We are about to end 2018 and get a fresh start to 2019 and while I’ve never been one to make resolutions because I prefer to make goals for myself, I wanted to share a recap of how 2018 went for me. If you’re an avid social media user, then you know almost everyone you follow has been recapping their year in their stories, and while I loved the idea, I decided to go old school and actually write about it. While 2018 wasn’t necessarily a bad year, it did bring about a lot of changes; one which included a change in address. What am I most thankful for this year? For the opportunity to have lived in Miami, but also for the opportunity to have moved back to Los Angeles with my family. Now, let’s recap the year together.

JANUARY

My mom came to spend the Holidays with me in Miami and we spent New Years with family in Orlando. Over the Holidays and subsequent days after, I made the decision to leave Miami. It was something (a feeling and thought) I got out of the blue and couldn’t shake off. I originally had the idea to move to Orlando for a year and see where that led me, whether it was back to Los Angeles or somewhere else. It would be a year I would take off from everything I was doing in Miami and live a “normal” life once again with a full time job. I wanted to take the time off to assess and reassess everything in my life. I started looking for jobs (and applied to a few) and apartments in Orlando with my aim to move when my lease in Miami was up in November.

FEBRUARY

Was still decided to move to Orlando. I traveled to LA and Palm Springs with Chevy and had a blast. It was nice to be back home even if it was for a week. I was lucky enough to be able to extend my trip for a full week so I stayed with family for a few more days after the trip with Chevy. A couple of weeks later, I traveled to New York for work to speak on a social media panel. I extended the trip so I spent a week alone walking around the city, only to meet up with my friend who also traveled with me during the nights (since she had to work in the city while we were there) when we headed back to Brooklyn where we were staying at. I enjoyed the city like never before and learned to be alone with my thoughts like never before. It was a very fulfilling trip for me, and this is when I started contemplating moving back to Los Angeles and bypass the idea of Orlando. I had also met a guy a few months back; we connected on social media via a mutual friend and everything seemed to be going well. I also made it out to Premios Lo Nuestro in Miami.

MARCH

I had made the decision to move back to Los Angeles but was faced with some challenges. My lease was set to expire in November but I was done with Miami and ready to head home. Had to weigh the pros and cons of staying until November or breaking the lease, paying the fine, and head back home. I opted for the latter and started selling my stuff in Miami and also started to really get into the move since I had made the decision to be gone by May and time was flying by. I also traveled to the Dominican Republic. It was a trip I was invited to just like the one to NY where I’d be speaking on a panel about social media. I enjoyed this trip so much because not only was I visiting a new country, but I knew it would be the last trip with my friend Ana Cristina since I already knew I’d be leaving Miami in a few months. Thanks to the Tourism Board of the Dominican Republic we got to visit Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.   I also got invited to a Disney event; one of my dreams come true!

APRIL

I had already made the decision to break my lease, pay the fine and leave Miami. Eventually, I broke my lease and it really hit me, I was moving back, but left with little time to really sit back and think about it because it was a very busy month between selling my stuff, getting rid of some other, and making moving arrangements. Besides that, I attended and spoke at Hispanicize and then headed to Orlando for a weekend at Universal Orlando Resort as a guest of the park and resort. It was a fun and distracting trip because I got to enjoy some time with friends (and alone) in between all the chaos of my cross country move. Things started to cool down with the guy but I was so busy with my move that I left it aside and concentrated on what needed my full attention: my move. This month I also had my going away beach party with friends in Miami, and also got invited to a radio show to talk about my career.

MAY

I officially left Miami and moved back to my home in Los Angeles after 3 years. It was a bittersweet moment but I was happy. I was happy to be back home in my city with my friends and family, but surprisingly it was a month in where I had to adjust to being back, as weird as that may sound. For two weeks after my move I had a pounding headache that wouldn’t go away. I ended up going to the optometrist thinking it was my vision. It wasn’t and they concluded it was from the stress and anxiety of everything going on in my life at that moment. It was also a month where I was confused and didn’t know what I wanted to do. It was also the month it finally hit me I had moved back. Everything had happened so fast that I never took the time to take it all in, and when I moved back to LA, it all hit me at the same time. In all honesty, I also felt like a failure for several reasons. It was a very rough month, but I also took the time to travel to a few places in California to kind of reconnect with my state. This month was also when I got ghosted by the guy I had been talking to. Everything came at once so it was a really hard month.

JUNE

I started working part time and was starting a new routine. Ironically, a routine similar to the one I hated so much prior to my move. In some sense, I craved and needed a routine. Was faced with the idea of what to do with Becky Boricua. I also came up with some ideas of what I now wanted to do in LA as Becky Boricua. I also caught up with friends in LA.

JULY

Forgot about my original ideas (or maybe just put them in the back burner) and decided to launch Faranduleo 411 as my new Latin Entertainment outlet/platform. Since I had now relocated back to LA, I expanded the idea to now include movies and TV since LA is the Entertainment Capital of the World. I then refocused Becky Boricua to only be about lifestyle and travel. I was excited and looking forward to the changes.

AUGUST

This month after going back and forth with the idea, I launched my brand consultation and social media services to bloggers. It’s an idea I was really excited about but never really took off because honestly, I never dedicated time to it. That’s something I plan to do now in 2019. Our annual Mexico vacation was also coming up and I took pretty much the whole month to research and plan it. At this point I continued to be uncertain of what road I would take professionally so I decided to put it all aside and concentrate on our trip.

SEPTEMBER

I took two weeks off to enjoy Mexico and my family. We visited Mexico City, Campeche, and Riviera Nayarit including Puerto Vallarta. I had an amazing time and was able to distract myself. This month I also decided to start a bi-weekly Facebook LIVE show on Faranduleo 411 with my friend Irmita where we would be chatting about Latin Urban Music. It was something I had been wanting to do for years but never really did it, until now.

OCTOBER

I was invited to be a social media ambassador at Hispanicize LA. I had a great time and also reconnected with Miami friends. Later that month, I covered the Latin American Music Awards here in LA with my new outlet Faranduleo 411.

NOVEMBER

I headed to Vegas to attend and cover the Latin GRAMMYs for Faranduleo 411, and I also enjoyed some time off as well. The last two months had been super busy and pretty good for Faranduleo 411 and that made me very happy.

DECEMBER

It was my birthday month so I decided to celebrate all month long. I headed with my best friend and sister to San Francisco and Napa to celebrate our December birthdays (my best friend’s is on the 13th and mine on the 20th). We had a great time and enjoyed our first trip together since moving back to LA. I also enjoyed the Holidays now back home in LA with my family.

And that, guys, was my 2018 in a nutshell. It was a challenging but exciting year because of all the changes. I’m looking forward to 2019 and what it may bring. Becky Boricua (the blog) will continue. As for my music career, we’ll see where it leads as well as my career as an investigator. I’d be lying if I said I knew what I’ll be doing with my careers since as of now, honestly I still don’t know. Thank you all for following along and always supporting and cheering me on. Thank you to those who have been there when I’ve needed someone to turn to and when I just needed some motivation. Hope you’ll continue to follow along on my adventure here on the blog, on Faranduleo 411, on Instagram and on my travel adventures. Sending you all a big hug!