Guess who’s back, back again!

Cue the music! “Guess who’s back, back again. Shannon’s back, tell a friend.” I really hope you read that title and busted out Eminem’s song “Without Me!” If not, head over to YouTube and dance it out for a second before you continue reading this post.

Yesterday, my blog post “It’s okay to be scared” popped up on my Facebook memories and inside this ADHD brain of mine I thought “oh yeah, I want to be a blogger,” so here I am! In my last blog post dated February 22, 2020, I felt like I was finally getting my groove back. Little did I know my life would be turned upside down in the coming months….

Days after that post, I lost one of the greatest men in my life, my father in law, Doug. Yes, I am divorced, but Doug had been the father figure in my life since mine passsed away in 2005. He was always there for me no matter what, just a truly great man. I happened to be the one to find him and we just couldn’t save him, which made it so much worse.

Just a few weeks after losing Dougie, the world shut down due to COVID. At the time, I had full custody of my children, was still grieving the loss of Doug and was isolated with my boys ages, 2 and 6. Both of my businesses, a fireworks store and group fitness studio were deemed non essential and closed down for approximately two months. Needless to say, I was on the down hill of the roller coaster of life. I literally thought I was going to lose everything I had ever worked hard for. There was so much unknown at that time. The only positive thing during that time was the fact that my boys and I were able to go on so many adventures together! We discovered so many new hiking trails and spent so much time in nature, which I wouldn’t trade for the world!

January 2020 to May 2020 were some of the darkest months of my life. I try to look at life in the most positive lights because I know how short it can be, but that was a really tough time. I had no money coming in, not much adult interaction, was potty training my littlest guy and had a hard time keeping hope. The only positive thinng is that my kids and I were healthy. I literally thought I would spend the rest my life cleaning up pee and getting my kids snacks.

May 2020 hit and I was able to reopen my fireworks store and because all of the town shows were cancelled due to COVID, business was BOOMING! It was incredible, within weeks I on was on the uphill of life’s roller coaster. We had a great 4th of July season. Going through the dark times in the previous months had made me that much better of a business owner. I was in mama bear mode and there was no mercy. During the months I was closed, the US Government gave me $1000, which as most of you may know, does not go very far in life. I knew I had myself to depend on and that was it.

I was able to hang on the my fitness studio and reopen that summer. I will never be a millionaire from teaching group fitness classes, but I love it more than anything. The friendships, the music, the sweat, I am so grateful to have this a part of my world!

Despite the pandemic, the remainder of 2020 and 2021 were pretty great! Of course you can’t have ups without the downs, but for the most part, things evened out and life has been pretty great. I guess the moral of this post is to never lose hope. Sometimes the bumps in the road are big, huge potholes, and although you might break a strut (that happened to me once) you will come out on the other side.

Life is truly one hell of a ride and my advice is buckle up and enjoy it! It’s 2022, I’m back and ready for the next chapter. I just accepted a position at the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce as Executive Director and I am SO excited! I’ve been in survivial mode for a while now, but I’m determined to lose the COVID 19 lbs. that I found along the way. I am in the process of building a house for me and my little men and am currently renovating a cottage near the lake. I plan to continue to grow my businesses, grow myself this year, find a great man to love and adventure with and I hope you’ll join me along the way!

It feels great to be back! Stay tuned for SO much more to come….

xo,

Shannon