COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 161-165

Day 161: 8-21-20 (Friday)

Today was a delight of relaxation and fun! Tyler and I started off our morning with paddleboarding and kayaking. The water was glass. It was so beautiful. We paddled from the Lower lake to the lily pads, through the channel, and on to the Upper lake. Our lake is actually two lakes connected by a channel hence the name Twin Lakes.

It was warm and sunny but you could see signs of autumn. The bushes are starting to turn colors. I am 100 % not ready for autumn. I don't love it on a good year but with the one year anniversary of my mom's death rapidly approaching and no end in sight for quarantine; it sounds down right depressing. Getting outside and doing things has been the saving grace of quarantine for me. Being stuck in the house sounds horrid. Being cozy has no allure this year. We have done nothing but be cozy since mid-March.

We spent the rest of the day swimming, napping, and enjoying the water. There is nothing better than an afternoon nap at the lake.

I also picked the last of the raspberries. Sad. It's a good thing the McIntosh apple tree is producing! I've been eating an apple a day this entire week. They are delicious.

Day 162: 8-22-20 (Saturday)

Photo Cred: Reilly

Today we had so much fun! Reilly ended up coming out by herself. Of course we enjoy Hunter; but it is always nice getting her to ourselves once in a while. We spent the day boating, tubing, and swimming in Grandma's cove. They even did some synchronized swimming. LOL.

That night Reilly made her famous tuna melts for dinner. You might think, "How good could a tuna melt be?" If you have ever had Reilly's you would know. They are out of this world!! So good! We ask her to make them for us all the time. I also made my Grandma Ellersick's Peanut Butter Rice Krispy cookies which I have improved upon and perfected if I do say so myself! It was a hilarious night of laughing and hanging out with the lovely Johnson sisters!!

Day 163: 8-23-20 (Sunday)

Today was our last day at the lake. Tyler and I headed out early to paddleboard and kayak. It was another perfect day for both.

After that we did our usual deep clean and yard work: mowing and weed whacking. We got things done pretty quickly so that we could enjoy the rest of the day before we had to head home.

I found out that my family's parrot died. We got Maxwell Alexander Ferdinand the Bird (his full name) when I was eleven years old. He lived to be 37. When I was growing up every time the phone would ring or the doorbell would ring Maxwell would yell, "KRISTIN!!!!" It was hilarious. He actually had quite a large vocabulary. He could also cry like a baby and laugh like a deranged maniac. He loved to dance to music. When my parents divorced my stepdad got custody of Max. I hated it. Kirk and Jordin used to visit Max and see him a couple of times a year. He never stopped screeching "Kristin!" which I love! Maxwell's demise actually hit me and Kirk pretty hard. Our childhood is LONG over...our Mom is gone...now even our family's longest living pet is gone. I hope Mom and Maxwell are hanging out in heaven.

We swam and enjoyed the water. We pulled the boat out at dusk, got take out for dinner, and then headed home. We really enjoyed our week but it felt SO GOOD to be home! I know I say that every time but it really does!

Day 164: 8-24-20 (Monday)

Today was a crazy catch up day. Tyler helped Reilly and Hunter with a car repair situation. Hunter's truck was in the shop so Tyler picked Reilly up from work and drove her to the mechanic's where they met Hunter who had driven Reilly's car to work. They were able to get Hunter's truck repaired and Reilly and Tyler were able to have some good daddy/daughter time together.

I worked on my business, did tons of laundry, deep cleaned our house, and worked in the yard. We ended up having to drive back out to the lake to look for our lawn mower charger only to find it later at our house in Beverly's bag of all places! While we were driving we were able to video chat with Kam and the girls. Again, I LOVE technology! He is doing good! Still doing lots of service and teaching discussions over video chat.

They had a big meeting with the Mission President who told them that there will no longer be tracting even after COVID is over. This is so hard for Tyler to comprehend. His mission to North Carolina was all tracting and street contacting with the occasional member referral. Things have had to change for awhile. Tracting just isn't as effective anymore. It's kind of crazy though because 90% of Kameron's online MTC training was all about tracting! It's good that youth his age are super techy because that is most of what they will be doing! Facebook and FB Messenger have proven statistically to be very effective ways of introducing people to the gospel and teaching them. Kameron said that they are learning all kinds of ways to use social media as a missionary tool. Interesting.

