From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to each and every one of you who reached out to me, messaged me, left a comment or even thought about me after I shared the news about my third miscarriage last week. I’ve felt your love and your kindness, that’s for sure.

It’s been two weeks since my D&E surgery, and I’m truly feeling physically back to normal, and that’s a great thing. No, I’m not emotionally healed, but I will continue to focus on being thankful for what I have in my life, and that’s the best I can do.

When I shared about my news last week, some of you had the most comforting things to say. And one of my friends sent me this poem, called “She Let Go” by Safire Rose, and I’ve read it over and over again. If you’re in a time of transition, I highly recommend giving the full poem a read.

Here’s a little preview of “She Let Go” by Safire Rose …

She let go.

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

And with that, let’s get right to the current faves of the day …

Current faves

Writing

I wrote a piece for The Everymom

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. All of my corporate jobs after college were based in writing, I’ve been a blogger for a decade, and I absolutely love the written word. It’s always fun for me to share my words in places other than A Lady Goes West too, and I’m excited to share with you a piece I wrote for The Everymom, which was published last week. 

The Everymom is a website offering practical advice for families, especially moms. And I’ve been a reader of the site for a long time. Much like this blog, The Everymom is all about sharing real-life stuff. And I had some real-life stuff for them to publish this time …

The funny thing is, I actually wrote this piece “5 Unexpected Things That Can Happen After a Miscarriage” before I had my third (and final) miscarriage a couple weeks ago. Yet, all of the things I talked about remain true. Thanks to The Everymom for featuring my work! 

Fun

All the friends and family time over the last week

Over the last week, we celebrated my mom’s birthday, we went to a graduation party, we went to a birthday party, and I spent time with my first friend I made in Charlotte, who moved away and came back to visit last weekend. 

While yes, I was just coming off some tough stuff, I truly enjoyed spending all these nice moments with some great people in my life. Here’s a look at the highlights …

We had a park picnic for my mom’s birthday, and it was lovely.

My original friend I met in Charlotte, Christina, came back to visit after moving to the West Coast. She came to my class and we spent the day together with our kids, and it was so nice. We took Brady and her daughter to a park, out to lunch and even out to coffee. We chatted about a ton of stuff, and I felt normal and happy for the first time in quite some time.

(I’m wearing this tank in a small, these leggings in a small, and my favorite cross-training sneakers here.)

We went to a birthday party for one of my girlfriends in the neighborhood, and the party had a slip-n-slide for the kids as well as 2,000 water balloons. I stayed dry, but it was a blast for everyone — until it was time to leave and we began the battle to get Brady away from the fun (he’s never a fan of leaving fun).

We were supposed to hang out by the pool on Sunday, but when it started to rain, we changed plans and had a last-minute casual get-together at a girlfriend’s house on a dark Sunday afternoon. The kids played in the playroom, the guys sat in the family room, and the ladies sat in the kitchen, and we spent a few hours laughing, sharing and enjoying good company. This may have been my favorite hang-out of the weekend.

(I’ve been loving these casual shorts that I shared about a couple weeks ago. I’m wearing a small in the shorts and a small in the top.)

Quite honestly, because I was only about a week out from my third D&E surgery, I wasn’t sure I was up for all the social activities I had on the calendar last weekend, starting on Thursday. But I enjoyed hanging out with my family and friends. And I was once again reminded how grateful I am for what I’ve got right here in my life, right now. 

Entertainment

All the TV shows I’ve watched lately

I wasn’t feeling well for several weekends in a row during the my latest pregnancy, and I spent it of time laying on the couch watching TV on the weekends when I wasn’t working.

