Hey, Stranger!

Oh, Hello again! It's been a lonnnnggggg time y'all!!! Since I last published on my blog almost 5 years ago I've done A LOT of different things. 

For those that know me, I've been a dancer basically my whole life. I've been teaching ballroom dance since early 2008, and traveled the country doing some pretty amazing things in my dance career. Most reccently and notably, I've developed a program based in physical therapy and catering to the senior adult community on how ballroom dancing affects and benefits the systems of balance as we age. It's really interesting and it's become a love-child of mine...more on that in awhile, maybe a separate blog post, TBH...

Most recently, and notably, it's 2020. June, to be specific. Have y'all been present for 2020? It's been a TRIP.

We've been dealing with the coronavirus, internationally, since late last year, we have seen a HUGE movement within the black community and #blacklivesmatter (I'll do another post on that and my thoughts on the subject, #blm #blacklivesmatter very soon), and we've got a pretty crazy political situation going on.

Over the first 6 months of 2020 I've lost a lot of friends and family members due to my beliefs on the things going on in our world. That's been very hard to deal with for me because I very much used to be the "people pleaser." Now, I say "Good riddance." I believe that if you're pissing someone off due to your opinions or beliefs, it usually means you're standing for something, so keep standing. We will save you a seat at the dinner table when it's time to eat. 

My little sister got married to a military man and they are PCS-ing to Guam within a matter of weeks now. WOW. We have lived across the country from each other, across the city, and now we are getting ready to live across the world. Our relationship has always been tumultuous, to say the least, but now it just hits differently. Again, stay tuned for more on that in another blog post.

I met an AMAZING man and we have been together for a bit more than a year and a half now. We have talked about getting married and it's the real deal, folks! I'm happy and have a very healthy and communicative relationship. Trust me though, we have both had to hash out some of our baggage to understand each other, but we love and trust each other and we are committed to each other. It's amazing. :) :::sigh:::

Also, over the last few months as we have been under quarantine, I've gone through a lot of emotions and a lot of self-reflection. I've had to grieve things I thought I would have done by now, grieve what I thought this year would look like and what I'd be doing with it, grieve where I thought I'd be in life at almost 35, and also come to some pretty major realizations on my health.

I'm at the heaviest I have EVER been and whether I attribute that to the "Quarantine 15," a sedentary lifetsyle, or a mixture of things, it's come to a head and has started to impact my health in ways I cannot ignore. As I mentioned a moment ago, I have an amazing man in my life and he has watched me lose 20 pounds, only to gain 40 back and he continues to love me and tell me I'm beautiful and it's a truly amazing thing to feel that your worth to someone is more than the number on the scale. 

If you go back and read some old posts of mine, you'll see I've been in a very abusive relationship...or 2...and have not always felt the most lovable. While I'm not at all happy with where my weight is, healthwise, I'm very happy with the fact I've realized that not only am I worth so much more than that, but I'm also worthy of love at this weight and any weight I may ever be.

...With that being said, though, it's very important for me to mention that I have been working very hard to impliment a healthier lifestyle over the last 6 weeks and have started to move my body more....I'm sensing another blog post is in order on that one...

Finally, throughout 2020 and the last 5 years, the thing I keep coming back to is my family and the friends that love me and are truly there for me. 

They have gotten me through some pretty rough things, and I honestly would not be here if it weren't for them.

So anywho, I'M BACK! I have so much to write about and so much on my mind and I can't wait to get it all out there into the world and share my experiences with y'all and maybe hope that it touches someone and gives someone what they need.

Stay tuned for more!!! I'm not finished yet...