How are you staying happy during quarantine? Here are ten thing from each of us at QC Exclusive that are brightening each day, making remote work more bearable, and just generally bringing us a little extra cheer.
Ashley
1. Playing guitar! And singing horribly. I’m sure my neighbors love these mini acoustic concerts when my windows are open!
2. Picking up the violin again; I’ve played since I was in elementary school and it’s funny how muscle memory works. Naturally, I’ve been getting my fiddlin’ on since I’ve been living in NC.
3. My mother invented a daily laugh challenge for our family: We have one large group chat, and every day you can choose to submit a short comedic video, and then we all collectively choose the winner at the end of the day. The whole goal isto stay connected while making each other laugh!
4. Binge-watching TV shows, and eating snacks.
5. Taking walks outside (and staying six feet away from anyone I cross paths with), because…I just binged-watched TV shows and ate snacks.
6. Getting my house organized: Talk about spring-cleaning!
7. Watercolors are so relaxing, so I’ve been doing this whenever I find the time.
8. Tending to my indoor garden, and figuring out what I want to plant outside this year (I’m thinking tomatoes and basil are a must)!
9. Researching some extracurriculars I can do once everything is back to normal; with all of the creating I’m doing for self-care right now, I don’t think I want it to stop! Maybe music or painting classes are on the horizon.
10. Cooking more than usual, and pinning some recipes I can make and bring into the office once we’re all back together again! I made fresh pasta noodles the other day, I might do it again tomorrow.
Brett
1. Drawing: Roll out the giant roll of craft paper and the entire family adds their own characters and scenery
2. Family Dance Party Waterfall: Usually before bed to wear the kids out, and everyone does what the person before them did and then adds on to it.
3. Storytime: We all sit quietly and the parents take turns reading aloud. We’ve recently rediscovered “Where the Sidewalk Ends” which is the current favorite.
4. Family Meal Prep: Turn on the music and make meals for the week.
5. Walks around the neighborhood with our own background music to keep the pace.
6. Home Improvement Projects: Cleaned out and reorganized the garage and put on a new storm door on screened in porch.
7. Scrolling News Feeds: Reading recent developments with Corona, stock market, and what all NFL teams are doing in free agency.
8. Writing Letters: Writing hand-written letters with visual aids with the kids to mail to classmates we miss.
9. Science Experiments: Mixing baking soda to blow up a balloon with CO2 and homade lava lamps are two of our most recent.
10.Watching Nature Shows: Learning about different animals and learning about where they come from.
JP
1. I’ve been watching some of my favorite fly fishing videos, including a new one from a filmmaker I really like Rolf Nylinder.
2. I have spent a good bit of time cleaning all my memory cards off and putting images and videos on hard drives. Gotta save all the good memories.
3. Of course, I’m snuggling and playing with our doodle George. You can follow him on instagram at @thedoodgeorgeabides
4. I tidied up one of my piles of clothes. Hope to get around to the others later.
5. I’ve been researching stocks I want to buy with the market down quite a bit.
6. I’ve been planning our next trip once all this is passed us.
7. I have finally gotten around to selecting clips to edit for a fly fishing video Jamey Price and I filmed nine months ago.
8. Starting to look at website themes for a new business venture Brett and I will launch later this spring.
9. Sleeping in maybe thirty minutes longer than I would on a normal day and loving it.
10. Talking to my mama daily, which has been nice and something I hadn’t been doing as much as I should have been lately.
Kat
1. Trying new recipes
2. Gardening
3. Stand-up comedy watching
4. Mastering the art of flavored popcorn
5. Watching great films and introducing them to teens
6. Yoga via Apple TV
7. Reorganizing closets
8. Building an awesome plant holder from a branch
9. decorating / redecorating
10. Finally reading the books that have been next to my bed!
Sunny
1. Good books, and a little more time to listen to a few new-to-me audiobooks, too. Scribd (the app) is offering 30 days totally free, so you can enjoy a few free audiobooks or ebooks too 🙂
2. Extra time to cook some new recipes, and just spend on preparing and enjoying home-cooked meals in general.
3. Letting Ringo, the cat, curl up with me as I work, and longer walks with George… plus some time to take him to the dog park, too. You’ve never seen a happier dood!
4. Zoom/FaceTime calls that bring your loved ones a little closer together.
5. Quiet, super-focused time to write lots of articles for QC Exclusive.
6. Watching and being inspired by the amazing adaptability, flexibility, and creativity of local businesses, makers, and artists.
7. Painting with watercolors at night.
8. Daily reminders of the fact that it’s the little things that matters.
9. Bringing home fresh flowers.
10. Handwriting notes and cards.
Jamey
1) Walks on the greenway
2) Bike rides with the family
3) Catching up on editing
4) Cooking new recipes
5) Home improvement projects I’ve been putting off
6) Extra snuggles with our dog
7) Binge watching Netflix shows
8) FaceTiming with old friends
9) Getting to know our neighbors (from 6ft away)
10) Getting a little break from the grind of traveling
Tell us – what is making YOU happy during quarantine? We challenge you to make your list of ten and post it to Insta. Tag us, and we’ll share yours!
