Our Story: The Bell Family

The days and weeks all blend when we’re social distancing, but here are a few things I remember happening!

Sunday we had a relief society lesson through Zoom. It was amazing! I think I said this a couple weeks ago, but I really didn’t realize how much I’ve missed attending relief society. I haven’t been consistently for three and a half years now since serving in primary and it’s uplifting to learn from and with the incredible sisters in my ward.

Monday morning I walked out the door to go for a jog and was surprised to see snow! I decided to embrace it and listened to Reese Oliviera’s medley of Into the Unkown and Let it Go. I could listen to her voice ALL day and it certainly made my cold run more exciting.

Monday was my dad’s birthday! In the morning I was singing happy birthday to a VIPKID student and I mentioned it was my dad’s birthday, so she sang happy birthday to him. These kids melt my heart.

We couldn’t have a regular party for my dad, but I made him a new dessert called Jam Bars. I left those and a present on their front porch. We visited in their yard for a little bit, keeping our distance.

That night my family had a Zoom talent show. Most of our nieces and nephews did a talent and we had Flynn do a few tricks. It was so fun to visit! My sisters and I were going to have a “sister day” this week and that won’t be happening so it was nice to visit online!

One evening this week celebrities did a Disney sing along on tv. We watched part of it and it was so fun! My favorite was Donny Osmond singing “I’ll make a man out of you” with his grandkids.

Flynn’s cuteness for the week: he has begun to carry things when we go on walks. This week he especially enjoyed carrying his rawhide. It’s so cute to see him walk with it in his mouth. He also was very excited when I repaired his Easter bunny. He loved it so much on Easter, but he ate one of it’s eyes. Unfortunately it wasn’t long before he ate off the tail and ripped open the other eye so poor Carrots will be retired early.

Mark has been working hard to finish his coursework. Statistics has been challenging but he’s doing a great job! He’s also been checking his cameras from the bird refuge each week. Friday night he did his last round of spotlighting until August. He was excited to see a fox this time!

Even though he got home late Friday night, Mark got up early with me Saturday morning and drove to Blackfoot. He built a weight-lifting bench for his brother. I think it turned out great! He also had some time to go shooting with his brothers and dad.

While Mark was gone Saturday I attended a virtual meeting about the gardening plots in our apartment complex. Mark and I decided it would be fun to have a garden this summer. Everything lined up perfectly (including a major decrease in the cost) so I could request a second plot. We will have one plot that’s empty and one that’s half full of strawberries from the gardeners last year. The plots are right next to each other, and also next to our friends’ plots!

Sunday General Conference was wonderful. We were especially excited to hear temples announced for Shanghai, China and Dubai, UAE. I know my students in Shanghai may not know there’s a temple in their city, but it still makes me happy to know it’s so close to my friends.

Mark continued research by looking at camera footage and spotlighting for predators in the dark. He’s gotten some fun pictures of raccoons, mink, skunks, pheasant, mice, and herons.

Flynn and I have been practicing a new trick where he weaves in and out of my legs. It’s pretty fun and Flynn is learning it quickly.

Mark’s excitement this week was getting a 1946 Willys Jeep. His friend asked if he wanted it for free, so of course he said yes. His dad and brother were nice enough to drive down and take it on the trailer to Blackfoot. Mark is very excited to fix it up.

Saturday morning the Easter bunny came with lots of candy, a toy for Flynn, and Full House for me and Mark. Flynn was so cute following his trail and loved his toy bunny (until he ate the eye and we took it away. I’ll have to stitch it up for him).

Mark spent all Saturday afternoon on a field trip. His class had permission to go because the class is field trip based and there’s only two students.

We continued to work from home this week. Mark did have to go to campus to record a lecture for the class he TA’s for. He did a fantastic job, and received many complements from his professor. Mark also got to go to the bird refuge Monday to set up cameras. He is hoping to see how many predators are in the area. He went back another night to spotlight predators. He and a classmate rode in the back of his professor’s truck while holding spot lights. They counted nine skunks and seven raccoons that night.

Work with WebAIM has been very busy for me, which I love! Many people want to take our online course to fill their work-from-home time. We also finalized a purchase of 200 seats with an organization in California so I’ll be busy enrolling their participants for the next while!

I did venture out of the house to get a prescription from Lee’s. Since I had to go anyway I bought us some produce and picked up groceries for my parents and a friend because they are a little more at risk if they become sick. When I dropped off the groceries I stayed on my parents porch. It’s hard to not visit family like we want to. Later in the week we tested out Walmart’s grocery pick up. It worked really well for us. Mark didn’t even have to get out of the car so it was a great option to get some necessities while avoiding people.

