So What's New With Me?

Hello loves.
If you have been following me on Instagram, you may have been clued in that I have been riding the grief struggle bus a bit in recent days. I have noticed this often happens when I re-hash our losses or have some sort of milestone pop up.  Our baby's first birthday would be July 21st and I guess I was hoping it wouldn't hurt as much as it has in recent years. But it does, so I'm just going with it and trying to rest and take it easy while the feelings come and go.

In spite of this, I will still continue to tell my story.
I do believe it's important to share where we are and keep driving the point home that although I am, overall, in a much better mental space than I have been in recent years, no one can be happy 24/7 and when you have suffered through a loss or diagnosis of any kind, grief can and will rear it's ugly head from time to time, and if you aren't in tune with yourself, it may surprise you that it can come on so strong.

For me, I notice I tend to get more tension in my neck and shoulders, followed by headaches and migraines (that was QUITE the way to kick off the 4th of July weekend, let me tell you). I find myself frantically trying to fill my time with useless tasks and get frustrated when things don't seem to be going as smoothly as they used to. It's then I realize I am trying to hide my feelings, and usually start accepting grief for what it is, sleep more, and just.....be.

The ultimate release is a good cry, and that finally happened last night.
It was like I was letting go of all this angst I carried with me in the last couple of weeks.
I feel lighter today and more aware of how amazing my life is, and that's when I know I'm recovering.

I'm hopeful I'll be walking with grief much less in the coming days, and that's always a good thing.

I shared my journey with Lindsay and her readers over at Bourbon and Lipstick today, if you would like to learn more, catch up, or just get to know another awesome fellow blogger. Lindsay and I connected through our blogs many years ago and I am proud to call her a good friend, even if we have never met in real life.

Finally, I started as an affiliate for a wonderful company a little over a year ago, called 31 Bits.
I like them so much because they source artisans all over the world and give their talents access to a global market, which in turn allows for them to provide a better living for themselves and their families.

But, needless to say, because this isn't slave labor, the price tag for their items (including jewelry and homegoods) isn't dirty cheap. What I love about the items though, is that they are all different, they are all imperfect, and you can tell each and every stone, plate, jewel, bauble, etc really is hand-crafted from scratch.

With every purchase, they send along a beautiful card that shows you the faces of the people that make your gift, and I love to imagine sitting with one of them as they show me their craft.

The best part is, if you are weary about dipping your toe into a new company, and trust me, I get it, they are having a wonderful sale of all their Sale items. 40% off to be exact.

This means that items range between $10-$15 with the sale!

The necklace I'm wearing is $15.50 with discount. Just use code EXTRA40 at checkout.
Order enough stuff and you get free shipping too!

The 40% off Sale Items continues through July 23rd and because each item is unique, they do tend to sell out quickly, so treat yourself or your loved one to something special and hop to it!

Thanks so much for checking in with me. XO