Tag: lessons

Blogmas Day 8: A Check In On My 2025 Goals

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Hello Sunny Siders, it’s Blogmas day 8 and I want to share a recap on how my 2025 goals went this year. During last year’s Blogmas I set my goals for 2025 and now we will revisit them to see my progress.

Drink my daily recommended amount of water

Yeah… once again this one didn’t go very well. I try every year to set the goal of staying hydrated and go through ebbs and flows where I’m really great or really terrible. Definitely going to have to keep working on this one in 2026.

Start a side business

I checked this goal off very early in the year when I established Sunny Sider Crafts, LLC and created my Etsy shop to sell stickers in February. This was probably one of my biggest accomplishments of the year, which I plan to go into more detail during a later Blogmas post!

Continue my Duolingo streak

I’ve stuck to my goal of keeping my streak and am now at 1,417 days straight of practicing Japanese. I didn’t step up to the challenge of 15 minutes a day, but I definitely spent more time practicing than last year.

More time with family

I’d like to say that I made a very conscious effort to spend more time with my family in 2025. I took time off to travel and ensured anytime they were in town that I got to see them. I’d love to step it up even more in 2026 if my PTO allows.

Visit at least one new place this year

I definitely was not a world traveler in 2025, but I did visit a new city! I had never been to Salem, Massachusetts until this year when I went in October. It was such a fun experience and the perfect time of year to visit!

Opting for homemade over store bought and takeout

This is another goal that I feel went pretty well in 2025. I’ve spent a lot of the year making food at home and limiting the amount of time I eat out during the week. I can’t remember the last time I bought or ate a store bought dessert, as I’ve been making everything at home myself.

Let’s Talk About My Meditation Journey

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Hello Sunny Siders and happy November! I can’t believe we are rapidly approaching the end of the year, it feels like 2025 just started.

Today I wanted to talk about something that was new for me and that was the journey of meditation. For some context, I started meditating in May when I was having a lot of stress at work and I needed to find a way to bring it back to normal levels.

I had read a few books on stress and they had a lot of great insights, but I wasn’t finding that I was actually able to reduce my stress as much as I had expected. I also had a lot of swirling thoughts that I wanted to find a way to calm, turning my mind from a rough ocean into a calming sea.

Before this I had dabbled in meditation on and off, but never really stuck with it. However, this time I really wanted to give it a shot and that’s what I wanted to share my thoughts on today.

Now I realized very quickly I am not good at just sitting down and meditating so I decided to invest in an app called Balance. This blog is not sponsored by them in any way, they were just the app that I was recommended by my therapist and so I decided to give it a shot. Now, full disclosure Balance is an app that you do have to pay for in order to get the most benefits, and that ended up being around $37 for a year of benefits.

With Balance once you begin, it asks you a series of questions about what brought you to meditation, what challenges are you having, and what are your goals. For me that was challenges with stress and anxiety and wanting to find ways to be happier by calming my stress and anxiety. But plans in balance can be different based on what you’re trying to do. There are a variety of different things that balance can coach around and that is something about the app that I really like is that it is tailored to my needs.

I started by doing their beginners program, which really just focused on the different breathing techniques and introduced me to skills like labeling, body scan, and visualization.

Labeling helps to return you from distractions. Essentially when you’re meditating, and your mind starts to wander, labeling can help you to identify that your mind has wandered in a neutral way and then bring you back to what you were focusing on.

Body scan allows you to notice sensations in your body and check in with how you’re feeling.

Visualization involves using your imagination and visual metaphors to become more aware or relaxed.

Throughout my meditation journey, I have learned so many more tools beyond those three skills, but Balance has really helped me to learn it in a very simple way.

You have guided meditations that start at only five minutes but as you progress through your programs, you get up to twenty minutes. I recently completed all the beginner, intermediate, and advanced level introduction courses, and I found that I now have a plethora of tools in my tool kit to help me focus and reduce my stress and anxiety.

I can’t say Balance meditations are the only thing that helped me to calm stress and anxiety and bring me to a better mental state, but it really has helped.

