We’ve had lazy
days, we’ve had super fun days, and we’ve had many days that were just plain hard. Even though there are many things to be
afraid of right now, and even more things to be sad about, I’m trying with all
of my might to focus on all of the things that are GOOD.
Here are a few
of the things I’ve been grateful for this past month…
So much
quality time with my three favorite people! Our little family is
typically on the go most of the time, but since all of this started, we’ve had
so much extra time to watch movies together, play games and do puzzles
together, and go for family walks around the neighborhood. We used to take walks a lot when the kids
were younger, but they’ve been few and far between since the kids have started extracurricular
activities. It’s nice to have an
abundance of good quality time together again without being so rushed.
That Brian
has a job that allows him to continue to work full-time from home.
There are so many people who still have to go to work and compromise
their health and the health of their family members and there are also lots of
people who have lost their jobs altogether.
We are so thankful that B still has a job and that he never has to leave
the house.
That we
belong to a wonderful school family who has done a top-notch job of
transitioning to distance learning. Seriously, I cannot rave enough about our
school and all of the wonderful faculty and staff for making this transition so
seamless. You would think they’d been
preparing for this for months! Our
principals have been doing morning prayer Zoom videos every morning to keep us
all connected, our teachers have been having live Zoom lessons daily to keep
the kids on track with their learning, the school has been hosting virtual
spirit days to keep things fun, and we’ve even had a “homeschool happy hour”
for all of the parents to just hang out and “mingle” with other adults. Our teachers have been super organized, so
communicative, and so accessible, and they’ve also been creative with
their live Zoom meetings with the kids… they’ve had live scavenger hunts and play
dates, and Friday they’re doing show and tell!
They’ve even sent some happy mail to our house for the kids. They have truly gone above and beyond to show
that they love our babies as their own and we have just been SO GRATEFUL to
belong to this brilliant school. They
have made this a million times easier for me as a parent.
That we also
belong to an amazing church family who has done a wonderful job of keeping us
all informed and connected. Since we can’t physically attend church,
they’ve been livestreaming masses every day, they sent a packet in the mail for
holy week so we could be prepared to celebrate Easter, they’ve been having live
“friar-side chats” to keep us informed of happenings in the church, and they’ve
started doing live “friar bedtime stories” on Wednesday evenings to keep the
kids involved. We just love our church
so much.
Zoom Bible
studies. Being able to have real conversations about
this situation we’re living in, commiserate over homeschooling, and pray with
these wonderful ladies has been food for my soul.
Zoom in
general. I guess I just need to give a shoutout to
Zoom altogether since we’ve been using them to keep in touch with most everyone. I’m just so grateful to see everyone’s faces!
Facetime and
Facebook Messenger Video Chat. Can’t forget those guys either… we’ve been
using them, too, to talk to my parents and my grandmother!
Less
busyness. I’ve never been a fan of super packed calendars
and aggressive scheduling for the kids’ extracurricular activities, and I’ve
often felt overwhelmed since the kids started soccer, baseball, and dance. Now that we literally can’t go anywhere,
we’ve had lots of downtime, and the kids have had ample time to just play and
be kids. They’ve told me a couple of
times recently that they were bored and that actually made me happy because
they’ve literally never had time to just be bored! I firmly believe that creativity blossoms
from boredom, and so many of my best childhood memories were made because of
boredom. I just think it’s really
important for kids to have that time.
Sleeping
in!!!! I’m not a morning person at all, so waking up
every morning at 6 AM during the school year is tough. Since we no longer have to drive anywhere to
get the kids to school, I’m able to sleep in for an extra hour, and y’all – it
is glorious!!
Watching
Jacob’s and Olivia’s relationship grow and flourish.
Sure, they fight some of the time, but I can honestly say that they play
together and get along, like, 95% of the time.
It’s actually pretty unbelievable.
They have become even closer during this time together at home, and they
are just the best of friends. I pray
that they are creating a lifelong bond that nothing can break.
Gorgeous
weather. For the most part, we’ve been experiencing
highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s with abundant sunshine, low humidity, and
cloudless blue skies. It’s been absolute
perfection the majority of the time we’ve been home. And guess what? We’ve actually been able to enjoy it
because we don’t have a jam-packed schedule.