We’ve tried to find small things to look forward to each day. We made up funny names like Movie night Monday, Taco Tuesday, Wii Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday (we made smoothies), Fat Friday (we made cookies), and Salty Saturday (air fryer potato chips). This week we may have to come up with more activities that don’t involve food!!

My work is doing a six week walking challenge and I set 10,000 steps for my daily goal. This means Flynn gets at least three walks every day. I think he’s starting to get tired of walking with me!! I also invited some of my family members to track steps for the month of April. It’s more fun to do a challenge with people you know and can brag to. 😉

Saturday we really enjoyed General Conference. In October, President Nelson promises it would be memorable and unforgettable, but he had no idea how different this meeting would be. The choir was pre-recorded. Only the speakers were there in a small room, and their chairs were six feet apart. It is the 200th anniversary of the first vision and many talks focused on topics such as Joseph Smith, the priesthood, and our part in the continuing restoration. The evening session was for all members eleven and older. It was exciting to hear from two teenagers. We also learned there will be a new symbol for the church which includes an image of the Christus. President Nelson invited us to participate in a second fast for the COVID-19 pandemic. His testimony that Heavenly Father is aware of us, and will help us, was powerful. We’re so grateful for a living prophet!

Mark worked on some leatherwork and I pulled out a cross stitch while listening to conference. Flynn was so good and slept through almost the entire conference. When he was younger he couldn’t sit still that long and needed someone to play with. It’s crazy that he’s almost two! He’s getting more grown up, and it probably helps that he’s also tired from my 10,000 step goal!!

The virus has also affected missionary work. All missionaries serving in other countries (except Canada) had to come home. That includes Mark’s little brother, Steven. We’ve been able to talk to him on the phone which had been fun! Hopefully we’ll get a chance to go say hello in person before he’s resigned to a mission in the states.

Sunday morning I met with the ward council through Zoom. In the afternoon we had a Zoom singing time. It was fun after we figured out a few quirks.

On Monday everyone at my work began working from home. I felt better knowing I only started working from home two days before everyone else. We had all our work meetings on Zoom. I really enjoyed working from home. This week happened to be busy too, so there was always something to be doing. We’re currently offering the course free to all USU faculty and staff, and to all people with disabilities.

Mark began doing more work at home too. He only leaves to do preparation for his research or to help his professor. Mark has been testing cameras that he will set up next week to watch predators at the bird refuge. He feels funny buying bulk of everything for his research when others are panic buying because of the virus.

Mark made two leather holsters this week! They turned out really nice!

We are usually in our home, but I make sure to take Flynn on a few walks every day. We got a little snow this week.

Mark and I have been trying to think of fun things to do. We made oobleck to play with one night. Mark had never done it before so it was really fun!

Sunday we had our first home church meeting. It was simple, but spiritual. Mark and I each prepared a talk based on topics from the Come Follow Me manual. It’s amazing how we’ve been prepared to study at home for a couple years now. Our stake president, President Burns, approved all worthy priests and Melchizedek priesthood holders to bless the sacrament each Sunday for their family. We’re grateful especially after hearing some stakes will only allow the sacrament once a month.

I decided to apply to teach online courses for BYU-Idaho. I completed an online course this week as part of the application process. It wasn’t difficult, but I did feel nervous about representing myself well. I had to participate in a discussion board daily, grade an assignment, reply to a student’s email, and record a short video of myself teaching. It may be a couple weeks before I hear how I did, and if I do get the position it could be a year before I get to begin teaching. So, we will see what happens!

Mark still goes to campus every day to do his homework and research. He helped his professor record videos as courses have moved online.

On Thursday I began doing my campus job from home. I’m grateful I was able to get approval to work from home at this time. Flynn is also happy I’m home.

Mark went to Walmart at 6:00 one morning to pick up some groceries, only to find the store hours had been adjusted. It wouldn’t open until 7:00 but people were already lined up outside (in the rain). Mark waited in his car and then went in. He said almost everyone ran to buy toilet paper (we still aren’t sure why that’s what everyone is stocking up on). He was buying mostly produce and didn’t have any problem.

We did take a quick trip to IFA to buy extra food for Flynn. He enjoyed sniffing the rabbits and chicks

We often like to be home, but it is different now that we don’t have the same options to go out. We do still go on a lot of walks (as long as we’re keeping our social distancing going). But we’ve had to turn down hanging out with friends and trips to see family.

