Good morning my lovely readers & happy Wednesday. It’s crazy to think that last time I wrote on here was the day a lot of our world’s turned upside down. I have so many thoughts as to what is going on in the world + a few fun things to share from this past week, but before I get started, I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone being effected by the coronavirus all throughout the world. Whether you or a family member is sick from the virus, a loved one of yours has been killed by the virus, you’ve lost your job, or even just the fact that your life has dramatically changed, my thoughts & prayers are with everyone.

I decided to have my coffee on the patio this morning while I write today’s post. Being outside (when it’s not insanely hot) brings me a sense of peace and I certainly needed that this morning.

Alright, now it’s time for a recap. Grab your coffee, tea, or wine (😉) and enjoy!

After I wrapped up last week’s post, I saw on the news that the Houston Rodeo was being cancelled. This is when I knew thing’s were starting to get serious here because as all Houstonians know, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo never gets cancelled. I had all of these thoughts going through my brain as to whether or not I should be worried, I was saddened that the rodeo had been cancelled as Jordan and I planned to take Mila within the next couple of days, and wondered how we as a family should be treating this situation.

I decided to put some of my worry on pause and get Mila and I ready for our fun-filled Wednesday.

Our first stop was at Mila’s favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. We went to The Woodlands location & split a delicious Chicken Piccata entree. We had the greatest time eating yummy food and talking about thing’s like “where would you want to travel most in the world?” “What’s your favorite color today?” and “what’s one of your favorite movie’s?” For those of you wondering, Mila would love to go to Australia after hearing about Jordan and I’s honeymoon there, her favorite color that day was light purple, and her favorite movie was “Onward.” 💜💜💜

After lunch, our next stop was at The Woodlands Children’s Museum. My little brother, Hudson, joined Mila for the fun. I had never been to the Children’s Museum before and it was so cool. They had so many fun things for the kid’s to do like, play fishing, a play grocery store/restaurant, dress up clothes & a stage to put on a play or pretend like their King’s and Queen’s, art work activities, and so much more. Mila and Hudson had the greatest time. Also, I promise I kept Mila’s hands very clean and made sure she did not touch her face lol.

Later that evening, Mila and I met Jordan at his brother, Luke’s baseball game. I’m really glad we were able to watch both of our brother’s play this week as it is both of their senior year of high school and now their baseball seasons are most likely going to be cancelled or postponed. It felt like all Jordan and I talked about that evening was the virus and what actions we needed to take next. Luckily, Jordan had taken the next two days to work from home, so he could spend more time with Mila and I, but now also so we could prepare.

We decided to head to the grocery stores early in the day on Thursday after we had heard about everyone panic buying, the shortage of toilet paper & hand sanitizers, and also seeing that other countries had been put on a national lockdown. We had no intentions of hoarding items whatsoever, but we honestly didn’t have enough food to last a couple of week’s like we were advised, we didn’t have anymore paper towels, hardly any type of disinfectant cleaners or hand sanitizers, so we decided to get the necessities to last us a little while.

The stores were pretty crazy on Thursday. We went to Trader Joe’s, H-E-B, and Walmart, but found no toilet paper, a small amount of paper towels, and absolutely no hand sanitizers or disinfectant cleaners. We began to feel kind of stressed at this moment. It was crazy to see so many empty aisles and people walking around wearing masks. We got enough food to last us for the rest of the week & into the next week and made our way home.

For dinner, we enjoyed Jordan’s amazing Stuffed Bell Peppers & some merlot. Mila devoured a PB & J sandwich with some watermelon on the side and we all watched “The Avengers: End Game” together.

Friday morning, I made some egg bagels & coffee for Jordan and I to enjoy while we caught up on the news. I also cleaned up the apartment a little bit while Mila enjoyed her Coco Puffs. 😊

Jordan ran out to a few more stores to try and find toilet paper, cleaners, and hand sanitizers. Meanwhile, Mila and I went for a bike ride/walk & built a “Frozen 2” Lego set while listening to the “Frozen 2” movie soundtrack. She had so much fun building her first Lego set with me.

Saturday was another low-key yet stressful day. Mila had been complaining that her ear hurt really bad the night before and her throat was also red, so we decided to make her a doctor’s appointment on Saturday morning. Poor girl tested positive for Strep Throat and also had an ear infection. We picked up her medication, fed her lunch, and had her lie down for a nap to get some rest.

