Thoughts About Living a Life While Stuck in Place: An Introduction

If you are reading this, welcome. How are you? Are you staying healthy? Are you anxious about the world right now, like me? It's such an odd feeling, isn't it? As the days get longer and warmer, I can't help but miss the feeling of happiness and excitement that Spring and Summer brings since I am stuck in place for the moment. Any who, I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself and give an insight to this blog.

My name is Carley, and I live in the great state of Minnesota. I'm a biology teacher and enthusiast (especially in all things entomology related) who tells myself that I live a wild and exciting life. Well, as exciting as someone can be when debating whether to stay out just a bit later or hit the hay early since it happens to be a school night. I am 25 years old, I have two Bengal cats, and I am engaged to a wonderful man who has made my life better than I could have ever dreamed it to be. I am a fitness enthusiast, mainly spending my mornings running, breathing through a yoga flow, or killing my abs with core power yoga sculpt. I am a (former) professional dancer who continues to hone my skill ever so slightly by coaching a dance team and teaching ballet. I love dabbling in hobbies like embroidery, baking, painting, photography, and being outdoors as much as I am able.

I have always wanted to start a blog, and after years of sitting and wondering when on Earth would I ever find the time to start one, lo and behold, society was forced into a pause as a pandemic raged across the world. I'm a "silver lining" type of person, which you'll learn as you follow me on this blogging journey I'm setting sail on. Be patient as I bump around and find my way. I have a road map for myself, and I've decided this will be a lifestyle blog filled with exercises for the busy, on-the-go woman, healthy-ish tried and true recipes, millennial fashion, home and hobby projects, thoughts about life, local trips and the occasional travel, and of course, biology. Kind of a "something for everyone" kind of a blog, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the reading.

I wanted to start this off by giving my brain a moment to dump all of these thoughts in one place as I sit on my couch this evening, like I do every evening as of late. The state of Minnesota has been in a Stay-At-Home order since... March 20? Correct me if I'm wrong. My days have blurred together a bit lately. So far, the Governor says the the order will end May 4th, but this is such a fluid situation that I am prepared for it to extend. I am a high school biology teacher, so it has been a whirlwind of a second semester as we teachers have scrambled and rewritten and poured our hearts into turning our full in-person curriculum into something enriching that can be done remotely by our students. I have cried more than once while grieving the fact that my senior students will not have a normal senior year filled with prom and grad parties and happy last memories of their classmates before going off into the world to find themselves as young adults. I can only imagine how they feel. My heart aches that I may not get to see some of these students again if we do not go back to school (which seems doubtful at this present time). Take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. All we can do is keep breathing right now.

I am anxious. Anxious for what the future brings. I am set to be married this July on the 25th. I am excited, but also dreading the ticking clock as July shuffles closer and closer because I do not know if I will be able to have my summer wedding to the love of my life. Some good things: I already have my dress, my bridesmaids are wonderful and willing to roll with whatever punches come our way, the venue and vendors are paid in full with contracts that have clauses that state if some natural disaster occurs that is outside of anyone's control, we will be refunded (which ladies and gents, I HIGHLY recommend making sure any contracts you have for big events contain a clause such as this, because who could have predicted something like THIS would have occurred?), and my fiance loves me and I love him, so we can make it through something silly like a date change. I do have to keep telling myself that this isn't the end of the world, but it definitely stings knowing that something that I have been waiting for for so long and thinking about since the moment he got down on one knee may not happen exactly how I've dreamed it to be. I will be filling you all in with my wedding planning up to this point, to not only inspire other brides-to-be, but also to keep happy things in the front of my mind.

I suppose I will wrap my thoughts up by saying the sun rises a little earlier each day, the rhubarb and strawberries in my garden are unfurling their leaves to soak up the glorious sunlight, and there is so much in this "stuck at home" life to be thankful for.

Until next time,

Carley <3

#thoughts #lifestyle #welcome #gettoknowme #blog #spring #bridetobe #teacher