Day 165: 8-25-20 (Tuesday)

Today was kind of a blur. There has been so much going on none of which I want to talk about and so many emotional landmines to maneuver through with siblings. It is relentless. My Aunt Bonnie texted me today to see if I was available to talk tonight. I was. She talked to both Tyler and I. It was much needed. I miss having a supportive family. I miss having a mom to love and nurture me. It was so comforting to talk to her about some of the hard things that are going on in my life and to feel loved and nurtured. Just to hear someone other than my own family (and Kirk's) say, "I love you!" brought tears to my eyes. I've missed that and I am grateful for it.

Email from Elder Johnson #5

Group Email: 8-17-20

1000 Bottles of Hot Sauce on the Wall....

What is up partay peopleeeeee? I hope all is well with y'all. Miss ya like crazy but I'll get through it....:( 😂😂 Anyway, sooo remember when I talked about those sick lighting storms? Sooo we had another one...and I got pictures so imma attach dems below so you can understand. 

Anyway! This week's been pretty good! Got some service in, I led a couple of lessons, and had a zoom mission tour so all In all banger week.

We had quite a few zoom lessons which are pretty cool...if you like that sort of thing. Idk I'm pretty neutral on it but sometimes we're like... yo we need to leave this dang apartment or somebody gonna die...not actually die...but I mean never say never. 

Anywayyy mission tour! Basically a mission tour is some higher ups in our church (area 70 if you know what that means;) usually come to the mission and talk to us and train us on what they feel we could be educated more on. This was the same idea but over zoom. It was 4 hours long but it was gooood stuff. Lots of really good training. Just long tbh. Lil quote I liked from it goes like this, "Don't define yourself because of your weakness, we are shown our weaknesses so that we may take them and make them strong and improve ourselves." I love that. A lot of us get down on ourselves for being weak in certain areas but it's meant to help us grow and become better, faster, and stronger then we were before. 

We got some service in as well. We helped 2 peeps move. Super fun actually. One of them was a quick move cause they didn't have a ton of stuff but what she did have shocked us tbh. Bottles on bottles on bottles on bottles of hot sauce. We were just like holy fetch that's soooooo much hot sauce. For numbers sake my comps and I guess roughly 1000 bottles? Probably a little more. I dunno it was a lot. Super nice lady though. She gave us Pepsi which was banger. 

A few more things and then I'll wrap up. My district is seriously the coolest dudes ever. I love'em to death. I gave a talk in church on Sunday on hope. I'd say it went pretty okay. Not the worst experience ever but we're moving forward. I seriously love being a missionary. Loving every minute of it. 

Also I got a pet bird. His name is Dwight. I'll attach some pics of him too. He just shows up in the morning and at night and chills right next to the sliding glass window when I'm sitting next to it on the inside. He came by this morning with his buddy so that was epic. Anyway take care y'all. I love ya. Be safe and don't get the rona and remember... Hope is dope. Catch ya on the flippity flop. 

-Elder Johnson

COVID-19 Quarantine: Day 156-160

Day 156: 8-16-20 (Sunday)

We had home church today. This was our week off from attending church. We only go the 2nd and 4th Sunday. I kind of like rotating. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if that part lasted. LOL. I really do look forward to Sundays and enjoy them now. They are a rest day which I have finally come to appreciate.

We did a Sunday drive back out to Hayden Lake again to the other side of the lake to check out a different boat launch. We had a nice family dinner and then got things ready to go out to the lake tomorrow.

Day 157: 8-17-20 (Monday)

Tyler and I drove out to the lake early this morning, dropped off kayaks and paddleboards, launched the boat, came back home, got the girls and Beverly and the rest of our stuff, and then headed back out to stay at the lake for the next week. Tyler can work from here which is nice. It was a 103 degrees when we got here. We are in another heat wave. It will be nice to be near water this week. We were out here for the last heat wave too. That worked out nicely. We enjoyed the water all day.

Kam sent out his group email and one to our family. They are so enjoyable! Then we also got to video chat with him later tonight. Technology is amazing. We were able to connect as a family with Kam in Minnesota, Reilly in Spokane, Tyler, the girls, and I out on the dock. I love it! I don't know how I would survive this mission without video chatting and occasionally FB messaging in addition to his weekly emails. He says that he loves being a missionary and is having a blast on the mission so that is good! He is having all kinds of interesting experiences...some positive and some negative, meeting all kinds of interesting people, forging some good friendships, learning a lot about himself, serving others, and growing spiritually. As a parent I am so grateful for this despite really missing his cute face! I know I sometimes sound melodramatic but I didn't grow up in an LDS family. I never watched a brother go off on a mission or anything like that and I just never knew what it felt like to have a close family member leave for two years to serve a mission. It's been an adjustment. But it really helps when I see him enjoying the process, growing, maturing, and becoming more selfless.

