Reevaluating Life During Challenging Times
Over the last year many of us have had to reevaluate how we live our lives. Being isolated from others has been the biggest challenge for most of us.
Now that some of the restrictions are being lifted, it is time to reflect on the past year and to remember some of the positive effects.
Some things that we noticed is that we were able to spend more time with immediate family members. We cooked more and spent more time outdoors.
Nesting While Remaining Close To Home
I guess the best way to describe how our life changed is to say that we did a lot more “nesting”. Spending time at home made us more conscious of our surroundings. We spruced up our patio area to make another space to enjoy, did little things like setting the table for dinner every night, experimented with new recipes and just enjoyed spending time together.
We even took some time to make our “nest” special. Small things like picking up some fresh flowers from the market, and enjoying time on our front porch with a cold drink or glass of wine has become a favorite past time.

Long walks, biking, visiting a local park or just taking time to read an interesting book are things that we always longed to do when we were working full time. NOW, we were able to enjoy these things. We definitely had to adjust our “mind set” to embrace this time and take advantage of staying home.
Simple pleasures like enjoying the sunset become extra special during these times. Here is an example of a gorgeous sunset in Colleton River Club where we live.


We are fortunate that we are at an age when we are semi-retired and able to do these things without changing our lives very much. Unfortunately, others have been adversely affected and have had some struggles. We pray that we all can get back to something that resembles normalcy and perhaps we learned a few lessons along the way.
South Carolina Or Bust
Moving from Florida to South Carolina during the pandemic had its challenges. We met a lot of our neighbors, but are now seeing their faces for the first time without masks. How strange it is to meet people and not be able to see any facial expressions.
Exploring Your Area Can Be Lots Of Fun
One of our favorite things to do during this time is exploring our area. Since we only moved to South Carolina 6 months ago, there were a lot of areas that we had never visited. Our approach was to discover new places as if we were on vacation.
Even our town of Bluffton is a special place to visit. There are so many cute shops, cafes, a lovely park on the river and so much more to enjoy in this perfect Lowcountry town.

We took a carriage ride through the historic area in Beaufort. It is such a beautiful place filled with history and incredible homes. The downtown area is very quaint and offers great shopping and dining options. You can read about our trip here.
Also, a short drive from us is Habersham. A planned community full of homes with wrap around porches, parks and a charming main street. Here is our post featuring our visit to Habersham.
With Hilton Head Island only a few miles away also gave us the opportunity to spend some time at the beach. We would meet friends and either walk on the beach to get some fresh air and exercise, or just relax with a good book. How lucky are we to have so many great areas so close by?
Needless to say, having little to no interaction with anyone other than your close family members is odd to say the least.
Anyway, we are a resilient country and will hopefully heal from all of this and be able to move forward and get back to our regular lives.