Hello loves,

It has been a while since my last post, a lot has happened as many of you know my grandfather was battling cancer for about a year and a half. He took his last breath on September 22nd. I can vividly remember that day like it was yesterday, I won’t go into details because it is something that is very personal and I want to keep as much of it to myself. He was hospitalized for about a week, we all stayed by his side, none of us left the hospital. He fell into a coma the last two days of his life before he took his last breath. He passed peacefully surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. This is going to sound so weird but I loved his funeral and church service. My dad, uncles and husband carried my grandfather’s casket from his house to the church. I thought that was pretty cool of them, he carried so many people throughout his life, I just thought this was so special that on his last “walk” down his street these awesome men carried him on their shoulders.

Every day is a different, some days I am so angry I take my frustrations out on whoever gets in my way. Others I am just a hot mess and cry uncontrollably, I don’t get out of bed and then I have those days when I am unstoppable. I get in these moods where it feels as if my grandfather is taking over my body and I am super positive and getting things done. He wasn’t a person that felt sorry for himself. He didn’t complain or throw a pitty party. When I have days like those, I’m like watch out world here I come. Then there are days that I hate to admit but I forget, I forget that he is gone. I want to call him and tell him some exciting news, I see something at the store that he might like and then I remember he’s no longer here. Those are by far the worse days. Even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t prepared for the day he had to go.

Why I am changing my blog name. 

So my lovelies, I am changing my blog name, to SimplyJoa. Why you might ask, why, well, after much thinking and reflecting on my blog and the directions I want to take it I’ve come to realized that yes, I love sunflowers but I wanted a stronger name as I move my blog forward. I don’t really have something that I am set on blogging about, some bloggers are into fashion or cooking. I am simply sharing my life and stories with you. I know I talk a lot about my anxiety and depression, I express myself here and you all have been so warm and accepting when I am simply being myself. Therefor I am changing my name to SimplyJoa, you know Joa for Joanna..I know I’m a genius lol. I want to thank all of those that have emailed me, private messaged me on Instagram, a BIG THANK You to all of you.

Update on the life of Joanna 

So in December of last year I got a pretty cool job, as a college recruiter/Hispanic outreach  specialist. I thought I was living the life, helping students get into college and getting paid for it. I really was so happy to be working for higher education, I was getting out and meeting new people, connecting with like minded individuals. I was living the life, until I got approached by another opportunity called Corporate America. Long story short, the pay was double what I made in education and I went for it. Well, after only a month I realized that sitting in a cubical all day was not the life for me. I was making more  money but I was miserable. I got up every morning and was pissed I had to go work at this place. I had no sense of self worth there. I was basically becoming a robot doing the same thing over and over, I was losing my mind. I left on really good terms with my old supervisors ,they would check up on me and ask me how things were at my new job. Well, one day I just broke down and told them I made such a big mistake and I missed working in education. They asked me to come back to work for them and you can already guess my answer I’ve never said yes so fast before. Basically what I️ am getting to is money can’t buy happiness. If I’m going to get up every morning and spend most of my day at work I have to have a purpose. There has to be more than just a paycheck for me. I️ love doing meaningful work. It fills my heart and soul with so much happiness.