We moved to Texas to in 2016 when my husband got a job.
It didn’t seem like a big deal then and we were so excited to move away from North Louisiana. In all honesty, it was exactly what we needed. We come from really tight knit families and even though we miss them so much, getting away was the best thing we did for ourselves.
We grew into adulthood together and learned how to truly lean on one another. I’m not saying that living close to your family is a bad thing. I wish we were closer and could see them more often, but living away from family and not having them to run to for every little problem really taught us how to stand on our own two feet and how to work through life together. Flash forward four years later and we have a daughter. Before COVID-19 rocked our world, we got to see our families often. With a grandbaby to see, more and more trips were made to Texas and we enjoyed weekends spent with family. This weekend was the first weekend since February that we were able to see family and let me tell you it was just what this mama needed.
We got word that Texas had lifted the travel ban from Louisiana and as soon as my parents heard, they planned to come see us the following weekend and that weekend just happened to fall on Mother’s Day. This Sunday I got to spend my first Mother’s Day with my sweet baby girl AND my mama.
We didn’t go anywhere or do anything but it was AMAZING.
Colton and my Daddy built me a raised bed garden, we cooked and ate at the house, we had picnics and spent time outside.
When Sunday afternoon rolled around sadness came over me as I knew that they would load up the truck and make their way home and I just wasn’t ready for the weekend to come to close.
But it got me thinking about all the things we thought we needed to do.
A normal weekend with family in town consists of going out to dinner and doing something fun.
We always go do things.
This weekend was so different. We just hung out at the house and spent time together.
It was perfect.
I hate that things going on in the world have kept us from seeing our family as often as we would like, but I LOVE that it has forced us to slow down.
I love picnics in the back yard and conversation on the patio. I love time in the sunshine and laughter filling my living room.
For years we have been in the fast lane.
Moved in 2016.
Married in 2017.
Bought a house in 2018.
Baby in 2019.
2020 has been our year to slow down and we have loved every single minute it of it.
As I type this, Colton is working from home and Arlynn is down for a nap. The cat and the dog are napping and load of laundry is on to wash.
When I was working full time, I longed for days like this. I was working for the weekend and all the family time it brought.
Now I get it 24/7 and I adore it. I love that we have gotten to spend this time together enjoying all of Arlynn’s firsts. I love that we miss our families so much because it means that we have amazing families that mean the world to us. I love that we get to have coffee together in the morning and daily ice cream parties at 4 pm.
I’m just gonna say it, I’m loving quarantine. One day soon, Colton will go back to working at the office and we won’t get lunch picnics.
We won’t get 4 pm ice cream parties and I’ll have to handle the witching hour with Arlynn alone. I’ll long for these days of slow living. So for now I’m choosing to cherish them. I hope that you do too.
I hope you allow yourself to slow down and enjoy this time because soon things will go back to “normal” and you’ll miss these days we’ve been given.
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