So… that escalated quickly. One minute we’re quarantined and the next, we’re pregnant! I have a feeling we won’t be the only ones coming out of this weird season with a quarantine baby.

Okay but truly, we could not be more thrilled! John and I have just been spending the last couple months wrapping our minds around the fact that we’re going from a family of 3 (including Piper) to 4 in just about a half a year! I’m 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant, due January 4th, 2021.

The due date is actually one of the sweetest things for me. Of course, I know he or she could come early or later, but I’m guessing it’ll be after the holidays regardless. First, my sister’s birthday is December 29th and it will be so fun to have a side-by-side celebration. Plus, I LOVE the holidays and always have a bout of sadness when they’re over, but now I’ll never be sad after the holidays again. Just one of so many blessings both known and unknown in this new journey.

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As an introverted, Enneagram 6 homebody (who also already worked from home!), I feel like I was oddly prepared for life in quarantine. In fact, I’m actually less alone than before because now John’s here with me all the time. It’s so funny though because we still spend most of our days separate as we work, and even do our own things for breakfast and lunch and then reconvene for dinner as though it’s a normal, non-quarantine day. Even though I like my alone time, it’s been really nice having someone around during the day. And let’s just say I’m unloading the dishwasher way less than I normally do with him being here. DOUBLE PERK.

In Sonoma County, some businesses are slowly being allowed to re-open, but the general public’s stay-home orders were extended indefinitely last weekend. So we might as well keep getting cozy and used to being here (which bodes well for our pup recovering from knee surgery). As completely weird as this whole thing is, I don’t HATE the whole slower pace part of it.

It’s allowed me to plan and work on things I’d put off for a while (like the gorgeous new branding of my website, thanks to my friend behind Ink + Ellie). And I’ve been able to lean into hobbies that a normal pace would keep me from (or more truthfully, that I’d say I didn’t “have time” for). Reading in the middle of the day, gardening, painting, and baking up a storm are on my short list of things I can’t quit right now. So I thought I’d share all the little joys and bursts of brightness that I’m leaning into while we’re under quarantine, in case you need some ideas or are getting tired of the same old things every day.

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Whew, 2020 has gotten off to a WILD start, and I’ve found myself just wanting to pause and journal to take a sort of snapshot of this time. A LOT has happened, and I want to be able to look back at this post to remember the craziness and the goodness that’s filled up the first part of 2020.

This photo was actually taken on New Year’s Day, which feels like at least a year ago even though it was just months. We took a hike with Piper on the Sonoma Coast and on our way back our car to have a little picnic and champagne, a man with a giant camera in his hand told us he’d gotten a great shot of us on a vista and handed us his business card in case we wanted the photo.

I immediately was like, “Uh-huh, sounds not creepy at all,” but John went ahead and reached out, and this is what he sent us. It makes sense that he was able to tell who we were and track us down because we were pretty much the only people out there with a dog (in hindsight we realized dogs weren’t allowed on that trail … whoops). I was blown away when I saw this shot and was immediately brought to tears by the kindness of a stranger who didn’t have to stop us and share this with us, but who did it anyway.

Based on that experience, I figured 2020 was going to be full of beautiful surprises, and well, it has been, to some extent at least!

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