Category: 2020

My Sermon Notes for Goal Setting

This week, I heard a wonderful sermon. If you’re like me, the best sermons are those that give you immediate action items, or contain a message that you can immediately apply to your life. If you’re also like me, the sermon doesn’t have to be overly-religious and doctrine-heavy for it to touch you right in your soul.

A quick little backstory. I attended a ceremony this weekend because my uncle was installed as the pastor of a small church on Saturday. It’s been a looooong road and it was only further complicated by restrictions related to COVID. But after a multi-year process, he was selected, relocated from overseas, and installed this weekend.

So as you can imagine, it was a really joyous occasion. There were quite a few speakers, and one pastor spoke a message that I had to actually whip out my notebook and jot down notes about. It was motivating and relevant in so many ways, particularly when it comes to me and my goals. So here’s my take-away from that sermon, and how I plan to relate each point to my goals this week.

1 | Do Not Look Back

When you look back, you have to take your eyes off of your target. Taking your eyes off your target keeps you from moving forward. The best way to continue progressing towards your goals is to use the knowledge gained from your past to propel you forward, but do not dwell on what is done. Keep focused on the target you’ve set, and maintain that forward progress.

2 | Look to the East

This one hit me particularly hard. I am past my quarter-life crisis, and haven’t quite hit my mid-life crisis, but there are times I feel like life is passing me by. While I know there is *hopefully* a lot of life to live, I also know I’m no spring chicken. It can sometimes feel like setting new goals is pointless. But this sermon reiterated that no matter how many sunsets have passed, new goals and adventures await. Instead of looking to the west at sunsets past, look to the east for new horizons. No matter what age or what station you are in in life, there is work to be done, goals to be set, missions to be accomplished. It’s very important not to lose sight of that.

3 | Stretch Forward

We all do this. We all question our decisions. We question how we got here. We question if we’re doing the right thing and we worry about what we did wrong. Like a runner about to cross the finish line, it doesn’t matter how you started the race; what’s important is how you finish. Fix your eyes on where you want to go, set your sights on your goal, and stretch towards the finish line. Don’t give up. Finish the race.

Whew! When I tell you this message hit me in my soul, IT HIT ME IN MY SOUL!!! I did not really expect anything more than a few church formalities this weekend. And quite honestly, the sermon was not even for me. It was a motivation speech directed towards my uncle from a pastor mentor of his. But I could not have been more motivated and more blessed by his encouraging words. I was ready to run home and start planning! Of course I couldn’t–I still had family duties. lol. But I definitely jotted down thoughts for later.

Do you take notes during sermons? Or do you absorb the word in real time. I struggle between being present mentally during sermons or making sure I don’t forget what was said so that I can review and reflect on it later. Somehow I always wind up reaching for my notebook to take notes. Maybe one day I’ll try to keep it all in my head. These tidbits were too good to risk forgetting.

justamarylandgirl

Maryland Girl’s Tips for Road Tripping During COVID-19

Summer time without question means traveling.  It’s the time of year that you take a break from your normal routine and hit adventure parks, Caribbean islands and local beaches.  And this year, after months of quarantining, it felt like a summer trip was so needed and so well-deserved. But is it ok?  Is it appropriate?  Is it safe? 

It’s hard to know the right answer.  It’s hard to know what to do.  For the sake of sanity, you have to get away from your day to day and have mental space, but with the laws, policies, and personal beliefs surrounding COVID-19, it’s hard to know exactly  how to get that summer break that our bodies and our lives are so accustomed to.

I honestly cannot tell anyone whether they should or shouldn’t attempt travelling.  It’s really dependent on a ton of factors, and a lot of individual considerations.  But I can tell you the approach I took and let you know what worked and what didn’t work for me.

Before COVID-19 was so much as a flicker of a nightmare in our wildest dreams, I planned a getaway for June of this year.  Around January, I saw a deal for Outer Banks, NC and it’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for a while, so I took advantage of the deal and booked a trip.  Of course, COVID hit around March and strict quarantine measures were put in place across the country.  As the virus was researched more and experiences were brought to light, we learned more and more about its transmission, symptoms and prevention.  I assumed my trip was off, but I decided to wait until the date got closer to figure out what to do.  

