Life Update: March 2021

Truth is this, semester has been a whirlwind and there is always something for school I could be doing, so it has been tough to sit down and write. Not to mention, I’m at my computer all day so I try to take my breaks away from this screen. Anyway, I felt it was about time for a life update and share a little of what I’ve been up to.

a month off socials

Every January, I try to take the whole month away from social media. Some years, that’s just been Instagram, but this year I wanted to take away everything. Even VSCO, which is more of a picture editing app but that you can still post/scroll through I deleted. I also wanted to be intentional about using my phone as a tool, picking it up when I needed it, not aimlessly checking things. Overall, I felt so much more present, my screen time went way down, and still have tried to stay off social media the majority of the time since then.

zoom fatigue

It’s real and I wish the Harvard study about it came out before the semester started so we’d maybe have some more in-person classes. There’s essentially three class types right now – asynchronous (all at your one pace), synchronous (Zoom meetings you have to attend at a certain time), and in-person (rare but they still exist). I have mostly synchronous classes and they are truly exhausting, especially because for at least 3 I am required to have my camera on. I had mostly asynchronous classes last semester and could pretty much build my own schedule with the exception of a couple morning classes I had to be up for. Everyone has their own class preference, synchronous classes are great because they keep you accountable but I’ve just found them tiring. I do have one in-person class I make the trek to twice a week which has restored some normalcy, I’ve even made some friends in class which really brings me back to 2019.

I’ve started taking pictures on my (low quality) computer camera when I get bored during zoom meetings. Here’s one of my favorites of Ashley and I:

I’ve been doing some adulting and went to a job fair and had some interviews throughout the month of February. Nothing has come of all this yet, but it is good practice because it is so intimidating. Although it’s getting to the point where video chat feels more natural than in person might (who knows at this point??).

snow days!

We got snow this year! And got to attend the legendary civilian/cadet snowball fight that I didn’t experience freshman year because we never got enough snow! This ended up falling on Anna’s birthday so we celebrated at my house then headed to campus.

Trying to catch some sunsets, even when its freezing.

home visit

Anna, my friend Danielle, and I visited home for a weekend to see the fam, the pets, and visit Georgetown. We knew we’d need a break a little ways into the semester, and it was really great to be home for a few days!

Sadie girl is so sweet and growing so fast!

warm weather!

On a completely opposite note – we are so ready for warm whether and have already had some great days to be outside. At my house in Blacksburg we don’t have a front porch but we do have a back patio and we sit out in beach chairs to do work and tan. Motivation drops off but quality of life goes way up.

dogs!

While I miss the pets every day, we do get to see some dogs sometimes. This is Huddy, our friend’s dog who we sometimes steal, he really reminds me of Mack.

Dewey is Caroline’s sister’s dog that she watches sometimes. He’s never misbehaved but this past weekend he ate two Kind bars while we were at church, then proceeded to poop about 5 times on a 15 min walk so he kinda punished himself for that one. Still really fun to have around.

visit to Lynchburg

Most recently, Anna and I visited our second fam in Lynchburg! We stayed with Caroline, got to hang with Char, Tessa, and Lauren who came down, and saw Steph and Brennan! Fun to see Caroline’s college town, I really haven’t visited any other colleges because of Covid, so this trip restored a little bit of normalcy to what college life is about.

random activities

This semester I volunteer twice a week at the barns VT owns. It’s been so great to be with horses and take a break from school in the middle of the week. This is Timmy the barn cat!

Plants have been a new hobby of mine. I’ve had a few succulents which are fun but a few weeks ago the garlic I had from Kroger started growing on its own and I figured why not plant this? The left pot is garlic and the right is wildflower seeds. I swear I only planted a few but there are so many sprouts so we’ll see how it goes.

My friend/teammate Rachel chose to wear the exact same thing as me to team bonding. It’s hard being a trend setter but someone has to do it.

My friend Allison made the BEST French Toast I have ever had in my life the other week. Homemade bread and everything. I am very thankful for her and her baking skills.

that’s about all for now

Truly I feel like we are in a season of waiting as the vaccine is slowly distributed and cases are still breaking out. March 13th was the one year anniversary of me flying back from spring break to (unknowingly at the time) go home for the rest of the semester. I am so thankful to be in Blacksburg for this spring, but it’s bittersweet knowing we missed out on whole season of freshman year.

I’ve been reading in the Old Testament and something that stood out to me in Joshua is the phrase “And the land had rest from war.” (Joshua 11:23, 14:15) Everything, even war comes and goes in seasons, and surely pandemics do, too.

That’s all friends, hope you are able to get outside a little!

Gracie Girl Blog