I even am now able to use the tools that Balance meditations have given me just throughout my day. Sometimes at work I need to take a quick break and I’ll do a little breath focus or moment of silence. When I go on walks outside, I try to focus on listening to the noises and focusing on the sites around me instead of being glued to my phone.

When I go to bed, I love their sleep journeys, especially the on the tracks meditation, which is a 30 minute visualization meditation centered around getting on a train and going on an adventure, but it takes place in different seasons, depending on how many times you do it!

I think utilizing Balance or some other similar program to get into meditation is one of the only ways I would’ve been able to do so. They really take what feels challenging and explain things in a very simple way. and There’s also a bit of gamification with a streak element of how many times you come back to do meditations and I think that has helped me to stay consistent, which is a big part of seeing the positive impacts of meditation.

Overall, I can say that in my meditation journey, I have seen the positive effects on my stress and anxiety levels. I have a set of tools that when my stress and anxiety begin to heighten, I now know how to mitigate them.

It’s not perfect by any means and it’s not going to solve all problems, but it has given me away to try and take a positive approach to handling my emotions, stress and anxiety, and I do feel it’s made a positive impact on me for the better.

Does Social Media Make Us Want to Over Consume?

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Hello Sunny Siders, today I wanted to talk about something that I have been noticing with the changes in my social media habits.

About half a year ago, I made a real conscious decision to limit my time on social media. I didn’t like knowing that most of my free time was being spent scrolling on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, and I wanted to put my energy into things that fueled me like new hobbies.

There has been lots of positives to a lower amount of time on social media, but the one I want to talk about today is engaging in massive amounts of capitalism, as this is something I had no idea just how good social media was at subliminally getting me to do.

In the months since I have stopped scrolling, my desire to buy everything new and trendy has diminished significantly, to the point where I have actively deep cleaned and made massive donation bins multiple times since I am embarrassed by the amount of random stuff I own. Being off social media really made me want to be more intentional with what I have in my home and I have moved away strongly from buying things that are trendy.

Another area I’ve noticed big changes is in my personal style. I always felt I had personal style, but I was so wrong! Social media was subtly influencing what I was wearing and decor I was buying even if I thought I wasn’t following a trend. In spending less time seeing other people over consume, I have started to find the items and clothes that I actually really love and appreciate and have started to get rid of the rest.

I’ve paired back on shoes, bags, clothes, and even coffee mugs in the months I haven’t been online.

Now, I am sure you are wondering how I can attribute all this change to lack of social media presence? Well, last month I re-downloaded TikTok to make a page for my small business to help it grow. In doing that I started spending time scrolling again and within days I was already finding myself wanting a new tote bag for work, to hop on the blind box Labubu trend, and to buy tons of little trinkets from small business owners.

Genuinely, it was scary how quickly my mind reverted to wanting to start buying things again and I wanted to share this experience with all of you as I thought it was highly important to make it aware that social media is likely encouraging you to constantly spend your money on things you don’t need or sometimes even want!

Naturally, as I was discovering this for myself, I wanted to see if there was any research to back my claim up. I found quite a few articles that talked about how social media encourages us to overspend and it boils down to the way that social media portrayals luxury as something that is far more affordable that it truly is. Additionally, services like by now, pay later encourage people and fuel this fantasy by allowing purchases to be made even when we might not have all the money to do so1. Since the adoption of the buy now button on Facebook in 2014, social media has become a marketers dream. Brands are flooding to social media sites to promote their products both in the traditional advertisement way and in ways that feel like content that was designed for the platforms via influencers. 78% of consumers on social media find that posts by a company encourage them to buy something, and that percentage is even higher when they see something that a friend has2,3.

1Source: InCharge.org

2Source: Forbes

3Source: Forbes

So the next time you are feeling like you want to buy just about everything to see on social media, know that it isn’t your fault the apps are designed in a may to encourage spending and it might just be time to put the phone down and do something else for awhile.

Just Saying Hello!

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Hey Sunny Siders, I hope you all have been doing well the past couple of months. I have been super busy the last few months as it is busy season for my job so I took a break from blogging, but I am excited to get back into in again!

I also took a break because I had this idea for a more research based blog that I wanted to be my next post, but the thought of doing more work during this very busy time made me unmotivated and overwhelmed.

