Strange Times

BYU FOOTBALL

These are definitely strange times we are living in. With Covid-19 ravaging the country and especially our state, nothing feels normal. That is why it was such a welcome change when we got the call on Saturday night that Jonathon's investor had some BYU football tickets that he couldn't use and asked if we wanted them. It was only a couple hours before the game, and Jonathon was still quarantined because of a positive test from one of his students, so he initially said "no thanks." After we chatted for a minute though, we decided that it would be really good if I took the boys to the game. We have all been struggling with cabin fever lately, so we thought it might help to get out and have some fun.

We accepted the tickets, and we headed to the game. State mandates said that everyone had to wear a mask, and only 6,000 fans were allowed in the stadium. We sat down in our awesome seats and discovered that they were only about 10 rows from the field and on the 45 yard line. They were sweet! There were empty seats that had been blocked off all around us. It was such a bizarre feeling to be socially distanced in such a huge stadium. We felt very safe and were never very close to anyone the whole night. Even so, we sanitized our hands before and after the game and didn't get any food as is tradition just to be extra careful.

We played against Western Kentucky, so it wasn't a close game, but we did get to see a lot of scoring from BYU. Our team was dominant all night. Zach Wilson has become quite the amazing quarterback, and we have won all of our games so far. Due to Covid, our great schedule at the beginning of the year got decimated, and we had to scrape together a schedule against much weaker opponents. It's kind of a miracle that we are even playing football right now though, so I guess we will take it. The Pac 12 and Mountain West were originally not going to play at all, but now they are going to try to play an abbreviated season. For the first half of the season, BYU was the only team in the western United States that was playing football. Just another strange part of 2020.

We ended up leaving at halftime because it was already 10:30 pm, and we were up by about 30. Despite the late hour and the mediocre game, we still had such a great time! It was so nice to get out, watch some football, and spend some time with the boys. We would go again in a heartbeat, though being that lucky to get such coveted tickets again is highly unlikely this year.

PAINTING

During the summer, Hyrum and I started a paint by number picture. It was a big and intricate projects, so we knew it would take us a while to finish it. When we were bored or had some spare time, we would get it out and work on it together. It was fun spending time with Hy-Guy, just the two of us. He definitely enjoys crafts more than the other boys. We hadn't worked on it in quite some time, so we decided to get it out and finally finish it. We worked on it for a couple hours over the course of the week and got it done! It turned out so great! It is surprising how all those tiny areas of different colors came together into something so beautiful. Hyrum loves the ocean and its animals (particularly sharks), so it fit perfectly in his room. We also learned all about sea turtles in our Marine Biology class, so everything worked out perfectly.

2020 Presidential Election

Well, the election is finally over... kind of. It has been a long, exhausting, depressing campaign for the last year. The Democrats and the Republicans seem at greater ideological odds than ever, and President Trump just stokes the fire with his bombastic personality. I have long said that I will never vote for Trump because of his lack of morals and the cruel way he treats people, but that made this year especially challenging because I don't agree with Biden's policies and principles at all. The two have been fighting like angry children for the last many months with the future of the nation hanging in the balance. A global pandemic (Covid-19), racial tensions (Black Lives Matter and defund the police movements), the economy, and so much more has made this year's election particularly important, but both sides seemed so angry and frustrated with the other that we lost our civility. 

I ended up voting for all the other races in our state, but I did not vote for president. I just didn't feel like I could support either candidate. The early voting and mail-in ballots (due mostly to Covid) made election night difficult because the votes were still trickling in and had the potential to still arrive days later if they were postmarked on time. By the end of election night, Trump was doing better than the polls predicted, even up in many swing states, but it was looking like he was losing ground because of the mail-in ballots that tended to be heavily democratic votes. I went to bed feeling like Biden had likely won the presidency, but hoping that the Republicans had held the Senate. Trump, in his usual brash way, declared victory even though the votes were still not all counted. It took several more days and lots of bickering back and forth before the election was finally called for Biden. Several states were extremely close and every single ballot had to be counted (and recounts might be coming). Even now, Trump still won't concede and is filing lawsuits all over the country, claiming fraud, and whatever else he can think of to hold on to his power. 

The whole thing just makes me tired. I am tired of Trump's antics. I'm tired of the bickering between both sides. I'm tired of the leftist agenda that promotes socialist principles and moves the country farther away from my religious beliefs and morals. I just wish people would see the good in both sides and the divine worth in all people. I am hopeful that President Biden will be a president of the people and not a puppet for the far left. I hope he will see the great divide in the country and try to heal instead of fracture. And while everything remains up in the air and filled with chaos and confusion, I will keep praying for this country and its leaders, whoever they are. Because if this nation is going to continue to flourish and hold together, we are going to need all the prayers and blessings we can get.

End of Quarantine... kind of

Jonathon finally got out of quarantine jail on Monday. He went and got tested 7 days after his initial exposure, and his test was negative, but BYU still forced him to stay home for the full 2 weeks. That was aggravating, but he had to follow protocols. He spent the two weeks working from our bedroom. He taught his classes via Zoom and was able to get a lot done on a paper he was writing. He handled it fairly well, but I know he felt a bit of stress not being able to help his students in the lab. It was also a bit tricky for the rest of us because we couldn't go to church, we couldn't have friends over or piano lessons, and I had to take the kids everywhere because he couldn't leave the house. We got through it though, and I am so thankful that we have online options for teaching and working from home. Even though it was rough, it was doable, so I can't complain too much. 

Just as Jonathon's 2 week quarantine ended, the governor held an emergency news conference. The cases in Utah are going through the roof, and the hospitals are starting to fill up. This level of spread is just not sustainable, so something had to be done. Over the last few days, we are averaging over 2,500 Covid cases every day. We thought we were in dire straights over the summer when we hit 900 cases. Now, with cold and flu season here, it just seems like we are on a runaway train that can't be stopped. The governor instituted a state-wide mask mandate, is not allowing gatherings with anyone outside immediate families, cancelled all sports (except collegiate ones where testing is regular), and is implementing weekly testing for college students. So, even though Jonathon finally got out of quarantine, we were essentially all thrown right back into it again. 

So, now I guess we hunker down and try to survive this long, dreary winter. There are talks of a potential vaccine coming soon, but who really knows at this point. Schools (mostly middle and high schools) are closing down all over the valley due to increasing cases, so at least I don't have to worry about my little family and our schooling. We just keep plugging away at homeschool and trying to survive all the time we have together. 

This year has definitely been strange and challenging. I just keep trying to remember what was said at General Conference, that we need to let these struggles change us for the better. It would be so sad to go through all of these things and not learn from them and improve ourselves. Here's to better days ahead!