August - The Beginning

Hello, August. You have been so lovely. You have been full of adventure, and slowing down, and embracing the hot humid RI weather.

For the first time ever, I got to go to the {Rustic} Drive-In! We saw Finding Dory & Pete's Dragon. Thunderstorms played the entire length of Pete's Dragon. Sometimes it even torrential downpoured. There were even a few lightning strikes that were a little close for comfort but we (okay, I) focused on the movie and didn't let it get us me upset.

I have read a lot of Harry Potter. There was one particular day that it thunderstormed like crazy while I sat and read HP in the humid hot hot air, and it felt exactly like being a kid again. When stormy summer days were met by sitting in the hallway at my grandmothers reading by flashlight. Sometimes with a blanket over my head. ;o)

I've even met some financial victories (through the grace of God!) that have been burdening me for some time. Paid off the hospital bill from my surgery (slow & steady won this race), replaced my broken windshield, renewed my registration, paid off back taxes (that I didn't know I had), and FINALLY got my car inspected! YAY! These adult tasks really were weighing me down. When I drove away after the inspection, I literally cried tears of joy. I'm not sure if I ever believed this day would come.

The view from my new uncracked & clean windshield!

There was the Eric Hutchinson, Matt Nathanson and Phillip Phillips concert at Foxwoods. It was amazing. My friend and I went early, kept a good look-out for the guys & grabbed dinner at the Hard Rock. Afterwards there were drinks before the show. We got to meet Eric Hutchinson (much to his dismay, because he was being pulled away and I wouldn't let him go without taking a photo with us. ;o)). && We made a sweet sweet new friend who was concert going by herself. She even snuck us onto her floor seats so we could watch Phillip with an even more amazing view. It was so much fun, we danced & sang a ton!

When it was over, we walked over to the dance floor inside Foxwoods with our new friend and danced some more! I may have even danced with a cute boy. Who may or may not have just been checking me off his bachelor party scavenger list. But I guess we'll never know! Retrospectively, it was freeing to know that everything in the past that I thought was going to crush me, didn't. It was a small slice of proof that God might not be done writing my 'someday love story'. Not that I had a crazy desire to marry this guy I just met, so don't read that wrong. It was just confirmation that my heart is ready and accepting of the possibility of someone new & that there may be someone out there who feels the same way towards me. & in the meantime, i'm just going to have fun and not worry about it. What a concept!

Eric Hutchinson :) 

Freedom.

This is just a small glimpse of the many ways my heart has been exploding with joy this month already.

I did find out a bit of sad news as well. My very favorite neighbor, Richard (who lived across the hall from me) passed away at the beginning of the month. He was the sweetest guy, he always addressed me by my name "Hello, Sheri! How are you today? What are you up to?". Always happy to see me (and I was always happy to see him, too!). I found out after he passed that he's been fighting Leukemia for over a year and has been receiving blood transfusions. I never even knew. His demeanor was always pleasant and upbeat. He seemed perfectly healthy to me. I'm definitely in shock over this news as he was a young 74. Of all the people in my building, he was hands down my favorite and I know I'm going to miss opening my door and seeing him.

Overall, August has been quite beautiful so far. I can't wait to see what the second half of the month holds. Being away from social media has definitely made me more attune to what's going on around me. The grace & goodness of God. The way He abundantly blesses us even in the trials. The way summer feels when we're able to reach out and touch it. I miss some of my friends on social media, but I don't miss it as a whole. There's a large part of me that would be completely satisfied to walk away from it for good - but I don't think that's the answer either. When I finally come back to it, I know balance will be key. And by balance I mean minimal social media and large doses of real life experiences.