Quarantine & Trying to Keep Busy

As we all know since mid March the world has almost completely shut down and life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. For a half introverted extrovert like myself it has been both therapeutic to have so much time off but also maddening to stay home for so long. British Columbia for the most part has been taking COVID-19 and flattening the curve very serious. With Seattle being the first city in the States to be hit hard BC needed to act quick to keep the virus from spreading up the i5 a little ways into Canada. I don't mind practicing social distancing in order to keep the curve down, especially since some of my boyfriend's family and family friends have been largely effected by COVID. As well as my mom being a health worker doing tests in my home town and hearing her concerns about this particular strain.

Using this time to connect with myself, and get the spare room organized!

It's just so crazy how quickly and suddenly everything changed. Thankfully, the main way I have been negatively effect so far is all of my wedding couples have moved their weddings to next summer. Well, all but two. My once nearly fully booked summer of weddings is now almost completely empty and I am having to scramble to find associate photographers for three brides who decided to have their wedding on the one day next August I am not available. Other than that and having to call off four trips....I'm fine with quarantining.

Yes it's a total bummer I wasn't able to visit my mom and siblings in March, or go see my Granparents in May, or have the two week road trip with my brother in June, or attend the Canon Beach Elopement photo workshop in July. But I would rather have these minor issues to whine about than be worried about any friends or family in the hospital with COVID-19. So in the grand scope of everything going on I have it really easy. Those trips can all be rescheduled so it's not too big of a deal at all.

Dried floral arrangement by my good friend Annise at Bespoke Blossoms.

In a way I am actually thankful to have so much time off at home to recuperate after working at my CO-OP for the past six months. Office work is not for me that's for sure. I have been able to get back into drawing and painting, something I used to enjoy so much but just haven't had any time for in the past few years. I have the time to work on videos from past trips (still I procrastinate on those for some reason). I've gotten back into exercising, something I haven't done regularly in over three years. As well as getting back on a healthy diet and eating lots of fruits and veggies. I even have time to read books again and learn about different religions as well as connect back with Christianity and the world of Magik.

Quarantine has been a great break for me. I feel like I really needed this time for the world to slow down and let me take a couple deep breaths. It's been nice to have to find activities to fill the time and be able to plan ahead instead of rushing from one thing to the next stressing over everything that needs to get done. Yes I am bummed so many of my plans have been effected or cancelled, but it has given me the time to make new plans! I finally was able to set up a print shop to sell my travel photos, I have been able to get back into D&D with old friends, and have been able to explore new ideas for new business ventures as well as help friends with expanding their businesses.

The best part so far for me is getting to reconnect with Kyle during our time of isolation together. We may get a bit tired of (or grumpy with) each other every once in a while but after not really getting to spend much time together for the last year or so due to our CO-OP's and school, it's been really nice to get to be around him again.

I am very excited to get back to normal life; seeing friends, having photo shoots, travelling and visiting my family. But I am also patient enough to wait until it's safe to go back to it all. Until then I will continue to find things to do to stay busy and keep myself entertained/sane at home. The one thing I haven't been able to do that I would like to is bake some goodies. Kyle has forbidden me from baking so we don't get chubby, which is completely understandable. I only have caved in once and made us an apple crumble, only to prove his point when we ate the whole thing in less than 24 hours. I haven't baked anything since.

Cleansing bath ritual with all my favourite plants! :)

My days are mainly spent with re-editing old photos from past shoots. This way I can add "new" content to my photography website while keeping they image style consistent and maintaining social distancing since photoshoots aren't essential. Kyle now works two days a week so I have that time to do gardening work for his parents and also use that time to make videos or do self portrait shoots. In the beginning of quarantine I thought I would try to become TikTok famous and make a ton of videos but I stopped doing that pretty quickly lol. Kyle and I play Minecraft of League of Legends together on days he isn't working or studying his CPA courses. Or we will have over-the-phone D&D sessions with my friends or family to keep entertained.

One of the hardest parts of quarantine for me has been getting up early when there is nothing to do. You'd think after a whole day of sitting around my body would be rested enough to get up the next morning and not feel tired, unfortunately that isn't the case for me. Maybe it's the fact that I know I don't have to get up that my body decides it wants to sleep in until 11:30am. Or maybe that and the fact that I stay up until 2:00am almost every night and my sleep schedule is just all messed up. At least Kyle gets me out of bed most mornings or I would definitely sleep in a lot later.

My favourite film camera and come candle coasters I made.

I'm so thankful for how easy it is to stay connected with friends and family in this day and age. I think I would have a much different tone about quarantine if I wasn't able to video call loved ones or instantly hear back from friends. Thank goodness we all have those pesky smart phones and social media accounts to stay connected.

The only other people I have seen in person during all of this has been Kyle's parents and his younger brother, who live about ten minutes from us. Them and their new French Bulldog puppy Bubba, who is just the cutest little ball of energy. We go over at least once a week if not more to walk Bubba and see his family. Recently I started going over on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to do a Zoom workout with Kyle's mom and her friends. It's much better than working out alone at home or trying to force Kyle into doing yoga with me.

One member of my ever growing plan collection, Orchids are surprisingly easy to care for!

It's been nice to just ramble on in this blog and say so much without really saying anything. I guess the best part about having a blog that not many people read is the fact you can say almost whatever you'd like, and since not many people will see it you don't have to worry about what people think of it. Minimum accountability.

I'm glad I created this site for me to share my adventures, stories, random thoughts, and just my life with the world. It's given me a lot to do during the pandemic. I would rather be spending my hours writing blogs that might never be seen by anyone else that scrolling through social media or watching endless hours of junk shows on Netflix. Though I have spent a lot more time watching shows then I would like to admit.

Thanks to anyone who read this super random post about things I have been doing and can't do because of quarantine! Like I said it's been really nice to just ramble on about stuff in this post. I just really felt like talking about this stuff, even if it isn't the most exciting it definitely was fun for me to write it 😂.

I do hope if you did read this it doesn't put you to sleep lol.

Thanks for reading! :)