First day apart in 51 days!
Our lives are starting to return to a sense of normalcy as Tyler went back to work today. Being a nurse, he works 12 hour shifts (which usually results in him being gone at LEAST 14 hours) so I had a lot of time on my hands. Thus, I (Rachel) am hijacking his blog for the day!
The day started with our normal workday routine- I drug myself out of bed to cook scrambled eggs with a bonus of bacon and packed lunch while Tyler got ready for work.
I drug myself out of bed too..
On days where I work as well, Tyler is usually on dog duty, but in order to allow us both to get a tad more sleep, Remy was all mine for the day. He is extremely lazy in the morning and I was not convincing enough to get him to eat breakfast at 5:30 am, so we went back to sleep for an hour after Tyler went to work.
Chores have become a welcome re-addition to my life, so after caring for the dog, I took care of a never ending pile of dishes and laundry. Usually Sundays are church days, but in order to see my grandmother, I opted to listen to the sermon podcast instead.
Tiptoe through the Tulips
My amazing mom and grandmother came over to pick me up for the Dallas Arboretum’s “Dallas blooms” festival.
My grandma has a particular affinity for flowers- she’s like a kid in a candy store when looking at the variety of colors and shapes.
We had taken her to a tulip farm a few years ago, but she was even more excited today as there were tulips lining every sidewalk of the arboretum! I have inherited my mom’s inability to grow plants, to the extent that you could say I have a brown thumb rather than a green one. However, my grandma has quite the garden come springtime and is an avid fresh vegetable grower.
She kept asking if she could take some of the flowers home to her garden and we promised to check the local nursery for some tulip bulbs she can plant next year. Even I was inspired to try my hand at gardening, and I fully intend to go buy some large planters with my first “adult career” paycheck to grow some herbs (and hopefully flowers) on our balcony.
Unfortunately, that will be long past tulip season, but there’s always next year!
Our favorites were “double” tulips, which look more similar to the shape of a rose rather than a typical tulip.
The colors were gorgeous and I will definitely be attempting to grow some!
Lunchtime Quinceaneras
It was a little chilly for my grandmother- she ended up wrapping up in my mom’s scarf on top of her jacket, so we grabbed sandwiches and indoor seating at Restaurant Degolyer. Pictures of food are usually Tyler’s job, so I only remembered to snap a picture of my leftovers. The rosemary chips and club sandwich were awesome!
Being in Texas, we are surrounded by Hispanic culture and were so excited to see quite a few young ladies in gorgeous quinceanera dresses!
Quinceanera is a Hispanic tradition celebrating a girl’s 15th birthday and passage into womanhood, oftentimes accompanied by a large party and wearing beautiful ballgowns. Apparently the Dallas arboretum is a very popular spot for quinceanera pictures!
We finished up our trip to the arboretum with a final wander around the gardens and discovered this gem!
My mom was very excited to take a picture of the succulent piano (and rather scary floral pianist) for Tyler since he’s an avid musician.
Happy Half-A-Versary
It’s ironic that Tyler and I are apart today for the first time in 51 days, as today is our 6 month wedding anniversary (half- a- versary)! I was going to surprise him with a Parmesan crusted chicken recipe, but he read my mind and knew I was planning to make it before I even started!
We received a new meat tenderizer (thanks SO much Reddit community!) and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I had previously been beating chicken breasts to thinner pieces using a wooden spoon, and it was slowly killing my elbow.
It frustrates Tyler to no end that I am incapable of following a recipe (none of them have enough GARLIC!). Here is the AMAZING recipe I do my best to follow from The Cozy Cook.
It resulted in some very yummy chicken with a side of potatoes and broccoli.
We finally cracked open the ice wine we had been saving for when I earned my occupational therapy license.
I think surviving a quarantine, 6 months of marriage, AND receiving an OT license after 5.5 years of higher education is cause to celebrate with ice wine!
So what about Tyler’s day?
Tyler here! My first day back at work was one of the easiest shifts I have ever worked. Normally, we have a 5:1 patient ratio. Today, every nurse had a 4:1 patient ratio, which made it incredibly easygoing.
Walking in to work for the first time in 50 days!
I had many people come up to me and welcome me home – no stigma was noted on this end! However, I had two patients recognize me, but one in specific made me chuckle.
Someone asked what would happen if there was a positive covid-19 case on a plane, and how the exposed people would be tracked down. While explaining, they mentioned that I looked so familiar.
“Nope! Must be thinking of someone else!” I said.
Sure enough, they overheard that I’ve been gone for 50 days and asked where I went on vacation. After finding out that I was one of the quarantined individuals, I was met with nothing but support!
I think this marks being fully back into the swing of things – life is good.
Thank you all for supporting us! What’s next?
I’m unsure of when Tyler will let me do a blog takeover again, but thank you so much for reading!
We are enjoying returning back to life- as- normal, and are endlessly thankful for your support!
This will be the final integration back into life post. Tomorrow will continue our honeymoon, coronavirus prevention guide, and other travels.
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Girl, I feel you. Recipes never have the appropriate garlic measurements. I usually multiply by 3. 2 cloves if garlic for a dish that’s supposed to feed 4-6? No. Not enough.
Amen sister! The more garlic the better! 🙂 -R
Loved reading about your day, Rachel! Definitely saved that chicken recipe…it sounds amazing! Maybe you can takeover the blog with more favorite recipes sometime? 🙂
I like the blog takeover plan! I can post a list of my favorite recipes that I now just alter based on my laziness and refusal to go to the grocery store! Cauliflower fried rice (https://iowagirleats.com/cauliflower-fried-rice/) from Iowa Girl Eats is Tyler’s favorite and you can’t even tell it’s cauliflower! We add chicken to it. -R
Sounds like you had a fab day, beautiful pictures.
And it seems like your both enjoying and embracing normality.
Well done on your OT license Rachel, I’m in the UK and we have used an OT for my son who has Autism many of times and they have been a God send.
So glad your first shift went well Tyler and you didnt come across any problems.
Thank you to you both for sharing your unusual circumstances not that it hasn’t been stressful for you both but it has been insightful to hear first hand and to see how brilliantly you both have coped and adapted.
Will be looking in from time to time on your blog to see how your doing 🙂
Thanks so much for your support! I am so excited to start as an OT- I work with a lot of kiddos with autism! So glad OTs were able to help out your family and props to you for being an awesome autism momma! Thank you for checking in on us! Your support means the world! -R
I have been following and have noticed you have not posted in a couple of days. Hope all is still well.
How are y’all doing? It’s been a few days and things are really ramping up with the virus 🙁 stay safe!
Have followed your story since day two of the quarantine on the Princess. It was the most enjoyable reading on the internet!! Even my husband would say, “So, how’s the newlyweds, today?”
About the yummy Parmesan Crusted chicken recipe… If either of you didn’t sleep well that night, and wound up with a bad headache the next day, know you ingested a large dose of MSG. Parmesan crusted/topped anything (due to this cheese being aged,) Ranch dressing, and most all packaged bread crumbs have it.
Just an FYI, just in case. Carry on, keep up the fun communication, and stay healthy!
This is just an FYI. Hope you are not sensitive to it. We definatly are…
Happy 6 month anniversary! Glad you got to spend time with your family. I bet they were happy to have you back.