End of the Year, What We Did in 2019
A new decade and 8 years of marriage. 2019 was an astonishing year!
As many of you know, every year the Ward family picks a food that we do not like and commits to eating that food as much as we can. The hope is that through forcing ourselves to try new things we will open our culinary horizons and grow in our appreciation of the food. 2019 was the year of the olive, and what a fitting food to symbolize this amazing year. Just as an olive goes through a rigorous journey to become a table-worthy delight, our year proved to be full of fruit, curing, and patience.
I can thankfully say that our yearly experiment has proved to be a wonderful success. We now enjoy olives, but even more importantly we were challenged in 2019 to grow and the result was a beautiful year. As a reflection of gratitude we would like to share some of our biggest highlights from our 7th year of marriage.
Productivity in 2019
Shelby Landed a Job at School of Motion
In January Shelby landed her first big kid job. Up until this point she had been a freelancer who edited video, designed PDFs, and shot photography. She was in the freelance hustle for 2 years after graduating in 2016, but after a few months of freelancing at School of Motion, Shelby was asked to join the full-time team as a Customer Support Lead.
She quickly realized how much she loves helping folks and creating a unique and lovely online experience. Since coming on the team the entire department has grown and thrived. It's been an exciting learning experience professionally and she has grown SO MUCH this year and wouldn't trade it for the world.
An added benefit in working at School of Motion is we get to work together every day. We are often asked if it is difficult to work with your spouse and the answer for us is 'not at all'. We love the many ways in which we get to collaborate at School of Motion and look forward to helping artists and dreamers continue to grow in 2020.
A Place to Focus and Network
Early in the year we joined a new co-working space in Koreatown called Ethos Society. The building has some of the best views in Los Angeles, and through our time there we have met fantastic friends in the world of TV, Film, Animation, Food, and Investing. The space is truly a great cross-section into the professional landscape in Los Angeles and we have been greatly blessed by the hospitality, inspiration, and unlimited cold brew.
Caleb would like to note that he met one of his food heroes, Steven Lim from Worth It, at Ethos Society.
'Business' Travel
Traveling with School of Motion is always one part work and many more parts fun. We were graciously given the opportunity to travel for work down to Orlando to the Keyframes Conference where we visited Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. It was here that we got some quality time with the likes of Chris Do of the futur, Haley Akins of Motion hatch, Abbie Bascilla of Frame.io, and many more new friends. We also hit up Epcot for a MoGraph tour around the world with Luis Miranda, Shea Lord, and Amanda Cabán.
Caleb had a chance to see Seattle and visit the headquarters of Puget Systems, a computer manufacture who design and assemble computers for designers, animators, and more. While in Seattle we shot a documentary outlining where we built the fastest After Effects computer in the world. After the video was shot he visited Adobe's headquarters with Joey to have some quality time with the creators of After Effects, just a week after their Oscar win. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
Soon after we attended School of Motion's annual team retreat in Los Vegas where we met our rapidly growing team, toured the Hover Dam, and networked with some of the hardest working folks in MoGraph. While in Vegas we had a chance to host an incredible party with over 350+ Motion Designers, tour the strip, and visit the always-incredible NAB conference. We also snuck in a brunch at Bouchon, our favorite French bistro.
We visited Rhode Island to have a great brainstorming session with Alaena, Zach, and Brittany, three awesome members of the School of Motion team. While in Rhode Island we were thrilled to tour around the charming streets of Providence while consuming as much seafood bread as possible. We also stayed in bunk beds while we were there, which was very exciting.
Later in the year Caleb made his first trip up to Vancouver to attend the Blend conference. While at the event he met hundreds of some of the most dedicated Motion Designers in the industry, many who have been a source of inspiration for him over the years. The event was a masterclass in how to throw a fun conference and the inspiration and insight shared at Blend has continued to inspire and motivate long after the conference ended. Caleb was also able to do a little sight seeing in Vancouver, where he saw a steam powered clock.
The work events closed out the year at AdobeMAX where the marketing team and Joey flew to LA to attend one of the world's largest creativity conferences. The conference featured the likes of Billie Eilish, Dave Grohl, M. Knight Shamalan, Mr. Doodle, Aaron Draplin, and more. Like most major events in the Motion Design community, School of Motion hosted a party which drew in dozens of Motion Designers.
Changing the Creative Industry
Over the last five years Caleb has had a single professional mission, to help and inspire artists around the world. This relentless pursuit of empathy-filled content creation has led him to develop the content for the world's most helpful filmmaking blog at PremiumBeat, After Effects blog at Rocketstock, and now the Motion Design blog at School of Motion. After hitting the 800 article mark this year Caleb has been given the chance to step back from day-to-day content creation to focus on strategy and other areas of marketing including paid advertising, funnel development, nurturing campaigns, and more.
