Written by: Callie, Brenna, and Kenzie

Welp, happy April! Collectively, the whole world has had a very interesting month, I’m sure. We’re going to tell y’all about our Marchs even though we’ve all been doing pretty much the same thing for the past few weeks - STAYING HOME. It’s been weird to say the least.

Kenzie

The beginning of March was super eventful. The very first weekend, we were all in Palestine, TX to have a big estate sale at my grandma’s house and that was a lot of work but also really fun! We’ve already talked about that, though. The very next weekend, Mom, Ginny, and I went back to Palestine to clean the house a final time and take any flowers from the yard that Ginny wanted. We stayed in a B&B on the outskirts of town called Sabor a Pasion Estate and Vineyard. We weren’t able to stay in their cute cabins because they only slept two so we stayed in a room attached to the restaurant that was okay, but we had dinner there that night and I ate the absolute best pavlova! The chef and owner was from New Zealand and apparently pavlova is a New Zealand thing and this was like biting into a dang cloud. Like, I may spend the rest of my life trying to replicate it.

Then the next weekend, Brad and I headed on our first road trip together! We drove to Tulsa, OK for a high school friend’s wedding and it was such a fun weekend getaway. Our first night, we got to our Airbnb late and it was… much smaller than anticipated. Like when the couch was pulled out into an uncomfortable bed, there was barely enough space to walk around the bed, let alone for our luggage or to get ready for a wedding the next day. So, we left at one in the morning after failing to go to sleep and ended up driving around Tulsa, calling hotels that weren’t sketchy to find a place to stay. I suppose I should really analyze the photos next time I book a $30/night Airbnb.

The rest of the trip was great though! We had amazing coffee at Foolish Things Coffee Company and amazing food at Juniper. We even stopped on our way up to pet a camel and zebra on the side of the road and it was fun for me to hang out with my high school friends again! A very good trip before all that happened afterward.

I went back to work that Monday, March 16, and we had a four-minute meeting in the kitchen about switching from sanitizer solution to a Clorox solution for better cleaning and that we would remain open in the foreseeable future. That evening, my boss texted everyone we wouldn’t be able to open and that was that. I’ve been off work since March 17 and it has been so strange.

I’m staying home except to go to the store or literally just to drive somewhere and drive right back. When I go to the store, I sanitize everything afterward - keys steering wheel, even packages of products bought. Everyone in the household is being very careful and I’ve only seen the same four people - Mom, Dad, Brad, and Ginny - ever since. It’s such a strange new lifestyle but I’m doing it for myself sure, also for Mom, and for literally everyone else. For real, people, just stay home. Sure it gets boring sometimes, but it’s better thatn infecting other people and spreading this crazy thing even more.

Anyway, I guess I won’t preach at y’all. In all this time at home, I’ve really been able to get a lot done and I’m enjoying the slower pace and rediscovering hobbies I’ve lost along the way. I’m reading more, crafting more, making more videos, tending to the backyard. I’ve cleaned and organized several parts of the house and the playhouse in the backyard that houses a lot of Callie and my junk is looking better than it ever has.

There’s no telling how long this will last. Please do your part in this to help everyone get through. Yes, we’re stuck at home and it’s a scary time, but please accept the responsibility to actually stay home and make the most of it if you can. Pick up a new hobby, go on a walk (always try to get some fresh air unless its sweltering out), organize your closet. Check on your friends and family often. Have FaceTime hangouts when you can. We’re all going through it - just six feet apart.

Callie

Okay. I know I say it all the time but this month I actually did nothing. I opened my calendar to look back on the month like I do each time I write one of these and it was basically empty. Like I have been in Fort Worth this WHOLE MONTH which is really weird for me. We’re usually out of town at least two weekends a month. Well let’s get this boring month started.

The first weekend of March I really cannot tell you what happened. The calendar says it was a FW weekend but I don’t know what we did. Probably just chores.

The second week Jason was gone to his brother-in-laws ranch on the TX/Mexico border for 4 days. This was before any shelter in place orders were made and really before much of the news of the virus being bad in the US hit. So I was home alone for a long time which I hate doing. Luckily through Kenzie and Brad stopped by for Saturday night on their way home from their friend’s wedding. Kenzie helped me organize a guest closet that I had just been throwing stuff in and clean and decorate the main guest room which was great! It looks so much better now! Still kind of full of crap because that’s where all the things we had made for the farmer’s market that we aren’t doing now are kept.

And then the last two weekends of March we’ve just been home trying not to be too bored. Jason is an essential employee so he’s still going to work and even though my job is completely non-essential I’m still working because we are not open to the public and have less than 10 employees. My hours have been cut to only work three days a week (because no one in their right mind is buying personalized cups during this time) and Jason only goes into the office two days a week and works from home the other days.

