April 2024:
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Highs of the Month:
- I played two rounds of golf by myself for the first time ever this month!! I am still very much a beginner golfer, and I'd always been very intimidated to play by myself. In the week following the loss of my job, I had a strong urge to golf. But Ryan or girlfriends were not free at the times that worked for me. I built up the courage and went by myself. And I had so much fun that I went again to golf solo before the month was over! I hate that it took something as awful as losing my job to give me the courage to try golfing solo, but I am so glad I did it. April is also Masters month and watching that was definitely a high! I love that Ryan and I both could get very into The Masters this year.
- My friend Emily got married on April 13th! Not only am I so happy that she married her forever guy, but her wedding was the first time that Ryan has met my entire Charlottesville friend group, which was really special! This was also the first wedding for friends that Ryan and I have gotten to attend together. (I've been to a few weddings alone since we started dating, and together previously we had only been to a smaller family wedding.)
- The immense love and kindness that so many friends and family members have shown me following the loss of my job. I have never felt so loved, supported, and cared for by so many people. Obviously the circumstances are awful, but the support has meant everything. So many friends have also sent the kindest gifts that brought me such joy! I hope I can show the same love and kindness the next time someone I know is in this situation.
Lows of the Month:
- Losing my radio job is not only a low of the month, but a low of the year and the decade. Sometime soon I would like to write a separate blog post more on the aftermath of this. It's definitely taken me time to process (and I'm still processing).
- Prior to the loss of my job, work had been extremely stressful. That stress was creeping into my personal life, and I had been bickering with Ryan a lot. We have always gotten along extremely well and had few disagreements, so I hated the fact it was happening more often. (It all stopped after losing my job!! Which makes me realize now it was 100% my work stress that had me looking to pick disagreements with him.)
- I bought out my leased car in March, and unfortunately there's been multiple issues with the dealership that I did the transaction with, and multiple of the issuesz carried into April. I think I've finally resolved everything... but it was definitely added stress in a month that was already very stressful.
April Weekend Recaps:
- 5th-7th - On Saturday, I had a work event that took up most of the day. On Sunday, I went to church and then spent the rest of the day volunteering at a fun event for local non-profit Connect With a Wish. They help local foster kids and teens, and I got to volunteer at their annual prom shopping event for teen girls! Connect With a Wish provides local teen girls with free prom dresses and accessories. It was so much fun to be a "personal shopper" and help a sweet girl find her perfect prom look. My friend Amanda was also volunteering at the event which was fun!
- 12th-14th - Masters Weekend for golf! I watched as much of The Masters as I could on Thursday and Friday after work. Ryan and I went out for Mexican food on Friday night. On Saturday morning, we drove to Lynchburg, VA for my friend Emily's wedding. We ended up driving my friend Megan to the wedding (it was a bit of a drive from the hotel), but it was very fun to have her ride with us. We celebrated Emily and Sean with all of my Charlottesville friends and their significant others! We left early Sunday to get back to Virginia Beach as soon as we could, and then we enjoyed watching Masters Sunday together at home.
- 19th-21st - I lost my job on Friday, April 19th. Ryan and I had to go back to clean out my office at the radio station on Saturday morning, but after to cheer me up he took me to walk at Norfolk Botanical Garden (where we got engaged!) to see the azaleas in bloom, We then had our wedding cake tasting on Saturday afternoon. I was tempted to cancel after losing my job, but so glad we kept it as it did bring joy that weekend! My friend Bri is a professional baker and will be doing our cake. The rest of the weekend passed in a difficult blur, but I made it through.
- 26th-28th - I left on Friday to drive up to Maine and spend time with my parents. This is the first time ever that I have done the drive up the East Coast by myself, previously I have always flown when I've gone to Maine. I spent Friday night in Wilmington, DE. On Friday afternoon, I visited Winterthur in Wilmington, which is a beautiful museum and gardens. I made it home to Maine on Saturday evening. On Sunday, my parents and I went to the nearby town of Ogunquit Maine for a walk, and then we had dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant.
April Purchases:
- I ordered this three-pack of workout tank tops and really like them so far! I did go up one size as I like these type of workout tanks to have a more loose fit, and I'm glad I did.
- One of my favorite stores to go to when I'm home in Maine is called Marden's. It's a surplus and salvage store that often gets name brand items at ridiculously cheap prices (think better than TJ Maxx). I didn't get any clothing this time, but they did have an insane discount on these liquid lipsticks. They were only $2 a piece! I got three of them.
April Wishlist:
- Adding back a Wishlist category into these posts, just like I used to have when I did Midweek Ramblings every week! First up: I am starting to think about what type of earrings I'd like to buy to wear on my wedding day. I still haven't decided and I'm looking at a lot of different styles, but I did think these were pretty!
- Another wedding event related find from April: I think this would be a beautiful bridal shower dress!
- And yet another gorgeous bridal shower dress that I think would be so pretty for a bride.
- I saw a couple of other influencers feature this adorable high-waisted bikini. Love it! It comes in a lot of fun prints and is under $35.
- These scalloped curtains are so pretty. I'm toying with adding them to our wedding registry (but certain items it's hard to think about adding when I don't know what the layout or needs of our future home will be. I know that's probably me overanalyzing but it's true!)
April Blog Posts:
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
Hugs!
ReplyDeletePraying for your next career opportunity. So true how work stress can affect loving relationships.
Wedding earrings! I love mine and wear them -every- anniversary. One doesn't re-ware the dress but you can the jewelry.