Halfway Gone: A Mid-Year Check-In

It's almost the end of July. We're halfway through the year — actually, we're past halfway now, and I genuinely don't know how. What a six months it's been. What a two months it's been, if I'm being honest, because so much of this has happened fast.

I mentioned my internship in my last post, but I don't think I gave it the credit it deserves. This has been the most fun I've ever had in something I'm still technically calling a "job." I've been live on WNIS 790 AM — mornings, Friday nights. I've helped hosting multiple days on 96X, and one day on BOB FM. I've made a few friends along the way. It's just been one hell of an experience. Shoutout, again, to Dr. Platt — or Mitchell, I genuinely can't keep track of which one is her married name — for handing me this opportunity in the first place.

The People Around Me Are Moving Too

It hasn't just been my year. My brothers have all been making moves of their own.

Thomas got a career promotion that's going to let him get back to traveling for a living, with his wife Celeste right there with him. Nathan moved back to Virginia after graduating Auburn and commissioning into the Navy. And Chase found a job he actually enjoys — the man has the funniest work stories I've heard in a while.

Mom and Dad are doing well too. Dad's still coaching softball — I went and watched them on Father's Day, and they are really, really good. Mom is doing as good as she can. This past year has been a whirlwind for her when it comes to loss — Spike, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Bob, all of it, stacked on top of each other. But she's turning a corner. And I mean that in the best way possible. Who wouldn't be affected by all of that, on top of life just... doing what life does? But she's laughing again. That's huge. That matters more than I think people realize.

Losing Two Best Friends Last Summer

Clyde and Ollie are doing great — my best boys. They bring so much joy into my life, even when they're driving me up a wall. They're my whole world.

Losing Piper taught me to appreciate them differently than I did before. Animals don't live forever, which is honestly bullshit, and losing her crushed a part of me I wasn't ready to have crushed. But these two are bringing that part back, little by little. I can even talk about her and smile now instead of just aching.

Spike's one-year mark was tough as hell, though. I broke down more last weekend than I have in a long time. I miss him. I miss our random dinner dates, the phone calls, the shit-talking — I just miss him, plainly. I don't think that void ever fully closes.

Losing two best friends in one summer was not the most fun I've ever had, and I'm not going to pretend it was.

Finding Myself Again

But with all of that said — I'm happy again. My new medication is finally evening everything out, and I feel like myself without all the side effects that used to come with it. I've even lost a little weight along the way — thank you, Sinclair. It's a strange kind of relief, feeling like your own brain is finally on your side again.

The Podcast Is Actually Here

And then — my dad had the bright idea that I should start a podcast. Oh yeah. Brittany's Click & Tell has officially turned into a podcast. Catch me on almost every platform — Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and a handful of others. I'm genuinely so excited about this one. Talking to myself, alone, for that long has been a real adjustment — but it's also been one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. I love my intro song. I produced it myself.

My dad's also turning my garage into a studio for me, which — if you've been following along on social media, you've probably caught pieces of that transformation already. I missed documenting a few days because of work, but I'll be around for the rest of it, and I'm planning to put together a full video walking through the whole process eventually. If you've got recommendations, studio tips, or ideas — genuinely, send them my way.

The podcast is called Click, Tell, Repeat — a bit of a spinoff from this blog, and from everything I've built here so far.

Everything Led Here

All of this has made me realize something — every choice I've made leading up to this point has been worth every single minute it took to get here. I can't wait to see what the next chapter looks like. I'm somewhat impatiently waiting for this school year to be over, but I'm also reminding myself, constantly, to actually enjoy it — because it's my last year.

For now, anyway. I might need to go back for a business degree eventually. Wink wink.

I'm trying to set new goals for myself right now — financially, physically, mentally. And it's tough sometimes, reminding myself not to be so hard on myself. To remember to actually live in the middle of it all. I have a tendency to isolate myself, or to withhold my own permission to have fun until some goal is "reached." And honestly? That's no way to live. I'm working on that too.

Halfway through the year, and somehow, still just getting started.