Today makes 32, and I am SO GRATEFUL for ALL of my Blessings!!! I’m grateful for life, a new day, my health, family, love, genuine friendships with amazing people, my job and the ability to work from home. I’m also thankful for all of the experiences that have molded and shaped me, for all of the challenges I’ve faced that have helped build and strengthen my character.

I try to make it a habit to start my day with a moment of gratitude, and whenever the time calls for me to vocalize those moments of realization, which remind me that I should root myself in gratitude. So much has happened over the last week or so, actually the past couple of months — THIS WHOLE YEAR (I know it’s only been about 6 months, but it definitely does not feel like it). As a collective, our experiences have been pretty crazy since March, if I had to pick a month, with Miss Rona on the prowl. The horrible stories we’ve read and images we’ve seen regarding “Karen Temper Tantrums” and the awful killings we’ve been witnessing among our community (Rest In Paradise, to all of the beautiful black Queens and Kings we’ve lost). This has all been too much, and quite frankly I’ve been on an emotional roller coaster these last couple of days, but I’m releasing that here and it feels much better to offload my thoughts and feelings into the blog…

I’m dealing with a pretty bad toothache, and will need to see an oral surgeon to remove my wisdom teeth, so I look like a blow fish basically, and have been popping 600mg ibuprofen like a mad woman — because Pain. I was also planning to bring my cousin, my mother, and my girlfriend on another hiking trip, and end the day off with a picnic. Cute right? We had to postpone those plans though, because the weather calls for rain today. This really made me a little sad because I love spending time with them, and that would’ve been a great way to spend my birthday, but it’s all good!

There’s so much to be grateful for, and there will always be another time to go on that trip with them (shooting for next week if weather permits). I am surrounded by love, and I appreciate all of the Happy Birthday-s I’ve been receiving this morning. My girlfriend has been making me feel really special today, because she knows I’m a little down about this “quarantined birthday” experience, and I love her for that ❤ Anyways, it’s Friday — I’m OFF and it’s my birthday weekend, so I will make the best of it. I also have another update, but I will follow up on here with that after the weekend 🙂

If you’ve happend to stop by, thanks for coming through and I hope you have a good weeekend!

Love & Light* From this 32yr Old

-Tati

UPDATE:

My birthday weekend, was everything I needed, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to spend it with my mother, my girlfriend, and some of my closest friends! Although I didn’t get to take my little cousin on that hike, I got to see my best friend and her newborn (SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL OMG! The cutest family). We stopped by there and had a couple of drinks and pizza my face is paying for it now.. I can’t have whole milk or cheese, but it was worth it! My girlfriend and I went over my other friend’s place to have a chill day and grill, have some drinks, and they had a strawberry shortcake for me!!! I seriously wanted to cry.

We ended the night by heading up to her roof to stargaze, and I saw a shooting star for the first time in my life — ah-may-zing! My tooth ache is much better now that I’ve gone to the oral surgeon. I just had a consultation and my wisdom tooth surgery is 3 weeks away — BUT I have antibiotics, another ibuprofen prescription, and medicated moth wash, so things have been a little bit better lately. I’m so thankful for that because I was in excruciating pain, and I was so swollen on the left side. I think by the time Jersey is officially opened, I will be recovering from the surgery — IN OUR NEW PLACE! We’ve finally found our new apartment, and we’re so excited. We move in July 1st, so there’s a lot of packing and preparation underway. I will definitely be writing about that. My girlfriend gave me the most beautiful roses for my birthday, and I just want them to last forever.

ALSO: There were protests taking place in Newark, South Orange, and all over parts of New Jersey last weekend. I am so proud of my city! Newark New Jersey is where I was raised up until about middle school. Some of my family still lives there, and I don’t live far so I come through often! We have had such a negative perception placed on our city, but the people of Newark walked alongside the police and city officials for George Floyd, and it was very peaceful — so HA! How about that 🙂 We know firsthand how it feels to lose everything and rebuild what is ours. When you think back at the riots that took place in the 60s, Newark was front and center. It’s so sad that 20 years later, we are still protesting for the same reasons: Black Equality and Justice. I want to make sure I am present during the next protest I’ve been informed of (won’t share those details here, just in case).

So much has happened recently, and I NEED to get this out in writing — Next Post