I don’t know about you but July? July was a month of many highs and many lows – overall, a very busy, transitional month hence my blog silence these past couple of weeks. But now that things are settling down, it’s time to get back in zone and represent for my little corner of the world wide web.
Usually, for these monthly happening updates, I focus on the highlights of each month but I think for the sake of keeping it real (because July was a real one), I’m going to share a few of the lows as well.
LIFE HAPPENING
High 1) Charles and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary on July 7th! We took the day off from work, went and saw The Shallows (2 thumbs up from the both of us), grabbed dinner at Chopt and closed the evening with ice cream cake (and cough cough, the “nasty”). All in all, a pretty simple day filled with lots of love. I really appreciate that we don’t put pressure ourselves to go all out and do something extravagant for every anniversary – sometimes it’s nice to be low key and just hang with each other.
Low 2) The evening before our anniversary, we learned about the death of Alton Sterling and the next morning, we woke up to news about Philando Castile and were at a loss for words on how to proceed… Despite our attempts to maintain some sort of positive vibes throughout the day on our anniversary, deep down, we both mourned their deaths and raged against the circumstances in which they died. Then later that evening, we learned about the shooting in Dallas and of the officers and civilians who were killed and it just felt like the pain and suffering would never end.
Add the attacks and bombings that took place around the world plus the circus surrounding the campaigning for our country’s next President and he who must not be named (because I refuse to give him any more publicity than he already has) and well, need I say more about how unbelievably crazy July was?
It’s been hard. Heck, it’s still hard because it’s still happening (and been happening) regardless of whether the media covers every crazy incident/event or not.
Hard on my heart. Hard on my husband. Hard on my family. Hard on my friends. Hard on the world.
In particular – As a mixed woman with a black husband, and many black family members and friends, who also happens to be the daughter of a retired D.C. police officer, my situation has been a bit complicated to navigate and bridge for the sake of healing on all sides but it’s coming along as more uninhibited conversations are taking place in person. Emphasis on in person which is where more these conversations need to happen, in mixed environments with people of all colors and background – open ears and hearts required.
The realist in my gut is telling me that it’s only going to get harder before things truly change for the better because change takes time, especially as it pertains to unconscious bias. But regardless of how long it takes, I refuse to give up hope that things will get better.
^^ A little messy but it’s coming along :)
High 3) Charles and I moved into our new apartment! This transition took up the majority of our time in July since we had to be moved out of our old place by August 1st. Charles and I went to work during the day and spent every evening packing and purging our household items. I’m so proud of us because we got rid of alot of stuff (clothes, furniture, sentimental paper things <- the hardest to part ways with) which helped make the change from living in an 800 sq. ft. apartment to a 600 sq. ft. apartment so much easier. It was an exhausting couple of weeks but now that the hard part of moving is finally over, the fun part of making our new place feel like home can begin!
Low 6) Fitness Update/ Weigh In: Ummmmm workout? What’s that? I don’t think I worked out at all in the month of July unless you count moving furniture and heavy boxes up and down 3 flights of steps from one place to another as a workout. Life’s been so busy that whenever I did have free time, all I wanted to do was nothing. But now that things are finally settling down, I really have no excuse for my lack of activity.
One perk about our move is that I am now less than 10 minutes away from my favorite hot yoga studio in Northern VA (I used to live 20 minutes away). My goal is to get my ass back on my yoga grind because it’s been almost a whole year since I’ve taken a legit yoga class in a studio. I do free 30-45 min. Youtube yoga videos every once in a while but nothing beats being in a heated studio with an instructor for 75 min. to guide me through the poses/stances in person. While this does come with a price, I need to start thinking of paying for these classes as an investment in my health. Heck, an investment in myself. Something I need to invest in more often…
High 5) I had the opportunity to shoot a surprise proposal at the National Arboretum in D.C. It was such a fun gig since it required me to hide and be ready to jump out at a moment’s notice to capture the special moment my client got down on one knee to propose to his future bride. Definitely a moment of light and happiness last month. Don’t you just love love?
FUTURE HAPPENING HIGHLIGHTS FOR AUGUST?
1) My mom is flying down from Chicago to visit for a couple of days!
2) Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays… August is a big month for birthdays among my friends and family.
3) Getting back in the blog zone. My goal is to blog at least 2 times a week this month. 3 if I’m feeling ambitious. Just gonna approach blogging one post at a time :)
With that said, how’s life happening on your side of the online world?
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