such a crazy few weeks and I can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll begin this new and exciting chapter in my life!

I’m so excited, but I’m also terrified. I won’t lie: I think I’ll be really challenged these next few weeks as I settle into a new town, a new job, and a new home. Despite all, I’m looking forward to proving that I can do it…and with grace =)


Wish me luck everyone as I move to my wonderfully spacious, skylight-including, 4 minutes from my job, 10 minutes from the beach new home…that’s also a 3 story walk up (check my legs in like three months, it’s gonna be lit lol 😂). 


Now all I need to do is unpack and figure out what to do with ALL THE EXTRA SPACE. Seriously, I have so much space – and that’s after I’ve set up (or, at least mentally partioned off) a little yoga studio for myself =)

I think I’m gonna like Connecticut!

Better (or Maybe Best) Days Ahead…

In the spirit of continuing to share random or sporadic updates with you all (I know, consistency on this forum is NOT my strength lol)…I just wanted to say that today I had the BEST day =)

I mean look at that smile…it reaches my eyes lol =)


I’ve had a rough couple of weeks: weird personal stuff and super hard work stuff meant I was all over the place. (Or maybe I just felt that way since everyone else kept telling me how awesome and positive I was…definitely weird since I thought I was a disaster lol).


Work/Training, Packing, honestly just Life have been so real these past few weeks…


Now that’s all done though and there are ALL the amazing things to show for my hard work and perseverance:

1. Offer letter and packet for my super lit NEW JOB!!! Woot making all the life goals and progress a reality.  This happened a few weeks back but I just sorted out all the paperwork and teally got a chance to soak it in today =)

2. New apartment…ON THE BEACH is being sorted out at this moment. Big fingers crossed here guys!!! I mean like beach living has been on my list for a LONG time lol =) #connecticutwhoknew???

3. Acceptance letter into a SECOND MASTERS program!!! This time in Education. Again, killing all these life goals lol. (Also now I can – kinda seriously – tell all the boys you need at least two degrees to date me lol, which when I heard that this summer made my whole summer. Like seriously best “nah but really” line EVER!)

I’m really excited and nervous, but I’ve always believed that good things happen to good people (little bit of a plug for myself there lol). Also, it’s just nice to have things work out =)

I’m feeling really blessed and really happy again – which has been something that I think I was struggling with these past two or so months. I’m back y’all. Bigger and better and more Yoshi-er than before!!

xoxo Yoshi

P.S. Updates, particularly on the apt (and how I decorate…expect a lot of fun DIY projects guys) to come…maybe. If I can get my life together and remember to share =)

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