One Year of the Pandemic

This month it will be a year since the pandemic started and the world as we knew it changed. Here are some links to a few blogposts I posted at the beginning of the pandemic. Click here and here and here and here. I must admit I've been getting a little emotional reading my old blogposts about the pandemic. It was hard. It still is hard, although life has calmed down a bit in the last year. 

We are still encouraged to wear masks inside any public building (although some states are lifting that mandate now). 

We still shouldn't gather in large groups. 

We still are encouraged to wash our hands frequently (which is always a good thing whether or not there's a pandemic happening). 

Professional sports teams have started playing again with restrictions (less fans in the audience and the players live in a bubble). 

Schools are opening up again with hybrid learning (some kids are at home on zoom while some kids are going into school and the kiddos are switching off the days they're going in and zooming).

A lot of people who have office jobs that can be done from home are still working from home. 

Talk show hosts are back in their studios but with a virtual audience and the guests are either zooming in or coming in and sitting 6 feet apart from each other.

Hair salons, department stores, movie theaters etc are open again with limited capacity and masks are required. 

We have a few vaccines available now to the general population and people are getting vaccinated but it'll still be awhile before I can get one.

I can't wait for the day when I can go inside of a grocery store without a mask on and when I can see a musical live in the theater again. But until then I'll keep on collecting masks. (This isn't even all of the masks I own). ;)

 

Food, Glorious Food!

I like food and today I feel like sharing some pictures of delicious food that I've eaten in the last couple of months. The ones that I'm sharing are mostly treats, but I promise I do eat healthy food sometimes too. ;)

One Saturday morning I was in the mood for a doughnut and I decided Astro Doughnuts was my doughnut place of choice. I've had a couple of their doughnuts before and so I knew I liked them. I got a Honey Bun doughnut and it was delicious! It was soft and fluffy with good flavor.

There's something about a Wendy's chocolate frosty that I just really enjoy any day any time! 

One day I saw a movie or a show where they were eating fudge and it suddenly made me want to eat some fudge. I didn't want to make a whole pan of fudge so I looked up places around where I lived that sold some. I found a place and went one day and they ended up being closed at the moment even though their website said they should have been open. Oh well. 

I ended up making a whole pan of fudge and it turned out pretty dang well if I do say so myself. ;) I ate some, shared some with my roommates and then put the rest in ziploc bags and put them in the freezer and ate the pieces slowly over time.

 

I was out running errands one day and had just eaten lunch and decided that I needed dessert too. My first choice was Rita's Italian Ice but it was closed for the season. 

But in the same shopping area was a Duck Donuts and so I went there instead. I had eaten there before but it had been a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed their doughnuts. They were soft, fluffy and warm. :)

 

It is not very often that I get the house to myself. My roommates are ALWAYS here (and I understand why (and I am too) but man sometimes it's hard). There were two evenings recently that two of my roommates were out of town and the third roommate just keeps to herself in her bedroom so I basically had the house to myself. Can I just say how much I enjoyed having the kitchen and the living room to myself those two evenings?! It was awesome! 

I say all of this to say that the first evening I had the main level to myself, I made Tortellini Sausage Soup and French Peasant Bread and binge watched a few episodes of WandaVision (I hadn't seen any of it yet). Both the soup and the bread turned out well! (And I thought WandaVision was interesting.)

 

The Tortellini Sausage Soup and French Peasant Bread.

 

The second evening I had the house to myself, I made Hot Chocolate Cookies and finished binge watching WandaVision. :) I love these cookies! (Overall I enjoyed WandaVision and I'm so curious about how they're going to end the show.)

 

And my last food picture I'd like to share for now. One of my roommates and I had talked about trying this sushi place near us. Recently we finally did and it did not disappoint. It's Yoko Sushi. It's a little expensive but the food was delicious!

As you can tell from this post I like food and I like remembering delicious food I've eaten. :)

Valentine's Day

A few days ago I was on facebook and I kept on seeing friends post answers to questions regarding them and their significant other (for Valentine’s Week). I normally just keep scrolling passed these posts but this particular day I read a few of them and I had this idea come to me. What if I answered the questions for myself?! No, I am not in a relationship, but as I read the questions thinking about them in regards to me, some funny answers came to my head.

