Tag: Monthly Review

December Engendered Completion & Celebration – 2024 Month 12 Reflection

In this month of festivity, my Ballet students successfully passed their Royal Academy of Dance-style examinations, so proud of their progress! I continued to create and publish while starting the process of reflecting on the past year as a whole and dreaming and planning the next.

So fortunate to be blessed by feasts of celebration and rituals marking the Winter Solstice, Christmas, my girlfriend’s birthday, and Silvester/New Year’s Eve and to have a period of processing and rest after an eventful year.

November was for Being Grateful & Grieving- 2024 Month 11 Review

November featured the full Beaver Moon, our last gasp of Autumn’s colors, art and culture at Museumsnacht Koeln, and a parade of birthday celebrations.
Cooler temperatures even brought the first snow of the season, the earliest I’ve experienced since moving to Germany!
It being the month of American Thanksgiving, I still took time to be grateful for my life and everything in it and hope you had a lovely feast if you celebrate.
Mom’s knee surgery was a success, the U.S. Presidential Election not so much…

Boo October is Through – 2024 Month 10 Review

October was an extra-long, very action-packed, fun, and also anxious for various reasons. I managed to vote in the US Primary Election and was worried about the outcome, as well as various other concerns personal and professional.
A short visit with family members I haven’t seen in ages was lovely. Our weekend escape to Mendig with friends was a refreshing adventure. My new fountain pen hobby provided creative diversion.

A Sensational September & Season – 2024 Month 9 & Quarter 3 Review

September I really got in the swing of “Back-to-School” and my Fall schedule, celebrating the Autumn Equinox and Oktoberfest, looking back at Quarter 3 and forward to Quarter 4 and a new year on it’s way before we know it.

Self-Care September – Practicing Exquisite Well-Being in Order to Serve

Self-Care September is about practices that promote well-being to empower service, learning, and creativity.

An August Month – 2024 Month 8 Review

Summer Pause was in full effect in Cologne, we celebrated a family wedding, I got sick, then recovered just in time for Back-to-School.

Jolly July – 2024 Month 7 Review

July was joyous as well as jammed for me this year, with lots of teaching, creating, family news both “good” and “bad,” queerness (Cologne Pride, the Trocks), political theatre, and summer outdoorsiness between storms.

Juicy June & Quarter Two Flew – 2024 Month 6 Review, Q2 & First-Half Wrap-Up

Summertime is time to reflect on the month of June, quarter two, and the first half of the year.

Memories of a May Made of Adventures in California, Home in Hawai’i, dancing through jetlag back to Germany – 2024 Month 5 Review

Having prepared to fly in April and cruised to California for cousin, aunt, and uncle time at the end of the month, the first few days of May we spent showing Ela this lovely West Coast city, eating fish tacos and Mexican food, walking on beaches and piers, at the world famous zoo, through vintage and army surplus stores.

April was about Celebrating Spring, Dance Week, Travel Preparations & California Dreaming – 2024 Month 4 Review

The first part of my month was focused on teaching, coaching, and creating. In the later part of April preparations intensified for a trip home to the US, California and Hawai’i specifically, entailing international travel, packing, and lots of work for both of us as self-employed/freelancers.

It all paid off, as I learned and connected through the work I did, and we had a magical time flying carryon-only to San Diego, visiting with family and touristing there. In this post I’ll share much of what I did and made, then in May’s reflection upcoming, more details of the trip to San Diego and Kailua-Kona.