The Quarantine Diaries // vol. ii

It will always be mind-boggling to me, I think, how drastically life can change just in a few short months.

The first post of this series was back at the very end of April, 45 days after the world as a whole turned upside down. A few days after that post, my own world turned upside down, and May quickly became a month that I couldn't wait to say goodbye to. I was just telling my mom earlier today that it honestly feels as though I lost May completely - it was such a mess of a month that anything I may have hoped to do ended up falling through the cracks. 

Despite the pandemic, the one thing that May did slowly begin to bring back into my life was people. You know how much I love a celebration, and not even a pandemic was going to keep me from dropping off cookie dough and gifts in the driveways of my best friends on their birthdays. Our quarantine birthday celebrations began a cycle of distanced driveway chats and sitting on opposite ends of front porches in the rain. It was far from the normal that we all missed so much, but goodness it was so much better than texting. 

Still, May was a month that I definitely did not mind saying goodbye to. I know that different seasons teach us different things, and I know that the Lord taught me (and is still teaching me) so much in and through that month, but I was running towards June with open arms. Going into June, my one prayer was simply for it to be better than May. And by so much grace, it has been.

June has been the breath of fresh air that I so desperately needed. The mess of May wasn't magically fixed, and the pandemic is honestly only getting worse where I am. But June, despite it all, has been so much better. Lighter. And I'm not going to lie, it's made me a little nervous - I talked about it on my Instagram a few days ago, the fear of hope that comes with better days. The jumpiness, eyeing the concrete warily, waiting for it to split underneath your feet. But in this moment, I can breathe, and for that, I could not be more grateful. I'm grateful for these days of sunshine and twinkle lights, singing worship in the park and dancing under a sunset. June was filled with sunsets, and I can't help but feel that they were a little gift from God, reminding me that good's still here. Laying in the grass and picking flowers, picnic blankets and (distanced) parties and laughing until I couldn't breathe.

And most wonderful of all - my sister, alongside our best friends, graduated high school, and we got to have a real ceremony on the most beautiful June night. If you're subscribed to the Tuesday Letters, you've already heard that miracle of a story, and maybe soon I'll share it here, too. But for now I'll just say that I could not be more grateful. And maybe July will bring a new set of messes with it, but for now, I'm resting in the goodness of June. And for now, that's enough.

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the things keeping me sane

d o i n g :

- lots of fun graphic design projects. It's been so nice to have time to experiment and make things. :-)

- attempting to clean up my poor laptop. It's crammed to the brim with files and I've been trying to clear it off onto a hard drive to make things more functional.  

- lots and lots of obsessing over musicals with Keira

- journaling again, thank goodness. I had gotten into a great routine with it, and then May majorly threw me off as I just lost all motivation to write. I'm back in the routine of writing every night again, and I love it so.

- walking walking walking. my mom and I often go on walks in the evenings, once the afternoon heat finally starts to fade, and thanks to social distancing, walking dates at the park are a current favorite way to catch up with friends. 

- photography work!!! between senior photos, some marketing shots for my job with the bookstore, and attempting to re-edit some old work, I've been jumping back into photography as of late, and I can't say that I mind it one bit. 

hopefully adding to the list soon: puzzles, pre-fall organizing, working on a fun new blog series, and macrame!

w a t c h i n g :

- so much Madam Secretary, thanks to my dear Keira. She's gotten me hooked. But seriously, it is so good. If you like political suspense, you're definitely going to want to dive in. The characters are all wonderful, and the writing is just fantastic.

- always Frasier, because sometimes, you just need to laugh. 

- too many NCIS reruns to count. I'm still not actually through the show - I believe that my sister and I are on season five or six? - but most of May was spent bingeing old episodes that I'd already seen while I worked. Despite being a show revolving around serial killers and terrorists, it's always oddly comforting. Seeing the familiar characters and knowing exactly what's going to happen next is a nice change of pace when the world feels like it's falling apart. 

- we had a Princess Diaries rewatch, which is always just the best pick-me-up. If you ever want to know why I'm most definitely the best person to watch The Princess Diaries with (aka I've seen it approximately 8000 times and can quote every word), check out my live-tweeting session. :-)

- my mom + sisters and I are also currently watching the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. We'd somehow never watched it before, and you already know that I am absolutely thriving. 

r e a d i n g :

- lots of Psalms and Proverbs. I've kind of been hopping all over in my Bible reading as of late - I've been consistent with it, but not consistent with where I'm reading. Right now I'm in 1 Corinthians for the first time in a while. 

- The Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason. This one was an ARC from work. Not a personal favorite, but not a terrible book. 

- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I'd never read a Rainbow Rowell book, so I wanted to give it a try. It was kind of slow, and again, not an all-time favorite, but it was a really cute premise. Parts of it really hit home, and there were more than a couple highlight-worthy lines. 

- currently reading The Paris Library. It's been a bit of a slow start, but I'm hopeful that I'm really going to like it. A World War II novel about books and literature and libraries? You already know I'm in. (update: since adding this to the post, it's already gotten better and I am EXCITED.)

- also currently reading Uninvited. It's been one of the most frequently recommended books in my social media  feeds over the past few years, and my mom loved it, so I think it's time for me to give it a try. 

- ALSO currently reading Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. (I swear I don't typically read this many books at once!) One of my best friends and I are reading it together, so it's been fun to keep the same pace with someone else and have someone to talk to about it as we go!

e a t i n g :

- homemade cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bread, because when you have an abundance of sourdough, why not switch it up?

- leftover chipwiches from my sister's graduation party

- allllll the chicken salad. it just tastes like summertime, y'know?

- nachos have been the latest comfort food of the week, and I'm not complaining

- hi yes I promise I eat healthy food too but it's just so much more fun to talk about chipwiches than water and peanut butter toast, okay?


l i s t e n i n g :

- Come From Away. It's incredibly poignant and wonderful. 

- so much Ben Rector, per usual. 

- The Princess Diaries score, because it's the happiest thing to work to. 

- Island Song - forever my favorite underrated musical. 

I'm currently attempting to put together a summertime playlist, so drop your favorites in the comments below!

m o m e n t s :

- surprising friends on their birthdays - because even if quarantine is a thing, birthday surprises will never die.

- a spontaneous FaceTime call somehow turning into laughing until 3am. 

- the sweetest of snail mail surprises from Hanne, Hailey, and Jacy Rayn that made my days more than they'll ever know.

- so many evenings in June were spent sitting in the grass at our favorite park, rehearsing worship music for graduation. The sun would just be going down and everything would be golden and the slow, steady strumming of the guitar was the sweetest familiarity.

- finally getting to dance with my favorite person again - the BEST bit of normalcy.

- I had the absolute coolest senior shoot with my sister - she wanted to take photos at the art studio where she grew up, and the building itself is literally COVERED with paint. It's a photographer's dream, I'm telling you. After that, we did field photos at peak golden hour, and then grabbed some shots downtown with different flowering bushes. It was quite the adventure of a day, and so fun. 

- "senior night out" (aka takeout cheesecake at the park) with my favorite people the night before they graduated. the highest of highs and the lowest of lows have been with them, and laughing with them will always be my favorite.

- sitting under the twinkle lights in my backyard, staring up at the stars.

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I hope you're all hanging in there and staying safe, my sweet friends. Whatever this season has looked like for you, I hope that you see so much good as we head into this next month. Wherever you're at with it all, know that I'm just an email or a DM away. 

Check in time: how's life been treating you? What has been keeping you sane? Any book/movie/show/podcast/song recommendations? How can I be praying for you?

Until next time. ♥