School of Motion's skyrocketing success over the last few years has been an incredible experience. We have seen growth session after session, and there's no sign of that momentum slowing down.
Never did Caleb ever think that less than a decade after learning about After Effects for the first time that he would get a private tour Adobe's headquarters in Seattle, compile a book with the help of Ryan Honey a co-founder of Buck (and 12 other studio owners), book GMUNK for a podcast, grab drinks with Beeple, work alongside EJ Hassenfratz, and chat it up with Andrew Kramer of Video Copilot in the same year. These incredible opportunities were only possible thanks to the generosity and kindness of Joey and the entire School of Motion team.
It's a truly rewarding feeling to know that you are appreciated as you work alongside incredible folks. In 2019 Caleb’s work helped and inspired literally millions of artists, but this is only the tip of the iceberg...
Curious Refuge is Live!
If you're reading this article you’re on Curious Refuge — Welcome! This website was born out of our desire to bring the excitement and enthusiasm of our home to the world. What started as VFX City, a home for indie VFX artists, has evolved to encompass our many passions and desires. After much thought and prayer we landed on the name Curious Refuge, created a content plan, and designed this site. Please browse around and let us know what you think. We also have a weekly newsletter that will be full of optimistic and inspiring links.
Curious Refuge will be a home for those who desire to never stop growing. While Curious Refuge is still small potatoes compared to some of the brands we've worked with in the past, we have gigantic plans for this site in 2020.
Our Food Journey in 2019
Eating at Home
We try to keep things interesting when it comes to food, especially when eating at home. This year we began subscribing to Blue Apron and this helped elevate our meals and maintain some excitement! We love that if you subscribe to the Blue Apron dinners and wine - they help you to match the wine with the meal you are about to enjoy!
Here are some meals we made at the house in 2019, you can follow along with these meals as we post them to Instagram using the hashtag #wardssetatable - we always go for that overhead flat lay look, whether it works to make the food look appetizing or not, when you see that style of photo, it's a sure sign that you are seeing a Ward dinner at it's best!
Learning from the World's Best Chef
Caleb had read the 4 Hour Chef by Tim Farris last summer and began implementing some of these skills in the kitchen. In 2019 we also subscribed to Masterclass. Watching Chef Thomas Keller's course makes the entire subscription worth it! His mashed potatoes made through a mesh drum sieve became a staple with our steak dinners this year.
We also learned how to make Bonchon this year thanks to our good friend Maurianna setting up a cooking lesson with Chef Lisa. This was an enlightening experience and taught us that we have so much more to learn.
We also were able to go to an amazing cake creation class at Milk Bar for Caleb’s birthday.
Our First Food Content
We published our first article and video related to food content! And went through dozens and dozens of eggs experimenting with different recipes.
Speaking of eggs, Caleb tried deviled eggs for the first time this year. This was a big moment. So grand that the ornament for 2019 was a tray of deviled eggs.. you can find such a thing at the marvelous Sur la Table.
Our Favorite Cook Books in 2019
Here are some cookbooks that inspired us in 2019 that we will continue to dig into during the new decade:
Our Favorite Los Angeles Restaurants in 2019
We tried a few notable LA restaurants in 2019, we will rank them below!
Here's looking at you
Animal
Tsubaki
Alameda
Tartine Bianco
OpenAir
Bavel
Alimento
Bestia
Ma'am Sir
Although not the same caliber in terms of write up, Tocaya has been our most favorite go-to place in 2019! Lots of Margs and guac... hence Shelby's end of the year ornament for our Christmas tree.
We also had the chance to explore around our neighborhood in Koreatown, finding many great hidden gems.
HCafe
Koreatown Pizza
Food Truck - Torros Tacos
King of New York Pizza
Alchemist
Alfreds at the Line
Food Hall in Koreatown
Quarters
The interesting thing about dining out is there are so many factors that cater to the experience. One of our favorite dining experiences that we had this year was when the Pettit family came to town. While they were here we went to Raffi's place, an Arabic food restaurant that has some of the best food and service in LA. When we got there everyone was worn out and hungry and they gave us the best seat in the house, right next to the heater. We all tried something new and shared it together - this added to the experience. These are the beautiful, unplanned moments that we live for. It's all about grace and perfect timing, a little gift from heaven. We had a few of those experiences when Shelby’s brother was in town and we’re super thankful!
Visitors in 2019
We hosted so many incredible folks in 2019! We are forever grateful for the peeps that decided to reach out and stay with us and hang out during their time in Los Angeles! We are so thrilled to have this many fun-loving people to call our friends and family!
Granny dipping her toes in the Pacific Ocean.
In 2020 we will be hosting our sweet friend Lee, he is the most joy-filled human and we've missed him a ton this last 6 months since he moved to Portland! Our Friend Luis will be coming in town to check out the new Star Wars ride at Disneyland and Caleb's younger siblings will fly out together for the first time, woohoo!! We plan on hitting up the theme parks while they are in town and building lightsabers. It is going to be a blast. That's only in January so I imagine we are in for another beautiful year of hosting and celebrating those around us!
