Social-distancing Picnics

Life is weird right now. We are highly discouraged from socializing inside of buildings because of how easily Covid-19 spreads.

It can be spread outdoors but not as easily as indoors. So some of my friends have put together social-distancing picnics. We all bring our own food, blankets/chairs and sit six feet apart.

Diana was the first of my friends to put together one of these picnics. We met at Nottoway Park. It was a nice day outside and so good to see people in person!

Rachel put together a small barbecue picnic on Memorial Day so she could test out her new mini grill. :)

My brother, Peter, invited me over to his family's house for a driveway campfire on a Friday night. I brought my own chair and we roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and chatted. :) 

And yesterday, we celebrated one of my friends birthday by ordering from Cheesecake Factory and having a small social distancing picnic at Nottoway Park.

I'm so glad I've been able to see people in person. Technology is awesome and it's great that we can video chat with people but there's just something nice about seeing people in the flesh.

Offbeat Places!

One of my facebook friends posted about a cool statue a few miles down the road from my house that I had never seen before.

I decided to look up the exact address. The website I found info about it on also gave me suggested Nearby Offbeat Places.

So today my brother, Tim, and went on an adventure finding some of these Offbeat Places. :)

Three of the Offbeat Places were on the same little street (a street with car dealerships and auto mechanic shops).

Man Eating Dog Food represents a man at the end of his life reverting to his spirit animal (in this case a dog).

Across the street from the first statue is Man with Pigs. This statue honors the person's family that owns the car dealership in the background who used to be hog farmers nearby.

Just down the street a little bit was Scrap Metal Cowboy!

This was the statue my facebook friend posted about. This was about 2 miles down the road from those other statues.

It's called Pennies from Heaven. It's in a parking lot in between two office buildings.

Isn't it cool?!

Our last stop of the adventure was Foxstone Park. This was the park where former FBI agent, Robert Hanssen, left state secrets for the Soviet Union/Russia for over twenty years.

(This place showed up in my search of Offbeat Places to visit.) 

There was a nice wooded trail in the park that we walked on for awhile.

This is the bridge that Hanssen hid the state secrets under.

It was fun to have a little adventure today and everything was outside and free and not crowded. :)

A New Normal (For Now)

I don't know exactly how many days its been since quarantine began, it feels like it started years ago but at the same time just like yesterday. I think it's been a little over 8 weeks now (crazy!) and it kind of feels like a new normal is happening (at least for now until the situation calms down).

Just so that I can remember this down the road here are some things that are happening or not happening in a lot of areas of the USA as of today May 17, 2020. 

-We are highly encouraged to wear masks when going to a store or office or anywhere inside of a public building.
-Every checkout lane at a grocery store now has glass between the customer and the cashier.
-At some grocery stores they sanitize the conveyor belt etc in between each customer causing longer wait times for checking out
-Some stores have a limit of how many people can enter their store at a time and so there will be lines of people standing 6 feet apart outside of the store waiting to get in
-Some grocery stores have it so that the aisles are one way (although people don't always pay attention to that).
-We can't eat inside of restaurants. The restaurants that are still open have curbside pickup or delivery only.
-We can't see live shows in person.
-Video chatting or social distancing small gatherings outside are two of the new ways to get some face-to-face social time in.
-When passing someone while walking outside, we try to keep a 6 foot distance from them by walking out onto the street or onto the grass (if possible in the situation).
-We carry hand sanitizer with us wherever we go.
-We fill up our gas tanks less frequently now since we're driving a lot less.
-Schools are closed and teachers and parents are trying to figure out how to continue the school year from home using technology.
-A lot of people who have office jobs are working from home.
-Some musicians are giving live concerts from their homes via social media.
-Talk show hosts (like Jimmy Fallon) are filming their shows from their homes (being filmed by a family member) and have Zoom interviews with the people they would normally have on their show.
-Hair salons, department stores etc (stores deemed non-essential) are closed.
-Movie theaters and live theaters are closed.
-A lot of parks and some trails and beaches are closed.

This does not cover everything but it gives you an idea about what is happening in the world right now.

Is there anything else I should add to the list?

We live in a weird time my friends. We live in a weird time.

Music!

