Life in the Time of COVID-19
Hey friends, I had every intention of “retiring” the blog in 2020 but then my account renewed before I could pause it so I guess I’m in for another year, haha.
It’s been almost a year since my last post which is crazy because I feel like there’s been a lot to share since then. I left my collegiate coaching job, Liv turned 3, I ran the Indy Monumental Marathon (and, alongside Mary Johnson, coached an incredible group of women who went after their sub-3 goal together), Marigold turned ONE! AND in February I got to live out my long-time goal of racing at the Olympic Trials Marathon.
I have a dedicated post about the Trials in the works but what felt right to kick off 2020 blog posts is life around here in the times of COVID-19.
The world looks so much different right now than it did when we were racing the streets of Atlanta just a little over 5 weeks ago. We just wrapped up week 4 of social isolation / quarantine / whatever we’re calling it and the weirdest part about it is we are settling into this new normal. It was definitely an adjustment at first, almost every morning Liv woke up and asked me “what are we doing today?” or “Where are we going today?” but as the days have gone on those questions have faded.
I’m not usually prone to worry or anxiety but during this period I’ve had my bouts of sadness, anxiety and worry about the future. I think it’s hard to avoid those feelings in such an uncertain time like right now. I’m someone who loves routine and LOVES to plan and right now that’s pretty impossible. There are no races on the horizon for me or my athletes, Henri’s job is only guaranteed until the end of June, our big goal for March was to complete our Master Bathroom remodel and that’s on hold indefinitely, we miss our family and friends, I can’t run with my running buddies, my parents are selling my childhood home and I can’t fly home to help them clean out the last of my stuff/say goodbye to the house, we were thinking about trying for baby #3… COVID-19 has impacted so many aspects of our life.
But even in the midst of my worries and all of the uncertainties I’m reminded of all the ways I am extremely lucky! My family is healthy, my husband and I both still have our jobs (although there are sure to be some ramifications there for at least a few months), we have a safe place to live, etc. I’ve found that the best antidote for the anxiety I feel is to focus on the things that I’m grateful for in the midst of this storm. And while this time has it’s worries for sure I hope that when my family and I look back on this time months, years and decades in the future that the things we’ll remember most are the things that made us smile.
Things Making Me Smile Right Now:
– Connecting with family! We’re FaceTiming with our families now more than ever and it’s been nice to check in with everyone more frequently AND we’ve gotten more creative and my sisters have done things like played Simon Says or taught the nieces some yoga which has been fun!
– Family walks – the only way to get out of the house is to go on a walk and so we’re going on a walk almost daily as a family which has been a nice habit to pick up.
– Playing Games with Henri! Sure, there have been plenty of nights when we watched 3 episodes of Tiger King BUT we’ve also found time to do some at-home date nights + play cards games and board games!
– Getting creative with the girls – we don’t do a ton of activities each day but we’ve done some fun/new activities and crafts with the girls during this time. We made a rainbow rice sensory bin, we made slime, we’ve colored and practiced cutting and gluing just had fun doing trying things I don’t usually make the time for.
– More family time in general – we live pretty far from where Henri works so with no commute right now we’re seeing more of him and it’s been really nice!
– Pancakes for breakfast – Liv requests pancakes almost every morning and why deny her when we have all the time in the world? ha
– Marigold learning to walk! You know that phase when a baby is learning to walk and they want to be doing it all the time but their not great at it yet so they end up crawling, scooting, toddling all over the place in public and getting so so dirty? Marigold went through that phase while we’ve been stuck at home which was awesome because now when the world goes back to “normal” she’s going to be a confident walker and we don’t have to deal with
– Taking advantage of our backyard – our yard is small (compared to the East Coast yard I grew up with) so I’ve never really made it a habit to hang out outside in the yard because I feel like all our neighbors can hear us and see us BUT now that the backyard is the option we’ve been playing out there and eating lunch out there and it’s been so refreshing. That’s definitely a habit that I’m hoping continues after COVID-19
– Trying new recipes – I’ve been taking the time to try out some recipes that I’ve been meaning to try to years! Chocolate chip cookies, homemade bread, almond cake! YUM!
– The positive affect on community – people bond through shared experiences and I think our communities are going to come out of this even stronger than before! It’s already been interesting to see how communities are coming together to support each other from afar during this time.
What is making you smile right now?