I’ve been MIA For a few weeks so I wanted to give an update….

The past month has been a complete whirlwind!

About a month ago Freddie and I made the decision to move halfway across the country (again), this time to be an asset and additional hands to some family we have in College Station, TX. As we prepared for that move, I was simultaneously continuing with the Amplify Our Voices project, and things were going pretty well.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago.

I wasn’t feeling to well and was dealing with some pretty big anxiety. Freddie has been dealing with some intense fatigue. We had received quite a bit of sad/emotional family news…. Honestly, we were just trucking along figuring the stress of our countries social climate, the pandemic, and everything we were putting effort into was just getting to us a bit.

So… We weren’t expecting the next curve 2020 decided to throw at us. After realizing that Freddie hadn’t been feeling quite himself for some time, we talked to a phone nurse and scheduled an urgent care appointment. Long story short- that urgent care appointment turned into going to the ER, then a night in the ICU, and then a few days in the hospital. It’s his story to share, so I won’t say too much…. ultimately, he left the hospital with a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis.

This meant that we had to rapidly adjust and make some quick lifestyle changes. Luckily, the lifestyle changes and way of eating haven’t been too drastic of a difference from things we have tried in the past. What was very new and different for us to adjust too was a new structure / schedule to our day to day & learning about insulin injections.

Amidst all of this we realized our move was going to have to happen differently. My sister offered to come up to help drive down, and Freddie flew ahead of us to be with family in our new home state.

All of that to say… we are tired y’all!

I for one was already emotionally wiped from the going ons of 2020 before the hospital stay…. and while I promise to write more about that in the future, I wanted to let our family, friends, and those following the Amplify Our Voices project that this has definitely delayed some things. It’s definitely time to hit pause until we are settled and a little better adjusted to all our new normals.

I’ve temporarily put Amplify Our Voices on hold until we are settled in our new home. Around the end of August – beginning of September, I would like to start up interviews again. I actually have an interview I already did with one of my aunties that will be the first to go up around that time. I plan to keep up with this project and specifically amplify Black voices through the end of the year or when I run out of interviewee’s, whichever comes first.

Everyone’s been talking about what was or wasn’t on their 2020 bingo card… well pretty much nothing that has happened in July was on mine! But we are making it through all of this by faith, with our mostly-online-at-the-moment community, and with each other.

Many of you have been asking how you can give to help support us during this crazy time of transitioning during covid and social unrest. I will post some links at the end of this post!

For those who have given already- thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! Seriously the monetary help has enabled us to make sure our car is in traveling shape, to fly Freddie ahead of time, to navigate the hospital stuff (shout out to the folks who bought me coffee)- and it’s helping get my sister and I through this road trip, enabling us to keep the apartment we already found, and giving us some peace of mind while we secure jobs.

You can support via

I will also be posting about this transition and the road trip my sister and I are taking on YouTube- so you can also support by liking, subscribing, and following along at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCopPlAuKs_p8NjwwGYJ1bRQ

I feel like there is so much more that I want to share but I think I need to gather myself a bit more first. I will have lots of content ready for you in a few weeks.

Thanks for hanging in there with me!