Bridges Through Life

Quarantine Life Update 4/20/20

April 20, 2020 by Alicia 3 Comments

Hey!! I realize we haven’t chatted since my birthday. Not too much going on though as expected. I felt like having a little catch up session as we get to the second half of April.

First…apparently winter has made a comeback…waking up to a few inches of heavy wet snow on Saturday morning was not what I imagined for April 18^th…

It legit looked like winter and I should have worn boots to brush off my car, but instead my sneakers got a bit wet. I was up around 6:45 Saturday morning. Brian crashed early around 7pm on the couch on Friday night as we were watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. So I turned off the movie and got snuggled in bed and colored for a bit, but crashed before 9pm as well. We are lame. However, crashing early means waking up fairly early and I was eager to get out of bed Saturday morning (despite the snow) and made a smoothie for breakfast and then worked on my homework for a bit. I think I was rolling a bit in bed because I had my school paper on my mind. I just want to be done and it was the last assignment I needed to work on.

By 8:30am or so, I had already had breakfast, started laundry, made Brian’s coffee and was finishing up my paper. I had a good draft I worked on Friday. Then it was off for a quick trip to Wegmans. You now need to wear a mask everywhere you go and I kind of improvised with my jacket since it can zip up over my mouth. I have since found my old Color Run bandana that might work and I think my friend is sending me a mask since we will probably be needing them for at least another month if not longer at this point. The NY governor extended the stay at home until May 15^th at the moment so I think it will be another month end working at home for April closing.

I’m still loving work from home. No commuting time means I spend more time stretching in the morning or catching up on Little Fires Everywhere. At lunch, I love making a giant salad plate or making banana bread or even taking a quick shower or something. When I am at the office, I feel like I take a 20 minute lunch so often. At home, I take my full hour enjoying the break. I have been working a consistent 8-5 and Brian gets home between 3/3:30. He will usually cook up dinner (if we aren’t having leftovers) so it’s ready at 5pm. We like to eat early and then either relax or work in our offices on personal things.

Currently since I am about done with my school assignments, I have more time to read. I have been reading Love Lettering which I got after watching one of Caitlin’s Corner’s Youtube videos. It’s a nice read so far. I like having a light read book to read just for fun.

Additionally, I have been opening my coloring book more to enjoy some down time and peace and quiet.

This weekend I did some cooking. I made some vegan mac and cheese with a recipe in the Healthnut Cookbook.

For dinner on Saturday I cooked up some chicken with fajita seasoning and randomly paired it with zoodles because I got nice looking zucchinis from the store. I had the chicken in a protein wrap with salsa and quick homemade guacamole. It was delicious.

Sunday was a pretty quiet day. I did some yoga in the morning and felt so colorful.

As I mentioned I pretty much finished up my homework on Saturday. I just had to check in on my group project later in the day on Sunday. I decided to try making paleo bagels for the first time and found a recipe that didn’t use yeast and I had all the ingredients available. They turned out more like paleo bagel blobs though so that I was kind of a fail, but they are tasty.

For dinner on Sunday we had leftover steak and roasted some brussel sprouts that had clearly been in the freezer too long as they were covered in ice even in the unopened package. They didn’t taste the greatest going from freezer burned to roasted, but it was good to use them up. I then decided I needed to make cookies. I pulled out one of my cookbooks and decided on a mint chocolate crinkle cookie from Chloe Flavor. It’s an all vegan recipe cookbook, but I used real butter in the cookies so they weren’t vegan. I just can’t get myself to like vegan butter, so real butter it is.

I swear my measuring cups don’t even stay clean for half a day with all the baking these days. Anyway Brian and I finished our Harry Potter marathon after quite a few weekends of movie nights. I don’t know what we will watch now.

Besides that, I did some much needed cleaning around the house. Now that I am pretty much done with the spring semester, I have some time to sort and maybe sell some things as I work to clean up the spare bedroom. I think people have time now that Ebay and Facebook Marketplace are being looked at so maybe I will get some hits. I’m not sure if the summer yard sale will happen in our neighborhood and I need to clean out stuff now before my summer classes begin in May.

My 30th Birthday -April 9 2020

April 10, 2020 by Alicia 3 Comments

My 30th Birthday went a little differently from what I was planning back in January, but January sometimes feels like a lifetime ago at this point.

Even though we were in quarantine, I wanted my 30^th to be special.

One thing I really wanted was a unicorn cake. I found a local baker via Google searching and got the cake of my dreams for my 30^th. I think this was the first birthday I ever got a professionally made cake. I have been set on making cookie cakes the last few years. Growing up we often got a simple cake from the local grocery store and then decorated it ourselves. It felt like a real treat to get a beautiful cake with fondant.