So I filled this questionnaire out for myself (with a little help from my sisters but mainly by myself). And here are the results.

Here’s our story:

How’d you guys meet: At a hospital in MN

First Date: January 1… obviously.

How long have you been together: 30-something years… crazy how fast time flies.

Age difference: Exact same age.

Who said I love you first: What’s love got to do with it?!

Most impatient: Me. Definitely me.

Most sensitive: Me.

Most stubborn: Me.

Falls asleep first: Me.

Cooks better: Me. Definitely me.

Better morning person: Me.

Better driver: Me.

Who is the funniest: Me. But the inspiration has to come.

Where do you eat out most as a couple: Freddy’s

Who is more social: What does being social mean?! ;)

Favorite tv show to watch together: Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Goldberg’s

How long did it take to get serious: I’m never serious.

Who plans date night: Me.

Hogs the remote: I have sole control of the remote. It’s pretty dang awesome!

Spends the most: Me. Duh!

Did you go to the same school: Yes, from elementary school to university!

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together: Taiwan

Who drives when you are together: Me. Always me.

Post a picture/picture(s) of you and your valentine.

Happy Valentine’s Day whether you are your own valentine or you have a significant other. :)

 

 

I was giggling the whole time I was filling the questionnaire out. I must admit I was a little nervous about posting it on Facebook because I didn’t want people to think I was crazy, but I decided to just do it. Maybe people didn’t think it was quite as funny as I did but hopefully they at least were entertained by it for a moment. :)

I hope that no matter what your relationship status is this Valentine's day that you'll have a good day and that eating chocolate is a part of your day.

 

An adventure! (Waterford, VA; Lovettsville, VA; Brunswick, MD)

I had the day off of work this last Monday. Yay! Since I knew I was going to have the day off, I decided to go on a little adventure. I visited Waterford, Virginia, Lovettsville, Virginia, and Brunswick, Maryland. 

I learned about Waterford from a facebook ad and decided I wanted to visit. When I mentioned going to Waterford to my sister-in-law, she suggested I go to Lovettsville and Brunswick also. :)

(Side note: In the pictures when I'm not wearing a mask, there were no people around.)

I didn't really do any planning for this trip. I just put Waterford in my GPS and let it take me there. Once I got there, I just wandered. I parked at a nearby church and walked to the Waterford Union of Churches Cemetery. 

You can read about the cemetery in the picture below.

The setting of the cemetery was beautiful!

 

 

 

 

There were both black and white people buried here but they were buried in different sections of the cemetery. The fence line marks the different sections.

Read about the African American section in the picture below.

A grave marker.

After I finished walking around the cemetery, I wandered over to the Second Street School. 

It was a school for African Americans in the area from 1867-1957. It was also used as a church for that community. 

Now the building is used for living history tours for elementary aged children.

Then I found the main street of Waterford and man, was it cool! It kind of felt like stepping back in time (if you picture it without the parked cars). 

I learned that many of the homes there were built before 1861 with only a few being built after 1922. The whole town is considered a National Historic Landmark.

The Waterford Post Office. This building used to be a house and then a store and then the post office (and is still the post office) (1897).

I liked this door!

The barn in these pictures was built before 1875.

The Waterford Mill. This particular structure was built around 1830 and when it was open was the main contributor to the development of the town.

Such a pretty area!

There's a lot of interesting history in Waterford. I won't write about it here, but I enjoyed learning some of its history while I was there.

After I finished looking around Waterford, I made my way to Lovettsville, VA (about 6 miles away). I didn't really do much here. I found this Love sign and then I ate lunch here. (My lunch was okay. I ended up not even finishing it.)

After my brief time in Lovettsville, I crossed the river into Maryland and visited Brunswick. I didn't spend too much time here either but I did run into this memorial to veterans. 

It was a nice memorial in the middle of the street. (It really was in a wide median in the middle of a road.)

A nice church in Brunswick.

I am so glad I went on this little adventure on Monday! I really needed it. I needed to get out of the house and in general I love visiting new places and learning new things. (And being outside and in a low populated area made it even better). (It was a little chilly when the wind was blowing but overall it was a nice sunny day on Monday).

