Are you giving grace?…

How are you really handling this?  Like seriously, are you being honest with yourself  and your feelings right now and in the past weeks?  Or are you burying your head in the sand?

I have my good days where I feel on top of it.  Like the laundry is all caught up, kids aren’t fighting over school work or with each other, my sense of dread that my husband will contract COVID that day is not as high as most days, dinner is prepped, I organized another section of the house, positives thoughts fill my head that my business will bounce back from this, etc.

Then I have my bad days.  The days when I truly do not give a crap the laundry is an overflowing mountain, that the kids aren’t reading as much AR as I have them scheduled to do, I don’t make my bed or even have a plan for dinner.  I just want to sit and wallow in my own self pity because the world is an even scarier place right now, my business that I have sacrificed so much to grow the last 5 years is now sitting idle, and that very day, may just be the day that my husband contracts COVID at work.

I have subscribed for a while to the blog, Finding Joy and she gets really real sometimes in her messages and many days that’s what exactly what I needed to hear.  She recently wrote a blog titled Lessons from Isolation and it was as if I had it told her my thoughts and she blogged them.  Please click the link and read for yourselves too, I bet her words will speak to many of you.  Also sign up to follow her blog, she writes so many that are very relatable, especially to moms and wives.  

My biggest take aways from that days blog was in needed reminders of things I knew deep down but never wanted to give myself the grace to feel or deal with. 

Give yourself and others Grace.  It’s okay if we have bad days where we are wearing the same leggings as yesterday and dinner is a frozen meal from the deep freezer.  It’s okay if you want to sit and binge your favorite tv show and eat from your secret chocolate stash after everyone goes to bed.  It’s okay if the click list person isn’t the peppiest when you pick up your order, they may be have been yelled at by a previous customer or are worried about their own health.  Just offer a smile and tell them to have a nice day and stay safe.  It’s okay if your friends don’t return texts quickly, maybe they just do not feel like chatting that day.

What is really important in life.  Truly I think this topic will end up being a whole blog in itself at some point, but it’s shown, not just me, but everyone in the house, that we truly have everything we need right here under our own roof.  From food, be thankful for what you have in the pantry and eat it even if it is a weird meal idea.  This has been the best time to eat all those random foods you have in the back of the pantry. Clothes, be thankful you have comfy warm comfy clothes to lounge around in.  Love, be thankful that you have a warm loving safe home to be in because too many are not that fortunate.    

Hold on to that Hope, that tomorrow and each day to come, will get better.  This one is so hard for me.  I know we still have not had the worst of this horrible virus, but each morning when I’m watching the birds and squirrels out my home office window (I have hit old lady status and love watch them almost every morning), and notice how much my peony is growing and coming back to life after being eaten into the dirt by deer last fall, hope is a word that comes to mind.  That there is a smidgen of hope that things will get better and we can come back out of this “COIVD19 dirt”, stand tall and feel safe in the outside world again.

Find something to be thankful for each day.  Even if it’s something little like your coffee tastes great today or your kids put their laundry away without you asking them.  

What are you thankful for today? 

Cover photo captured by Autumn Branscome Photography in Princeton WV

Can I go back to early March?

Well Hello!  Yes I am still around and I am shocked when I logged in here and saw that it really had only been a year since I last blogged!  Seriously thought it was longer than that.  If you can say something about my blog style, I am consistent with being inconsistent in blogging.  I mean I have always been told “blog for business” “if you don’t blog you won’t reach your customers” well obviously I have not been blogging and still thankfully have a steady business.  Or should say HAD a steady business until March 24th when the governor shut us down for being “non-essential.”

While truly I am loving this time at home.  I have cleaned out closets, the garage,  and sold things we no longer needed, I think we all need our busy lifestyles back.  My daughter misses her friends, school and gymnastics.  My son is missing his last 1/2 of 8th grade, he is most sad about his last season of track.  I miss watching my kids compete, I absolutely love watching them challenge themselves and seeing the pride in their smiles when they do better than they anticipate.  I miss my husband having a “normal” work week.  I miss photography.  I miss my all my AGP babies and little ones!  More on what we all miss later on another blog.  Yes I plan to do more blogging since I am caught up on editing for the first time in what seems like forever.