So instead, I thought I’d start small and simple and work my way up to that more intense post when I am refueled and ready.

Today, I am just saying hi and thought with the growth in the blog it might be fun to do a little reintroduction!

For those who are new or need a refresher, Sunny Side Up With Siri started as a project to document my honest college experience and then transformed into a personal blog showcasing my hobbies, interests, and growth.

This blog has had many phases coinciding with my interests: fitness content, recipes, fashion, anime, drawing, and more over the past 5 and a half years.

Right now, I am new to the corporate life working my first 9 to 5 job learnings lots about setting boundaries, advocating for myself, and growing my career the way I want. It has been tough and I am not great at sticking up for myself, but each day I am learning more and more about navigating this new chapter of my life!

I recently started a small business selling my digitally drawn and then printed stickers. Sunny Sider Crafts has been such a learning experience and has allowed me to tap into my creativity in a new and exciting way. I am currently trying to get some cards ready for the upcoming holidays like Mothers and Fathers Day, but I cannot wait to get back into doodling for fun alongside my business designs.

Exercise is still a big part of who I am, but it has had many different phases since the inception of this blog. From high intense workouts daily, to slow walks for recovery and everything in between. Right now I have been doing lots of home workouts and prioritizing stretching since work leaves me very exhausted by the end of the day. Simple easy exercises during the week coupled with walks have been my norm. On weekends is when I spice it up by going to the gym and really sweating it out, whether that be a cycling session or weights. Being transparent, I’ve lost a lot of my strength in the last year shifting from school to full time employee due to low energy levels, but I am working hard to get back to a place that is healthy and manageable for me.

Fashion is still a fun one that I enjoy, but don’t experiment with as much as I used to. Now that I have my personal style locked in I don’t buy clothes nearly as much as I used to, meaning I am fully an outfit repeater. Interestingly, working a corporate job has also limited my wardrobe in that certain outfits I used to wear just aren’t appropriate at work (jeans, shots, skirts, etc). Since I spend most weekends at home, a lot of my favorite outfits don’t get worn as much as they used to, but I am working to change that on the few days I do go out during non working hours.

I still love anime, but the rate at which I am watching anime has slowed down dramatically. TV time has primarily been replaced with playing Stardew Valley with my friends instead, or reading, which I got into more thanks to my slow transition to a dumb phone user.

To all the new Sunny Siders and to those who have been with me since day one, I am so excited to keeping reinventing this blog to coincide with my passions, and I am even more excited to share those passions with you!

As I get back into blogging, get excited for more surrounding these core pillars of my personality as well as new and exciting areas that I am certain will crop up as I continue to grow.

So hello, I am Sunny Side Up With Siri and I am so happy you are here!

Story Time Saturday: My Crazy Car Story

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Hello Sunny Siders, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! Today I’m sharing my crazy car story that happened a few months ago. I honestly still can’t believe this happened that’s how wild the entire situation was.

The story starts when I was taking my car in for a routine oil change. I brought it to my car dealer on a Friday morning and by mid afternoon they had identified some other issues with the car during their diagnostic check that I needed to address.

My car was due for new tires, needed new brakes, and a coolant flush, normal things at the 70,000+ mile mark. What was the most shocking was that apparently my car axel was cracked and needed to be replaced. Obviously the axel on the car is imperative for driving and a hefty sum to be repaired, but I knew I needed to get it fixed.

My car has a warranty and luckily for the first time since I got the car, the warranty actually covered the axel repair! That cut the bill down by over $1500, as I still had tires and brakes to repair.

They go ahead and make all the fixes and I get my car back on Saturday. Sunday, I drive home from visiting my brother to get ready for the next week.

Fast forward a few days to Wednesday and as I’m driving to work I’m stopped in traffic. I go to hit the gas and my car revs to a 4. Now, this felt very weird for barely touching the gas. I tried again and same thing, I’m going about 10 miles an hour and the engine is revving to a 4+.