The sunset was crazy spectacular too! Kam is my kid who always texts me pictures of sunsets. He loves them! While we were talking to him the sunset looked absolutely unreal! We literally had to stop talking and just marvel!

Doesn't that sunset look unbelievable? We don't have any fires up our way either. People from our area were posting pictures of the sunset on social media all night. So GORGEOUS!

Day 158: 8-18-20 (Tuesday)

I slept like a rock last night. This doesn't often happen for me. I don't have trouble falling asleep but I do have trouble staying asleep. 3 am usually wakes me up in a panic either real or imagined. But not last night! This morning I got up, grabbed my journals and scriptures, and headed out to the dock for my morning routine. It was so calm and tranquil. I felt super peaceful and grounded. This last year hasn't given me many of those moments. It was nice. I savored it.

The girls slept in so Tyler and I jumped in the boat and went for morning boat ride just the two of us! We toured the lake and then just floated and hung out on the water. It is nice that the girls are big enough to do their own thing and we could do ours too.

Today was mostly a day of relaxation. Swimming, boating, and reading on the dock. My favorite kind of day! I helped Bryn practice her dives. It reminded me of learning to dive off the same dock with my grandparents.



It is crazy how fast time goes. Today as I was floating around on my pink floatie; I looked at the water, the dock, the trees, the sky. I could have been any age: 8, 18, 28, 38, or 48. It was a weird but not unpleasant sensation. I've had many years at this place and on this lake. I am deeply grateful for them but I also know that this time is wrapping up and I am at peace with it.

We made mini-ice cream sandwiches for dessert. It's the little things in life right?

Day 159: 8-19-20 (Wednesday)

Today was a lovely relaxing day! We got some much needed things done this morning. We met with an appraiser to appraise the lake property. Kirk and I needed to have a 2nd one done due to issues and *involvement* of a sibling in the last one. It was nice to get that done despite having to pay for it ourselves. We have had to wait for weeks. Appraisers are so booked right now. After that was over we were able to enjoy the water and the sunshine.

I have taken over a room on the sleeping porch of Lilac Lodge. This is the room we call "The Honey-Mooner" because it has a door. I have used this for my morning routine of scriptures, prayer, journaling, goal-tracking etc. I have also done some afternoon reading and napping in here undisturbed. It's been a delight. You get the best of both worlds of being both outside and inside. Three of the walls are screens so I can see and hear the water but yet I am comfortably reclining on the bed. This is a perk of it just being our family here. Multiple unused bedrooms.

It has been lovely!!

Sometimes people find me and that is okay too!

Photo Cred: Reilly

Reilly and Hunter came out after work to play and have dinner with us. Hunter has started a new job. He is working for an HVAC company. After he is there for a year they will train him to be an HVAC technician. Needless to say Tyler was very happy to hear this. I hope Hunter likes it and sticks with it. It would actually be a good fit for him.

Hunter was exhausted and took a long nap. LOL.

Photo Cred: Reilly

Tyler, the girls, and I had fun boating and tubing until dark. We tried to see if we could go to the upper lake. We could get under the bridge and through the lily pads but the channel looked too risky. Too shallow.

The Channel that goes from the lower lake to the upper lake.
Photo Cred: Reilly

It was absolutely beautiful!

Day 160: 8-20-20 (Thursday)

Today started out much cooler and overcast. It actually felt really nice. Tyler and I spent the morning watering the yard and working on cleaning out one of the garages. Bags and bags of old nasty clothes. I have no idea why these were being saved. Tyler had a work meeting and then we ran into Spokane to check on the house and to water the plants. The sun came out this afternoon. The girls were able to get in a swim.

Mermaids made an appearance!

Our girls have had more fun with that mermaid tale than any other water toy that we have ever purchased!! They have all loved it!

It was also vendor night at Midtown Market. My big secretary desk sold the other day so I needed to do some serious rearranging and bring in another large furniture piece. Tyler came into town with me and we grabbed some dinner. We had a nice mini-date before heading back to the lake!

Current Favorite Memes #9

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What is Giving You Peace?