As June arrived, quarantines were being lifted around the country.  The hotel where I booked my stay was opened for business and it was up to me to decide what to do.  This is when independent research and personal preference kicked in.  

In addition to COVID-19, the nation was dealing with another virus, which was the aftermath of the George Floyd murder.  My mind was all over the place.  A pandemic and racism…I just didn’t know what to do or what was appropriate.  My emotions and fears were heightened for so many different reasons, and I teetered back and forth more than a kid on a see-saw.  Go.  Don’t go.  Go.  Don’t go.  UGH!

Ultimately, after prayer, research, and feedback from family and friends, I chose to go.  But I gave a lot of thought about how I felt the trip could be taken while being safe.  After returning from the trip, of course, I quarantined for 14 days, and I guess I can count my efforts as a success.  (Note:  I have since taken another road trip and used my same policies mentioned in this post with that trip as well.)  Here is what I did for my COVID-19 road trip.

ACCEPTANCE: I had to accept right at the onset that this trip was not going to be a normal trip.  I had to realize that this trip may literally just amount to a time to be away from the home I’ve been quarantined in for the last several months.  An opportunity to get some sunshine, be in a different environment, and dip my toe in the ocean.  Those were my only objectives for my trip, and everything else that I would have normally done on any other vacation likely had to be scrapped.  Before I even left, I had to have that thought ingrained in my mind, because otherwise I would have felt disappointed for what wasn’t, instead of appreciating the trip for what it was.  Bars, clubs, restaurants, live music, local attractions, shopping, etc….not happening, and just accept it.

DESTINATION: A vacation during COVID-19 is by nature just going to be different.  While you may normally plan international trips, or cool road trips to amazing destinations, that may not be an option this year.  For me, I decided to pick something that was far enough to be away, but close enough to not require multiple pit stops and multiple searches for open places to eat.  Nowdays, more places are open, but at the time of the trip, there were still many places still closed and figuring out their COVID-19 policies.  The further you get away from your home base, the harder it may be to navigate food stops and bathroom breaks while maintaining control of potential exposure.  Outer Banks was about a four-hour road trip from me, and I felt like that was just enough to limit how many times I may need to stop for food, gas, and restrooms.  Ultimately, I only needed a change of scenery, and there are a lot of options close to Maryland that don’t require a lengthy travel time.  For me, four hours is right at the max for a road trip during COVID-19.  

CLEAN & SANITIZE: I’m pretty rigid at home about wiping up my surfaces, sanitizing myself and items I bring into my home, and washing my hands constantly.  So that was no different when I traveled.  I carried my disinfecting wipes, lysol sanitizing spray, and counter sprays with me.  When I arrived at my room, I wiped down the tables, counters, tub, toilet, light switches, door knobs, remote, etc.  I sprayed disinfecting spray on the bed and the carpet.  And I deemed my room off limits at that point from any person outside of my travel party.  I asked the hotel not to provide room service during my stay.  And any time we left the room, we had to wash hands and sanitize clothing when we returned.  The room was considered our home base and our safe space, so we made it priority #1 to keep it sanitized and clean for the duration of our stay.

PACK MEALS & SNACKS: One of the biggest and most important items on my vacation list was where would we eat.  I knew sitting down in a restaurant was out of the question.  At the time of the trip, most places were still only doing curbside pick-ups if they were opened at all.  Now, more jurisdictions have entered into phases of reopening that permit some sort of inside and/or outside dining.  At the time, that wasn’t an option, so we had to think about food.  We decided to pack sandwiches, snacks, wine, alcohol, and water.  For the times we actually went to a restaurant, we called ahead and picked up our order.  We ate at the table in our room, on our patio, or on the beach.  Dining is typically such a big part of vacation, but we knew this time it would not be the case, and we prepared our minds ahead of time.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