We haven’t been back home to Conroe since February and I haven’t seen Jason’s family since before then (he at least got to hang out with them at that ranch for a few days before all this hit the fan). Jason’s parents are older and as Kenzie mentioned with mom’s weakened chemo immune system we, unfortunately, do not have plans to visit anyone any time soon. Especially because we are both still working. If we could stay home for 2 weeks straight to prove we don’t have it then that would be different but we can’t so we won’t.

Kenzie seems to be taking this time way better than me. Whenever I call and catchup mom always says she’s out cleaning something or working on a new project. I’m the quarantine person that downloaded Tik Tok just to scroll for hours at a time and then switches to Netflix when I’m tired of that. I’ve not been eating good things (funyons are the best) and it’s been so rainy and cold most days here in FW that I don’t even get outside much. But GOOD NEWS is we finally got the oven fixed!!! So maybe I’ll start cooking again and will stop eating all the crap I’ve been enjoying.

April right now is not looking great. Easter is Jason’s favorite holiday (his family goes all out for Easter) and we won’t be able to go this year. We had a trip to Cozumel planned for the end of April with his family for his mom’s birthday that everyone was really looking forward to that will be cancelled and there were a lot of people to plan schedules around so I’m not sure if it will be postponed or just cancelled all together. Don’t call me an entitled brat because I’m complaining a little bit about all of this. We are allowed to be sad for the things we are missing out on but overall I know this will help and I’m not sad that we’re all doing this to help society as a whole!

On the plus side the three of us, our mom, and Claire have a weekly Facetime call which has been the highlight of my weeks lately. Jason’s family also does one each week which is fun. And my best friend that I don’t see that often anymore has been calling more lately to check in so I feel like we’re all still keeping in touch just not physically close which I would prefer. With the oven working again I’m wanting to bake something that I can mail to our friends that live out of state. Do you know something that keeps well through the mail? Let me know!

We did a lot of little projects. And that’s mostly what I take pictures of. Lots of fun things are up on the Etsy Shop. That big old table in the middle of our room was from our grandma’s house and Jason made new legs to replace the falling apart ones and now we have a craft table which I am so excited about! Now we just need to add shelves and cabinets underneath. That awesome brunch food in the photos was from a time before all this social distancing stuff. We decided to try a new brunch place and Jason was in awe of their mac and cheese. Said it was the best he’s ever had!

Brenna

Remember when I said that January was the longest month of 2020 ever? Yeah, well I was straight up lying. March lingered around for way too long. I drove up to Palestine to meet the rest of my loser friends to celebrate Callie’s birthday and sell Ginny’s crap at the beginning of the month and honestly that was such a treat. Little did I know it would be the last time I saw any of them for a long ass time. Sigh. Thank God for Friday Night Happy Hours Facetimes (hours because it’s literally for two hours).

So Spring Break was a treat, I went out on a wild hair and bought a new car (treat yo self 2020) and got new plants. I honestly think I was more excited for the plants than anything. I love plants. It is what it is. Let me backtrack a second. (Remember I don’t plan these things as I type them. I literally want you to feel like you’re having a conversation with me. Welcome to my unorganized brain.) I’m seriously so glad that I got to tell my babies that I loved them and hugged them before I knew what was in store for us. It hit me a few days ago that this was the new normal and man I wasn’t prepared for that.

I got to organize a car parade for our staff that we took through all of the neighborhoods through our zone and I cried like a baby when I saw my kiddos. It was seriously the most heartwarming thing I have done in a very long time. Like my heart was almost as full as it was on my wedding day. Which obviously means I am right where I’m supposed to be. So here’s my advice, find something that makes you feel as good as you did on your best day ever (whatever that may be) and you’ll be set for life.

I did a ton of puzzles during March. Like at least 6 or 7 and while I wasn’t doing that I was walking/running throughout The Woodlands with my buddy Lindsey. If you were wondering, we have probably solved all of the world’s problems now and then some. Which requires us to walk or run a minimum of three miles every day. This is how we are coping with Orangetheory being closed. Still sad about that.

All in all, it’s been a very uneventful month and as sad as that is, I’m oddly okay with it? I’ve been forced to slow down for the first time in my life and I have no other option than to be okay with it right now. I’ve enjoyed talking and facetiming with my babies throughout the day and filming read alouds to share with them. It’s pretty great when a first grader thinks you are YouTube famous. Just saying.

I wish I could say that I hope next month will be more eventful but I know it’ll be quiet again and that’s okay too. My goal is to do more puzzles and read more books. Oh and continue to make masks to donate, which is fun.