I took a moment to realize that it’s almost been a FULL YEAR since I’ve done my last blog post and that’s UNACCEPTABLE. Of course, lots and lots of things have changed so I’m just going to let my mind wander and try to re-collect all the memories I have between now and then.
About a week ago I came back from my trip to Hawaii which was the first real vacation since COVID began and it was so special for me. I think COVID has impacted everyone is many different ways and I feel like I can speak for many in that I’m SO HAPPY things are getting back to normal and travel is becoming more accessible. We aren’t 100% there but damn we are close and I can’t wait until I can travel more extensively.
I’m punching myself for not writing more during the past year because even though the world was pretty much shut down a lot of things happened. I had to take a quick look at my most recent post and that was when my mom’s side of the family moved to SoCal, which by the way, has been awesome! When I go home I get to hang by the pool, go to the beach, watch those amazing California sunsets and oh of course spend time with the family ;). It really just felt like the next step in the process and that’s the mindset I’m hoping to take in as we approach the end of COVID. It’s time to move forward, learn from the past, and crush your goals.
The COVID slump is over and I was definitely in a slump which is a reason why I believe I didn’t set time aside to blog. Discussions about mental health and overall well-being have become more forth front as they should. As a highly extroverted person I definitely had my moments of anxiety and feeling depressed just like many others out there. Travel was and is my medicine. I’m fortunate enough to have still traveled differently than I previously have throughout 2020 whether it be spending the time with my family, taking a weekend trip to the mountains, or the amazing road trip around Utah & Colorado I did last September. Again I speak for most in that I think we all made the best of what we had. I think we should all be SO SO SO SO proud of how far we have come in a year of obstacles to humanity. Everyone who has lived through COVID will NEVER forget it and they shouldn’t. I’ve learned a lot about how I function as a human and how the world functions (for better or worse). I could also go on and on about how much of a year 2020 was, but it’s time to move it right along and not forget what we’ve learned.
When I did get back to Colorado after spending a couple of months with my family it was first of all very nice to be back in my own space (love you fam) and to be able to see some of my friends because of the loosened restrictions. Here are a couple of things I did over the summer/fall when I moved back to Colorado :
Hiked my first 14er
Spent my 25th birthday turtle tubing in the mountains with some amazing pals
Actually went back to visit the fam in SoCal because I love the beach
Did some camping and by camping I mean drinking lots of crappy beer in the woods
Said BYE BITCH to the Marquis and helloooo hunny to the Theo
Had some fun park days drinking wine and eating cheese (as per usual)
BOUGHT MY OWN CAR!
Took my car on a super rad road trip throughout Utah and Colorado
Enjoyed some beautiful summer patio dinners
Took a solo trip to Aspen to hike the Maroon Bells
Did some outdoor activities including yoga and falling while trying to do yoga
Meaghan and I welcomed our third roommate, Christine!!!
WINEFESSTTTTTTT!!!!
Got some awesome snowboarding days in!
MEAGHAN CAME TO VISIT MY FAMILY IN CALIFORNIA!
And most recently my AMAZING trip to Hawaii!!!
Of course last but very much not least I met my amazing boyfriend Jace! Who I also went to Kansas City with in the -10 degree weather (:
Wow, after taking some time to reflect on what’s happened (even just SKIMMING through this past year) has made me even happier and confident that life keeps going and it gets better if you allow it. I think these next few months will be huge especially since most of the world is opening up and I’m excited to see what’s next. We survived the worst, persevered through a modern depression, and now we’re healing the scars so we can be newer and better versions of ourselves. There’s so much to learn about what COVID has taught us but in my eyes the most important thing to understand is how adaptable, innovative, and charismatic the human race is. COVID didn’t care if you were white, black, gay, straight, rich, poor, or WHATEVER and I’m not saying we didn’t have road bumps but damn I think we all deserve some credit. Whether you were a front-line worker, a scientist working on the vaccine, or just an average Joe like myself it took some level of determination to preserve through this.
Sometimes I take a moment to look back on my memories from a year ago (but actually Snapchat or Facebook really reminds me) and I take myself back to that moment and I remember thinking life will never be the same. This is true, but if it wasn’t COVID something was going to trigger things to change. That’s how the world works. We go through something and we adapts. With all this being said, life can change in an instant so let’s make the best of what we have in that moment.
I wanted to share a song that really resonates with me. It’s called - Marea (We’ve lost dancing) by Fred again.. and this song really hits me hard because I love going to concerts. We really did lose dancing and human touch and it reminds me of how much we NEED this. Side note, STOKED that red rocks will be at full capacity in like a month. Bring on the rocks!
I also wanted to share this song by Poolside called Around the Sun. This was my inspiration for the title of this post because it’s just another year around the sun, right?