I pull over and turn off the car, turn it back and now my car doesn’t move at all! So, I do what any girl would do in this situation… call dad. My dad helps me get a game plan together which started with calling a Toyota car dealer near me (my car dealer for maintenance is back where I went to college) to see if I could get an appointment to find out what’s going on with my car. Next I called AAA to get a tow truck and had the car towed to the Toyota dealer that I had just made an appointment with. Finally, I called my actual car dealer and explained how I had just been in for maintenance and now my car isn’t driving.

In the tow truck I am talking to the driver, he used to be a mechanic and he tells me he thinks it’s my cars axel, now as I mentioned a few paragraphs earlier I had just had my axel replaced so I thought there’s no way that could be the problem… right?

WRONG!

The Toyota dealer finds that the spring that holds the axel in place was missing or fell out because it hadn’t been installed properly! They had to fix the axel and run another full set of diagnostics on the car, charges of upwards of $700.

Naturally, I’m fuming at this point because I just had the axel replaced and my car dealer hadn’t installed the axel properly! Fortunately, I was able to get ahold of them and my technician who had serviced my car. He got the manager involved and they ended up paying the Toyota dealership for the $700 of charges caused by their oversight.

While I’m happy they helped to rectify the situation, needless to say that’s not enough to make me ever want to go back there. Time to find a new car dealer for maintenance!

Some Very Exciting News

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Hey Sunny Siders, I know it’s been ages since my last blog post. However, I wanted to come on here and say that all of that is about to change! There are some very important announcements and changes coming, so I wanted to fill you in on the future of Sunny Side With Siri!

Essentially, I’ve been MIA for the last 4 months because I had the amazing opportunity to work as an intern at The Walt Disney Company starting in January.

As some of you may know, I was also pursuing an MBA so this was my first instance of working full time and being a full time graduate student.

Clearly, from the lack of content you can piece together what happened: I was so busy with work and school that I had to put everything else on the back burner for awhile.

BUT… it’s finally over, because in less than a week I will be graduating with my MBA! I am still working at The Walt Disney Company as an intern, but now I finally have evens and weekends to relax and do what I want to do!

I am sure you’re wondering, what does this mean for the blog?

Well, for the first time since I started this blog back in August of 2019, I am going to have dedicated time to focus on it! Starting today, I’m going to work to post one blog a week. I’m thinking these will be shared on Sundays as a fun way to start the week.

Some weeks if I’m feeling it I may post more, but I’m going to hold myself accountable to one blog a week for as long as I can going forward.

If you’ve been around since the beginning I used to do monthly:

Motivational Mondays

Workout Wednesdays

Foodie Fridays

Story time Saturdays

I’m going to try and bring these back as well. I am not sure if I’ll do all of them every month, but I am going to try and start bringing them back now that I have the time to do so!

I’m so very excited to start this next chapter, and even more excited to bring my Sunny Siders along with me. For now, I’m going to leave you with a list of upcoming content to look forward to in the next few weeks/months!

All About My Disney Internship

Working and Being a Student Full Time is No Joke

My Crazy Car Story

I Was Diagnosed With Stress: Let’s Talk About That

My Golden Birthday Recap

Current Workout Regiment

How I’m Preparing for Summer 2024

Day in My Life Blog: MBA Graduation Edition

What My Life is Like Post Grad

My Recent Thrift Finds

Random tips/tricks my grandma taught me

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Hey Sunny Siders, hope you’re having a wonderful start to 2024! I just spent the last month with my grandmother as she came to visit and it truly was a wonderful time! She’s Sunny Side with Siri’s #1 fan, and I wanted to share some fun things she taught me during our time together! Oh, and give her major props for completing all 25 days of the Blogmas fitness challenge!

How to properly make your bed

Now, it’s not like I didn’t know how to make my bed before this. But, I had no idea that there was a specific corner of the mattress that the tag on the fitted sheet, top sheet, and comforter should go! My grandma informed me that that bottom left corner is the proper corner for all the tags to be placed! It’s honestly helped me so much, especially with the fitted sheet which I always struggle to get it on properly the first time around. Thanks to this tip, I haven’t had an issue making my bed since!

How to open heavy duty blinds

Once again this may seem silly, but I didn’t know there was a particular way to avoid breaking/messing up heavy duty blinds. Apparently with big, heavy blinds, you must open the shutters half way before lifting or lowering the blinds. This prevents the chords from breaking, getting tangled, or breaking the blinds! I literally had no idea this was how this style of blind system worked, I just always thought the blinds in my apartment were broken!

