I know that I haven’t written on here in a while. There’s been a lot going on with the world. Since I wrote on here last, I travelled to Europe, got married, my first niece was born, and I even got a new job with BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina as Communications Advisor. I have loved every minute of it! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a lot of changes. I am now working from home full-time and I cook more often. I also haven’t been able to interact with my coworkers since starting this new position. We met once in December 2020 at a Blue Cross retail parking lot and waved at each other. It’s crazy how that’s all we could do at the moment. We did share some laughs and talked from afar, we even tried to do a socially-distant selfie.

This pandemic has become the ordinary, it has taken over our lives and we have moved forward through it. I haven’t seen my friends or family as much as I’d like, but we have found creative ways to “hang out” with each other by doing Zoom calls over wine and checking on each other on weekends and doing lunch together.

Writing and reading books has helped me to cope, just like it has with everything in my life. I have written short stories during this time and have also finally tried a lot of recipes from my cookbook. I’ve worked on my health by purchasing a treadmill and walking on it as much as I can during the week.

I have realized that during these tough times, it’s important to really listen to our peers, provide support, and be a good friend to people in our lives, now more than ever. Most importantly, giving back to the community and searching ways that we can come together by supporting charities around us and organizations that may need our help. There are so many organizations that need help, you can find some here.

So what’s next for me? Well, I am always looking for ways and opportunities to grow as a person. I am starting yoga and also finished editing my novel, so I am looking to publish this in the summertime, or so I hope! (I am my biggest critic, so fingers crossed). I am also looking to do a certification in digital marketing in Spring 2022 with UNC Chapel Hill, which I am super excited about since communications is my passion!

What are you doing to cope during this difficult time?

Below are a few pictures from the past years of moments that made my heart happy. I hope that I get to do more of these things after the pandemic. Some of these pictures include me and my parents, my baby niece mentioned above, and when I travelled to Amsterdam.

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