February 26th I decided to give up Facebook & Instagram for lent. Who would have ever known between Ash Wednesday and Easter, life would change so drastically. Within a week of being quarantined to the house and ordered to stay away from friends, family and just the general population, I was thinking "whyyyy did I give up social media, I NEED social interactions right now!". But as the days went on we found different ways to connect. A Marco Polo family chat, FaceTime & Zoom calls to name a few. Chatting with neighbors from the porch or deck, friends even riding by to say hi and see each other faces...6+ feet apart of course, per these "social distancing" recommendations.

    Mail from the Government

In the words of a meme I saw: "I did not plan on giving up this much for lent" ;) 

Life is very different right now.
But we're handling it the best we can.

March 13th, around the time Kentucky saw it's first known case of the new COVID-19/Coronavirus, was the last time the kids were at school. They happened to have picture day that day and I was there helping with it. The atmosphere and the day itself was just..strange. Half relief knowing we didn't have to worry about them picking up the virus from school and half panic because nothing like this had ever happened. How in the world are we going to have school from home? How contagious is this really? & how long is this going to last?!

Yes, I went out and hoarded all the food my pantry and freezer could hold that day.  I'm not even gonna act like it didn't feel like we were at the beginning of an apocalypse movie. Now that I know that Kroger and Costco weren't going to close or run out of food, I feel kind of silly, but I did what I did.

The shelves once they announced school was shutting down! Apparently toilet paper was #1 on everyone's list.
    The toilet paper shelf at Kroger!                               My necessities for homeschooling ;)

What was supposed to be two weeks has now been a month and still doesn't have an end in sight. Since then I've become a "teacher" (I say that lightly, I found out quickly that wasn't my calling), every non essential business has closed down, Ryan is off work and home with us, we've had to cook/make every. single. meal. and we're watching church live from the couch on Sunday mornings. We've been advised to only leave home for emergencies & to get groceries and even that should be limited and super careful. The streets are eerily empty and people are walking around in gloves and masks. You guys, DISNEY WORLD is even shut down. (Feeling super good about our decision to go just a short month before this started and not during it!) 

   Homeschooling!

We are living in a time that's going to be in history books and I've been feeling pulled to get it into writing. I've been journaling just to release some feelings but decided I wanted to type it all out. I want to have things the kids, and all of us, can look back on and say "We got through that!"

Some facts/info...

Clearly Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has completely shaken everyone's world.  What we know about it so far is that it is a very contagious virus that originated in China has now made its way around the world. It presents to most people like a mild, longer case of the flu, but for many others can and has been deadly. It's unlike anything anyone in this lifetime has ever seen, which is why doctors are having a hard time figuring out how to deal with it. Businesses are closing, people are losing their jobs and the economy is tanking at a rapid rate. Little by little, and pretty quickly, life as we knew it has disappeared.

Not knowing when this is going to come to an end is honestly probably my biggest worry. But I am holding on to the hope and the fact that it WILL end. The news is talking months before we are back to "normal" and even then the virus isn't going to just go away.  A vaccine is in the works but obviously has to be tested and could be next year before it is released. As much as I'd like to get back to normal life, it is scary to think about getting back into the real world before all of this is fully resolved. Any little cold symptom that we normally wouldn't blink an eye at sparks worry. As of now cases and deaths are still climbing instead of the line flattening, so we've more than likely still not seen the worst of this. 

Ryan's employer, TJX (TJ Maxx) has been INCREDIBLE thus far. We are going into week three of him being home with us and he is still being paid his regular salary. But the reality is that he IS in retail and depending how long this goes on we could be looking at a different situation down the road. We are praying it doesn't come to that and currently incredibly grateful he works for such an amazing company! But also being very cautious with our finances. 

But all facts aside, I will continue to be a faith filled optimist. We WILL get through this and I'm determined to be stronger when we do! First and foremost I have my eyes on the Lord and truly believe He has us through this. Not everything we experience in this life is good. It literally says in the Bible that we WILL have hard times. But He promises that everything we go through will ultimately work together FOR our good and if we call on Him, He will walk right there beside us! 

I have a good, uplifting day or two followed by feeling incredibly down and downright depressed for a day or two. I think it's important to feel our feelings through this. To tune in and cater to how our heart and mind is handling it all. Between the news and a completely different lifestyle we are bound to have our emotions all over the place and that is OKAY! But we can't let it us KEEP us down. Focusing on spending time in the Word, trying to keep a good routine, exercise and fresh air really help me get back up out of these anxious funks. I have God to thank for all of the blessings that I'm choosing to focus on and for that I am extremely grateful.

I'm viewing this as a time to slow down with my family. Taking it as far as thinking maybe that's WHY this is happening. We have put so much priority on making money, work, sports, just going and going! Now that we literally cannot do those things I hope everyone is choosing to open their eyes to how much they have right in front of them. 

Its a weird but great feeling knowing we have nothing to rush off and do. My mornings have been way less stressful not having to rush the kids off to school. Ryan being home with us having breakfast and coffee in the mornings. Being able to do things we've been saying we want or need to get done personally or around the house. But number one just being with each other! Sure we all look a hot mess and sit in our sweats everyday but there's a sweet freedom in that! =)

I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking I'm any kind of overly patient person (my husband especially knows I'm not lol) I have moments where I think I'm going to go bat sh*t crazy if I don't get away. But I do always seem to come back to this: These days can be such sweet, precious time with so many positive teaching moments with our kids and families if we let it! 

    church from the couch                                                                  Still happy kiddos!  

   picnic at the lake                                                                                    backyard bonfire & s'mores
 

Now I'm not saying I'm not sad that my boys won't have preschool & 5th grade graduations, or that there was no March Madness and my favorite spring time kick off (DERBY, duh) has been changed to stupid fall.... but Im saying I get it! We have to do this for each other. We are all in this together!! There is something comforting in knowing we can look to anyone right now and we all just get it.

So much love to all of you, and God Bless!