How to create your own proofing oven

I was baking bread at and my oven doesn’t have a proofing setting. I had never made this particular bread without a proofing oven so I was worried about how the bread would turn out. My grandma taught me that you can make your own proofing oven by boiling water and placing it in a pan on the bottom rack of your oven. Then, place your dough on the top rack and close the oven door. This will make a make shift proofing oven without needing anything fancy. This was revolutionary, and honestly was better than the proofing setting I had been using prior!

You shouldn’t be ashamed to admit you like receiving gifts (Blogmas Day 8)

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Hey Sunny Siders, today I wanted to chat about a topic I’ve seen going around for a few years now. I’ve noticed a lot of people entertaining this narrative that they don’t like receiving gifts, just giving them.

Truthfully, I think this is absolute garbage. There is no way all of the sudden tons of people hate receiving gifts, but loving giving them. I think we all enjoy both activities equally, but we are afraid to admit it.

I think people are afraid to admit they enjoy receiving gifts because of the connotations we have started placing around the act of receiving gifts. Instead of being excited and grateful, we have started to attribute liking gifts to being selfish, greedy, and narcissistic. But frankly, this is so far from the truth.

Sure, it might feel weird that all of the attention is on you when you are receiving a gift, but that doesn’t make you a narcissistic, greedy person for being excited to see what someone got you. Enjoying receiving gifts comes from the excitement to see what other people in your life know about you. Have they listened to what you’re interested in throughout the year? Did they remember some random comment in passing about a pair of shoes you liked? Was the handmade gift they created so personal, your eyes welled up with joy? These are all wonderful emotions we get to experience from receiving gifts, but we’ve been conditioned to believe that enjoying it is wrong.

Now, I actually really love giving gifts. I love putting lots of thought into ideas for what my friends and family might enjoy. I love finding super creative gifts that I know the person I’m buying for would never think to purchase for their self. I love seeing how excited people get over the gifts I purchased. But, I also love receiving gifts just as much. Some of my favorite things I own were gifts I’ve received, like my authentic demon slayer stills, my custom made Club Penguin record, and my phone soap. I love talking about these things and telling others “oh my brother made that for me” or “this is my favorite gadget that my mom bought me.”

This is how I think most of us actually are. We love to be on both ends, giving and receiving when it comes to gifts. We shouldn’t be ashamed because neither one of these things is better than the other, we’ve just conditioned ourselves to think that way. So this holiday season, I encourage you to not feel embarrassed about enjoying receiving or giving gifts, instead focus on what matters expressing and showing gratitude to the people in your life you care about most.

Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

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Hey Sunny Siders, today I want to talk about getting out of your comfort zone since I’ve been doing this a lot lately.

I think as we grow older we find it easier and more comforting to stick with our usual routines, never venturing out to try something new. This is a stark contrast to when we are children, constantly trying any new sport, activity, or hobby as we determine what we like and don’t like.

This aspect of getting uncomfortable and pushing yourself to do something you normally wouldn’t try is really important for personal growth and development. Just because you’re no longer a child doesn’t mean you are stuck doing the same old same old for the rest of your life.

Here are some ways I’ve been getting out of my own personal comfort zone lately:

Fitness Classes

An area that I’ve been experimenting with a lot is group fitness classes. Just this semester I’ve started taking spin, pilates, and barre through my schools fitness center. I used to be intimidated by group classes because I was nervous about being compared to others. But, I’ve found that they are so great for pushing yourself and holding yourself accountable. I have been significantly more consistent with my workouts because I don’t want to let myself down by missing a class. It’s also been a great way to meet new people and make friends, after all the bond created over pain from a workout is like no other!

Cooking new recipes

As someone who doesn’t naturally enjoy cooking, I tend to stick to a few basic recipes that I feel comfortable I won’t ruin. But, I’ve been pushing myself to try new recipes to prove to myself that cooking isn’t as scary as I make it out to be. Some of my favorite recipes I’ve tried lately are sheet pan gnocchi, creamy cajun pasta, and homemade Cava bowls. Each time I make a new recipe it boosts my confidence in my ability to cook nourishing meals.

