It’s amazing how so much can change in only a matter of days.
These photos (which were going to be a style post on here) were taken at my sister-in-law Beatrice’s birthday brunch only two days after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Oregon.
Since then (a few weeks later) there have been cases all over the United States and the numbers are growing.
Looking at these pictures makes me think about how we don’t know what tomorrow brings.
Here I am smiling, taking photos outside of a building in Downtown Portland, and today I am homeschooling my kids and practicing social distancing.
Schools in Oregon are now closed through the end of April, store shelves are empty (Jason went to buy onions and carrots yesterday so that I can make homemade soup and they were sold out of carrots!), and people are getting sick all over the world.
In general, most of us will spend more time at home throughout the day.
Even if you are still working, you may find yourself home most of the time when you aren’t working.
So….what is everyone doing with all this time at home?
How about all of the things we “never” have time for?!
Relax, catch up on sleep, start a blog or other hobby, read books, watch your favorite movies or shows, take an online class, start a Bible study, cook and clean, organize closets and drawers and purge items you no longer use, go on long walks, start an at home workout routine, spend more time with your loved ones (without interruptions!), the list goes on.
Isn’t it interesting how we often complain that we have no time to do certain things, yet when we are given more time, we are “bored”?
Slowing down and staying home isn’t a bad thing.
Although I do miss being able to go places, I am also really enjoying how different it is to not have such a hectic schedule and fill every minute of the day with errands, gym classes, coffee stops, grocery store runs, lunch dates, and other errands.
All I’m saying is, in this crazy time right now, it can be easy to get anxious and restless.
So rather than letting that fear take over, look at this as a gift of more time.
The gift of slowing down… something we rarely do these days.
If rest and sleep is what you need, do it.
Picking up a hobby or workout program, do it.
Meal prepping and learning new recipes, do it.
The way we spend this time will be different for each of us, but lets take advantage of it since it is kind of being forced upon us anyways.
What are we doing at home?
Honestly, we are also doing a whole lot of “nothing.”
We are focusing on finishing our house, so that still keeps us somewhat occupied.
We met the electrician there yesterday at 8:00am to figure out where all of the light fixtures and switches are going to go.
Jason works from home and he still spends most of his day working but I have a lot of time with the kids that I need to fill since we can’t get out and go to public places or playgrounds.
So in between homeschooling which is only 2-3 hours per day, we have been spending A LOT of time outside.
3-4 hours of our day is being spent on walks, in our tiny little backyard, or in the back alley behind our house riding bikes.
We’ve also been reading books, doing puzzles, watching movies before bed, and just laying around.
I’ve decided that I want to slow down and really just do what the kids want to do.
In the evenings when the kids go to bed, Jason and I have been binge watching White Collar and its been sooo nice.
Usually he works more in the evenings and I work on blog or social content.
We’ve both kind of just slowed down and embraced this weird time.
We are letting go of the fact that business is slower, we have nowhere to go, and its OK to do less right now.
Tomorrow I am going to meal prep so if you follow me on Instagram, you can see what I am making this week!
Yesterday I shared home-school resources and you can checkout that post here.
I have been jogging outdoors and doing Pinterest or Youtube workouts and its been nice to workout outside for a change.
Right now, I am just thankful that we are all healthy and safe and being out in public places with the kids is not worth the risk.
I am fine with giving up certain luxuries and past-times if it means keeping us safe.
I am fine being “bored” if it means someone else won’t get sick because of me.
Praying you all stay safe and healthy!
Also praying that financially things work out, I know many people are worried about the economy, work, etc.
We are all in this together and there is power in prayer!
AND now I will probably not talk about what is going on with COVID-19 much more!
We all know what is going on and many of us don’t want it to be the first thing we see every time we open our browser or phones.
SO I will hope to be sharing regular content, recipes, daily life, etc. to help us all take our mind off of it.
Hope you are all well, friends!
