Just a chance that maybe, we'll find better days....

"And you ask me what I want this year, And I try to make this kind and clear....

Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days"

I am not surprised in the slightest that my last post was March of 2020.  As I was preparing for this big thing, this change that I pushed forward as I felt in my heart that it was a good idea and the right thing for me to try a different view of life, we were suddenly in the middle of a pandemic. 

We have almost survived 2020 friends. As I type that and then read it again, I sadly realize how many will not be able to say that. So much loss this year, so many unplanned, unprecedented things that I struggle even now to comprehend all of it. To say I haven't had time to write is technically false. I have had time. But I don't think I felt the want of it. I've often said "This post has been writing itself in my head for months" or days....or something like that. This blog began as a note to myself, where I could look back and think about all of the things that came to mind, along the way, over the course of several years. An online diary of sorts you might say. I think this continues to be my intention now. I would really like to think that 2021 will encourage me to write more, again, as often as I feel like it. 

" 'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings, And desire and love and empty things....Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days"

Because 2020 has done a number, hasn't it!? Did it steal my joy? No it did not. I do my very best in hanging on to that joy even if it's by a thread. "Tie a knot and hang on" my Mom always tells us. She's right. It's all we can do.

So, from a trip across the miles by car(s), heading South and then West, almost losing our fur girl Penny, arriving in time to still feel such excitement in reading the note left on the kitchen counter in the new place, along with the keys, "Welcome Home" to, closed beaches, no toilet paper, disinfectant, or Clorox Wipes, "Covid19 this and numbers rising that" on the news....

Who would ever plan something like that? 

I didn't panic per se, but it took some time for me to accept that this is how life is right now, and we have to take action on making sure that we not only keep ourselves safe, but those around us as well. So, mask it is. Until further notice. 

Then the beaches opened. I could safely walk if I  went very early, (no crowds), and, wearing a mask and washing our hands 200 times a day became the 'norm'. This walk has been my saving grace in all things. 

"And sing out loud....'Cause everyone is forgiven now....'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again"

All of the moving boxes unpacked, Spring turned into Summer and the Gulf water sparkled the prettiest shades of turquoise, aqua, light blue and green. I ate oysters on the half shell, socially distanced my way around each day, with my toes digging in the sand I read books and marveled at the tide rolling in, collected seashells and saw a different view of the same spot every single time I visited said place. Talked with friends over the phone, kept in touch my family with texts and phone calls, made friends with all of the feathered beings I found along the way, and worked through the week from home. I remain very grateful to be employed, especially during these times.

I am always going to fall on the side of peace and all men were created equal, so I was proud to be a part of Verizon's walk for racial justice this year, especially given the extremely unfortunate events 2020 brought to light. I will do this every year going #ForwardTogether.

"I wish everyone was loved tonight....And somehow stop this endless fight"

Because I've never really stopped talking about it, everyone knows my favorite season is Fall, which arrived beautifully, (on the calendar it said it was Fall anyway), and with it, my other favorite season which is Football. It's exciting every single year, especially for this Kansas City Chiefs fan! Out came the Fall decorations so I could at least pretend it "felt like" Fall temperatures that I grew up with, and I settled in with a slightly new routine wherein each weekend day activities are planned around the Mizzou and KC Chiefs football games. M..I..Z! Fall decs then Halloween, and roasting pumpkin seeds and carving Jack 'O Lanterns, the whole month of October has always been my favorite. 

Enjoyed <-----never lose your sense of humor folks, a  brief unplanned stint in the hospital, all is well now, I just needed to donate my appendix to science. 

I'm still enjoying Football and the cooler weather Southwest FL is now offering. 

"And the one poor child that saved this world, And there's 10 million more who probably could

If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them"

Then, I had the audacity to blink, and as the Peanuts gang sings "Christmas Time....is here, happiness and cheer".  Whew! is it really? In eight days the calendar flips from 2020, to 2021. That New Year- fresh hope feeling is already settling in. 

"So take these words......and sing out loud"

Regardless of your beliefs, I hope we can all at least come together on one thing. 

"And on earth peace, goodwill towards men"

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year filled with blessings and better days. 

