A Year of Gratitude - June 2025 Snapshot

My word for 2024 was GRATITUDE.  To help myself keep the focus on that word all year, I started keeping a gratitude journal on January 1, 2024, and I’ve been writing at least 3-4 things I’m grateful for every single day since then.  I shared little snapshots of each month last year to hold myself accountable, and since I ended up enjoying these posts so much, I decided to continue them in 2025.

I’m only pulling one item from my gratitude journal per day to share here (okay, sometimes two or three), and some of the things are really big things like good health and good relationships, some things are humorous, and some things are the little things that most of the time go unnoticed.  Overall, though, the purpose of this whole exercise is to remember that even on the very worst of days, there is ALWAYS something for which to be grateful.

Always.

June was such a great month, although, there were some tough days as my body started “retracing” through all of its old vertigo, dizziness, unsteadiness, neck tension, etc. patterns due to my new adjustments, but other than that, it was oh so good!

In June I was grateful…

1. For beautiful weather for our first beach day and the most stunning crystal clear emerald water!
2. That Brian takes our chairs out early in the morning to get a good spot.
3. For LaCo margaritas… and queso… and chips… and taco salad.  The best Mexican food everrrr.
4. For pickles… yes, pickles.  I loveeee a pickle spear, especially with my burgers from Duo’s at The Big Chill.  And also, for a perfectly timed storm that worked around our schedule so we could enjoy it from our balcony after we were done doing all the things we wanted to do that day.
5. For a good cup of coffee and a long evening beach walk.
6. For inner peace lately… I most definitely do not feel peaceful about the things going on around us in this country, but somehow, I’ve found some inner peace.  Maybe because of the longer, slower summer days?  I don’t know, but whatever the reason, I’m grateful.
7. For another wonderful, safe trip with my little family and lots of great memories to hold onto.
8. For my Maui mug that Brian gave me for my birthday… it’s my favorite one ever and I use it daily now.
9. For an amazing new doctor who SEES ME and UNDERSTANDS ME and has seen loads of people like me, and is confident that he can FIX ME.  After two whole years.  FINALLY.  Praise Jesus.  And for my Daddy for taking more than three hours out of his day to get me there and back safely.
10. For three hours with Father Manny and two of my other favorite people this morning on our coffee date.  What a treat and an absolute blessing.  And for my father-in-law who always takes the kids in when we ask… he always spends quality time with them playing board games and laughing and having the best time.  We are so blessed to have such an amazing village.
11. For a nice, clean car!!  We took it to be washed and vacuumed today, and we cleaned out all the trash and it looks amazing inside and out.  So fresh and so clean, clean!!
12. For sweet summertime, slower days, and a more laidback lifestyle so my brain can have a nice, long break.  My stress and anxiety has plummeted more than ever this summer, and I am loving it.
13. For a successful first adjustment, even though it made me feel awful for a few days.
14. That my vertigo today after my adjustment was minimal.  While it was disheartening to have three separate vertigo spins today, at least I didn’t wake up with complete vertigo again like I did on July 11, 2023.  I was so scared the adjustment may cause that, but thankfully, it didn’t.  And while the vertigo sucked, it also let us know that we are in the right place and doing the right thing because we now know for certain that it was, indeed, my cervical neck that was the root cause.
15. For my Daddy for always being a safe space to land, for always supporting me in everything that I choose to do, and for being a wonderful dad.  And for Brian, for being the best, hands-on dad to our babies.  And for my father-in-law for loving on our babies so well and always being so much fun when he has them over.  Happy Father’s Day to all of them!
16. For lots of fun with the kids today before my adjustment.
17. For our angel baby in heaven… today marks 15 years since our loss, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him or her.
18. For fewer side effects after today’s adjustment. 
19. For being able to drive the kids to music and take a walk today after being dizzy and unsteady for days.
20. For Brian for clearing the table, cleaning the guest bathroom, and doing all the things that I normally do to prep for guests because he knows that I cannot do them today.  And for a wonderful evening with our poker night crew!
21. For my first SOLO walk since my adjustments started!  Yes, I was veering off to the right again, and there were a couple of times that I thought I might lose my footing, but I didn’t, and I feel stronger for getting out there and going!
22. For no neck tension for days.  The rest of my back muscles may be screaming at me from all these adjustments (it’s temporary, though), but the neck tension that plagued me for years is slowly dissipating.
23. For lots of pool time and fun in the sun with friends.
24. That I didn’t even need an adjustment today because mine is HOLDING.  And for the in-house masseuse’s magical hands for knowing exactly which muscles of mine needed to be kneaded and stretched.
25. For a night of live music watching my favorite band of all time (Dave Matthews Band) play… for being able to see them 29 times… that the show was able to go on in full despite a storm delay… for a safe trip home in more storms.
26. That I was able to sleep in until 9 AM after getting home at 1:30 AM.  Sleeping in is truly one of my favorite things in life.  Such a luxury.
27. For girl time with Jeannine – laughing until we cried, reminiscing about good times – and also for hugging Equisha’s neck for the first time in years.
28. For a game of Scrabble with the fam.  We don’t sit down and play games a lot, but when we do, we always have fun!
29. For an entire day of feeling completely normal… for the first time in TWO WHOLE YEARS.  I had no vertigo, no dizziness, no unsteadiness, no boat-rocking, no pain anywhere, no brain fog, no sensitivity to light, no headaches, no migraines, no neck tension – NOTHING.  ALL DAY.  I could cry I was so happy.
30. For a deer sighting in our neighborhood.  We see them all the time on the side of the road, but it’s rare to see them in our neighborhood up close like that.

Happy Monday, y’all!  What is something you’re grateful for today?