Well oh my goodness, I hope all of you are doing okay out there! The world has turned upside-down on it’s head so quickly! My brain is still processing it all.
What an interesting, scary, introspective, eye-opening, humbling, growing, historic, unique, uncertain time this is! I think I’ve felt about every single emotion on the entire spectrum this past week.
As uncertain as this time is, I’m trying to be grateful for the unique opportunities we have right now. I doubt there will ever be another time in my life when I HAVE to stay home, step back from life and spend so much time with my family. It’s been a wonderful thing so far.
I was also thinking that if I have to be “stuck” somewhere, I’m so happy to be “stuck” at home! It would be miserable to be stuck in a jail, an elevator, a barren wasteland, on a deserted island, etc. I’m grateful for my home and for the comfort and peace we have here.
Well, I will share a few pics from this past week or so….
Last Tuesday, I went to a yoga class at my gym and really wasn’t thinking about this Coronavirus at all! #Namaste
On Thursday, things got really crazy here in Utah. That was the day when we really started hearing about taking measures to “flatten the curve.”
We were encouraged to stay home as much as possible, wash our hands diligently, don’t touch our faces, social distance ourselves, etc.
We also found out that our church meetings wouldn’t be happening for a while and we were encouraged to hold our own church at home (which has been a beautiful and wonderful experience, btw!)
That night, I decided to go to my favorite class at the gym. I went back and forth about whether or not I should go, but then decided to go! I think I was looking for some normalcy and routine amidst the chaos.
My class was wonderful and I’m glad I went (I think), but there was definitely a different vibe. There were probably about 1/3 less people at the gym and I could just tell that my instructor and other people were on edge. I don’t think anyone knew what to think!
The next day we learned that our kids’ schools would be cancelled at least for two weeks (I think they’re cancelled for at least a month now) and online learning and homeschooling would start. Crazy.
BTW, I’ve actually liked having my kids at home! I’m sure it will get old and we’re definitely a little stir-crazy, but I’m grateful they are home with me. I will also say that I’m not the best homeschool teacher in the world! Ha ha.
We’ve kept a pretty “flexible” schedule. We start the morning with the kids taking turns on the laptop that we checked out at the school. They do their homework and go live with their teachers and classmates. It’s actually been pretty cool. It’s touched my heart as I’ve seen the teachers and classmates coming together to learn and support each other.
My kids have also spent plenty of time playing video games, watching TV and playing legos. I also got a bunch of workbooks and puzzle books for them to do and they’ve enjoyed that. We’ve gone to the park and on walks. We’ve gone through a drive-thru a few times to get drinks or treats. It’s been nice.
My 16 year old son also set up our huge tent in the backyard and the kids slept out there a couple nights. They also brought a TV and the X-box out there and had fun with that too.
It was actually super awesome for me as well because my house was sooooo quiet! 😉
Now that we’re settling into things a bit, I’m hoping to get us on a little more organized schedule. I’m going to have the kids do daily chores and I’m hoping to deep clean, organize and do some house projects myself! Yay!
On Saturday, it was my daughter’s 19th birthday! I’m in denial and shock that she is so darn old. Seriously kills me. We decided to go to Texas Roadhouse as a family since all of the restaurants were still open (they are all closed to dining-in now.)
Ya know, we debated if we should go out to eat or not. It still felt so surreal to have everything closing. I think we were just trying to have some semblance of normal and celebrate my daughter’s birthday!
FYI, our server told us that they were washing all the menus after every use and they weren’t keeping ketchup bottles on the table. They brought us ketchup in individual cups. She said they were wiping down and washing everything!
This whole thing is unprecedented and I don’t think any of us know what to do or what to expect!
When we got home, we sang Happy Birthday to her.
I’d made her a cheesecake (this recipe) and it turned out great! I think I’ve made cheesecake probably 2-3 times in my life. I didn’t have a fancy schmancy cheesecake pan, so I made it in a 9×13 pan. Not as pretty, but just as yummy!
Oh, and I made this fruit syrup to top it with and it was so good! I used frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries and fresh strawberries BTW.
On Tuesday (March 17th), we had another birthday at our house! Our son turned 12. I really can’t believe he’s so old either! It was an interesting birthday. We just had a little party at home.
That’s when it’s nice to have so many siblings!
He got a couple Lego sets, which was great because it kept him busy for a while.
