Month: December 2021

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Year in Review, Photo Edition

It is the last day of 2021. Parts of this year flew by and other parts dragged on so slowly. I lost parts of it completely. And other parts are vivid in my mind. The one good thing is I take pictures. Pictures that allows me to recall places, events and other things. Here is parts of my past year in pictures and quotes.

Lobster rolls at Slapfish, Hilton Head Island, SC

If you are trying to impress me with your vehicle, it better be a food truck. – Unknown
Faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that He will. – Unknown
Bill, Fellow MS Warrior

The struggle is real, but so are the blessings. – Unknown
Dinner at Benchmark Restaurant

Marry the one who gives you the same feelings you have when you see your food coming in a restaurant. – Unknown
Onion’s Graduation

This is your reminder that you are powerful beyond measure. – Unknown
Chalupa and my mom at Hamilton at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA

I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry and I’m not throwing away my shot. – Lin Manuel Miranda
ATVs with Onion and my mom in the Mojave Desert

Let your faith be bigger than your fear. – Unknown
My first podcast feature

When God sees your trying, he will handle the rest. – Unknown
Winter sunset at the Wright Family Park, Bluffton, SC

You mastered survival mode. Now it’s time to live. – Unknown
Onyx Cafe in Toledo, OH

If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever. – David Letterman
I will choose courage over fear when it comes to how I open my heart to love. – Morgan Harper Nichols
Day Ones in Las Vegas, Nevada

If you aren’t in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback. – Brene Brown
Bar Louie in Perrysburg, OH

Food is our common ground, a universal experience. – James Beard
Putting together my Alinker bike I received from the donations of very special people through my crowdfunding campaign.

If you are going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill
Franklin Conservatory

I am going to do the best I can with what I got. – Mariah Carey
Day Ones in Dallas, TX

And when we both get older, with walking canes and hair of grey. Have no fear, even though it’s hard to hear. I will stand real close and say, thank you for being a friend. – Golden Girl Theme
Article in Vivyd Magazine

I’m not even the best me yet. – Unknown

Thank you all for rocking this year out with me. Being patient as I went through my own personal dramas and growths. Tuning back in after I took months off. Believing in me and encouraging me. For any part you have played in my life, I thank you. I appreciate you. I love you. Be well and whole. Much love 🧡 💚

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Merry Christmas 2021

Blurred Photo of the Christmas Tree at the Martin Family Park in Bluffton, SC

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you get everything you needed and some of what you wanted.

Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡💚

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It Ain’t Over!

Walkway to Coligny Beach, Hilton Head Island, SC

A few of my friends and I have a group chat. The group chat is serious. Seriously funny, seriously crazy, seriously uplifting and sometimes just serious. You never want to open it at work, in school or anywhere that you can’t bust out laughing. Recently we set our 6 month goals in the chat. That was fun. Then we came to the realization that Christmas is less than 2 weeks away, which also means the new year is right behind it. Here was my response.

“NO! 2021 is almost over and I am struggling to figure out what I did this year besides not die.”

Now I said that a little jokingly, but it is seriously true. I did have Covid and I am still here, Thank God. Also, I do struggle with giving myself credit for the things I have done when I look back and see the things I haven’t done. A negative way of thinking that I need to work on, along with so many other things 🙄😆. I’m going to get there one day y’all.

But the year is not over yet. You and I still have time to complete a couple smaller goals. To have a few more life experiences that will brighten our day. Love lights like I do, bundle up and go see them. Or find a drive through light display near you. The kids are out of school and you are off work? Think of a day trip activity or place to visit. Haven’t seen a friend or family member lately? Schedule a Zoom call, grab some snacks and a cocktail and catch up with them. There is a movie that you and a friend want to see? If you are comfortable, mask up, reserve seats at the theater and go check it out. Or use the group watch feature on Disney Plus.

I think we are always focused on the big accomplishments and goals. We miss the little things right in front of us. I have just as much fun going out to dinner, laughing and talking, with my friends as I do when we take trips together. I get just as excited to see Christmas lights throughout my neighborhood as I do seeing lights from the window seat in an airplane. These are moments I do not take for granted.

The world is literally at our fingertips, yet we don’t take advantage of it. I know the pandemic has changed the way we used to live life. I know, it sucks. But we cannot allow it to stop us from living. We are two years in and the virus keeps evolving and changing. Life as we knew it will probably never be the same. So let’s evolve and adapt as the changes continue to happen. I am speaking to myself as well. I have allowed this pandemic to take me from anti-social to a hermit 😆. I’m exaggerating, but not by much. I need to come back to the world.

If you are still not comfortable being in group settings, don’t let that stop you from communicating with others. It is so many different ways to connect in this time. Google Duo, Facebook Messenger, FaceTime, Verizon to Verizon, Zoom. Video call and open Christmas gifts together. No one should be alone during the holidays and you really don’t have to. Use technology as it was created to be used. One of the benefits of living in these crazy times.

Let’s use these last 14 days to end this year on a good note. Let’s celebrate our wins. New car, new job or a promotion, a baby, a business, a marriage. Celebrate the little ones as well. Running a 5k for a local charity, taking some really great pictures, writing out your gratitudes daily, reading one book a month. Finding your planner for 2022 on the second try (not bad this year 😃). Even if you can’t think of a win, I’ll give you one, life. You made it and you still have the opportunity to live it more abundantly.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

Well? For starters, be well and whole. Much love 🧡💚