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- Day 728 in quarantine.. 1,425 to go (at least that’s what it feels like)
- So, this week, I have just felt super emotional. Like, very “heavy”. I’m not even sure what that means. I think it’s just because we’ve had to make some hard decisions this week – regarding my sister’s bridal shower, our family’s summer schedule, & just trying to come to terms with the fact that everything we had planned out for this year will not look like what we had envisioned. Not a single thing. All of our ideas & intentions have gone out the window & now we just have no idea what the coming months will hold. It’s hard. And I’m doing the best I can to process it all. But it’s hard. And it makes me emotional – meaning I just want to sit & cry.
It seems silly because, we still have each other, we still have our house, Derrick still has his job, we are doing “just fine”. I know there are truckloads of people out there who are not fine, who are struggling with real, nasty, hard things – so I feel silly to be over here grieving for the things I’m missing out on. But, I miss my family, I miss going to the grocery store (never thought I’d say that), I miss having the freedom to go to the park on nice sunny days, I miss living without this fear. - Along those lines – we were supposed to be riding roller coasters today. We had planned to take off this next week and drive south to do a little amusement park tour. Derrick had the whole thing mapped out & we were all so excited & looking forward to it! The cherry on top was that Derrick was going to be attending a media event in Ohio for a new coaster opening up. Getting invited to media events is a big deal, so we were all super pumped! Annddd, then the world spun into chaos & all of our plans were canceled. So, here we are, sitting at home, doing a little cleaning, a little napping, a little.. nothing.
- Thru the grapevine of Mamas on Instagram that I follow, I found this really cool workbook this week – it’s called “My 2020 COVID-19 Time Capsule” and it’s actually really cute. Considering that we’re living in a huge moment in history – it’s a workbook for kids to fill in based around what they’re thinking, feeling, and doing during this pandemic. Some of it is over Braelynn’s head, so I’ll definitely be helping her fill it out, but it’s definitely something I want to have to remember this time by. If you’re interested – you can find it over on Facebook, here.
- Speaking of workbooks, Braelynn officially finished her Kindergarten prep workbook this week! She flew thru it & I’m so proud of how far she’s come! She’s so smart & learning so much – it’s definitely exciting to watch!
- If you’re curious about this week’s photo: I actually participated in a “photo challenge” this week – it was run by a sweet photographer that I’ve followed on Instagram for quite some time now. Every day, she emailed out a “prompt” with some tips & tricks & ideas, and then she encouraged us all to post our images in a Facebook group that she created specifically for Moms who are photographing their kids. She called it “Make Magic From Mess” and it was the perfect creative distraction every single day. I took a lot of photos – and I plan on writing more about the experience (plus showing off those photos) this coming week! Stay tuned!
- I hosted my very first ever Zoom meeting this week. After being a part of my niece’s birthday party last weekend via Zoom, I thought: what an amazing way to connect with people! I co-lead a group of creative entrepreneurs (Tuesday’s Together Greensburg), so I invited all of them to join me – just to hang out, see & chat face-to-face with other adults, and encourage one another. It was an amazing time. I was so encouraged!! It was just delightful to see other small business owners, hear that – newsflash – we’re all going thru the same struggles right now, and to say, ‘Hey! I have your back!’ We all decided it was so much fun that we should do it again, so we are! I think we’re going to do weekly hangouts until this is all over – why not, right?
- Okay, so I do have one big, happy, success story for this week. It feels a little strange to share, just because I haven’t really said much about my “daily exercise plan”. Honestly, I feel like if I tell people that I’m actively exercising on a regular basis, that I’ll jinx myself & stop. But, this is a good story. So, I’m telling it.
I’ve done the “Couch-to-5K” program before, but I’ve never finished it. If you’ve never heard – it’s a running program that walks you thru the steps to go from having never run before, to being able to run a 5K in 8 weeks. The first time I did the program, was in the weeks heading up to Derrick & I’s wedding (in other words, 10 years ago). I got about 5 weeks into the program, and then the week of our wedding arrived. Because so much was going on, I took the week off – and then obviously we had our wedding – and then we went on our honeymoon. Post-wedding, Derrick & I lived in a camper in his parent’s driveway (while we looked for a house), and knowing that I was “a runner”, Derrick’s parents said I could use their treadmill any time. I should have backtracked a few days since I hadn’t done any running in about 3 weeks, but I thought I could just jump in right where I left off. The day I left off, I was supposed to run a full mile without stopping. So, post-honeymoon, I decided to take Derrick’s parents up on their offer & use their treadmill, I jumped on & ran that mile. And, I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe, I had pushed myself too hard, and it scared me. So, I gave up. I never ran on their treadmill again.
Fast forward about 2 years, Derrick & I had bought our house & we invested in a treadmill. I decided to do the Couch-to-5K program again. I made it about 2 weeks in & quit again.
Once more, before we left our house in Sayre, I attempted the program, and I don’t think I even made it 2 weeks that time.
Fast forward to 2020. I decided in January that I wanted to begin working out on a regular basis. I began setting my alarm, waking up early, and doing something every single day. I started out just walking on our treadmill (which lives in our dark & scary basement), doing yoga, and some pilates-type YouTube videos. I’ve transitioned into some kettle-bell workouts, and decided I was going to do the Couch-to-5K program again.
This week was week 5. The same week I quit at 10 years ago. On Friday, I was supposed to run for 20 minutes straight, without stopping, for almost 2 miles. I was terrified of Friday. All I could remember was the last time I tried to run a long, un-stopping distance, and how it caused me to give up. Up to that point on Friday – the longest time I’d ever run was 8 minutes, so obviously, a 20 minute run was a long time.
Friday morning dawned & I got up, put on my workout clothes, tied on my running shoes, and then I did a bunch of tasks that I never do before working out. I did the dishes, wiped down my counters, got Braeynn set up with snacks & a drink – just killing time.
Finally, I bit the bullet & went downstairs. And I started running. And guess what?
I did it.
I ran the full 20 minutes, without stopping. Sure, I was breathing hard, but I wasn’t out of breath. I was sweating & my face was red, but I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out. I felt great.
I could hardly believe it. I crushed a goal that had bested me 10 years ago.
I still can hardly believe it! But, man, I’m actually kind of excited to wake up Monday morning & hit that treadmill again. Week 6! Brand new territory – I’ve never been here before! And it’s awesome.
