It’s week 6 of ‘stay at home’ orders and I’m lucky that both my husband and I are still able to work. He gets to work from home and I go into the office a couple times a week, the other days, I’ll work from home too. But we do find that we have a lot of extra time on our hands since we aren’t able to go anywhere. Normally, we spend time going to home improvement stores, home decor shops, eat at restaurants, hang out with friends, etc. But all of that is at a pause right now and it can get a little overwhelming how much time you have to spend at home.

To help with that, I’ve really given myself projects, tasks, and activities to do. Sometimes, I don’t feel like doing anything and I just sit around watching TV, which is totally fine too. You just need to decompress sometimes and maybe being productive isn’t in the cards for that day.

COOKING AND BAKING

Some things I’ve been doing other than work are cooking new recipes and baking. We already cook a lot on a regular basis so it wasn’t too hard for us to continue doing that. But we’ve definitely gotten more creative with our meals. Making things from scratch or just coming up with unique recipes due to only being able to use what we have in our fridge/pantry.

STAYING ACTIVE

We both try to work out a few times a week. I’ve been doing my own work outs with resistance cords, sliders, elastic bands, and a yoga mat. Sometimes, I’ll go onto Instagram Live and do a work out from there, go on Youtube and find a yoga video, we’ll take a walk. Just whatever keeps you moving and active.

HOME PROJECTS

There’s also a lot of yard work and gardening so maintenance does take up a lot of our time. I also spend a lot of time cleaning inside the house and just reorganizing, redecorating, etc. We’re also growing our own herbs from scraps of vegetables we’ve used for cooking. Before you know it, we won’t have to buy that much from the markets! 🙂

READING

I’ve also been trying to read more and right now, I’m working on Michelle Obama’s “Becoming Michelle”. I used to be in a book club and really enjoyed it, but once the wedding and purchasing a home came into the picture, my schedule got too busy for it. But if you’re not a reader, I know a lot of people are doing puzzles, taking up a skill like knitting, etc.

CONNECTING WITH LOVED ONES

However, we really do miss seeing our friends and family, so FaceTime or Zoom has really helped. We play online boardgames with friends almost everyday, just video chat with them, and it helps a lot.

I hope that the few suggestions and things I’ve been doing really help give you ideas and that you continue to stay safe and healthy!

A little over a week ago, beautiful Zooey, my 5 year old husky labrador, passed away. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through and by far the most painful. I have had her ever since she was a puppy with the cutest floppy ears and striking icy blue eyes. She stole my heart the moment we met.

Zooey was my first dog which I’m sure is why I’m taking this so hard. But then again, doesn’t matter how many dogs you had, I’m sure it never gets easier when they pass. She gave me so much more happiness than you can imagine. I never knew how strong a bond an owner and their dog could have until she came into my life.

My fiancé, George, and his brother adopted Zooey so she lived with them in the beginning. The three of us decided to work together to take care of her after hearing how much work a husky is. It was a great decision because she would cry and howl all night long for a while. She was also a picky eater so we went through so many different kibble brands. In hindsight we probably should have just stuck to one and teach her that that was her food and she can’t be picky. First time dog owner inexperience. During our first few years together, she also had an endless amount of energy so all of our efforts went towards making sure she got plenty of exercise so that she would relax at home. I would come by a few times a week to hang out with her and take her out to make sure we had plenty of quality time together! Just about a year and a half ago, we decided to move her to my house because it would have been a better place for her. My parents quickly took the role of loving grandparents and spoiled her any chance they could, which I’m sure she appreciated.

I’ll never forget how impressed I was that she was pretty much already potty trained at just 8 weeks old. The first day we brought her home, she was making strange little howling noises in the car. I thought she might have been afraid but when we got back home, I let her run to a little patch of grass and she just does her business! She didn’t really go in the house and only liked going on piles of leaves or grass. Such a smart girl, right?! Well, if the carpet has a texture similar to grass, then all bets are off. George remembers finding her on his family’s nice rug and she just stares at him and squats, so he rushes over to grab her to take her to the yard but as he lifts her up, a couple of nuggets just fell to the floor. He describes her expression at the moment as proud and completely happy with herself.

