This time last year, I was headed to the beach for a week and wrote a post expressing my excitement over the change of scenery…and the fact that the CWD FFL conference was taking place, albeit virtually, during the same span of time.
I was beyond stoked to get away for a week, my enthusiasm no doubt fueled by having spent the last few months in isolation (with my parents) due to the pandemic. But I was also incredibly anxious seeing as I didn’t know how drastically this vacation would differ from the ones we’ve taken in years past because of COVID concerns. I wrote:
I have no idea if my family and I will be able to even go to the same strip of sand and ocean without having to worry about things like too many people and not enough masks. We probably won’t be able to eat at many restaurants like we typically do on vacation; instead, we’ll likely cook a significantly higher percentage of our food at home. And we definitely won’t be able to peruse the shops like we have done every year since going to this particular beach town – we’ll have to be a little more creative when it comes to staying entertained.
Granted, I also wrote in that blog post that I was grateful to have the FFL conference to “attend” as a distraction that was both one that I wanted but also one that might be necessary so I wasn’t completely without fun things to do over vacation.

What a relief it is to think about how much things have changed between now and then. Thank goodness for vaccines!
This is my long, roundabout way of saying that I’m on vacation all of next week and I’m so excited to have all that time to unplug and unwind. As much as I liked attending the FFL conference virtually last year, it didn’t foster that sense of community and joy as much as it does when I’m attending it in-person. I’m thrilled for the individuals who are able to go in-person this year, though – I know they’ll get so much out of it and have a truly fun time.
But for now, it’s time for me to hit the recharge button. I’ll still have a couple of new blog posts up and ready next week so be sure to come back then to check them out!