Another summer has come and gone, but fortunately we made the most of our August. Here’s how the month panned out:

Highs

Vacation in Mexico – We enjoyed a week at an all inclusive resort along the Riviera Maya in Mexico. I greatly enjoyed the resort’s nightly shows, good restaurants and cocktails, and just generally being able to enjoy a week of relaxing. We also did an excursion to a cenote (water filled sinkhole) where the cold water was so refreshing in the heat.

A wedding weekend in Pittsburgh – Labor Day weekend was spent in Pittsburgh celebrating the nuptials of my friends Ashley and Bill. The weekend itself was beautiful and I enjoyed spending some time exploring the Strip District in the city of Pittsbugh as well.

Markell started middle school – Transitioning from elementary to middle school is such a big change and fortunately it seems to have gone off nearly seamlessly. Markell seems to have adjusted to a new school, be connecting with friends, and managing our daily 6AM wake up time. I couldn’t ask for more!

A breakthrough for my parents – My parents separated two years ago and communication between them had been lacking since. With the help of a therapist I enlisted, they are now in a much better place communications-wise which gives me great peace of mind.

I watched a bunch of TV shows this month – TV was on point this month! I watched Working Moms Season 3, Stranger Things Season 3, finished the Netflix Welsh show Hinterland, 13 Reasons Why Season 3, and Orange is the New Black’s final season

Lows

Woes in Mexico – As can happen when traveling internationally, we had some struggles during our trip to Mexico. Upon arriving in Cancun’s airport, I realized that my Chromebook had been stolen out of my suitcase when it was gate checked (United has since given me a voucher to cover the cost). As well, although temperatures were similar to at home, the humidity was so high that it made it uncomfortable to do anything active outside besides being in the pool, which we hadn’t anticipated. I also missed that I was supposed to keep part of the customs form I filled out when I entered Mexico in order to leave the country which became a big stressful fiasco which led us to barely, fortunately, being let us on the plane home with a few minutes to spare. Lastly, I grappled with having so much down time to relax – I typically plan fairly activity filled trips and it gave me a bit of anxiety to have nothing to do at times.

Coming Up

September is our busiest month at work so my focus will mostly be on managing my time this month. However, Mark is in town from England for a few weeks so we do have a short weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio planned to visit some of his friends and go to the Ohio State college football game. I for one am looking forward to fall!