Lots of time
to work on my tan. Between the great weather and all of
this time at home, I’ve been able to get a jumpstart on my tan for the
summer! Getting all of that extra
sunshine always makes me feel healthier, and I’ve had a ton of energy
lately. And yes, I know, sun can be dangerous,
too, but we always use lots of sunscreen!
Lots of time
to work out. For the first couple of weeks, I really
struggled to squeeze in workouts, and I also struggled with how to work
out since the gym has closed. However,
these last two weeks, I’ve found my stride and I’ve been enjoying lots of
family walks outside, I’ve started running again (kind of), I’ve been doing
lots of workouts on my stair stepper, I started doing yoga, and I’ve been doing
some mixed cardio workouts with Jillian Michaels on YouTube. I was telling B the other day that by the
time this quarantine is over, I’m going to be in the best shape of my
life! Haha.
That our
credit card bills are lower than they’ve been in three whole years. Yep, not being able to go anywhere has certainly
had a positive effect on our wallets.
March was officially the lowest month for credit card bills for us since
March 2017. Craziness.
Takeout.
Man, if there’s one thing I’m sick of, it’s cooking three meals a day
seven days a week. So. Many. Dirty.
Dishes. Sheesh. We’ve been trying to support local business
and order takeout at least once or twice a week, and it’s been a nice little
break so I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean, and we get to enjoy some
of our favorite meals that we’ve been missing so much since we haven’t been
able to go out to eat. It allows us to
have a little taste of our city at home since we’re missing going out to eat terribly.
Disney + and
Netflix. I’m grateful to have these to keep us
entertained when we’re out of ideas.
Not having
to iron. Now that we’re not going anywhere, B isn’t
ever wearing polo shirts or khaki pants, so that means… zero ironing for
me! Yass.
Wine. And beer.
And Moscow Mules. And margaritas.
Because they’re always there when we just need a pick-me-up after a hard
day.
What are y’all grateful
for?
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These are all wonderful things to be grateful for!
ReplyDeleteI think so, too! We're trying so hard to find the good!
DeleteIsn’t it so true, our emotions and days are all over the place. Love finding smalls joys and I love your grateful heart!!
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for FaceTime (and the phone in general), too! And for takeout. And wine, haha! The time at home has gotten me to work on a few things I probably would have put off, like going through my paper files.
ReplyDeleteLooking for the bright spots is so important! I'm grateful to be able to go outside and the quality time with my family. xo, Biana -BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteThere's still so much good to be had during these uncertain times. The time together has been so nice and I'm also very thankful for Eric's job and his ability to work from home. We're looking forward to consistent weather and I'm looking forward to no longer being pasty lol. And all the yes to sleeping in, when the kids let me :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list! I️ feel like I️ could say the same things :) While this is definitely a strange time, I️'m very grateful for the positive things it's done for all of us - especially giving our families lots of quality time together!
ReplyDeleteYes, this amount of quality time is something we never ever have, so it has been wonderful to spend so much time together.
DeleteSo much good going on despite the times. Hear you on the credit card, when I logged on to pay mine I could not believe how low it was! I am loving getting to workout whenever I want, makes it easy to get it in when the gym is at home!
ReplyDeleteDitto for this entire list! I'm so thankful for Michael's job and all the extra family time.
ReplyDeleteI love this list, Lindsay! I too am loving the fact I get to sleep in these days. And the new "business attire" is on point (yoga pants and t-shirts!). Great post :)
ReplyDeleteYes, girl! Yoga pants all day, every day!
DeleteI'm grateful for so many of those things, too! My emotions are all over the place, but I try so hard to focus on the good!
ReplyDeleteSame here! I think I've cried more in the last month than I have in the last year. I'm a mess. But I'm so thankful we're all healthy. It could be so much worse.
DeleteTakeout, Disney +, sleeping in, less busyness and so many other things that I am grateful for as well!
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful that Matt has a job where we can work from home. So many families have parents that have been laid off or simply can't do their job. I've had to stop looking at Facebook and the news. It has been nice not to have to run around so much, and that I can put Aubrie down for a nap when needed. ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, I've stopped watching most news as well because it was all too upsetting. Focusing on the good is what's going to get us all through this!
DeleteWow so many lovely positives! It's been so lovely to spend more time with my family, it's been so rewarding xo
ReplyDeleteMakeup Muddle
Yes! It's the best part about all of this for sure!
DeleteSo true about the credit cards. I've been spending so little it's great.
ReplyDelete