This isn’t something I normally do, and I hadn’t watched a show by myself since the last time Dave was out of town. In addition to my personal TV time, Dave and I watched some shows together at night. Let’s look at a few shows that have kept me/us entertained …

• “Selling Sunset” – I finished up season 5 and watched all of season 6 of this Netflix series. I love the outfits and the houses, but I don’t love the drama. It’s a little too fake, but I still can’t look away. Also, I’m a big fan of episodes that run around half an hour, and a lot of these do.
• “Vanderpump Rules” – I had missed a couple seasons of Bravo’s VPR over the years, but because of all the news around what happened in this latest season, I decided to jump in. I watched all of season 10 and the 3-part reunion, and boy, was it something. Honestly, I felt like so many of the people on the show are so very mean to each other, it annoyed me. I would never be friends with any of them in real life. I’m NOT into the mean girl vibe. Nor am I into all the lying or cheating they do. Who are these people, really?
• “Ted Lasso” – Dave and I finished season 3 of this feel-good show on Apple+ two weeks ago, and I loved the ending. I’m sad to lose this one in our routine, because it truly is one of those shows that makes you smile, instead of cringe. Now that it’s over, I’ve thought about cancelling our Apple+ subscription, because we have way too many subscriptions.
• “Succession” – Dave and I finished season 4 of this very intense show on HBO Max, and I’m totally okay with it ending. This isn’t my usual type of show, but honestly, it was so well done. This series is all about a powerful family and everything that entails to figure out a successor to lead the company they own. While the ending was unexpected, the more I thought about it and read about, it made sense. 
• “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – This is another more light-hearted show about a female comic in the 1960s. It was sweet and funny, and the ending of season 5, which concluded the series, couldn’t have been more perfect. This show is an Amazon Prime original, and boy, they do a good job.

So which was my favorite? “Succession” for sure!

That’s a lot of TV, right? I agree. I’m back to my usual one-episode-a-night routine, and we just started “Game of Thrones,” which is a huge departure for us both. Have you watched any of the series I just completed above? If so, which was your favorite?

That’s it for the faves. Let’s get to the movement …

Workouts

My workouts from last week

Now it’s time to take a look at my workouts from last week.

I share this recap to show you how I try to get diversity of movement in my week, and how I always take a rest day (almost always). But remember, I do a little bit more than the average person, because I’m a group fitness instructor, so you don’t need to compare your movement to mine.

Workouts from the week of 5/29

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:45 a.m.
• Friday: Rest day
• Saturday: Rest day
• Sunday: Rest day

I took a few days off to heal from my D&E procedure, and I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I began to recover (physically) this time. Before that, everything was a struggle.

Workouts from the week of 6/5

• Monday: Taught 1-hour barbell class, 9:45 a.m.
• Tuesday: Taught 1-hour barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., took 90-minute tennis clinic, 11 a.m.
• Wednesday: Taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 9:30 a.m., taught 45-minute barre class with light weights, 5:30 p.m.
• Thursday: Taught 45-minute combo class, 9:45 a.m., took 60-minute tennis clinic, 11:30 a.m.
• Friday: Taught 45-minute barbell class, 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday: Did 30-minute full-body weights workouts, 10 a.m. (shown below)
• Sunday: Played 45 minutes of tennis, 10 a.m.

This past week, I was back to my routine, and that made my happy. I played tennis three times, taught six classes and even did a short solo weights workout. The solo workout was tough, because I hadn’t done one in almost a month, but I know I’ll build back the strength I lost in no time.

Here’s the short solo workout I did …

Best read of the week

Here’s an article worth sharing with you …

The most important ingredient for long-term happiness. According to researchers at Harvard, the number-one thing that determines someone’s long-term happiness is the quality of their relationships. That’s right, if you have strong relationships with friends, family or your romantic partner, you’re more likely to be happy. Relationships provide connection, community and a way to relieve stress too, and I definitely agree that they are important. Check out this one not only for more insight on why relationships matter, but also on how to cultivate better relationships with the people in your life.

Quote of the week

Here’s a thought worth sharing with you from Headspace …

Blog archives of the week

Let’s look back at three posts worth revisiting, including the latest from earlier this week …

Health and fitness lessons learned. We live and we learn. Did you catch this one? … “Six health and fitness things I’ve learned to never do anymore.”

Father’s Day. Looking for a last-minute gift for Father’s Day. Here are some ideas … “The best Father’s Day gifts for 2023.”

Health talk. I highly recommend this book! I learned so much reading it. And in this one, I’m sharing some insight on what I learned … “Three important health lessons I learned from reading “The Longevity Book.”

That’s it for today. Thank you for reading A Lady Goes West. Be well, friend! 🙂 

Questions of the day for you

How was your week?

What’s one thing you’re grateful for right now?