The Quarantine Life – A Choice

soaking up these cuddles with my “baby” 

If you’ve been reading my posts this week, you know this week has been a little harder for us. No reason in particular (other than…oh…the pandemic). I took a little time this morning to get away from the house and I read in my car overlooking one of my favorite lakes. Sidenote: my husband is so helpful and gets me a couple tiny breaks like this during the week – my sanity is somewhat in tact thanks to these breaks.

I am leading a book study so I read the assigned chapter for our discussion next week. The topic was victimhood mentality…which I know I struggle with…often…especially now. There is SO MUCH talk about gratitude in our culture and especially now, in the midst of chaos, there is still so much focus on gratitude. But me? I’ve never been amazing at it. It’s easier to complain. Focus on why my life is hard. Focus on what is NOT working right now. Focus on all of the unknowns. Focus on…the list goes on. It’s so much easier to complain. But where does that leave me? Well…complaining and feeling just as miserable as when I started…or worse. Also, while there are definitely necessary moments to complain to a trusted friend (aka vent!), no one loves listening to a complainer all the time. I’ve even recognized some of those types of people in my life and needed to create space to avoid the negativity. But I realize I am also doing this…

So today’s reading talked a lot about the victimhood mentality and how, instead, we can choose gratitude. Now I know not everyone reading this is in line with my same beliefs – and that’s fine. You can still benefit from this! But to directly quote the book, she writes, “But to see God’s good purposes, we have to focus our gaze beyond our immediate situations. We have to remember that, even now, we have a choice: we can choose to praise and honor God right where we are, trusting that we serve a God who is both transcendent and immanent…yet He chooses to be near us, to be with us, even in the hardest times when we cannot yet see how He could possibly bring anything good from our circumstances.” I’m not sure that quote fully captures all of my “aha!” from this morning – but I know I’ll be attempting to put this into practice. To choose to still acknowledge the hard going on, but also to trust God beyond this moment in time…even when it may not make sense.

By the way, this is Jennie Allen’s book, “Get Out of Your Head” and I’m enjoying it very much.

So…how about a recap!

never ever ever a dull moment

How am I feeling today: I am feeling more positive today – it’s likely due to the fact that it’s Thursday (almost the weekend), I had a Zoom call with friends this morning, I got a mini break this morning, and I didn’t have to wear my warmest coat outside because temps are rising. Many things to be thankful for today!

Today’s Win: Soren and I played soccer in the driveway this afternoon and we had so much fun…and it’s especially fun to score a goal when he’s the goalie (keep them humble) but I will also note he scores on me just as often! I am also flinching trying to protect baby brother in my belly from the ball…which don’t worry, it’s a very soft ball and he can’t kick that hard…yet. I love playing soccer with him – I can’t wait til I can actually run again and play with him.

Funny Kid Moment: This morning, I was about to make breakfast (I eat 2 hardboiled eggs and toast almost every single day) and Espen asked me if we could play some music. Sure! Let’s have a dance party at 7AM! Naturally he chose a Christmas song – Joy to The World. I immediately was hit with the lyrics of “Joy to The World” by Three Dog Night – and I felt much more open to blasting that at 7AM vs. Christmas music. So I introduced my son to a new song and even Soren ran into the kitchen to join the dance party. It was SO FUN!

Today’s Hero: Josiah has an aunt – Auntie Kath – that is amazing and sent us a letter full of colorful paper this week. She traced hearts on each of the pages and instructed us to cut them out and tape them on our window/door. Soren and I tackled the project today and now we have a very cheery front door! And we are so thankful for a loving Auntie that thinks of ways to help us stay entertained during this quarantine. Auntie Kath is our hero!

hearts to decorate our door!

Til tomorrow…Friday! Yay!

The Quarantine Life – Will This Week End?

morning snack was smoothie bowls with a mashmallow on top

The week of mundane continues – but I will say that today was much better than the prior two days. We just got back from our evening walk…I had to hurry home because pregnancy nausea is still real and raging. Funnnn.

My husband was telling me that he looked at the average temps for April in Minneapolis and we are currently about 20 degrees below average! AHHH! No wonder we all feel miserable – stuck at home with the winter that will not quit!

I talk about the weather a lot on here. That’s pretty basic and annoying. Sorry. And it’ll likely continue.

Soren and I working on a preschool workbook (which requires a lot of patience from me)

Let’s recap!

How am I feeling today: It’s Weds – midweek and I always look forward to the weekend! Another week completed, another week closer to the end of this (are we halfway done? are we 20% done? Are we 5% done? No one knows.) and we are also a week closer to baby.

Today’s Win: Shower for the win! Showers make you feel like a new person…and I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before on here. #repeat

Funny Kid Moment: I don’t have a lot on this from today – but Soren just came busting into the house demanding his Croc sandals. They are his current ‘house shoe’ of choice and he claims they keep him warm. I am pretty sure the point of Croc’s is the opposite of that…but whatever!

Today’s Hero: I decided we were going to have chicken fried rice for dinner. But then I realized we had about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce left – so I quickly messaged my sis-in-law that lives 3 blocks away and she also had about 1 tablespoon left. So I did a quick curbside pickup order from Target and within 45 minutes of realizing I was out of soy sauce, we had a brand new bottle. It was pretty awesome. Why does this amaze me…it’s nothing new?! But still…it was a tiny win in the midst of a super mundane day!

post-nap snuggles

If you’re thinking these posts are getting a little shorter and a little less exciting, I’m right there with you. I’m hoping things pick up soon and we have more to discuss!

Til tomorrow…