See you soon friend,

Tiffany

P.S. I'm not having "easter eggs" for breakfast yet, it's mostly been iced cold brew coffee and fresh fruit, scrambled eggs some days, others might even be a charcuterie board with mixed nuts, cheese, various italian salame's and olives. I get creative when it comes to Breakfast at Tiffanys. But I really just want to see who in my family, first notices the easter egg that is in this blog in photo form. 

"Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days....."

I'm just reaching for the sun.....hoping to flourish there

I glanced at my plant that I have sitting by the window the other day, noticing that it's reaching for the sun. I turn it around periodically to watch it do the same thing, start leaning towards the light.

It flourishes where it's sitting.

So, as I've mentioned a few times, big changes are ahead. And this, coming from the person who rarely embraced change previously, is monumental. It feels that way to me, a time of courage, and faith.

I'm going to try the 'living by the Gulf ' life for a while, and see if that suits me. And I think this love letter to the Lone Star State has been writing itself in my mind for months now.

North Texas has been good to me. When I moved here from Missouri almost twenty-two years ago, I was homesick before I pulled out of my drive-way. There were many trips made back home those first few years. But deep down I knew that eventually, while I will always call Missouri my home state, that Texas would start to feel like home.

I was correct.

I say y'all more than my local friends do, and yes, I know this isn't necessarily a "Texas only" thing, it's really a southern phrase, but I love it. Texas knows how to do things big and do them well, in all capacities. From barbeque to tex-mex to patios filled with friends holding margarita's, I could list so many things that I love about this great state that I live in, for a little bit longer but the clock is ticking down as I type this.

The weather is mostly mild, but global warming may change that up a bit. When I first moved here, the Summertime weather was especially brutal that first year but I honestly think it felt that way because I wasn't used to it. Triple digit temps combined with humidity that lasted for days on end with no break took a long time to embrace. The last few years haven't been that way, the summer has been milder and there were breaks in the extreme heat days. I certainly never minded warm sunny days in February. Fall, my favorite season, is beautiful here, I just don't see the  beautiful foliage until November, where I was used to seeing the Fall colors in September while growing up in Missouri.

There are so many things to do in the Dallas-FortWorth area, the 'metroplex' as it's called. But the most important part of what I will miss is the people. My friends, who are family to me. One best friend got me to Paris, France. I never dreamed I would be able to do this, and the memories made there are cherished and easily remembered, and will be for a lifetime. Oh the stories! I'm chuckling as I think about the shenanigans and happenings. The friend(s) that you travel well with are the keepers in life, believe me. We've cruised the Caribbean, ziplined over a Jamaican jungle (where I had to be rescued not once, but twice), got too much sun in Cancun, huddled around a fire near our rented cabin in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, rode the underground in the UK "please mind the gap between the train and the platform", and climbed all 270 steps at Sacre Coeur. Lest I not forget the Folly Beach Pier and that beautiful Charleston, SC weather (and I remember you Citadel!). Honestly this page isn't large enough to write all of the stories with their often hilarious details, but my mind and heart are large enough to store the memories. I'll carry them with me wherever I go.

I think when you are the new kid on the block, it can be difficult sometimes to get to know people and become comfortable with them, developing friendships that could last a lifetime. I consider it a folding in, it's how I think of the way it was when my tribe here formed. We all just enjoyed each other and conversation, folding ourselves in to a fabulous group of fun seekers and all around great human beings. I have always been grateful for them, and I will miss not being able to jump in the car and meet for a movie or whatever might be happening, at a moments notice.

To the Lone Star State: you are one of a kind. Thank you for the hospitality, the outstanding food and drink, the way of showing love through helping-thy-neighbor. I will not forget you and I will visit of course.

To my friends: to say I'm going to miss you is a grand understatement, and to say good-bye will never be what I choose.

It's "I'll be seeing you".......because you better come and see about this seashell-filled life I'm heading toward.

Written with love, thank you for indulging me dear friend(s).

See you soon Anna Maria Island, you see, I'm just reaching for the sun.....hoping to flourish there.

Tiffany