Never thought I’d say I lead a quarantine life or live through a real life clip of a movie like “Outbreak”, but here we are friends, living it up. I’ve learned much and my eyes have been opened over these past several weeks, and I’ve hit many epiphanies over these past couple of months, and have experienced highs and lows, much like many of you have.
I was getting ready to go on a much needed girls trip with my college besties, when my husband says to me “You had better prepare for a two week quarantine away from home on your way back”… to which I rolled my eyes and said, “ohmygoodness, that’s extreme”. While he was on the extreme end of the rumors looming ahead about the novel Coronavirus, I did end up shocked on the way home to find that many flights were cancelled and O’Hare was eerily quiet. I was so thankful when I stepped out of the airport and saw my husband waiting there for me to go home instead of the scary forced quarantine he had mentioned to me just a few days before. Key West closed all of their businesses a couple days after we returned home… yikes.
So I came home to my kids and husband who had stockpiled cans and cans of food, snack items, meat and breads. He said the grocery store shelves were empty and you may need to learn to get creative should you need extra toilet paper and cleaning supplies. I decided to quarantine myself to my family in the event I had picked up anything along my travels through the airport. So over the next couple of weeks I spent all of my time at home, never leaving the house, which is very out of the norm for this go getting momma.
As crazy as this time was, I also felt okay with the quarantine…maybe the island life had rubbed off on me and continued to my country life??? I was spending much needed time with my babes, learning ways to homeschool them and keep them busy, and cooking every night, what the what??! Those of you who know me know that I really just run from place to place, working, running more errands, picking up kids, taking kids to activities, working, running some more errands, working and working some more. I am the definition of a hot mess express, most of the time! Truly, God has spoken to me many times on late night work edit sessions through podcasts and authors such as Jefferson Bethke and his truth telling book “To Hell with the Hustle” which is a must read my friends, if you’re caught up in the crazy whirlwind of life and sometimes lose yourself and inadvertently prioritize busy over all else like I tend to do. So some one on one time with my kids and husband? Me fulfilling my wifely duties and making dinners and staying on top of the house for a change? Ok, yes please!
So much has changed over the past several weeks. My heart hurts for our community and the people in it that are struggling. Struggling with depression, loneliness, finances, and physical and emotional trauma… The world is experiencing heartache on a whole new level. I’ve seen sacrifice, bravery and thoughtfulness arise out of many beautiful souls to help those in need, even if to just bring a smile to someone who needs one that day, or a phone call to let someone know they’re loved and not forgotten.
School was called off for the rest of March and then non-essential businesses were forced to close to help stop the spread of the virus, including ours. From that point on our staff worked remotely, catching up on back orders and using this time to focus on areas that we typically wish we had more time to work on.
But then it continued into April, forcing us to cancel our Easter sessions and our entire spring season where we kick off the busy year with beautiful blooming trees and flowers. So, what do we do during all this downtime? I get to thinking now would be a good time to spruce up the studio and remodel things I have only had time to dream about doing, but not actually having time to ever sit down to plan and do. That is until now… It all started with an epoxied camera room floor for an all white newborn camera room, and has evolved into bringing back our old bathroom, a new sales room, an additional camera room and brand new flooring throughout the entire studio. Whew!
Now that it is mid summer and things are slowly returning back to a “new” normal, we continue to finish up our studio renovation, and are eagerly photographing our senior class of 2021 and many amazing families and babies. Much love to all of you and we are always here for you!! If you are in need of anything, even if it’s just extra prayers, we are here for you and would love to do that for you so just reach out and let us know how we can help you!
For your entertainment, we thought we would post a highlight reel of what’s been going on this Quarantine for us. We would love to see some of yours too so be sure to leave us some extra love!!
Our team during one of our in home zoom meetings. I missed my girls!!!
Bailey’s life during quarantine consisted of helping her niece register for high school this coming fall, as well as teaching her how to drive. She spent lots of time with her nephews as well, and captured some beautiful pictures of baby Jaxon with his big brother shortly after her was born during this crazy season. She helped her papa on the farm, planted a huge garden and built a swing set for her nephews as well. Whew, girl, you were busy!!!
Kelsie picked up some new hobbies and mastered her macrame, embroidery and cross stitch skills. This girl is super talented and is blessed with many gifts up her sleeve.
Eva has been planning a wedding for her daughter, homeschooling her 4th grader, cooking meals for her party of 9 every evening, and spending time creating videos for children’s ministry and virtual prayer groups to help Harmony stay connected to Jesus and His word during these crazy times of quarantine. As if this wasn’t enough, she decided to renovate her kitchen!! Seriously…she is superwoman.
Quarantine was a bit crazy around the LaFauce house. The first two weeks of quarantine were relatively calm in comparison to our regularly hectic schedule. We loved the extra time of snuggles, dinners together, and learning the ropes of home schooling. About a month into quarantine, it became obvious that this momma needed some extra hands on deck after trying to home school, keep the house in order, get studio work completed, and begin a total renovation project at the studio. Thank goodness for the love and support of our sweet Peyton who stepped in and helped home school and keep my kiddos entertained throughout these projects.
Spring is my FAVORITE season of all so to say I was super bummed that everything was cancelled and rescheduled was an understatement. But it also all worked out, because this spring may have been one of the strangest seasons we have had in years. Our winter stretched into almost half a year when Mother Nature decided to snow down on us mid April, which would have been our prime spring family season. So what was this photog-ing momma to do?? Well drag my kiddos out in it of course!! So we played the snow, dancing in front of the newly bloomed trees, as snow sprinkled down around us. We attempted spring pictures not once, not twice, but three times before we got a beautiful spring day, with blooming trees and bushes… and all the way into mid May no less! When we finally got the green light to photograph for our clients, I was thrilled to see there were still many beautiful blooms to be had all the way into June… a sign that I believe to be from God … his way of always bringing blessings and goodness to us, even when we are navigating through uncertainty. Trust in Him always.
