Easter in Quarantine

Life has been VERY interesting since my last blog post. I was supposed to be moving to Pittsburgh and starting my new job a few weeks ago. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed everyone into a forced quarantine. I was still able to sign the lease to my apartment in Pittsburgh and went to my first day orientation at my new job out there. However, Dick's Sporting Goods corporate had already forced their employees to work from home at that point. Therefore, I decided to come back home to Johnstown to work from home instead of being in my apartment out there alone--more time with Jon and my cats! I'm still working/training from home, which hasn't been very easy...but I'm slowly learning and loving this new career so far! I can't wait to actually start in person and meet everyone face-to-face instead of over a video call. We're all looking forward to that!

Unfortunately since we're still in quarantine until at least April 30th, this means Easter won't be spent with our families this year. It's definitely sad and I miss everyone so much, but I also want this to pass and that means staying home and healthy and not spreading this virus around! This Easter will be one Jon and I won't ever forget...as I'm sure most people won't! We're obviously staying home, BUT I tried my best to make it feel like the Easter we've always celebrated together with our families. Our dinner wasn't anything fancy, but I made ham steaks, pierogies and green beans. Jon LOVES bread and he always looks forward to whatever kind of bread is served at holiday gatherings since we don't eat a whole lot of bread at home. I decided to make some homemade rosemary bread in our bread machine since it went over very well at our Halloween party. Usually I'm the one who brings desserts at the family holiday gatherings, so it only felt right to still make something I planned on making if we were actually spending Easter with our families. I was planning on making a carrot cake like last year and then making a cheesecake since everyone LOVES cheesecake and devours it in minutes! However, since it's just Jon and I this year, I didn't want to make two desserts...so I combined the two! I made a carrot cake cheesecake and it was SO GOOD! I got the recipe here. I'd like to thank my mother-in-law for dropping off the springform pan (along with other sizes). I didn't have one and have been wanting one for a while and this was a great Easter gift from her!

I also still wanted to wear the outfit I had planned on wearing today. It felt good to wear something other than leggings for the first time in a while--LOL! Today is a warmer day (about 65 degrees), which we don't always get on Easter in Western PA, so we sat on our back patio, had some drinks and listened to some music for a while! Easter was going to feel very strange this year even without the forced quarantine since my sister-in-law moved to North Carolina and is expecting a baby in July. Also, my twin brother-in-laws are currently in the Air Force and weren't going to make it home either. Although I miss everyone else who still would've been coming to the family gatherings for both of our families, it almost makes it A LITTLE easier knowing not everyone could've made it this year regardless. I'm hoping we can all reunite sometime in the near future! I miss everyone so much, but we're all in this together! We all need to stay safe and healthy so we can make more memories together soon. I hope everyone enjoys their super weird quarantine Easter...but it definitely will be one we all never forget!