Corona Quarantine Week 7

I feel like I have written about a lot of hard, frustrating things that have been happening over the last 7 weeks. This week, I thought I would write about some of the good things that have happened.... and there have been some good things!

Uncle Armond's Personal History

A year and a half ago, I was able to help write my aunt's personal history. It was a rewarding experience, and I feel like I learned so much about my Christensen side of the family. Plus, it felt really good to help someone else accomplish something really big and important. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Aunt Ann had written a bunch of things already, so my job was to organize, add missing information, format the book, design the cover, and work through the publication process.

When that project was done, Judy (Ann and Armond's daughter, who was the instigator of all this) asked if I would like to help with her dad's book too. She warned me that it would be a lot more work and likely take a lot longer. Uncle Armond had written less than 10 pages of his personal history and wasn't really able to do any more because he is 90 years old. I agreed to help, and we decided that we would have him record audio stories about his life that I would transcribe and put together into a book.

To get started, I sent him a list of 100 personal history questions to start answering. He and Judy would record in 10 minute segments and send them to me to transcribe. We did this back and forth for several months. After we got all the recordings done, I slowly went through and filled in the gaps and organized everything to make it fit. Uncle Armond was sick for several months over the winter and things stopped for a time. In March, Judy made a real push to get things moving again. Having time to focus on the book during quarantine actually was very helpful. Daniel's business slowed down (totally unfortunate!) so I had a lot less work to do, and I was able to devote more time to it.

We are so close to having it ready to test print. They are working on proofreading it now, and then we will get a copy. It will be so exciting to have it done.

Home School Test Drive

We have been saying that we are going to Portugal on Sabbatical for years now. I keep telling myself that if we start planning now, it will be more likely to happen. We have been saving money, and we often talk about it. The one thing we were all a little nervous about (aside from the language issue) was the homeschooling part. After all these weeks of being a homeschool mom, I now know we can handle it. Sometimes we struggle, but once we got into a routine, it was doable. The kids have the experience now, so if we do it again in a few years, they will know what to expect.

Time to Slow Down

Quarantine has made me realize how busy our lives really are. Between piano lessons, mutual, scouts, Activity Days, and school sports, it seemed like we were constantly on the move. These last few weeks have been completely different that way. I don't even look at my calendar any more because I know nothing is happening. In some ways, it is nice to just spend time with the family and not have to worry about outside activities. Some extra things are good, but maybe when this is over, we will try to leave more time for family and keep the slower pace.

House Projects

Being in the house 24/7 has really made me want to get projects done that I have been planning for a long time. We have gotten a ton of things done. We replaced all the knobs in the kitchen, bought new drawer slides to fix some of the sticky drawers, painted the guest room (more rooms to come), painted the front door, and ripped out the deck to put a patio in.

The backyard patio was a big, expensive project, but thanks to Trump's stimulus check, we were able to do it. The deck was constantly needing to be repainted, and it cut our already small backyard in half. We decided to just rip it out and pour a cement pad. Then the kids could run right through the space, and it would feel more open. We got a bid on the project ($4500) and decided to go for it. When they got the deck torn out, I immediately knew we made the right decision. It felt so much bigger back there. When they poured the cement and the stairs, the kids sat and watched them for hours. It was so funny that they were so intrigued by it all. I bought some flower pots to add some color, and it looks so nice. We will eventually pull out the rock border and have the grass go right up to the edge of the cement, but that will take some time.

Before

After

The other project that has really made a difference was painting the front door. A few weeks ago, one of the neighborhood kids was delivering some packets. He commented that our house looked scary. It was just an innocent comment, but it kept coming back to me. Our door was dark brown, our house has pretty dark stone, and the entry isn't very inviting. I decided that painting the front door would add some excitement. I photoshopped the door with several different colors, and we decided on a nice light teal. I spent one afternoon (maybe 2 hours) and $15 in paint and was able to totally transform the entryway. After I saw how good it looked, I bought a nice wreath for the door and painted our patio set to match. Everything turned out so cute! It makes me so happy every time I see it. I wish I would have done it long ago.

Before

After

Home Church

I know I have said it over and over again the last few weeks, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Home Church. I feel so much peace and contentment seeing my family worship together. I feel so grateful when I see Jonathon bless the Sacrament and Christian pass it. I love that all of us participate in various parts of the meeting. It has been a sacred time for us, and I never want the boys to forget it. We are not perfect, and sometimes the boys are still a little rowdy, but overall it has been such a lovely experience. A few things that we have done to try to make it special are:

• We always wear our Sunday clothes and stress reverence during the Sacrament.
• I created a special box for the Sacrament stuff. It holds a beautiful lace tablecloth that we inherited from Jonathon's grandma and special small cups for the Sacrament.
• Each person is given an assignment each week. Someone chooses and leads a song, someone prays, someone gives a lesson, and I do singing time. It really helps everyone feel important.
• We always teach the "Come Follow Me" lesson for the week. 
• When possible, we have done our Home Church with Joe and Kym's family. I think that has made it even more special.
• My brothers and sister and mom and dad often post things that they did for their Home Church on WhatsApp. It makes us all feel connected in our worship. I love when they post videos of my nieces and nephews watching my Singing Time videos. It is just the sweetest to know that what I am doing is appreciated.
• We make sure that the rest of our activities are Sabbath appropriate. We have always done this, but we wanted to keep it that way, even though a lot of other things about Sundays have changed.

So, overall, our Corona Quarantine has been hard at times, but it has also brought many blessings. This year, as we have studied the scriptures, I have challenged the boys to find the "tender mercies" or "great things" that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have done in our lives. These are just a few of the things that I have noticed during this hard time. I am grateful for these great things.