I’ll be honest—I’m still feeling the burnout.
If you read my post in April, you already know I’ve been running on empty for a while now. I was hoping that by the time May rolled around, things might ease up a bit… but instead, the calendar seems to have filled itself right back up again. Between rehearsals, planning, and everything that comes with band season wrapping up, May and June are shaping up to be just as full—if not more so—than the past few months.
It’s a strange place to be—knowing you need rest, actively wanting rest, but still having so many meaningful responsibilities that require your time, energy, and heart. The work is important to me. The music is important to me. But that doesn’t magically make the exhaustion disappear.
That said, there is something on the horizon that I’m holding onto.
Later this month, Jeff and I are heading to Branson to celebrate our birthdays. And this year feels a little extra significant—turning 50 is a milestone I’m still wrapping my head around. To make it even more special, we’ll be meeting up with my mom, stepdad, my brother, and my sister-in-law. It’s not often that we all get to step away from our routines and just be together, and I’m really looking forward to that.
I’m hoping this trip gives me a chance to breathe—to laugh, to rest, to reconnect, and maybe even to reset a little before diving back into everything waiting on the other side.
Because once we return, it’s full steam ahead into preparing for the Memorial Day Ceremony and our annual patriotic concert—two events that mean so much, but also require a lot of focus and energy.
So for now, I’m somewhere in between: still tired, still stretched thin—but also grateful for something joyful ahead.
Maybe that’s what this season is about… holding space for both.