Walking around a city at night

I recently took a trip to Boston to visit my cousin and was asked if I wanted to join on a night walk around the city. Before, I would have immediately said no, as the fear from “what ifs” would have run rampant in my mind. This time however, I wanted to take a chance and had confidence that if my cousin could do this every day, I could give it a try. I ended up really loving that night, as it was so fun to experience the city at night with my cousin.

Trying new foods

Latlely, I haven’t just been cooking new recipes, I’ve been trying new foods too. Sometimes we let the fear of something tasting bad hold us back from finding something we really enjoy. For me, there were a few foods that I had always perceived to be “gross” that I actually really liked: oysters and fried clams. Another food that I had always wanted to try but never had the opportunity was authentic sushi, you know the rice topped with raw fish and nothing else. I was so excited to try it and wow I’m so glad I did because it was amazing!

Networking with people

The last area I’m going to share has to do with networking. I am more introverted in nature, so going out and talking to strangers isn’t high on my priority list. However, going into business connections are critical for career advancement and success. So I’ve started pushing myself to talk with people who are established and talented in their fields to learn and grow myself. At first it was scary, I was worried people would think I was dumb or not worthy of their time. I’m actuality, people are so open to helping the incoming workforce, and they can provide such integral support and encouragement for success. I have so many business professionals cheering me on and providing with with tips and ways to improve and it’s all because I took a chance and didn’t let fear hold me back.

Why Hobbies Are Just as Important as Work Experience

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Hey Sunny Siders, today I want to delve into a topic that I believe most of us are familiar with: Resumes. I’m sure that everyone here has crafted a resume at some point in their life, but I bet only a handful of you have ever considered including your hobbies on a resume. I’m here to share why you might want to reconsider adding your hobbies to your resume; it could very well be the reason you secure an interview in the first place.

This summer, I applied to become a Graduate Assistant at my university. The process is quite straightforward: basic information, a checkbox of your current skills, and submission of a resume. I decided to include “Canva Design Tool and WordPress Web Design” in the “Skills” section of my resume. These are skills that I didn’t acquire through work or school, but rather skills I picked up when I started running this blog back in 2019!

I had wanted to initiate a blog to document my college experience for friends and family, allowing them to share in my journey. I invested time in learning how to create drop-down tabs on the Homepage, incorporate photos and banners, design a logo that encapsulates the essence of the blog, and much more. For those of you who have been long-time readers, you probably remember the @/sunnysidewithsiri Instagram account that supported this page. I employed Canva to craft graphics to complement posts and enhance the overall content engagement. These skills were cultivated not due to a job or school, but rather because of my passion and interest in managing a blog.

Fast forward and I recently received a call to interview for the position of Webmaster at my business school. I didn’t land this interview solely because of my prior work experience or education. The interview came my way because I listed WordPress as a skill in my toolkit. This blog not only secured me an interview but also clinched me the job – something I never could have imagined in a million years!

The takeaway here is that just because something is a hobby doesn’t mean it isn’t equipping you with valuable skills that can be applied elsewhere. Even if your hobby doesn’t yield concrete skills to add to a resume, it might still be cultivating intangible skills that prove invaluable during the interview process. A great example is someone who engages in ceramics as a hobby, like me. Ceramics has taught me patience and the importance of meticulous planning from the initial design phase to execution. It has also honed my problem-solving abilities and encouraged me to discover fresh, creative solutions when a project encounters setbacks. Although I didn’t learn these skills on the job, they are still transferable and set me apart from others.

So, the next time you’re updating your resume to apply for a job, take a moment to consider the skills you’ve gained just by indulging in the activities you love on a day-to-day basis. Who knows, you might just end up securing a job due to a hobby, just like I did!

Lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to every one of you for following and supporting this blog over the years. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t have landed my new job if it weren’t for every Sunny Sider! You all are truly amazing, and I hope you realize just how thankful I am for sticking around as this blog has evolved. To the new Sunny Siders, welcome aboard. I sincerely hope you derive as much enjoyment from the content as I do from creating it!