I also wanted the big 3-0 balloons which Brian delivered on. It started as a gloomy and rainy day but in the afternoon, there were some moments where the clouds passed. We tried to take pictures outside but it was too windy to keep the balloons really still.

30 years — PS dress from my latest Stitch Fix

I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon since I took a half day of work. The afternoon honestly flew by as I Facetimed with my sister and caught up on my new TV show addiction Little Fires Everywhere which is on Hulu. We had chili for dinner. Then my friend stopped by with more balloons and a beautiful sign. We were chatting for a short bit outside before the weather decided to pour rain again. Of course the sun came out quickly after, but it was just nasty weather in between. It even was sunny and sleeting at one point. The weather is confused about it being April.

Finally, we cut the cake in the evening. That was a dense cake! I had Brian take a video of cutting and revealing the funfetti inside and I just love it. There were even sprinkles on top of the buttercream in the layers which Brian pointed out to me. The cake down to all the details was amazing!! I was blown away. Also so that we don’t get too fat with just us eating the cake, Brian cut pieces and we placed 6 pieces in the freezer and saved 2 in the fridge for the weekend. I think we should plan to save a couple pieces for next month to celebrate our wedding anniversary which is actually 1 month from today. I can’t believe we will be a year married soon!!

Brian got me a couple small gifts, a new sports bra (my favorite Energy Bra from Lululemon) and some bath bombs which I can’t wait to try out this weekend.

And now to begin a new decade. It’s weird to think I am 30 years old now. If you asked me 10 years ago what 30 would look like I would have said I would have kids now. I also never knew I would go for a graduate degree. So here I am, 30 years old, no kids, but I am married and we bought a house a couple years ago. I have 1 more year of school left and honestly I look forward to when school isn’t taking all my fun money away and look forward to some more traveling after this quarantine period is over as well. I definitely want to get in another couple big trips before children, but also 30 doesn’t feel as old as it used to. Plus I think I still look fairly similar to my 18 year old self, just more mature and knowing more.

Cheers to a new decade and new chapter to unfold. Who knows what the next 10 years will bring.

Currently April 2020

April 6, 2020 by Alicia Leave a Comment

With a new month, it’s time for a currently post. We are almost a week into April and I have been spending more time journaling for myself in this weird time. I have also enjoyed the slowing down and spending more time on my yoga mat.

Currently I am working on a homework assignment about mindfulness. I decided to practice mindful eating for some of my meals which means eating without a TV on, scrolling Instagram or walking around and trying to multitask. Admittingly, the task is hard to eat and do nothing else, but I have seen some of the effects of mindfulness. I am more calm while I eat and take my time and actually know when I am full. The case study we were assigned to read also mentioned how this practice leads to being more productive, focused and creative. It has me reflecting on the current moments as we are all forced to slow down. For some, it is uncomfortable. For me, I have seen myself writing more and being more creative, so there are definitely some positives to this time.

Some other positives are when you feel like baking muffins on a Thursday night. These pumpkin muffins turned out amazing!

I venture out once a week to the grocery store still and because I do not know what I will find from week to week, I have actually found myself spending more money at the grocery store to stock up on items I do not necessary need right away but you never know if they will be in stock next week. Last week’s excitement was finding flour and quick oats. This week I was excited about Ritz crackers and dishwasher soap. Then you have the impulse buy at the register because I had to try fudge brownie M&Ms since I haven’t seen that kind before.

They were like mini brownie bites coated in the M&Ms candy coating. They were ok, but I would say the Nutella M&Ms are better. I also just recently finished off my special peanut butter Easter egg M&Ms. Can you tell I am picky about M&M flavors?!

So shortly after the gyms closed, I purchased the PIIT28 plan. After doing multiple days in a row the first week I had it, I had a massive Charlie horse in my leg and was so sore. Since the workout is like a HIIT workout, there is a lot of jumping I am also not used to. I decided to back off a bit and try doing every other day and alternate with yoga days. I signed up for Bad Yogi’s online yoga which is free for 2 weeks, but I think for $9.99 a month, I will keep it for now. I really like all the different options she has from 20 minute to 60 minute sessions and different focuses such as core, flexibility, etc. Maybe by the end of this quarantine time I will actually be more flexible. I have noticed less mobility than I used to have when I did more consistent yoga and I know this mobility work will help when I get back to weightlifting.

