5 Things We’re Doing at Home

We now have reached two months staying home under the order in California. At first, it was really hard on us and I found myself having moments where I would cry, times I would need to sit and read my bible, and other days where I didn’t want to get out of bed. Fortunately, we slowly moved into what now is our new routine and have adjusted. And we have more time now to try new things.  So, here is the top 5 things we are doing together and may now be addicted to while staying at home. 

 

 

Number 5.  Creating a YouTube Channel   

Vanessa has been watching a lot of YouTube videos and she kept asking to start her own channel. It was something I had to think about for awhile, and I decided maybe we could do a channel together. We have been planning on how we want it to look, and there is a plethora of information available online on how to customize your channel. We decided to focus on what we know best – DISNEY! We just finished designing our banner and intro video, so I’m excited to keep applying new tricks we are learning.  

 

 

Number 4. Diamond Art 

My aunt has been doing diamond art for awhile, and Vanessa always asked if she could do one too.  It looked tedious and I kept putting this off, but now was the perfect time to try it out. We bought a few from Amazon and found them easy to do. It is like a paint by number but with colorful diamonds, and the mats are sticky so no glue required. The kit comes with everything you need to complete one.  We typically will sit in the later afternoon and work on our individual mats and chat about things. I still love hearing her opinion on everything that’s important to her right now. The pictures we picked have a lot of detail so it is taking a little longer than I expected, but Vanessa was able to complete a more simpler one in a night.  Looking to make your own diamond art to hang on the wall? Check out all the different ones at Amazon. You can find different kinds for the holidays and some really cool Disney ones. 

 

 

 

Number 3. American Girl Dolls 

Vanessa now owns three American Girl dolls and quite a bit of furniture and accessories. I have to give her credit for saving her money to buy a new doll she wanted. I had all the books, but never my own American Girl dolls as a young girl. I did want one though! But now I get to play with them as an adult. Vanessa sorta takes the lead on whether we are having a “pizza party” or “Mars mission”. Either way I’m grateful for this time to use my imagination again and make believe. We can all use a little bit more of that lately.  Need a doll? Check out American Girl Doll here. For more affordable options, Target has a lot of unique dolls as well. 

 

 

Number 2. Marvel Digital Comics

My brother got me tuned on to the Marvel movies. It didn’t take long for me to watch all the movies and some  of them I rewatch over and over again – Hello Thor!!!  At some point I wanted to really know more about the characters and was interested in reading Marvel comics. I live right next to a comic book store, but since everything is closed I needed to find a different way to reading them. Marvel does offer a large amount of their comics digitally, and they all seem to be about $3.99 per issue. My favorite comic book characters – Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Widow. Check out their digital comics here! 

 

 

 

Number 1. Animal Crossing – Pocket Camp 

And the top thing we are doing with our extra time right now is……Animal Crossing – Pocket Camp. Before we invested $60 in Animal Crossing – New Horizons, I wanted to make sure it would be a game we would enjoy and keep playing. Fortunately, there is Animal Crossing – Pocket Camp, which a free version was available for the iOS. And I will say we are addicted. We love catching fish in the river and ocean, planting and harvesting flowers, and designing and rearranging our campsite. Pocket Camp is less interactive than New Horizons and it does come with limitations, but it definitely won’t stop you from checking in with Tommy Nook in the morning for the latest fortune cookie or nighttime fishing at Saltwater Shores. The coolest part is the setting changes depending on the time of day and year. So, in the winter your campsite will be full of snow or the trees will look golden brown in the fall. In the evening time you will have a colorful purple and pink skies and rivers, and at night all the stars come out and the lights at the camp site turn on. We definitely are Animal Crossing fans now. 

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4th of July – Virtual Race

Happy 4th of July. This is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. Sweet berry pies, kids waving the flag during parades, hot dog competitions (Congrats Joey Chestnut on win #12), pool parties and bright, crackling fireworks. But the most special part of 4th of July is honoring the military that allows Americans to live in freedom and celebrate holidays like this with so much patriotism. I am extremely proud to be an American!!!

There was no better way to show my love for this country than with a 10k virtual race. As I have said in other posts, the Virtual Run Events powered by Moon Joggers allows runner enthusiasts to do self-motivated races and earn medals, and 15% of all registrations goes towards a worthy charity.

The 4th of July medal I received was the most beautiful I have seen. My alarm beeped extremely early this morning but I jumped right out of bed to get dressed and head out for my run. I kind of got sluggish mid-run (stayed up way too late watching Stranger Things) but I pushed harder and faster when I thought about what our veterans have sacrificed for America’s freedom.

The charity that this medal helped support was the Homes For Our Troops, an organization that builds homes for severely injured veterans. What an amazing cause and a charity that is doing God’s work.

 

Running for Donuts

June 1 National Donut Day!! Woo Hoo!!

I knew where I would want to celebrate one of the most yummiest holidays around (move over Thanksgiving). One of my favorite donut shops, Sweet Dozen, located in Sacramento, offers some of the most colorful, fluffy, and creamy donuts.  They have bright purple donuts,  donuts with crunchy cereal on them, donuts with chocolate chips sprinkled all over, donuts with oozing jam. MMMMmmmm….

Knowing I would consume probably a dozen on my own, I signed up for a virtual race through Moon Joggers to help keep the extra calories at bay. I signed up for the Dash4Donuts race, and you could pick between running a 5k or a 10k. I chose the 10k, knowing I would need the extra miles. The best part is 15% of every entry was donated to Action for Healthy Kids, an organization to make families more aware about healthy choices in schools and at home.

As a runner who loves the bling, I love that I can go to Moon Joggers and find some crazy themed runs with coordinating medals. They have holiday races like 4th of July and Halloween. Holidays for National (Food) Days like the National Pineapple Day  that takes place this June 27. Races for flamingos, aliens, pets, Jesus!!  Each race benefits a different charity, too. Like Soles 4 Souls, whose mission is to creat sustainable jobs around the world. And organizations like Active Heroes who provide support to military heroes and their families.

Moon Joggers will send you a beautiful medal and race bib to commemorate your run. I was really impressed with the quality of the medal. Now that I know I can earn medals and help out a good cause, I will be doing more virtual races. Stay tuned for more amazing medals and see which charity we will be working to help next.