  • Call ahead. If there is an amenity that makes or breaks your trip, call ahead, even prior to reserving your stay, to confirm that that amenity is still open/usable.  Websites may not be updated appropriately, or there may be some caviat that may be a deal-breaker for you.  For example, on my recent trip, all I wanted to do was find a place where I could sit by the pool all day.  A lot of hotel websites claimed that their pool was open, but when I called, I found out it actually wasn’t open.  Or the website didn’t mention that time slots had to be reserved, that they fill up quickly, and that they are only for an hour per day.  Those were deal breakers for me, and none of this was mentioned on the websites for hotels that I considered.  And out of the five hotels I called, four had additional limitations that were not mentioned on their website that ruled them out as an option for me.
  • Reviews matter.  Other people have traveled and their review of a location may give additional insight into racial climate, mask protocols, adherence in general to COVID-19 policies, and food availability.  All of those things mattered for me and I took other people’s experiences very seriously.
  • Avoid weekends.  I hate crowds, so this is something I try to do whenever I travel anyways.  But to the extent possible, right now is the time to avoid massive groups of people.  Try to find a time to travel that includes some or all week days.
  • Opt for less populated areas.  This is not the time to go to the hottest beach spot during its most popular week.  Save that for once we have all of this pandemic mess sorted out.  Try to find that town place off the beaten path, or the hotel with few rooms.  The name of the game is limiting potential exposure.  Less people means less chances to expose yourself to the virus.

I hope these tips help.  I do realize these are just my personal standards and preferences.  Yours may be different, and that’s ok.  I just encourage you to give some forethought to safety before you travel, and remember that while this may not be your most ideal trip, you can still have a great time.

Be safe and be kind.  And enjoy!  

Have you traveled during COVID-19?  How has your experience been?  I’d love to hear about it!

justamarylandgirl

$40 Nightstand Makeover in Four Steps

I recently moved a have been looking for just the right nightstands to go in my bedroom. I’ve seen a few that I liked, and I hemmed and hawed way too long, and now that we are in the middle of the COVID pandemic, store closures have brought my search to a semi-halt.

Of course I can still look around online, and I could do a delivery, but I like having options before making a furniture purchase. And quite honestly, I wasn’t in he mood to spend a lot of money. And I also like going into stores and getting good visuals of the things I’m interested in.

So when I stumbled across two nightstands for $30 on Facebook marketplace, I decided to go with an all-together less expensive, more creative option.

These tables weren’t exactly what I was looking for, but for the price, I could see the potential to turn my weekend quarantine hours into a project that would keep me busy while creating some furniture pieces that would suit my needs.

If my bedroom furniture was a different style, I would have used these well-kept pieces as-is. But I have more rustic contemporary feel going on in my bedroom and figure that these traditional furnishings may work better if they were repainted. I’ve seen a lot of furniture makeovers using matted blue, grey and black and thought that painting in one of those hues was more in my wheel house.

I perused around online and saw that I could do a pick-up order of some matte blue spraypaint from my local Walmart, so I went with that. All of the other materials that I used were things I had around my house leftover from various other projects, so the cost of this project wound up being $30 for the tables and about $7 for three cans of spray paint. Not bad!

Here are the materials I used:

  • Sanding block (I don’t know what the coarseness is because it was leftover from other projects)
  • Rust-Oleum Ultra Matte spraypaint in True Navy (3 cans)
  • Design Master 14 kt gold spraypaint (1 can leftover from other projects)
  • All purpose interior/exterior primer (leftover from other projects)
  • Paintbrush
  • Rags
  • Tarps

So here’s what I did:

1. Sanded the tables. After removing the hardware and the drawers, I used a sanding block and sanded the tables and drawer fronts. The tables had a glossy finish, and I knew I was going to need some texture for the paint to grab on to, so the sanding seemed like a good idea. After I sanded, I wiped them off with a wet rag to remove the dust, and let dry for a few minutes.

2. Primed the tables. I had some primer on hand from another project, and spread a layer on the tables. I didn’t use very much, so if you have some, use what you have. If not, maybe buy a small can or a bottle of spray primer. It may not even be needed if you are working with an unfinished, non-coated wood.

