Full shelves in the grocery store.
Toilet Paper.
Hugs.
Eating out at restaurants.
Going to the movies.
Having coffee with a friend.
Going to concerts.
School days.
Worshipping in church that is bursting at the seams with people.
But there are so many things to be thankful for - things that we are able to focus on now that we have time.
Family.
Health.
Dinners shared around the table.
Movie nights.
Reconnecting.
Long uninterrupted talks.
Daily workouts.
New hobbies.
Friends.
Technology that connects us & enables us to worship with the Church.
Life itself.
We have found a lot of ways to occupy our time while we are all home.
Chris set a goal in April to walk 100 miles. He ended up blowing past that goal & walked 128.56 miles!
My own personal goal was to come out of this shelter-in-place physically & spiritually stronger. I have been able to get a work out in every day of the quarantine. I just finished a 21 day ab challenge & have definitely felt an increase in my own strength & endurance. I've also been able to spend hours pouring over God's Word. I'm loving the intimacy of discovering more about the Lord every day.
Together we have played SkipBo, done four puzzles, played Chess, read books, played Sudoku & done art projects.
The kids have been working hard to stay on top of their online school work. I am so impressed by their drive & determination.
Ashlyn taught me how to play chess & enabled us to break out the chess set that we got when Chris & I traveled to Mongolia to visit Hal & Jenny back before we had kids.
I attempted to teach myself some watercolor skills. I haven't used watercolors since I was high school (& I won't go into how long ago THAT was). My first was a painting of a photo that I took of Lake Tahoe a few years ago...
The second was of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach in Oregon...
Pepper "getting into the Word" during my morning Bible study...
I love how Zoom calls keep us connected. Chris has been using Zoom for work calls & meetings throughout the SIP. Ashlyn & Landon have calls with their teachers & classmates, DGs & even a Friday Bible study with the high school group. I was able to connect with the ladies of my women's Bible study. It was such a blessing to see their smiling faces & I found myself thanking God for enabling us to have the technology to stay connected during this time that could otherwise be very isolating.
We even did a Zoom call with Memejo & Dominic!
Landon has done such an amazing job focusing on the things that he has to get done for school. He has had some crazy big assignments & it would be very easy to get overwhelmed & give up. I am so proud of him.
I am equally as proud of Ashlyn. She has always been diligent about doing her school assignments & that hasn't changed now that she is doing distance learning. On top of all her work she is keeping us stocked in delicious gluten free bread & rolls. She even set out to make gluten free cookies like the "frosted Safeway cookies" that Landon used to love but can't eat anymore. They were SO good!
I tried out a new gluten free cinnamon roll recipe since the ones I made for Christmas were almost inedible (despite the fact that my family swore they weren't too bad & ate them anyway). These ones were MUCH better.
Ashlyn tackled a new project this past week. About six years ago she got a bike for her birthday. She picked a pink bike only to have her style (& affinity for pink) change drastically within a year. She is finally sanding down the frame so she can paint it a color that is more "Ashlyn".
Church services are streamed live in our living room these days. Chris has been able to join us a few times as well as serving on the tech team, while maintaining proper distance of course.
Pepper enjoys worship time too...
We are thankful for nearby trails where we can hike & explore.
Actually, maybe we're not all thankful. It was on this very hike that Ashlyn turned to me & said, "I hate you so much" for making her go on said hike. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
Landon has been able to connect with friends through his xbox. There's a lot of Fortnite going on over here.
Personally, I think one of the biggest silver linings of this quarantine has been spending time with Chris. Normally, he is traveling 3-4 weeks a month but with restrictions on travel we get to have him with us all the time. It has truly been a blessing to have more time to talk, walk & connect.
He is also the best at "dad jokes". He even laughs at his own...
It could be very easy to become depressed or lonely during this time. If we put our focus on all that we are missing out on we will certainly find ourselves feeling morose, sullen or even angry. It has to be a conscious decision every day, maybe even multiple times during the day, to focus on all that we have to be grateful for & to choose joy instead.
