Precisely Pate: Quarantine Days 1-41

I've been meaning to blog about quarantine so that I wouldn't forget all of these days, but I'm just now getting around to it. So here we go.... Days 1-41!

As most of you know, I am in nursing school. I am currently in my second semester and this has definitely been the most challenging semester thus far. Add in this Corona Madness and it's a wonder I'm still somehow surviving. On March 16, we started the transition to "remote learning." The first few days, everyone was still really unsure of how all of this would play out because nursing is designed to be an in-person program. With all of the virus stuff going on, we weren't allowed to have in-person class, but we also weren't able to complete clinical experiences. This has been difficult for sure, but I officially have less than 2 weeks until this semester wraps up, so I'm praying I survive these final few days!

Day 1 (3/16/20): While everything was on the verge of shutting down, restaurants had not quite made the transition to carry-out or drive thru only, but it was heading in that direction. We had already planned Piper's birthday party to be at the local Mexican restaurant with a small group of family. Because restaurants were starting to close and things were starting to look serious, we decided to order carry-out and have her party at our aunt's house instead. This worked well and we were all able to still be together. I am thankful we got to do this because at this point, none of us imagined that the quarantine would last this long, so this was one last night of "normalcy".

Day 4 (3/19/20): With today being Josie's birthday, Piper & I had already made plans to go pick up some lunch and eat it with Josie on her lunch break. Because of all of the changes, we had to drive thru (Josie picked McDonald's) and eat in our cars, but we still had a lot of fun!

Day 5 (3/20/20): Tonight we celebrated Josie's birthday with our family (don't worry-there was only 8 of us, so we were following the less than 10 people rule). We ordered food from a local hibachi restaurant and it was AMAZING. We timed this perfectly, though, because they ended up closing the very next day.

Day 6 (3/21/20): Tonight we celebrated my Nonny's birthday with our family (again, only 8 of us). We had originally planned to celebrate it on 3/7, her actual birthday, but because of our Lady Eagles going to the REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, we ate supper out on her actual birthday and supported our Lady Eagles, and postponed the party until later.

The next week was my "Spring Break" from school. I had no assignments, which was nice, but we still, of course, couldn't go anywhere because of the quarantine and shutdowns. This week, Mom, Dad, Piper, & I implemented movie/game nights each week where one of us picks what movie we watch and/or what game we play each night and we take turns choosing.

Day 16 (3/31/20): Today was my birthday! :-) While it was a MUCH different birthday than usual, I still had a wonderful day! I started the morning off with breakfast from Wendy's with Josie. She drove thru and got our food, and then we met in a parking lot and talked through the windows of our cars. We had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to talk and catch up. Also, I LOVE Wendy's breakfast-it's amazing! When I got back home, I opened my gifts from Mom, Dad, & Piper and we watched I Love Lucy while we ate Breakfast Casserole for lunch. We watched more I Love Lucy and then took naps. Then we ordered carry-out Los Pinos for supper and watched ALF. We had Mom's amazing cherry cheesecake for dessert and watched more ALF. Then, Mom made non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiris for us to drink!

Day 25 (4/9/20): Piper made the decision around 1:30 am to be baptized and become a member of the Lord's church! We are so thankful for her decision and very proud of her! (A fellow member of the church and someone I look up to wrote a post explaining what baptism is and why it is essential to salvation. To read Emily's post, click Here.)

The other days have been filled with lots of random memories made at home. We've enjoyed spending time with the horses that live next door to us, we've had more game nights and movie nights, and we've also taken drives just to get out of the house. We've spent a LOT of time with our sweet doggies (and Miss Clara had surgery on her knee). The thing that I have without a doubt missed the most is my church family. Being able to go to church and worship and fellowship is such a blessing and so very important. I miss it and I miss being with my church family so bad. I am very thankful for the opportunity to use technology to have a similar worship service at home, and we have enjoyed "visiting" area congregations and getting to hear other local preachers preach, but I am very very ready to be able to see and be around my church family again.

I've also had some time to try some new recipes and do lots of cooking! I've enjoyed it, and hope to cook even more once school is out for the semester! :-)