That night, my daughter was officially set apart as a missionary for our church! It was a special, wonderful experience, but it’s been been a little hard as well.
My daughter has been looking forward to being a missionary for a couple years now. She was supposed to go to a Missionary Training Center for 3 weeks and then head to Portland, Oregon to complete the rest of her 18 month mission.
For now, she is doing her Missionary training online with another group of missionaries. It’s been great and I’ve been so impressed with how well organized it’s been. She spends about 6 hours a day in training and is also doing her own personal study. She’s actually really enjoying it and loves being a missionary!
I have no idea if she’ll be able to head to Oregon in a few weeks or not. I’m guessing she won’t, but we will see!
In fact, here is a picture that pretty much sums up our life the past few days….
We headed to Walmart to get a few things and to get out of the house. You can see my darling missionary daughter (you can see her name tag), my 5 year old son looking stir-crazy and me putting hand sanitizer on everyone!
Oh, and you can also see the dog in the corner of the picture. I could tell he needed to get out of the house as well! Ha ha.
Oh, and my 16 year old son also started his first official job that day too.
He is working at Five Guys Burgers and Fries and is enjoying it so far. What a crazy time to start a job though, right???
Everything is strange right now!
Oh, and that same 16 year old son of mine was “answered” to prom this week too. I don’t know if it’s just a Utah thing, but kids here like to ask and answer to school dances in creative ways. This is how his date answered him. I thought it was clever…
If you can’t read it, it says, “I would get Corona a dozen times if it means I get to go to prom with you…..YES!”
Prom was supposed to be next weekend, so I sure hope they’ll be able to reschedule it. I’m feeling doubtful though.
Oh and I’ll share this cute pic of my now homeschooled preschooler,
His teacher has gone above and beyond and has had things available for us to pick up and is sending us things over email.
I thought it was great that for this assignment he was asked to identify four things in his life that makes him feel “lucky.” He said, his dog, his family, video games and his bedroom.
It’s a great time for all of us to think about all of the things we are grateful for!
In fact, with all the crazy going on, I’ve been amazed by all of the good people doing so many good things all over the world. The other day, I saw these messages on an overhead bridge and I was grateful for the reminder….
There are a lot of good people in the world.
Well, that sums up our week+ in a nutshell. I hope y’all are surviving as well.
Oh wait, I completely forgot to mention that on Wednesday morning (March 18th) we woke up to a 5.7 earthquake!!! In Utah! I could not believe that that happened amidst the already crazy times!
It happened at 7:09 AM. I was dead asleep and pretty much out of it. Kev heard a loud bang and jumped out of bed. He wondered why he felt so dizzy. When I woke up, I was trying to figure out what he was freaking out about. I felt my body shaking and for a moment wondered what in the heck was wrong with me!? Then I realized the whole bed was shaking.
Then, I was trying to figure out why I heard cow bells ringing? Kev said he was wondering why he heard wind chimes inside? It was actually all of our running medals that were hanging on the wall and clanging together. Ha ha.
We were both obviously very out of it.
It was so crazy though and just made me feel so stressed out all day! Crazy town. I’m so glad that it didn’t cause a lot of damage.
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Well, since we’re all stuck at home, I thought I would share an at-home workout with you guys. Exercise is such a wonderful stress reliever and I’m always amazed how much it can boost my spirits and put me in a good mood.
This workout is a quick 20 minute workout, but it’s very effective! You will be sweating, your heart will be pumping and you will work the whole body! It will also fill your body with lots of good endorphins and hopefully lower the stress level!
All you need is some dumbbells and if you don’t have dumbbells, you can get creative and used canned goods or water bottles.
All of these moves are pretty basic (although tough!), so if you don’t know one of the moves, you can easily Google it.
You just need a timer (you can use a timer app if you want.) You work hard, all-out for 20 seconds and then take a quick 10 second break. You do that four times in a row for each move and then move on to the next move.
I love doing HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts because they are fun and never get boring! I love that it keeps changing!
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I also thought I would share all of my favorite memes that I’ve been seeing this week. Heaven knows we could all use a sense of humor and some laughs right about now. It’s good for the soul.
Aaaaaand, admist all of the funny humor, I’ve also read so many things that have touched my heart and soul deeply. I think this one was my very favorite.
I love you all so much! Stay safe, healthy, happy and sane! xoxo
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