I know I have been MIA in the last several months. I think it is time to give a life update. Once I returned from my European/Moroccan travels last summer, I ended up having to return to Europe several more times for personal reasons. This meant flying roundtrip to Europe twice after already spending 3 months of full-time travel. As a result, by the time I returned to Miami at the end of October, I was exhausted from all of the travel. For the first time in my life, I could honestly say I did not want to travel in the near future.
Since we agreed to settle down in Miami for 1 year, we had to search for a place to live. I was surprised by the high cost of rent. It was easily more than $3000 for a 1-bedroom apartment. Most of them seemed too small for me for 2 people to live in. I am fine living in small places such as in Europe temporarily. But as a permanent place, I wanted it to be spacious and have enough closet and kitchen space. We explored different areas but eventually decided on a place that is close to my family but conveniently by the metro, for my husband to have easy access to downtown. We got a more affordable price since we moved in during December which is off-season. It took additional time to get the place furnished as well.
Additionally, after 7 years of not having a car, I went car shopping. I have always been a car enthusiast and had my eye on the Porsche Macan SUV. After test driving the different versions of the Macan (Sport, GTS, regular), I was very disappointed. The car didn’t drive that great for the price tag. In fact, the Mercedes AMG was way faster and sportier for significantly less. I don’t like big SUVs. I really enjoyed the Mercedes glc300 AMG. It was a perfect size and speed for me. However, I would be sharing the car with my husband since I work remotely and don’t need a car every day. Since my husband is a new driver (they walk/take public transportation in Europe), I didn’t feel comfortable getting the AMG because it is too powerful of a car for a new driver. Especially with the crazy driving of Miami.
So we ended up getting the Mercedes GLC300 (without the AMG), silver verde 2026. I brought my dad and husband to negotiate for me, but turns out I am the better negotiator. I guess all of those years negotiating locum tenens contracts benefited me. My mind was still on pre-covid car prices so my dad kept reminding me that the price I had in mind was too low. But I got the price lower than anyone expected J
After not working for 3-4 months, I jumped back into telemedicine. December was extremely busy, since everyone across the country had influenza. My job kept giving incentive bonuses to work and I think I worked 50 hours each week. I even worked on Christmas eve and new years eve which is a first for me, just because the incentives were so worth it. I ended up making the most I have ever made in one month which was a whopping $50k! That’s how busy it was at work that month and I was definitely burned out by the end.
Hence, those are the reasons I have been MIA. Not to mention we decided to have a Happily Ever After Party to celebrate our marriage last minute. More on that in the next post. Update me on your lives as well!
