After This... by Frolic & Flourish

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today; let us begin."—Mother Teresa

It can be challenging to embrace the now and not just let it pass you by, but I believe there is magic that can be found in diving into each day! We have found a few things that have brought some faith, trust, and pixie dust into this otherwise dreary time!

With all the changes that came from the quarantine, Mae was feeling like she needed to start off the day with more structure, so she started a morning routine called "magic mornings" to get her excited for each day. She meditates in the morning and listens to something uplifting, like one of her favorite podcasts, then she does yoga with her kids. It truly has been working like magic! It puts her in a better headspace for the day and she's noticed it helps her kids start off with a better mood too. 

My sweet friend and photographer Kayla at Truly Photography has been offering a free front porch series to capture this historical time with your family. She asked me if we would be interested in our family being photographed and we went from sweats to style in a matter of minutes! Ha ha anyone else living for comfort???? She also encouraged me to write up some of my feelings during this quarantine and getting my thoughts on paper was very eye opening for me. You don’t have to have a photographer do it... but DO THE DANG THING! Get a tripod, a neighbor, self timer and capture your family on your porch to remember this precious time in your home! Then, unravel your thoughts about what your experience has been. You may find some joy, relief, sadness, grief, anger, and hope trapped inside ready to release!

We can’t think of a better time than now to make a time capsule with your family! It’s so easy and fun to see what each person chooses to represent themselves. For ours, we asked each family member to choose 3 items and to write them down explaining why those things were meaningful. I included ages as well as a journal page describing our life as it is now and little tidbits about each family member. We put some photographs in and dug a space in our yard to keep it for the next 5 years. The kids got a kick out of it and it was a really fun activity to do as a family.

Having something creative, special, or a reason to celebrate gives us life! We live for nonsense holidays as well as any excuse to dress up or just go all out!!! Several years ago Whitney discovered National Days and started creating activities and food that was relevant to each silly holiday. She found herself and the kids looking forward to each day and what adventures we might take! This week is Spring Break and we had planned to be at Disneyland enjoying the recess from school and life. Well...we decided to bring Disneyland to us instead!!!! We have since made Mickey Beignets, enjoyed a Toy Story Marathon, gone on virtual rides, watched shows and fireworks, and dressed up as our favorite characters. Disneyland recently released their new Parade “Magic Happens” for viewing on YouTube as well as their churro recipe! We are often trying to share any and all of our ideas for creating magic in the mundane on our Instagram page @frolicandflourish, so check it out for some fun ideas!

We also realize even with all the gold flecks and silver linings, this quarantine is STILL STINKING HARD! We have allowed ourselves grace. For Mae that has looked like slowing down, connecting with her true self and Mother Nature, lots of drive-thru meals, planning more indoor activities, crying, using TV for the kids far more than usual, napping when possible, getting outside, and buying a kitten. For Whitney it’s often been screaming in pillows, punching the walls in the basement, going on looooooong walks, connecting with nature, lots and lots of prayers, meditation and plenty of tears. This time is painful but we believe it holds a lot of growth.

We are going to be okay—it’s going to be okay!! There is a lot of unknown but we are still waking up, still learning, morphing into what we need to be and pushing forward. One day at a time is all we need to focus on right now. Celebrate everyday and you better believe.....AFTER THIS, WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND AND GETTING CHURROS!