A Month at Home

It has been one month since Alison and I were both told we would be working from home. We have watched as the world has changed completely in a matter of weeks. It is heartbreaking to see the lives that are lost and endangered because of covid-19. We mourn and pray for those who have lost loved ones or lost their livelihoods. This global pandemic is devastating for so many. It has created a high level of uncertainty for everyone.

Alison and I have been fortunate. The impact of the global pandemic on us personally has been fairly limited. The biggest change for us has been our travel. We had to reschedule two domestic trips and one international vacation. While we would have preferred not to reschedule, it wasn't difficult or costly to adjust. We have also been home more, which at times makes us a little stir-crazy, but isn't so bad. We both are employed and able to work from home. We are both healthy. We also have a lot of support from family and friends. We have many reasons to give thanks.

Working from Home

Alison and I have settled in to working from home. We do not have a space set up as an office. Since this is (hopefully) a short-term arrangement we decided not to set up a permanent space. Instead I work at the dining room table and Alison works on the couch, or the other end of the dining room table. For the most part working from home has gone smoothly. The biggest complaints so far is that Alison can be a little loud when she is talking on calls and I don't put away my dishes in a timely enough manner. Other than that working from home has been a dream.

Spending time with the animals 

I am sure CC and Tex are very confused about why we are staying home all of the time. We get to watch them lounge all over the house all day every day. Tex accompanies me on twice daily walks of the neighborhood. He also loved it when it snowed a few random days in late March. Since I was working from home I took breaks to let him play in the snow.

The Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020

Alison and I survived the great toilet paper shortage of 2020. It pushed us to buy and install a bidet on our toilet. We talked about it after many of our recent international trips (especially Japan), but it took a run on toilet paper to pull the trigger.

Front Porch Project

One of awesome neighbors, Cara, posted that she was participating in the front porch project. In exchange for a donation to a local charity she scheduled a time to come shoot a few pictures of us on our porch, from a socially acceptable distance. It was great fun. We are really grateful to have an awesome neighbor like Cara who encourages us to support the local community.

Holly's One Year Birthday

Our niece, Holly, turned one during this whole experience. Given the circumstances there was a small get together with a few members of the family to share some cake and sing happy birthday to her. She  is such a doll and was happy to eat cake.

Disney Puzzles

When we were sent home from work I ordered a Thomas Kinkade 4 in 1 Disney puzzle pack. Turns out that was an excellent decision because there was a run on puzzles and they became very hard to come by (although Alison did manage to find a 1,000 piece Matterhorn puzzles). It only took around a week in a half for us to knock out all 4 of the 500 piece puzzles. We have now entered into a couple of socially distance puzzle exchanges to ensure we have a supply of puzzles that will last through our time at home.

CC did her best to eat our puzzle

Physical Activity 

Alison and I have been very active during our time at home. We take a long walk nearly every day. Daybreak is really not a bad place to be homebound. There are so many beautiful trails and open spaces where we can physically distance from other people, while still getting out of the house.

When you forget about a work meeting a mile from home you find a bench and dial in

Marvel Movie Night

Alison and I went to the first Iron Man movie in theaters in 2008. Since then Alison did not watch any Marvel movies, until this last year. We started watching all of the Marvel movies in chronological  order with Kristin, Dan and Skylee. We watch one movie a week whenever we have the chance. Originally, I was estimating we would finish in mid-July, but with the stay home order the timeline has accelerated and we will now be done in late May/early June.

When the weather has been nice we play outside with Skylee. Sometimes this means jumping on the tramp. Sometimes it is teaching Skylee how to swing a baseball bat. Sometimes we throw toys for the dogs. It is nice to be outdoors.

Virtual Game Night/Hangouts

We have had a couple of virtual hangouts with Alison's family. It is fun to get together to play some party games or even just chat. I am grateful we have technology that allows us to spend time together, from a distance.

Date Night

Alison and I decided to get dressed up, cook up a fancy meal, and have a date night at home. We made steak medallions with mushroom wine sauce, sweet potato casserole, garlic lemon-pepper asparagus, and had assorted brownies from Schmidt's bakery for dessert. It was a fun romantic evening.

Tex always wants to stay close to us

Easter 

We celebrated Easter throughout Easter weekend. On Saturday afternoon we put some candy and cash into Easter eggs and hid them in the yard across the street. We then watched out of our window as the kids across the street searched for the eggs. They were so excited to find the eggs, especially when they realized each egg contained $1.

On Easter we hid a basket of eggs in Skylee's yard. We were filling in for the Easter bunny. Earlier in the week Alison was on the way to the grocery store when Kristin called and Skylee told Alison all the things she was hoping to get from the Easter bunny and Alison asked if the Easter bunny needed help. Kristin told her the Easter bunny could use some help. The pickings were slim, but Alison got the makings of a fine Easter egg hunt.

We had a very nice at home Easter service. We got the entire family together, some physically, and some via zoom. We had music, testimonies, and partook of the sacrament. It was a nice celebration of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Kristin shared a quote from one of her favorite authors, Glennon Doyle:

"…Sunday might be right around the corner, but there is no fast forwarding through Friday and Saturday. The cross has to come before the resurrection. It’s the way of the world. And unless you bear witness to the truth, unless you face it head on and choose to open your heart to the pain, you won’t bear witness to the miracle either. If you run away from the crucifixion, you might just miss the resurrection."

I love this reminder that the story of the atonement is one of hope. Christ suffered and died so that he could ultimately rise again as symbol of hope to a imperfect world. I am grateful for this reminder of the power of the atonement on Easter Sunday.

We had a little Easter dinner, complete with home deliver for those who could not attend. For dessert Alison and I fried up some Mickey Mouse Beignets. We got the same recipe they use at Disneyland from one of our favorite Disney bloggers Disneyland Tour Guide. If it wasn't for covid-19 we would have been at Disneyland for Easter weekend this year. Instead we channeled a little bit of Disney magic at home by making these beignets. They were delicious.

Text from my grandparents after we delivered them a bag of beignets

We live in challenging, unprecedented times. To me the hardest and scariest part of this all is the uncertainty. We do not know when this will be over and when our lives will be able to get back to some sense of normalcy. I do know this will pass. I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Until we get to that point we are buckling down and finding joy where we can.