One of the podcasts that I listen to posed this question: What is giving you peace? They were referring to this time of COVID-19 and quarantine. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Here is what I have come up with in no particular order:

Tyler
My kids
Anything that gives me a sense of accomplishment
Being productive
Extra sleep
Reading
Podcasts
Being outdoors
Long daily walks
Gardening
Flowers
Water in all of its forms: lakes, rivers, water falls, creeks, ponds
Boating
Biking
Paddleboarding
Floating on the lake on my pink floatie
Psalms
Documenting the dull details of quarantine on my blog
My morning routine: prayer, scriptures, journaling, goal tracking
Paula Deen cooking videos
Date Nights
Buddy reads with Rebecca
Home Church
Texting with family and friends
FaceTiming with family and friends
Family dinners
Porch visits with friends
Memes
Family video chats with Kam
Family Scripture Study
Sunsets
Laughing
Game Nights
Listening to Taps on the Dock
Hummingbirds at my feeder
Lounging on the deck
Patio Lights
Emails and DM's from Kam
Looking at the stars
Beverly
Painting
Being creative
Blogging
This particular group text thread: Kirk, Meki, Me, and Tyler
God
Faith
Scriptures
Comfort Food
Exploring
Going for drives
Organizing
Exercise
Chatty phone calls
Working on my booth space
Dejunking
Crossing things off my to-do list
Completing projects
Audiobooks
Church Bells
Parks

Email from Elder Johnson #4

Group Text:

Cactus Man!

Whatsss upppp! Another week down and I'm feeling good tbh. How are things? Good? Gooood that's how I like it. Soooooo yeah to be fair this week was pretty mellow so not action packed but nonetheless here I am writing an email about it. 

Minnesota...has great lighting storms like the best I've ever seen. I'm literally a kid on Christmas when it comes to thunder and lighting. Seriously the coolest thing ever. I love it😂 they happen like once a week, it seems like, so it makes for a good time. 

The work's been good I'd say! Nothing too crazy but we have a guy who's just on the edge of getting baptized so hopefully he takes that leap of faith. We did some Facebook work and had quite a few dinners with some awesome members who are seriously very generous to us. We are always walkin away with loads of leftovers. We also had lots of service work this week which leads me to cactus man...

Now cactus man is a guy who has missionaries come over and help him out in his yard. So we, along with, the elders in Eagan (Minnesota) went over there. Lil backstory of cactus man. None of us know his actual name... He goes by cactus man and asks us to refer to him as such. When he left a message for the Eagan elders he said, "Hey, this is cactus man..." Sooooo usually he has the missionaries pull cactus plants out of his front lawn area and put them into pots. His front lawn is allllllllll cacti...I wish I had a picture of it. But instead of picking cacti he had us mow the lawn and do some other yard work so that was pretty exciting.

Anywayyy imma wrap up this email, you guys are the best and I miss you all a ton! Take it easy and don't get the rona. 

Love y'all 

-Elder J

COVID-19 Quarantine: Days 151-155

Day 151: 8-11-20 (Tuesday)

Primary business started EARLY! I had a lot to do with several kids with upcoming baptisms and a couple of new families in the ward. It felt good to actually have something to do as far as my calling is concerned. It is so strange not having a million things to do church-wise and...not going to lie...sometimes it is kind of nice.

We had a very interested prospective buyer for the Sandpoint house. That was super exciting but then it fell through. Our realtor urged us to lower the price which we did. Hopefully that works. It is a cute house with a lot going for it but it is also a bit quirky with an open floor plan and many North Idahoans don't love an open floor plan.

Kirk and Meki told us that they can't come up for their 2nd week at the lake. It would have started next week. We were super disappointed. Kirk's work is too busy so he gave his week to me. That was very sweet but I was really hoping that we would get another quick visit with them this summer.

Today had a rather blah and disappointing vibe. We also found out that our school district decided to delay the start of school for an extra two weeks. We don't start real time distance learning until Sept.14th!

Day 152: 8-12-20 (Wednesday)

Today is a cool and cloudy day. It is nice. Tyler and I had a good walk and I was able to process a lot of feelings about things. Tyler is a good listener and has good advice which is very helpful. Then we both came home and worked all day. I finished up a big project for my booth. Things are continuing to sell rapidly which is a huge blessing!

