Spring 2020 in Pictures

At the moment of writing this, I’m suffering from a mild burn from poorly applied sunscreen. It seems silly to write about the wonders of spring when it’s so hot out but here we are.

Spring was lockdown season. From my birthday weekend on, things shut down all around me. School ceased being a school. I went on a whirlwind journey of anxiousness about coming home. However, I’ve managed to make the most of it.

These are some pictures from this season.

As if I haven’t mentioned puzzles enough, I had to put one more picture on. I loved the amount of puzzle time I got during lockdown. I think I completed 8 puzzles? Maybe 9? Anyway, I did a lot of puzzling and drinking tea.

Recognize this outfit? It’s the one I posted about bawling my eyes out for the monthly favourites when I found out I could come home. That same night, I made pizza, and it was a day of ups and downs for sure.

A few times during lockdown, Matt and I played board games when we felt like doing something a little more engaging. For this face palm moment, I got a Yahtzee on my first throw.

At the end of April, I was started to feel the drain of lockdown. I was fed up and grumpy. Then, I got a call from Claire telling me to look out my window. There she was, waving at me from her bike. I cried. She was the first human I saw in the flesh outside of Matt.

You know, I’m really going to miss my walks by the river. I added a short stroll to my daily routine, and it was so worth it to see all the sunsets. Like I said, I’m going to miss that.

On my last day of work, I got to see a few members of my department. They got me some amazing presents and this gorgeous bouquet of flowers. That night was also my Zoom leaving do. It ended with me and my boss chatting about everything, and it’s such a nice memory to have.

The last Friday before I left was my friend leaving do over Zoom. Beforehand, Claire, Rosie and I met up for a socially distanced stroll and park sitting. We started to notice people coming back with beer. We went on a mission to find where it was coming from, and the Brewdog pub was doing takeaway beer. Not only is it my favourite beer, but Lizzo came on when we walked in. The afternoon couldn’t have been more perfect.

When I got back to Canada, I had to quarantine for two weeks. I had calls from the government, and there were a lot of rules to follow. One is that if I’m in the same room as someone else, we both have to wear masks. My mum made the whole family some, so my sister and I had a lot of masked movie nights.

Way back in August of 2017, I mentioned my favourite ice cream place called Haven’s Creamery. Well, I found out they deliver so I treated my family to our favourite ice cream cones. It was a great family moment.

I spent a lot of my quarantine in the pool. For all of lockdown in Leeds, I stayed inside.  I wanted to be outside so badly, but I didn’t want to take any risks of sitting outside. So, when I got home, I stayed outside as much as possible. I’m lucky that the weather was so perfect for the beginning of June!

When my quarantine was over, I got to hug my family after two weeks. We did a huge family hug and I cried (obviously). I love this picture so much because I think there’s so much obvious joy about being reunited with my sister.

Last weekend was Brianne’s birthday. I got to dress up and put makeup on for the first time in a long time. Even though my eyeliner was a little wonky, it felt so good to dress up again!

At the beginning of this week, my sister and I decided to go for a hike at The Pinery. It was a real day of freedom since the first day out of quarantine was spent getting ready for Brianne’s birthday, so this was a great way to spend it.

Finally, I found another reason to dress up this week for a backyard, poolside drinking session with a good friend group. I had to film a goodbye video for Y11 pupils, and I took advantage of the good lighting in the backyard.

Spring was . . . .unforgettable? I managed to pack a lot in despite not being able to go out. I’ve certainly learned a lot about myself through this time.

What are your memories from spring?