What are you most thankful for during the quarantine?
Hugs.
Eating out at restaurants.
Going to the movies.
Having coffee with a friend.
Going to concerts.
School days.
Worshipping in church that is bursting at the seams with people.
But there are so many things to be thankful for - things that we are able to focus on now that we have time.
Family.
Health.
Dinners shared around the table.
Movie nights.
Reconnecting.
Long uninterrupted talks.
Daily workouts.
New hobbies.
Friends.
Technology that connects us & enables us to worship with the Church.
Life itself.
We have found a lot of ways to occupy our time while we are all home.
Chris set a goal in April to walk 100 miles. He ended up blowing past that goal & walked 128.56 miles!
My own personal goal was to come out of this shelter-in-place physically & spiritually stronger. I have been able to get a work out in every day of the quarantine. I just finished a 21 day ab challenge & have definitely felt an increase in my own strength & endurance. I've also been able to spend hours pouring over God's Word. I'm loving the intimacy of discovering more about the Lord every day.
Together we have played SkipBo, done four puzzles, played Chess, read books, played Sudoku & done art projects.
The kids have been working hard to stay on top of their online school work. I am so impressed by their drive & determination.
Ashlyn taught me how to play chess & enabled us to break out the chess set that we got when Chris & I traveled to Mongolia to visit Hal & Jenny back before we had kids.
I attempted to teach myself some watercolor skills. I haven't used watercolors since I was high school (& I won't go into how long ago THAT was). My first was a painting of a photo that I took of Lake Tahoe a few years ago...
The second was of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach in Oregon...
Pepper "getting into the Word" during my morning Bible study...
I love how Zoom calls keep us connected. Chris has been using Zoom for work calls & meetings throughout the SIP. Ashlyn & Landon have calls with their teachers & classmates, DGs & even a Friday Bible study with the high school group. I was able to connect with the ladies of my women's Bible study. It was such a blessing to see their smiling faces & I found myself thanking God for enabling us to have the technology to stay connected during this time that could otherwise be very isolating.
We even did a Zoom call with Memejo & Dominic!
Landon has done such an amazing job focusing on the things that he has to get done for school. He has had some crazy big assignments & it would be very easy to get overwhelmed & give up. I am so proud of him.
I am equally as proud of Ashlyn. She has always been diligent about doing her school assignments & that hasn't changed now that she is doing distance learning. On top of all her work she is keeping us stocked in delicious gluten free bread & rolls. She even set out to make gluten free cookies like the "frosted Safeway cookies" that Landon used to love but can't eat anymore. They were SO good!
I tried out a new gluten free cinnamon roll recipe since the ones I made for Christmas were almost inedible (despite the fact that my family swore they weren't too bad & ate them anyway). These ones were MUCH better.
Ashlyn tackled a new project this past week. About six years ago she got a bike for her birthday. She picked a pink bike only to have her style (& affinity for pink) change drastically within a year. She is finally sanding down the frame so she can paint it a color that is more "Ashlyn".
Church services are streamed live in our living room these days. Chris has been able to join us a few times as well as serving on the tech team, while maintaining proper distance of course.
Pepper enjoys worship time too...
We are thankful for nearby trails where we can hike & explore.
Actually, maybe we're not all thankful. It was on this very hike that Ashlyn turned to me & said, "I hate you so much" for making her go on said hike. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
Landon has been able to connect with friends through his xbox. There's a lot of Fortnite going on over here.
Personally, I think one of the biggest silver linings of this quarantine has been spending time with Chris. Normally, he is traveling 3-4 weeks a month but with restrictions on travel we get to have him with us all the time. It has truly been a blessing to have more time to talk, walk & connect.
He is also the best at "dad jokes". He even laughs at his own...
It could be very easy to become depressed or lonely during this time. If we put our focus on all that we are missing out on we will certainly find ourselves feeling morose, sullen or even angry. It has to be a conscious decision every day, maybe even multiple times during the day, to focus on all that we have to be grateful for & to choose joy instead.
What are you most thankful for during the quarantine?
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