Good afternoon, everyone! It has been a minute on this blog, hasn't it? I am hopeful that many of you can both guess why that is, and also may be experiencing similar situations. After 400+ days in strict medical quarantine, my family and I were vaccinated and many of my restrictions were lifted.
I decided to take the summer off to give myself a break from as many “obligatory things” as possible. This blog has been a safe haven for me during the COVID storm and to take a break and give my mind a moment to rest was invaluable. Now, I am excited to come back to this space and continue the story, the conversation, and the connection.
While I know many people went all out this summer, we tried to do as much as we could with as many precautions as possible. That being said, let me catch you up on the goings-on of our little corner of the planet. The biggest news for us was welcoming a new four-legged family member. Welcome Samwise the Brave (or just Sam for short)! Sam is now five months old and is a golden doodle. We are currently working with him to get his therapy dog vest as I did with our older pup, Rory. We are so excited to be “retiring” Rory’s vest to Sam and allowing Rory to spend his golden doodle golden days running, jumping, and playing tug like any other dog. Sam is a VERY quick learner and just as sweet as his older brother. Thankfully he is also food motivated, which makes our job training him so much easier!
We also took two major vacations this summer. The first was for my brother’s wedding. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have only one sibling so this was a moment I was elated to witness. John married his girlfriend of eight years and we have welcomed her into our family as she has welcomed us into hers. The couple began preparations for their wedding pre-COVID and miraculously did not have to change all that much as this was the original year and venue that they had planned for with a destination wedding to Sonoma, California. We spent a long weekend in Sonoma (both my brother and sister-in-law love wine so this was the perfect place!) drinking in the pastoral landscape, singing at the top of our lungs with the windows rolled down, and, of course, celebrating the happy couple on “wedding day.”
When my brother was in 5th grade he switched schools and the “host family” that greeted him and my parents had two sons, one in John’s grade and one a year above. They became John’s best friends in no time flat. My parents quickly bonded with their parents and have all been close for a long time. Although I was regularly in the place as the three boys, it was not until the elder son graduated college that I took the plunge and asked him out on a date. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary this summer.
All of that said, my little brother invited my in-laws to his wedding as the younger son (not my husband) was in the wedding and our families have felt like one big family for such a long time. Other than that it was just a handful of close family members, roughly twenty people or so, who were either a part of the wedding or asked as guests. It was so special to just be asked to be present and I am so excited for their next adventures together as a married couple.
Our second major trip was a get together with all of our closest friends from college/graduate school who we had not seen since our wedding. We were all vaccinated and able to stay in a beautiful Airbnb on Tybee Island in Georgia for a full week. It was beyond the power of words to describe how it felt to celebrate our second anniversary with everyone who had been there with us on our special day, meet our friends’ significant others, and just get play to a state of play on the beach and in the ocean. While there, Kaitlin and I exchanged claddagh rings—something (and someone) near and dear to my heart. It was a magical trip.
Although we are now home and preparing to jump into this next year, this summer has had the desired recharge and restore to nourish my soul. We are aware that new restrictions are about to come down on our area and are as ready as we can be…but I will keep maintaining my father’s mantra, “You can live good moment to good moment or bad moment to bad moment. It’s your choice.” This summer was full of so many poignant, refreshing, loving moments that I have a firm handhold on the good and am already using that momentum to make some big changes in my vocation. More details to follow as we get there slowly but surely. I hope that all of your summers were full of meaningful moments and fun in the sun. For today, lots of planning, researching, playing with and training the puppy, and just generally settling into the familiar. Happy Monday-let’s start this week off on the right foot!
Prepare, don’t panic,
Allison
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