It's Been a While...

I started this blog back in 2020 with every intention on being consistent in writing and sharing my thoughts and journey... Well, 2020 had very different plans. Not just for me, but I think we can all agree that 2020 threw everyone a curve ball. I am just now finally starting to readjust to life in general. Not only did Covid happen... for everyone. But a lot has happened for me personally.

Let's recap the last 2 years in a few words: travel, mental health, growth, loss and disappointment. In 2020, we started working from home. I volunteered to help my company make face shields for essential workers. Travel plans were cancelled. Easter via WebEx. Stuck in the house with very limited contact with the outside world. Feelings of abandonment, mental breakdown. Therapy and healing. Regaining control and getting back to regularly scheduled programming. Then we enter 2021, Devyn turns 4. Planning for Africa trip. A fun filled summer. Boom, summer is over and Devyn and I get Covid. Two stays in the hospital for me and I finally recover. Then we're off to the Caribbean on a cruise for Thanksgiving. We slide through Christmas right into 2022 and Devyn is 5 now. Where has the time gone, she was a baby seems like yesterday... New Orleans for a ball, call me Cinderella. My dad's health has declined drastically, spending a lot of time with family. Dad passes and here we are.

Travel:

One of my 2020 resolutions was to visit 40 countries by my 40th birthday, which gave me 5 years to visit 33 countries! I actually started a post about this journey I was excited to take. I knew it was a lot, but I love to travel, so I was ready for the challenge. At the beginning of 2020, I had already had a vacation planned for Costa Rica with my daughter. Unfortunately, those plans were cancelled and so were all travel plans for 2020. But in 2021... I went to Africa (Senegal and Gambia to be exact) for 2 weeks. With strangers at that! But it was an amazing experience! Later in 2021, my daughter and I we on our 1st cruise! We went to the Bahamas, US Virgin Islands, and St. Maarten. Now that travel is back in full force, I definitely plan to try to get all this traveling in. Now it's 2022, I my daughter and I just took a trip to Jamaica before school started for her. I really wanted to do another cruise or vacation during Thanksgiving with my daughter, make it a tradition, but doesn't seem to be working in our favor. But 2023, I already have a few travel plans lined up. A tropical trip with my sisters, to celebrate my little baby sisters college graduation. She's 24 now, so not so little baby anymore, I know. We also are in the planning stages of a family vacation with my mom's side. So there is definitely more to come on the traveling aspect of my journey! And I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Mental Health :

After a few months of lockdown during Covid, my mental health really took a hit. The first few months were okay, I enjoyed working from home. Devyn and I went on walks during my lunch break. I was spending more time with her. I'm more of a homebody type anyway, so I really thought I would thrive during lockdown. We did Easter via Zoom which was cool to still be able to have conversation with the family. We did weekly Bingo with the family via Zoom too! It was a lot of fun. But after a few months, my mental health really took a hit. I started getting feelings of abandonment. I spiraled into a deep depression. But I sought out help. I couldn't do it alone and I found a therapist that I really liked and connected with. She really helped me uncover some truths and trauma that I hadn't dealt with and I started my healing journey. I also started seeing a psychiatrist and started new medicines. I had to go through a few different medicines but I think we finally found something that seems to be working for me. More to come on my mental health journey.

Loss and other bad news:

This year, 2022, has been difficult. My dad passed away over the summer and the months leading up to his passing were extremely hard on my family. It's weird how life works. You lose someone you love and you're just expected to go back to work after 3 days. I'm still processing my grief and my feelings and emotions are all over the place and very dependent on the day and my mood. But, in addition to losing my dad, my family has received bad news about 2 other close family members. That's all I will say for now on this subject, but ask you pray for my family. We need it.

Growth:

Despite all the challenges that have been put in front of me this year, I decided that I need to get back to myself. Growing, committing to things that I started, and starting things that I've thought about for a long time. So the last few months... I've been doing just that. I've been 'writing' a children's book for a few years now, but never finished it. I finally finished it! And it wasn't perfect, but I did it! And it's published and sold on Amazon. If you're interested, you can find it here. I've also been writing a dating book, which I've been writing since my late 20's (I'm 37 now) so it's definitely time to focus on it and finish it. It's based on my experiences dating while being plus size... It's been an interesting ride to say the least. More to come on that. Finally, with such a love and passion for travelling, I decided to become a travel consultant. I'm still learning the process and systems, but am definitely excited about this new venture! The world is so amazing and traveling to see new sights and learning about new cultures are something that everyone should experiences. So if you should be interested in travel, let me help you find your next vacation spot!

That's all for now, but the plan is to make this a more consistent venture. Thanks for reading!