It’s been an emotional week… sending the kids back out into the Covid world (exciting to have them back at school, but a little worrisome because of current conditions), the Inauguration (so many happy tears), my grandma’s funeral (goes without saying). I feel mentally exhausted, but hopeful, and I’m really looking forward to some downtime this weekend and the fresh start that next week will bring.
O N E – Ceremony
I spent the day Wednesday watching The Inauguration and all of the festivities afterward, and this was the first year in my life that I was able to do so… in the past, I’ve always been at work or school. From Lady Gaga’s National Anthem to seeing the first woman ever to be sworn in as Vice President!! to Jennifer Lopez’s rendition of “This Land is Your Land” to Joe Biden’s Inaugural Address to Amanda Gorman’s INCREDIBLE performance and everything else in between, I pretty much cried all morning long. Everything was just so positive and inclusive and beautiful.
For the first time in a long time, I was filled with a sense of hope. I’m a realist, and I know real change is not going to happen overnight, but I’m cautiously optimistic that things are heading in the right direction, and that surely feels amazing after a long, dark year of social injustice, untruths, domestic terrorism, and of course, the pandemic.
I know we won’t ever agree completely on all of the issues or the candidates, but I am hopeful that this new administration is going to try their hardest to work to find a common ground where most of us can happily coexist. Granted, there will always be pushback from extremists on both sides, but you can’t be everyone’s cup of tea… unless you’re Betty White, of course. ;o)
Praying that our new administration will lead with grace, compassion, truth, and light.
“For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman
And speaking of Amanda Gorman, y’all, if you missed her performance at The Inauguration, I urge you to watch it. It was powerful. She is only 22 years old, and she is truly wise beyond her years. That quote about light that I posted above was taken from her performance yesterday, and it really resonated with me. I chose the word LIGHT for 2021, so it almost felt like a little wink from God above, letting me know I’m on the right path.
T W O – First Woman VP
It was such an
exciting moment to be able to tell Olivia that we officially had a woman Vice
President! She and I discussed it off
and on all afternoon, and right before bed, she told me, “Mommy, I want to be
the President when I grow up!” Then she
pondered her thoughts for a moment, and she continued with, “How do you get to
be the President? Is it a reward for
being a really kind person?”
Y’all.
It was just another reminder of how precious and innocent our babies’ hearts and minds are. It breaks my heart to know that one day they’ll have to grow up and learn the real truth about politics.
T H R E E – Concerts
Wednesday evening, B and I watched the entire two-hour concert special for The Inauguration, and I thought everyone did a wonderful job with that, too. Bruce Springsteen’s Land of Hopes and Dreams, Bon Jovi’s rendition of Here Comes the Sun, John Legend’s rendition of Feeling Good, Ant Clemmons and Justin Timberlake’s Better Days, Demi Lovato’s rendition of Lovely Day, and Katy Perry’s Firework… it was all just so positive and upbeat. And the fireworks at the end? AMAZING.
F O U R – Family Group Chat
Because of the pandemic, I haven’t been able to spend much time with my parents or brothers, but our Facebook group chat has been keeping us connected while we can’t be together in person. Wednesday evening, we spent the whole evening “together” in our group chat, and it was so awesome to be able to feel like we were watching together. All the praise hands for technology, especially during this pandemic!
F I V E –
Purple
Did y’all notice that the previous First Ladies + Kamala Harris all wore purple to The Inauguration? Many articles are speculating that Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Kamala Harris did it as a symbol of unity since red (Republicans) + blue (Democrats) = purple. Whether or not this speculation holds any truth remains to be seen, but I thought that would be pretty cool if it is true.
Friday Funnies
And finally, one of my favorite things about the whole day on Wednesday was all of the Bernie memes that started circulating. Y’all, these had me in stitches.
On the Blog This Week
Happy Friday, y’all!
Very interesting about the purple color! It would be very cool if it were true. :) The Bernie memes are on fire.
ReplyDeleteGirl, I cannot stop laughing at these. There are SO MANY.
DeleteThe inauguration definitely filled me with hope! Everything was so positive, yet realistic about the challenges ahead. All the performances...my goodness! And of course, Bernie. I think my favorite meme is 'this could have been an email', haha!
ReplyDeleteThe Bernie Memes have been so great! We must have hope in order to unite and move ahead! That 22-year-old poet is an amazing young lady.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a great day and I could not get over the 22 year old poet- she was incredible!! I loved the concert at night too - John Legend was amazing! xo, Biana BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteAll of this! Such a great day. The firework show and the colorful suits and the poem! Loved it all. Bernie too. Gabbie added him to a family picture and it's just so funny!
ReplyDeleteAmanda Gorman was amazing!! She was so inspiring!! I was able to watch it all as well, and I thought it was very well done!! From Kamala being sworn in as first woman vice president (so exciting and inspiring!!) to Joe’s speech...I thought it was very good, and it gave me so much hope!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel the exact same way! I just pray that they will all follow through and do the things they say they're going to do!
DeleteI am loving all of the Bernie memes. They are definitely getting me through this week. All the clothes at the inauguration were amazing!
ReplyDeleteThe Bernie memes have me laughing so hard! They are everywhere!
ReplyDeleteAs a republican I honestly don't feel as hopeful as it seems like most of the blog world is but I will give Biden a chance. Do I think that there is going to be some below the belt work done by the left to get Harris as president? Yes, I do. Am I worried about the economy and the effect that all of these "programs" are going to have on the taxes that already consume so much of my income. Yes, I realize that's not the intent of this post but I feel like for so long its not been okay for republican's to say anything and I am speaking up like the democrats did the entire time Trump was president.
ReplyDeleteYou are, of course, entitled to your opinions. I'm glad to hear you say that you are willing to give Biden a chance, though. I did the same for Trump four years ago, too, because that's what we truly need to do. If our president fails we all fail, but if he succeeds, we all succeed! I wish everyone could understand that. Thanks for stopping by and giving your opinion!
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