We’re entering our 3rd week of quarantine and this strange new reality we all find ourselves in.

The first week was a bit of a blur; working with all our spring couples to reschedule weddings, working with our corporate clients to pause the projects we have in the works, and restructuring our lives to be at home.

Through all of it, one of the things I’ve really enjoyed is seeing little glimpses from all of our couples and vendor friends about how they’ve been doing the same….and how they are enjoying each other and spending their time at home.

Since we’ve shifted our studio from our home into an official studio space over the past few years, it made me realize that we’ve started sharing less and less of our home life, and I thought you all might like a look into our strange new everyday life.

Time with Family

Just as soon as we started figuring out online schooling and settled in at home, our daughter started running a fever.  She had no other symptoms (of anything really) but we quarantined ourselves here at home, just in case.  After about 4 days of worrying, we got her in with our primary care doctor and she tested positive for Flu B.  I don’t think any of us have ever been so glad to hear that our kid has the flu.

Aside from the low grade fever and extra tiredness, she feels fine.  We’ve been spending time watching NetFlix (so far we’ve gotten most of the way through Love is Blind and Locke and Key), we started a new puzzle leftover from our Disney trip, and have laughed at our ridiculous pets (who are all enjoying having us home all day).

Chris has started watching the Bon Appetit YouTube channel and has been practicing making bread.

I’m taking this opportunity to work on my landscaping and garden. I love being surrounded by green and growing things (obvious if you’ve ever visited our studio). My home garden is mostly perennial and requires very little work each year.  I haven’t had time to plant any kind of food or add new flowers for the past few years, but since the weather has been so nice, I’ve enjoyed some time outside, prepping the garden for all the new seeds I’ve started.

Working From Home

Since our wedding season hasn’t yet kicked off, there isn’t much to edit.  I (rebecca) usually spend this time of year working on business tasks (updating websites and social media channels) and I’ve continued that from home.

I’ve also spent time hosting Zoom chats with other local creatives.  Working for yourself can get lonely, and we have a great local group that usually gets together at least once a month, so we’ve carried these meetings on via Zoom.

I’ve also been sewing some masks for those who need them.  We had a handful of n95 masks leftover from our building remodel, and gave those away to a doctor who needed them.  I have a stash of fabric sitting unused in a drawer, so I dusted off my sewing machine and started putting it to good use.

While I’m full-time with our video companies and studio, Chris has a day job in local radio.  As IT Director, he spends his days supporting employees as they shift their jobs from the office to home, and problem solving for the on air staff who are essential employees.  Their news radio carries daily addresses from the governor, and the circumstances of that are constantly changing.

He’s also spending some time digitizing vintage local high school basketball games to share in place of their usual sport programming that they would be playing this time of year. This all hit just a day into the state high school girl’s basketball tournament.  Chris and the radio crew had spent days setting up and broadcast just a few games before everything was shut down, and they were sent home.

Since then he spends time every day with some old cassette tapes or reels, cleaning them up and getting them ready to play on the radio.

Home School

Like everyone else, we’re sort of home schooling.  Thankfully, all of our daughter’s teachers are providing online curriculum and support, we only have to facilitate.  We’re also very luck that our kid is very studious, and requires very little prompting from us to get her work done daily, and that we have a plethora of available technology and a great internet connection.

One of the reasons we bought our house (over 20 years ago, can you believe it?!?!) is that it has all these funky cubbies, cabinets, and hidey-holes everywhere. Cece has been dying to make one her own, and finally took over the one right outside her bedroom door.

First off, at some point in the house’s history, someone put up the *best* wallpaper in the least accessible places.  Storage areas only.  Not even inside closets.  Just in weird storage areas.  This one is the access to our attic (which is totally unfinished space, otherwise I’m sure the kid would be up there too). Until this weekend, it has been the place where we stored all of our board games and puzzles.

It has now become her fully decorated homeschooling classroom (lit by moon lamp and christmas lights, her preferred lighting for any room).