I had also been trying to figure out how my job was going to pan out through all of this. Being an ice skating coach is something I absolutely love and has been such a rewarding and amazing career for me so far, but times like these when your clients may not come to the ice rink or the ice rink could potentially close is really scary… I am 100% understanding to all of this and have felt very scared/worried about the world as we go through this together, but my career has been one of the biggest worries for me at this time as well as many other things. Thankfully the rink has managed to stay open for now with many good restrictions set into place. I’ve been working hard to do what I can for the time being as I’m sure many others are as well.

Once miss Mila woke up from her nap, we all went for a walk together with our dog, Huk. After our walk, Mila and I sat outside coloring together while Jordan grilled some delicious steaks.

Jordan and I devoured some amazing steaks & baked potatoes. He really does make the best steak I have ever tasted!! Mila enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich & we all watched “Guardian’s of the Galaxy” together before bed.

Sunday was another very low-key day. Jordan, Mila, and I had breakfast together and watched Pastor Kerry Shook on the tv in the morning. Once we were all ready to go, we made our way to Jordan’s parents house to relax together. We watched our wedding video & had lunch. Later in the evening, we said goodbye to Mila for now as her Spring Break came to an end even though school would still be out for awhile in Houston. Jordan and I went for a nice walk with Huk when we arrived back home and then spent the rest of the evening watching “Vikings” together.

Monday morning was my first day back to work in a week since I took off Spring Break to spend it with Mila. I could not sleep past 5am and felt so anxious for some reason. I decided to get up and make myself some breakfast before heading out.

It felt very eerie at work on Monday morning. There were signs all over the place requiring skaters and coaches to sanitize their hands before getting on the ice, to ensure you stay at least 3 feet away from each other, and just the overall vibe from all of the coaches was different. I agree 100% with the rules set it place, it’s just strange to come back to work after a little break with everything being so different.

After coaching, I made my way to my favorite park to have a peaceful walk on the trails. I needed some fresh air and it was a place I could get some movement in where I wouldn’t be close to anyone or touching anything. It felt amazing to be there.

About midway through my walk, I was greeted by a Coral Snake. Luckily, I noticed it when I was about 3 feet away, but it still was a little creepy lol. I thought to myself, “if it’s not the Coronavirus that’s going to get me, it will be a gosh darn snake.” Only in the south do we have to worry about such things.. 😂

I made myself a tuna fish sandwich for lunch to eat while I watched the news and the President’s press conference before heading back to the rink to work a little more.

I only ended up coaching for 30 minutes on Monday night. Once I got home I enjoyed leftover steak, mac n cheese, and asparagus for dinner while Jordan and I watched more of Vikings. It is such a good show!!!

Tuesday morning I headed to the rink to work for a little bit and then made my way to the nearest H-E-B to get some more food. As all of the restaurants are beginning to close down (other than take out/drive thru), you can’t help but wonder if a mandated lockdown is coming next. I got some food to feed us for a couple of week’s just incase. We haven’t been going to restaurants or anything really other than to work & the grocery stores since Wednesday, so we needed to replenish some things. I spent over an hour at the store just getting these items. They were out of so many food related items, almost all of the aisles had a limit of how many of each thing you can buy, and everyone there seemed to be in panic mode. To say I felt anxious was an understatement.

I headed back to the rink to teach a little bit more in the afternoon. There was a total of 5 skaters that got on the ice the entire 2 hours I was there and I was also the only coach there except for 1 other coach that joined me for the last 30 minutes. The rink began restricting how many skaters would be allowed to get on the ice and then once I got off the ice that evening, I received a message stating that figure skating would end much earlier each day.

I can’t help but think that there is a purpose to all of this. I believe that we are all going to change through this and hopefully for the better. I want to take this time to reflect on my life, to spend quality time with my husband, to read more, pray more, obviously cook at home more, and so many other things. I wanted to share all of the things my family and I have done/gone through this past week not to be negative in any sense, but realistic as to the changes we are all enduring and hoping to reach out to those of you that feel uncertain and worried to let you know that are most certainly not alone.

I am giving my fears, concerns, and worries to the Lord as He is the only one who has the power to solve them. It is all in His hands and all I can do is try my best to serve the community, the nation, the world actually, in doing my part to help flatten the curve and end the spread of this virus. God bless you all. Stay safe & healthy.

XOXO, Paige.