H E A T H E R
Time with my kids
I’ll be the first to admit that when school got cancelled and we were forced to work from home, homeschool, maintain the home, cook and clean without being able to go anywhere I panicked. I thought there is no way in hell I will get out of this alive. But here we are.. alive and actually enjoying this time together. Don’t get me wrong, I have needed breaks here and there and my husband has been more than happy to jump in and take on the load. But what I’ve learned from quarantine is that I wouldn’t trade this time home with my three little kids for anything. Of course, they miss their friends at school but overall, they are just as happy as they were before this pandemic happened.. maybe even happier because they have spent so much quality time with me, their dad, and now their aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We will never get this back and one day when they’re in high school and we are BEGGING them to spend time with us, I hope we remember just how lucky we’ve been to have this time as a family. I think it strengthened my relationship with my husband, we appreciate each other more, and my boys’ bond is stronger than ever. I don’t want to take it for granted moving forward when normal life resumes. I want to soak up the time I get with them rather than waiting for the day school starts.
Workouts at home
To be honest, I don’t miss workout studios or the gym. In fact, I have gotten so much more creative with my workouts during quarantine that I want to continue this going forward. Also, sweating on a bike 1 inch from another person.. why did I even do that before #gross! I took the plunge and purchased the Peloton bike and can’t wait to build out my own at-home gym when we move in a month. My favorite workouts have been on the Peloton app (you don’t need a bike or tread to do them. I love their bodyweight, cardio, and outdoor runs!). Other favorites are Melissa Wood Health (think barre + yoga fusion), Barry’s At Home, and Rachel’s Good Eats at home workouts on her Instagram page. I also just love a good long walk with my kids.. I feel like some of my best days are spent after a 3-5 mile walk. I just feel more productive and happy if I get a walk + a little strength training in each day! So bye bye gym membership.. won’t miss ya!
Chopped Kitchen
Obviously, we haven’t been going out to eat during quarantine and only ordering takeout from local restaurants once a week. Before the pandemic, we ate out at least twice a week and now that we’ve experienced this new normal, we are saving so much money by eating in and experimenting with new recipes. We had to get pretty creative to use up food in our pantry and freezer and it’s just been fun including the whole family in the process. My goal moving forward is to continue to do take out only once a week and truly use up what we have in our pantry before heading to the grocery store. I just feel like we wasted SO much food prior to quarantine and this new normal has made us more resourceful.. we have to figure out what to make for meals based on what we have in the pantry.. totally chopped kitchen style (food network reference) 😉
A L I X
Home Workouts
Thank you COVID for teaching me I don’t need to spend Quinn’s college fund going to all the boutique fitness studios. My husband has never been happier about my quarantine revelation. Before COVID I never really did home workouts, but I was starting to get the itch to save time and money by trying to get more creative at home. I got SO lucky and purchased a Peloton bike the first week in March…ya know right before everything went sideways. I have been loving the cardio kick I get from the Peloton rides and I’ve been scheduling workout dates to meet friends on the bike weekly. This really helps motivate me to get my butt out of bed and get on the bike! Heather also linked (above) all of the workouts we have been loving to do at home. I do really miss a few classes like hot power yoga, megaformer pilates, and barre and I will probably do 1 class a week when things reopen.
Prioritize Spending + Energy
My husband made jokes throughout quarantine about how much money we were saving by me having to cancel all of my beauty appointments. While I still plan to get my hair and nails done by professionals there are other things I used to spend money on that I truly don’t need and that feels good. I don’t need to blow $200 at Target or Home Goods on god knows what. Don’t get me wrong I will probably still get myself into trouble here and there, but having gone “without” those things for 3 months makes them somewhat less exciting. I’m content not feeling like I always need to be shopping and running errands and I’m really content just being home with what we have. I’m a total homebody and like being home. I don’t really have FOMO that often and I’m happy being in my own space. Quarantine has helped me slow down and recognize it’s ok to say no to things I don’t want to do and conserve my time and energy for things that really do matter to me.
Staying Connected + Check in on Friends & Family
I really feel like COVID helped me reconnect and stay connected to a lot of my friends. I had a scheduled Zoom call with my college roommates which would have never happened outside of quarantine and Zoom birthday calls with friends I don’t get to see a normal basis. My friends and I all did a great job of texting and checking in on each other. This might not sound like a big deal, but when I would be having a down day and got a text from a friend asking me how things were going it really improved my mood having that connection. It takes 2 seconds to send a text and check in on a friend or just let someone know you’re thinking of them. Texting, Zoom, and Marco Polo app have all been fun ways I’ve been staying in touch with friends. This is something I plan to continue to do even once life starts to get back to “normal.”
What have you taken away from this crazy time that you plan to continue moving forward?!
xx, A + H