3. Sprayed the tables. I sprayed a thin coat of the navy spraypaint, let it dry about 20 minutes, then sprayed another coat. Once I sprayed the second coat, it needed 24-48 hours to fully fully completely dry.

4. Sprayed the hardware. These tables came with bronze hardware that was pretty well tarnished. If I didn’t have gold spraypaint on hand, I would have left them as is until I found replacement hardware. But…because I love having craft items laying around, I happened to have a can of gold spraypaint. So I gave these knobs a couple of quick coats and they came out perfectly.

I poked holes in the cardboard backing of an ink pen package (lol use what you have, right??) and I set the knobs in there for painting.

 

Once everything dried, I put the knobs into the drawers and that was that! I love how the project came out! And I love even more than I did it for under $40!

Have you done any cute makeovers that you want to share? Drop me a comment!

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justamarylandgirl

DIY Reusable Disinfecting Wipes

Lemme tell you, COVID caught me completely off guard. I have prided myself lately in trying to remove hoarding tendencies from my life. And one area where I’ve worked the hardest is on not stocking up on tons and tons and tons of household items. I would buy one pack of paper towels, one counter cleaner, one pack of paper towels, etc. Use those and re-up when the time was right. Space is limited and I typically don’t use most items very fast.

This no-hoarding lifestyle has totally failed me when it comes to COVID prep. Luckily I had recently re-upped on toilet paper and paper towels, apparently the biggest must-haves for the virus.

But when it comes to disinfecting wipes, I have what remains in one container I bought several months ago, and that’s pretty much it. I had started using non-toxic cleansers years ago because I had a cat, so I haven’t stocked up on virus killing products. This means I have little to no bleach, alcohol, peroxide, etc. This will all be rectified once we return to normal.

But in the mean time, I decided to try to stretch the items I have, and stop trying to fight people in the store for wipes and sanitizers. And with that said, I present to you my quick, easy reusable disinfecting wipes.

Materials:

1) 1 and a half cups of 91% rubbing alcohol

2) 3 tablespoons of Palmolive dish soap

3) 10-20 drops of essential oils

4) Cloths

5) Container

This step is optional. For my purposes, I figured it would be a better for my usage for me to cut them. Also, one of the last things I stocked up on when I moved a couple months ago just happened to be this HUGE bag of microfiber cloths from home Depot that were on clearance for $2.50. I’ve only used a few of them, so they were perfect for this project. Also, cheap wash cloths would work as well.

When you use them, you can toss them in the wash.  You can easily refresh the mixture when necessary.

The end! Easy peasy!  

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justamarylandgirl

Quick COVID Mask Tutorial

QUICK MASK TUTORIAL: Ok, so current #cdc guidance is that “something is better than nothing” when it comes to covering your face when you leave your home during quarantine.

I don’t have any masks and I knew I likely wasn’t going to find any at this point. So I did what a lot of crafty people have done, and fashioned a protective face covering out of materials around my home.

For this project, I used a pillow case and air filter and whipped it into a mask. I am not a seamstress, I am not even super crafty, but here is a quick tutorial of my steps.

My materials included:

1. One pillow case
2. One home air filter that filters out viruses and bacteria
3. Two hair ties
4. Needle, thread and scissors
Note: if you don’t have the air filter, you can definitely stop after step 5.

Also note:  None of this is exact.  I cut the pillow case into halves until I got down to a size that fit my face and this is what it measured out to.

You can stop here and have a perfectly fine mask that will meet the “something is better than nothing” standard. I saw someone suggest adding a filter that blocks viruses for added protection, and I was able to find one at my local Walmart. So I cut a piece of the filter and added it to my mask and sing the steps below.

I’m not a nurse, seamstress, or perfectionist, but I hope this adds an additional layer of protection for the instances when I do have to go out for essentials.

Please don’t mind the grays and the unkempt eyebrows…lol.  Things have slipped a little during the pandemic.

On a serious note, please stay safe y’all!!!  Do not go out unless you HAVE to.  Be mindful of your space when around others.  And be kind to your delivery people, healthcare workers, restauranteurs, and essential workers.  They are exposing themselves and their families daily to keep this country moving!

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justamarylandgirl