I have also been enjoying Saturday Zumba zoom sessions with my Zumba teacher back in Illinois that I love. It has been fun working out to zoom videos and seeing everyone. Honestly, I would pay for those sessions if that became a regular thing. With yoga studios exploring sessions via zoom and everything, it will be interesting to see if some of the sessions could stay. You could pay through Venmo and get the link or something. I have been doing my part to support yoga studios if I participate in an Instagram Live session then I contribute to their studio. It is a business and currently my gym membership is frozen so it would just be like normal paying for a class.

Currently I have also had more time to read. I actually finally finished the book I got in the beginning of March, Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I just ordered a new book after watching a Youtube video that should come later this week. I have been enjoying a nice story before bed when I have a book going. A good way to calm my mind down for sure.

I can’t believe that at the end of this month I will be done with the spring semester of classes. I am counting down the days. I have been working ahead since the start of March, so I haven’t been as stressed about the school work which is nice. Also, since all my travel for April got cancelled, I have more time at home. My goal is to be done with most of my assignments by April 26^th or sooner. The last day of classes is May 1^st, but since I don’t have finals for the first time, I can be done earlier. Then once I finish, I will have 2 weeks before summer classes begin which I expect to be way more intense. I am hoping in those 2 weeks to clear out the spare bedroom and have Brian do the floors in there. I have some things to sell and get rid of and need some sorting time and new bins to reorganize. I wanted to put some things out to the curb but with the current quarantine, not many people are driving by to pick up things so that might have to wait a bit.

Speaking of floors, I never shared our beautiful living room. Thanks to Brian having 2 weeks off from work, he got the living room done and it looks amazing. Also, my carpet now slips and slides so I need to get a mat to put under it. It never slid on the unfinished floors.

Brian is back to work this week. I am still working from home but might need to stop into the office for some filing and some notes on a monthly task. The first day of month end last week was rough. It really had nothing to do with not being in the office for me, I just struggled to balance my numbers and didn’t have access to a report I normally do to compare. Now I know the differences with the fiscal year end and starting to write notes on that.

So that’s my little ramblings from the first week of April. Still looking for joy in the little things. Hope everyone is hanging in there and staying healthy.

Tips for Working at Home

March 30, 2020 by Alicia 1 Comment

I just finished my first work from home week and we are heading into week 2. While it was a challenge at first to get connected to the VPN, once I got it working, work has been going great. I think that this has a lot to do with the fact that I have a good desk set up at home and a separate office so I can close the door if needed. Now I don’t have any children so I know that makes it a whole lot easier as well. There have been a few things I have been doing to make my work at home space feel comfortable and inviting.

Having essential oils diffusing for the day or lighting a candle – I have been switching between Stress Away and Orange essential oils going throughout the day and it has been a nice scent in my office. I also have a couple candles I am trying to use up, so sometimes I will light one of those.
Sitting on an exercise ball at my desk – I started this years ago with my at home desk and I love it. I think it helps me to sit up straighter as I have to work on balance (though I do it without thought now) and it’s way more comfortable than a regular chair to me now.
Waking up at about the same time I would for going to the office – keeping routine in this chaotic time is hard, but I have found I still like to enjoy my mornings before signing onto work, so I wake up at 5 or 5:30 which is about when I would wake up for commuting to the office anyway.
Move your body in the morning – so this is the main reason I get up early. I can’t go to the gym like I normally would but I have been doing workouts from online platforms that are 30-40 minutes and move my body in the morning. I also do a 10 minute meditation before that, so just tuning into your breath first thing to start the morning more calming.
Enjoy a cup of tea and/or cook a nice breakfast – I personally LOVE breakfast and don’t understand how people skip it. It’s great to have time in the morning to cook up a hot breakfast, make your tea or coffee and just enjoy it before signing onto work. I have been having fun making different colorful breakfasts each day. Usually on work mornings I have an easy bowl of oatmeal, but quick oats were hard to find in the store recently, so with being home anyway I have made eggs, toast or pancakes sometimes.
Go for a walk at lunch – fresh air does wonders right now. Last week was a bit chilly suddenly, but I still got my winter coat on and went for 20-30 minute walks around my neighborhood with Brian. Getting moving so you aren’t glued to your computer all day is good for your mental health and your body.
Play music or a podcast – the greatest thing about being in the comfort of your own home is that you can play your music loud or listen to a podcast without wearing earbuds. Hey maybe you even take a minute or two to jump out of your seat and dance for 5 minutes, another good way to get moving in between those emails.

I hope these tips help some of you working from home at the moment. Remember to take this time to slow down and take care of yourself. Maybe pick up that book you started 2 months ago and never got around to finishing. For me, I have been focusing on stretching more on my yoga mat, taking hot baths, reading more and just relaxing.

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