Sometimes music speaks to me in ways that spoken words can't. These songs have been helping my soul today. Life is hard and uncertain right now, but Heavenly Father is aware of us and understands what we are going through.

Do you have any songs that are helping you through this hard time?

Quarantine

Some stuff I've been doing since the beginning of quarantine.

At the beginning of the quarantine, I ordered some puzzle books. I've been enjoying them and they help me relax at the end of the day.

A month or so ago FaceBook had a challenge to recreate old paintings with stuff that you have around the house.

One of my sisters decided to make the painting recreations a family challenge. We got a lot of good entries! (I haven't asked permission to post others so for now I'll just post mine.) What do you think?! Do I look like the painting?! Hahahaha! :)

Wearing a mask to go out in public is a new normal for now. It's weird and it'll take getting used to but I think it's important. (I bought this mask in Taiwan when I lived there. These type of masks were normal for them to wear even then.)

Growing up I used to love looking at house plan books and draw house plans for fun (not to scale or anything). I haven't bought a house plan book in years but since being in quarantine I decided I wanted to buy one. And can I just say I love looking at it?! It brings back nostalgic feelings and I see what floor plans I like and don't like and I enjoy it!

In my family growing up we listened to the music from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat all of the time (and I still listen to it). (We also listened to Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Pirates of Penzance to name just a few). My brother has the dvd version of Joseph and I watched it one Sunday after church and it was fun! I sang a long with most of the songs and it just made me happy. :)
 

Although I still wear my work clothes to work from home, I definitely am in my pajamas a lot more than I was before quarantine. Since I'm in my pajamas more I decided to buy two new pajama bottoms.

When I received my new bottoms in the mail I was seriously so giddy. :) I was squealing with joy!

I really like my new pajama bottoms!

Some other things that I've been doing since in quarantine, watching TV and movies, calling, video chatting and texting friends and family, working from home, participating in Watch Parties on Netflix and YouTube with friends, reading books, going on walks, participating in church classes via Zoom, participating in online photo contests put on by friends, cooking dinners, writing blogposts etc.

We live in a weird time peeps.We live in a weird time.

We Live in a Beautiful World!

Today is Earth Day and I've seen people post on social media some nature pictures that they've taken in the past. I decided to take a turn down memory lane and look at some of my old nature photos from my travels on this beautiful earth.

 Green Island, Taiwan! (October 2010)

 Alishan National Forest, Taiwan! (December 2010)

 Alishan National Forest, Taiwan! (December 2010)

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia! (October 2014)

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia! (October 2014)

 Sunrise on Ambergris Caye, Belize! (November 2012)

Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, Utah! (My sister, Heather, took this picture but I was there when she took it.) (September 2016)

On the land where my mom grew up in Star Valley, Wyoming! (My sister, Heather, also took this picture.) (September 2016)

Hot air balloon ride in Woodstock, Virginia! (August 2014)

Hot air balloon ride in Woodstock, Virginia! (August 2014)

 Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland! (February 2016)

Svartifoss, Iceland! (May 2017)

Dyrhólaey Nature Reserve, Iceland! (May 2017)

In my neighborhood! (November 2019)

We live in a beautiful world!

Grocery Shopping

I told you I would probably blog more since this whole pandemic started happening. And I am blogging more and whether that's good or bad, I don't know. But I do think it's helping me to write out these things and it'll be a journal for me about what is happening and how I am feeling during this weird time.

So I need to go to the grocery store this weekend and I am not looking forward to it. It's stressing me out.

I didn't love going to the grocery store before this global pandemic started but I didn't mind it. I always had a list and would get what was on my list but I would also wander around the store a bit too just to make sure I didn't forget anything.

But the last time I went to the store since the craziness started, I almost had a panic attack. I had tears in my eyes and my heart started racing and I had to stop and take a few deep breaths and tell myself it was going to be okay.

I went into the store with a list but I felt overwhelmed. I couldn't wander anymore, I had to avoid people as much as possible (which can be hard walking down the aisles), and I couldn't pick up something to look at and then put it back (I just had to know what I wanted before picking it up).

I realize this may be our new normal for awhile but it's hard. We live in a weird time. Stay safe everyone!