Reading

Sometimes I get the urge to write and I can't do anything else until I do. I think writing is a stress reliever for me. Although I get the urge to write, I don't always know what I'd like to write about. I just know I need to write something and put it out there in the world (the world of my blog) or my personal journal (depending on what I feel like writing about). Right now is one of those times. 

My chosen topic this time... reading.

I read or listened to 42 books in 2020. I'm pretty pleased with having read that amount last year considering I didn't read very much in the first half of the year. (I only read 10 books in the first six months of last year.)

I've read many different kinds of books of different genres. As I've been reading recently I've been thinking about how creative authors can be. Not only do they create consistent and interesting characters (depending on the book) but some also come up with whole new worlds. And I wonder how do they do that? What is going through the author's head before they start writing and as they're writing? (I can't even imagine thinking up a whole new world and being able to create story lines in that world in an entertaining way.)

Basically I say all of this to say that I am in awe of and am grateful for good authors who have the creativity to come up with interesting stories and have the skills to write well.

Christmas Time

Honestly this holiday season has been a bit lonely and sad for me. The Christmas season is usually a time to gather with friends and family for various social gatherings (book group, cookies exchanges), a time to go to different Christmas activities (Wolf Trap holiday sing-a-long, the holiday market in downtown Washington D.C., or watch A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater), and a time to sing Christmas carols at home and at church etc. It's been weird and lonely not being able to do most of these things.

Although I haven't been able to do most of my normal stuff for Christmas, I have been able to do some things this December. 

Earlier this month, I walked around Burke Lake. (Not that walking around the lake was Christmasy but it's still an activity I did this month). 

My roommates and I made gingerbread houses. This was my first time ever making a gingerbread house so don't judge me too harshly. ;)

It snowed! Yay! Since I had nowhere to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. (It snowed one day and the snow was pretty much melted a couple of days later, but I still enjoyed it!)

My roommates and I decided to visit the drive-thru temple lights. It took us about a half an hour to get through because of the line of cars, but it was fun. The lights were pretty!

I visited Colvin Run Mill. Once again not a Christmasy thing to do but I had never been there before and it wasn't too far from my house. After I visited Colvin Run Mill, I parked at Meadowlark Gardens and walked part of the perimeter trail around the gardens.

I went to the dentist for a root canal the day before Christmas Eve. (I was so nervous about the root canal that I was crying at the beginning of the appointment and the dentist and her assistant had to speak words of comfort to me.) (This is what my face looks like when half of my mouth is numb.)

I've been reading a lot, watching movies, calling family and friends to chat on the phone, working, going on walks, writing in my journal, singing a long to Christmas carols at home, preparing for my sacrament meeting talk (that has now been postponed twice for various reasons) etc.

Funny Shows

So this pandemic has been tough in more ways than one (the understatement of the decade). I've cried more since the pandemic started than I have in the last 5 years combined. It's been a rough adjustment to what life is now, but I'm getting used to it. I miss many aspects of what life was like before the pandemic, like going to the theater, going to the library, being able to visit people in their homes, not having to wear a mask whenever I leave my house etc. etc.

But there have been positive things about this pandemic too; I've been spending more time outdoors; I talk to my family on a more regular basis; I see some of my friends more often (outside and socially distant); I've been reading a lot etc. 

As I've been learning to adjust to what life is now, I've needed some laughter in my life (I mean I've always needed laughter but especially now). Sometimes the laughter comes when talking to certain family members or friends. Sometimes it comes looking at funny memes about Covid life. Sometimes it comes while reading certain books. Sometimes it comes with funny music videos. Sometimes it comes when watching certain TV shows or movies.

I know the things I find funny, other people may not. But here is a list of shows that I think are funny and have helped me through this pandemic.

The Goldbergs (Hulu, currently watching)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Hulu, currently watching)

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC)

Perfect Harmony (NBC)

Miranda (Hulu)

Never Have I Ever (Netflix) 

The Good Place (Netflix)

The Masked Singer (Hulu)

What funny shows are you watching?