The Year of Theme Parks
The carousel that inspired Walt - Griffith Park
We will forever be theme park nerds and this year we went to as many epic theme parks as we could. We were blessed with the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World in February where we toured the world at Epcot and made some lovely new friends. We went to Gringotts and enjoyed the beauty that is Diagon Ally at Universal Studios Orlando. We said farewell to our Universal Hollywood season passes by going to the park the very last day that our pass allowed us to! But we're not too sad about it... because we are now proud season pass holders to Disneyland thanks to the generosity of some friends.
The magical things that happen at Disneyland are unreal! While at the park on a random Saturday we were able to see Imagineer Tony Baxter, the day after watching the documentary about him creating Big Thunder Mountain (On that note, we HIGHLY recommend checking out the Imagineering Story on Disney Plus). We accidentally came across the Candlelight Processional in which we listened as Lin Manuel Miranda read us the Christmas story as the Disney Choir of 300+ people accompanied and sang Christmas songs.
We also had the pleasure to go go to Disneyland with Irina on her birthday, Christmas Day! By the end of the day it was raining and the park was almost entirely empty. It was a surreal experience to walk around the park with virtually nobody there, that was all-the-more magical by a chance encounter with a stranger who kindly prayed blessing and encouragement over us in front of the castle.
Needless to say we are incredibly stoked about the season passes and it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if we add a whole Disneyland section to our blog
Our theme park adventure was also aided by a visit to Walt Disney’s barn at Griffith Park. Inside were the actual tools and trains that Walt used to fuel his imagination and ultimately dream up Disneyland. Pair Walt’s barn experience with our many visits to the actual carousel that inspired Disneyland it was truly a year that was divinely geared to fueling our theme park love.
Los Angeles Adventures
Nothing will top the incredible Christmas party at Disneyland, but we were thrilled to attend SO many other events in 2019. When building out this recap we were humbled and incredibly grateful for the things we've seen and the experiences we had in 2019!
Hikes in 2019
Hikes are healing - we try to go as often as we can! Here are some of the views from our most favorite hikes in Los Angeles!
Oh, cool story time! On one of our hikes we made a friend who is an actress on Grey's Anatomy! Shelby is a huge fan of the show and became a bit nervous after finding out the occupation of our new hiking friend, Joanna. She said she didn't want to bombard Joanna with questions like, "Is Shondaland incredible or what? What's it really like, is Ellen Pompello ready to retire? Is Sandra Oh ever coming back?" We spared Joanna the questions…
Incredible Books We Read in 2019
This year we both read many books — more than either of us have read in previous years of marriage! It's been incredibly helpful for our growth. We recommend the following books which are ranked by their impact on our lives.
Gifts of Imperfection
The Artists Way
The War of Art
4 Hour Work Week
Eat That Frog
A Complaint Free World
The Alchemist
Boundaries
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Girl, Wash your Face
We are looking to add many more books to our reading list in 2020! Email us if you have recommendations about what we should read!
Our Napa Trip
For our vacation this year we went to Napa, and it was a very relaxing, needed vacation! We took really long mornings journaling and spending time in God's word, praying about the future and in many ways felt inspired towards that future. We enjoyed delicious meals, drank wine, and even rode some horses. Check out these professional-looking horseback riders. We left Napa feeling refreshed, inspired, and ready to buy a winery. Now where did we put that spare $50 Million dollars?…
Health Wins
We've embraced a ton of healthy habits in 2019, eating at home, going on hikes, reading, journaling, going to therapy, I (Shelby) have lost 50 pounds this year and it seems that these habits are really paying off. Caleb has implemented a daily habit of meditating, journaling, reading & prayer, helping him to organize his thoughts and process the different challenges that come up in day-to-day life.
Goals and Hopes for 2020
As you can see it had been a heck of a year. We feel tremendously blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude for all of these things! We've been walking through challenging things this year but God has been so near to us through it all. We are incredibly optimistic that the things ahead are bright and we're excited to see where 2020 takes us!
In 2020 we will continue to push into health physically, spiritually, and emotionally, sharing the journey every step of the way. Shelby's continued momentum in health has already led her to run a 10K and she hopes to do even more in 2020. Caleb is excited to develop a consistent work-out routine as this is currently not an active part of his day-to-day life. We both are looking forward to getting spiritual and business mentors. Also, in 2019 we wrote a few worship songs and we hope to release an EP in 2020 featuring some of these lyrics.
We are excited to see all of the incredible things that happen on this site and in our lives in 2020. Together we will thrive, spring-boarding off an incredible year of growth. Cheers to the New Year!
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Taking in the views of Big Sur on our drive back from Napa. “Hey guys.. the good part is the other way.. turn around”.