Tyler took the girls out for a few hours this evening. Tyler and Bryn flew their drones at the middle school and then Tyler let Ailey practice driving. We miss Kam and his *chore* of taking Ailey driving! Ha Ha!

We had three showings on the Sandpoint house in a 24 hour period so that is good. My sister and her family are moving out of the house at the end of August and into a rental in Sandpoint. It would be nice to sell the place by that time.

Day 153: 8-13-20 (Thursday)

Ailey got her school schedule for what her real time distance learning will look like. She will have an A/B schedule. Three classes one day and three more classes the next day. She also got her distance learning Seminary schedule too. One day personal study...the next day a Zoom class...then personal study...then Zoom etc. At least it won't start at 6am. She is happy about that!

Tyler's mom and step-dad are coming for a visit the first week of September. They feel like they can travel now. It will be good to see them and to have a bit more family support.

We are thinking of buying a Peleton. Kirk and Meki got one and love it! Paul and Whitney just ordered one. Since we obviously won't be heading back to the gym anytime soon we need to come up with another plan. We are paying our monthly gym fees for nothing. The gym is open but super restricted and it's hard to feel like it is a *safe* COVID -free environment. The governor just made gym rules and restrictions even more strict this last week. The new guidelines just make it harder to go to the gym not safer. So Peleton here we come! It will be fun to be able to connect as a group for challenges and things with Kirk, Meki, Paul, and Whitney.

Ailey and Bryn came with me to do some birthday drop-offs for Primary and then Tyler and I drove to Coeur d' Alene for vendor night at the store. I did a big rearrange and brought in another big piece of furniture. I was at the store for about an hour and a half. I am loving my booth. I can't believe the good sales I have had every day. Why didn't I do this years ago?! Tyler and I grabbed some Greek take-out and ate it lakeside. It was a beautiful peachy pink night. Am I the only one who thinks that sunsets have been extra pretty since quarantine?

We had several more showings at the Sandpoint house today and while I was working on my booth our realtor texted us to say that someone was making an offer that night! They did and it was a pretty good one. That was exciting and hopefully some momentum on the estate will lessen some of the stress.

Day 154: 8-14-20 (Friday)

Today we had more showings at the Sandpoint house and got another offer. Two offers! I guess dropping the price did the trick. I spent most of the day going back and forth with our realtor and siblings. It was exhausting. But we accepted one offer so we are under contract now. So that is good news.

Tyler and I decided to go to Coeur d' Alene for our date night. We wanted to check out Hayden Lake. We stopped off at Midtown Market and I dropped off two freshly painted coffee tables for my booth. We grabbed Noodle Express take-out and then headed to Hayden Lake. We had the BEST time!! I can't believe that we haven't ever been on this lake. It was really pretty and much larger than I expected. I think this lake will be where we go for our next boating day. We also found out that you can rent Bing Crosby's house on the lake. How fun would Christmas be at Bing Crosby's lake house?!

We ran into a trio of sister missionaries while we were checking things out. It was fun to talk to them. We told them about Kam and they said that they would pray for him. Good. We will take all the prayers! We told them that we were out on a date night and they suggested a place for dessert that is owned by their stake president... Birdie's Pie Shop. That was already on our list of places to go so we went and tried it out.

Tyler got the key lime pie (delicious) I got the the pecan pie (not delicious) but I am a pecan pie snob and I think that mine is the best pecan pie ever so I will have to give them another chance. Plus that key lime pie was pretty fantastic!

Right after we were walking away from the sister missionaries we got a FB message from Kam. There was a crazy storm going on in his area and he was sending us some really cool lightening pictures.

The Midwest does have some incredible storms!

As we were getting out of the car after arriving at home a giant shooting star blazed right over our heads and our house. It was so beautiful. After that we hung out on our deck for awhile to see if we would see any more. It's the time of the perseid meteor showers. Not a bad date night at all. I have to say that I think our date nights have been more fun after COVID. It's gotten us out of our dinner and movie rut. We definitely have had to be more creative.

Day 155: 8-15-20 (Saturday)

Nothing too exciting today. It's been your basic COVID-19 quarantine Saturday. It is still weird that we don't have kids in 50 million sports/activities on Saturdays anymore. I also realized that I have barely taken any pictures this week. Oh well. We went to the park and the grocery store. I did a Primary porch visit to a family who is taking the discussions and the nine year old is getting baptized. We all just worked on projects around the house and yard. We also started cleaning and organizing the garage. Good times. LOL.