As we are officially saying goodbye to Summer of 2021. I thought I would dedicate this post to the most memorable moments, thankfully majority of them were good ones. I will try to remember them all and just make a collection of things that happened, what I have learned and experienced, a lot of highs and some lows as well.
NOTE: most of these photos were already published by me in their own dedicated posts but since this is sum up of my summer, I am sharing some of them again in this post.
June
I am starting with these two photos I really like, it reminds of end of June when our garden was looking all bright and colorful with cherries, raspberries, apricots and green with all the veggies and trees.
These photos are also some of my favorites as I vividly remember this evening when I was watching the sunset at the very end of our garden and this is what I saw when I got there. I feel like these past few months I didn't watch as many sunsets as I used to and that's also the reason why I don't have a lot of sunset photos anymore.
The very end of June is when I got one of my favorite K-pop albums I ordered - Baekhyun's Bambi album. I was so happy that I finally got my hands on this one as it was discounted and I took the opportunity to buy it. Around the same time I found this quite thick notebook with hard covers while I helped my parents declutter their bedroom and since they didn't need it, I turned it into a journal that is now well used - I filled up 80+ pages so far with writing, planning, different lists...
July
First half of July was time when I went to the city a lot to meet up with my friends, especially during the Exit festival. It was such an amazing time and I enjoyed this period of summer a lot. At home, with our big pool all set up, I also had a super chill sessions that were highly appreciated on hot summer days.
Second half of July was mostly spent at home since my brother and his family came to visit us after two years. For two weeks or so while they were here, I really wanted to spend as much time with them so I put anything else on hold. I loved spending time with my nieces and nephews and my youngest nephew was baptized in Christian Orthodox church so that's an event me and my family will definitely remember from July 2021.
The saddest moment this summer or for a long time really, was when my rooster passed away. It happened on July 14th and I was the one who found him that day around 11am I think. As you can see on the photo, he had deformed legs that made walking hard for him but other than that, he lived his life as any other rooster would. I can count on one hand times I cried this year and my rooster passing away was for sure one of them. Not long after that, we had a very heavy rainfall in my area and one part of our property was flooded - luckily nothing was damaged, garden was fine and it was just hard to pass by all this water for few days.
August
Beginning of August was when my brother and his family left Serbia to go back to their home abroad and it was also time when I was trying to get back to my usual routine. I also feel like this was somewhat the start of my self-care practices that I incorporated more often than before. I still go off-track a lot of times, but I have been so much better at doing small things for myself and really focusing on improving my mental health. Journaling probably became my favorite practice this summer. There's so many simple ways to make yourself feel better and even though some might seem superficial, they work for me, such as painting my nails with a new nail polish. It's all about the little things in life! :)
Back to the garden that plays a big part in my life during spring, summer and early fall, I am sharing more photos that I like. My parents are in charge of the garden as they have been since I can remember but in the past few years I really got interested in learning more about gardening, planting and taking care of all the fruits and veggies we have so I try to help as much as I can. I quickly discovered how garden work is almost like a therapy or meditation to me and that made me fall in love even more with this way of life.
With all that is happening in the world since the beginning of last year, I am very grateful for having a home with backyard, garden and all the space we have. It helped me a lot during quarantine and these crazy times. Living with family can be challenging sometimes and it's definitely not always perfect but I really appreciate this period of my life, my family and our countryside home.
One of my favorite, the most memorable and enjoyable days not only this summer but probably this year was when I took myself on a date. It wasn't far from home, just a longer walk to this place by the river and it was just perfect. This is something I wanted to do for a very long time but my anxiety would always stop me. And once I did it, I realized it was all in my head and for anyone with anxiety, overcoming small challenges is a real confidence boost!
Last week of August was an eventful week for me. I met with friends as it somehow happened that s lot of them were free during this time. We would usually meet in smaller groups or I would just meet with one friend at the time to catch up as some of them I haven't seen in a long time. This was also when I went out with my friends to one of our favorite places and it was my first night out since October 2020. August was also time when I got back to dating, to put it that way, after a long time of being single and not interested in dating whatsoever. After a couple of bad experiences that really left me question human race (not to say men), now I can say that I am happily in love. :)
September
Another K-pop moment that made me extremely happy was when I won a K-pop mystery box with all these goodies! I received so many cool things and I was really over the Moon about it as the content of the mystery box was unknown so it was a real surprise and I didn't expect to get this much stuff! :) On another topic, I finally started to sort out my University things after taking a break for many years. I don't have a lot left to finish, just one exam and dissertation and I finally feel like I want to get this done.
On September 11th, early morning as you can see on the left photo, I went to test for Covid-19 and I was positive. I am still in isolation, feeling good and ready to move on with my life when my isolation ends on Saturday. Next photo kind of represents me getting my life together, making plans and actually do something about them for once in my life, things were going just fine and then Covid-19 ruined it for me, I fell off the track again but luckily it didn't last long. My plans were messed up but at the end, everything was sorted and I picked myself up focusing again on my mental health for the most part.
That brings us to the end of Summer 2021. memory lane and to the present moment. Now I am just sorting out a bunch of things, trying to come up with a plan that will work out the best for me as A LOT is happening lately - new relationship, determination to finish University, making a big change in my life that I will finally reveal soon... It's all good things though and even though I am facing some challenges, I am ready to overcome them.
I want to dedicate my final words to Hive and you, people of Hive! Even though this post is focused on Summer this year when I shared a lot of posts, mainly based on our garden and I got a lot of support from different communities, projects and individuals, my gratitude for this platform and support is always present. This really became my safe space and creative outlet and I hope we will have a lot more seasons together for years to come! :)
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