Can I go back to early March?  Pretty Please?  Can I go back to that facial room at His & Hers with Stephanie discussing all this Corona Virus stuff and telling her “Hey I am not going to worry until Reg worries because he literally never worries about anything unless its a stopped skyliner at Disney or an airplane ride.”  So we go on, she’s doing all her magic stuff to my face to hopefully make me look younger and well rested and we are talking about her upcoming Disney girls trip.  She shares a love for Disney just like I do, perhaps hers is possibly bigger.  She is an “Epcot Mom” and I am a “Magic Kingdom Mom.”  Don’t know what those are, look them up lol.  We were saying “Oh Disney NEVER closes, ever for hurricanes, you’ll be fine to go, just wash your hands.”  She finishes her magic, my face feels soft like a baby butt and I go back to the studio.

Disclaimer:  Her facial room is a lot more relaxing looking than this, this was just the only photo of it on hand right now since she is closed down also.  Book one with her, try it for yourself!  #beautybybatton (Stephanie Batton @ His & Hers Day Spa) 

Welp 3 hours after saying “I won’t worry til he worries” all hell broke loose!!   He calls, saying call your Dad tell him to stay home, the kids need out of school and it needs closed, you can’t take the girls out of the hotel this weekend for Alee’s birthday trip, it’s going to get bad quickly and no one is prepared.  Talk about panicking, again my husband again never worries,  so I was like “oh Crap here we go!”   For petes sake, I was at lunch a week prior with my bff and we were laughing at Corona memes and now we are buckling down and feeling the need to buy a toilet paper!

Text Stephanie like “ummm ya remember what I said this morning,  now it’s time to worry.” Call parents and tell them to stay home.  Go to the school ask about how absences will work if there is an impending pandemic coming and they don’t close.  Figure out how to pull off a great birthday weekend for your 10 year old since you shouldn’t be in public.  Stay calm on the outside because you can’t pass your fears onto your kids, but on the inside you are crumbling because of all of these unknowns.

Do you remember the time when you realized all of this was a lot more serious than you initially were thinking?

Cover photo is of my view each morning.  Don’t diss “ohhh she has a Christmas tree up!” Listen, my  big momma 12 foot is gone and packed away, this is a little pencil tree that only has my antique ornaments on it and it makes me smile.

Throwing a pic of Disney from February in here because I love it and miss is so much!  See ya real soon!

Blog 4

 

60 Grit Salvage & Restoration, WV Antiques

This has been a BUSY BUSY Fall Season for my business but I am Oh So Thankful for my clients returning to me for their Fall and Christmas sessions, prints and canvas’s for gifts, and designing cards for mailing smiles to friends and family.    Truly, ya’ll, thank you for supporting my small business.  I would not be where I am today without each one of you!

I have always been a fan of supporting small business’s and shopping locally as often as possible but since becoming a business owner myself I try much harder to do so.

This week I want to feature one of my favorite local small business’s, 60 Grit Salvage & Restoration!!!   Located just a few hills and curves from the city of Ripley at 1020 Shatto Road with the sweetest owner Christa Epling you will find treasures from the past at reasonable prices.

Christa began 60 Grit to grow and showcase her love of antiques and treasures from the past and giving her the freedom to be a stay at home mom with her son.

Each time I step into her store I see something that takes me back to a warm memory of my childhood.  I am the type of person that longs for preserving the past.

I encourage each of you to shop small, shop local, support those small business’s!!!

Christa is located on Facebook at 60 Grit Salvage and Restoration or on her website at 60 Grit.   The shopping hours are this Saturday for your last minute gifts from 10am-4pm, Sunday from 12:30pm-4:30pm or by appointment.

If you would like your small business featured on the blog please contact me at agreerphotography@yahoo.com