She had the best unamused expression almost all the time and every once in a while she’d have a goofy look, which makes everyone’s hearts melt. She was a difficult dog, but we loved every aspect of her personality. It made her a very unique and special dog. I’ll miss our long walks everyday, cuddle time, coming home to her happy face, her hilarious grass dance when she sinks her little paws into nice grass, how she loved to nap on the couch with me, and millions more things about her.

I knows she’s resting in peace and will always be with me. I come home each day hoping she’d be there on the couch waiting for me. I almost feel lost without her. Every part of my life really revolved around her. My every day schedule at least includes one walk with her, we were planning on buying a house sometime soon and we wanted to make sure it had plenty of yard space for her, and were somewhat contemplating about having her in our engagement pictures. Without her here, I just feel empty and so unsure. It’s been really hard and I continue to cry a little every day but I’ll try to hold onto the love we had and our best memories together. I don’t have any words to describe our special connection with each other. My only words are ‘unconditional love’. She taught me what that means and this is how I know that she’ll be with me forever. Love you, Zooey.

Sweet dreams, my beautiful girl.

So if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably know that I recently got engaged on my trip to New Zealand. It’s been such a whirlwind of excitement and I’ve been dying to write a post all about our engagement story. I’ve only told our family and close friends the story but I need to tell you guys of course!

It was about the 5th day into our trip in New Zealand and we were advised multiple times to visit Cathedral Cove by travel sites as well as locals. I know that this location has been seen in the Chronicles of Narnia movies and plenty of others, so it was something that I did have on my list. We were under the impression that it was a quick drive there and that’s it! BUT it was not only a bit of drive there but also a hike to get to Cathedral Cove. We were very determined to see it so we ventured on and hiked to the location. I’m not much of a hiker because I have asthma and strenuous exercise or cardio tends to give me difficulty with breathing so by the time we reached the cove, I was exhausted! It was breathtaking though, so much that I forgot how tired I was when I saw the view.

The boyfriend wanted to have us take a picture with the cove in the background, which I was totally up for but he didn’t want to ask anyone to help us. So he attempted to place my new camera on a very uneven rock that was fairly close to the water, that was only getting closer and closer to us. I had to stand there while he tried to set up the timer and felt really uneasy not only about the camera, but that I was in the way of so many other people trying to take pictures. I felt like I was standing there for nearly 10 minutes until I impatiently begged him to just give up and ask someone to take the picture. Little did I know that he was trying to actually set up a video recording so that he can tape the proposal, but I didn’t find that out until later.

He then suggested that we walk further away from the cove and people so that we can sit on these rocks on the beach. I was more than happy to do that so that I could take a little break and sit down! He just held my hand  after we sat and asked ‘How have you put up with me all of these years?’ and because our relationship is more on the quirky and very laid back end, my response was ‘With A LOT of patience’. I guess that was the response he was looking for, so he got down on one knee and asked me ‘Well, then how do you feel about spending 30 more years with me?’ which I was awfully confused about because we are both in our late 20s so 30 more years doesn’t seem like a reasonable number! 🙂 So I said, ‘ONLY 30 more years?!!!’ Out of nervousness, he didn’t really think about the math correctly, so he just says, ‘Or 40, or 50. We can renegotiate later! Will you marry me?’

And my answer of course, was YES! I don’t talk about him very much on my blog but just to give you guys an idea, we are high school sweethearts. Just hit 14 years together this New Years, so we have been by each others’ sides for as long as we can remember. I can’t imagine being with anyone else for the rest of my life that is as kind, caring, and makes me laugh or makes me as frustrated as he does. Looking forward to what the future has in store for us!

The ring is from Brilliant Earth which is a company that has locations in Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston. Their mission and philosophy is to provide beautiful pieces that are responsibly sourced while also donating a percentage of their profits to help communities that have suffered from unethical practices in the jewelry industry. I was very impressed with the boyfriend’s choice in both the company and the ring that he chose for me! I’m not the type of girl who’s really thought about what type of ring I wanted. I always wanted to leave that up to him and knew that he knows me well enough to find the perfect one. And he did! It’s classic, understated, and elegant- I’m in love with it!