It’s frustrating to see people on social media who don’t think this pandemic is a big deal, but we have enjoyed some of the memes that keep us laughing during otherwise difficult times.

The “excitement” of this week was preparing to face the spread of the Coronavirus. I’ve been hearing about it for months from my friends in China, where it began. Now that it’s spreading more quickly in America people are either panicking or are totally oblivious to the severity of the disease. It’s very interesting to see.

We’re grateful for a good storage, and we were able to add a little more last week when case lot sales were on. This week I bought some extra bread, vegetables, and milk. I happened to run out of bathroom cleaner which was bad timing because everyone has wiped out the cleaners and toilet paper in all the stores! Gratefully my mom found some cleaner for us!

On Thursday the president of USU cancelled classes Friday through Tuesday. Beginning Wednesday, classes will be online. Mark will do his classes online, but will continue to go to campus for now to do his research. His professor also got permission to do field trips with his class of two students.

For now, I’m going to campus to work for Webaim, but it’s possible that at some point I’ll begin to work from home. Mark and I are grateful we have jobs that allow us to work at home when needed. Flynn is happy we’re home more often.

This week we celebrated my 1000th day with VIPKID, and our 40th Monthiversary (40 months married). I love finding little things to celebrate to break up our otherwise monotonous life!

Church meetings are all cancelled. I decided to put together a few additional resources to send to families who have children in primary (videos, stories, and activities). I was very sad our primary teacher activity had to be cancelled. Hopefully it will work out after things settle down. Until then we’re looking forward to having church in our own home and are especially excited for General conference.

It was Mark’s spring break, but he still went into his office every day!! He worked so hard and was able to get his proposal approved! He’s sent his proposal to his committee members and will meet with them next week to discuss it.

To make Mark’s week a little special I decided to give him a surprise every day. My sister had the cute idea to spell the word “spring.”

On Monday we did S for smoothies. We were excited to try a new juice bar in town (nekter) and it was delicious!

P was for play, and Mark got the game Spot It. I’ve actually been playing it with my students and most of them have loved it! A few of them can beat me too! R was for relax- bath bombs.

I was for indulgent trail mix, which we took with us on an afternoon trip to the bear river bird refuge. We got lunch at firehouse pizzeria before driving to Brigham city. It was delicious! We had so much fun at the bird refuge. Mark has learned to name different birds and we enjoyed time together.

N was for Neapolitan ice cream which we are with brownies while watching Monk. G was for “go ahead and sleep in.” I had intended to make Mark breakfast in bed but I went back to bed after teaching and woke up to him making breakfast!

Saturday afternoon we went to the temple to do sealings. We then met our ward for dinner in the cafeteria, which is a fun annual ward activity!

Mark is still working hard at school. He’s completing another draft of his proposal and preparing for upcoming presentations. I’m still juggling my jobs and calling. This week my supervisor at WebAIM said he looks at all I accomplish each week and thinks I must spend twenty hours every week, not only ten. Flynn is still as cute as ever! Some of our highlights from the week:

Frozen 2 released on DVD and I bought it as a surprise for Mark (and because I couldn’t wait five months for it to be on Disney +). We watched it that night. To make our date more interactive we made brownies together before the movie. When I say together, I mean Mark wore a blindfold and I told him what to do! It was really fun and I was very impressed by Mark. I think he only spilled once and the brownies were delicious. We ate them as we watched and sang along to Frozen 2.

Our nephew received his mission call this week! This makes us feel a little old, but mostly excited for him. When I was on my mission he would write to tell me what he had been reading in Preach My Gospel. He’s going to be a fantastic missionary.

We also were able to see another nephew be baptized. Saturday we left Flynn with my parents and headed to Blackfoot for the day. We played Codenames and watched Frozen 2 (yes, again) with Mark’s brother and his family. The baptism was in the evening, but had to be pushed back a little later than planned due to some unexpected circumstances. Mark was able to help give our nephew a blessing to help calm his nerves and that was a special experience. We also really enjoyed seeing his baptism, and I was very excited I was asked to play piano. I don’t get to play much anymore and I’m getting out of practice. We headed home late that night and were grateful there was no snow or deer on the roads.

Funny moment from the week- I asked Mark to look over the budget I created for March. He handed my phone back to me and said something was wrong, we were $3,000 over budget. I was so confused! Then scrolled to the bottom of our budget app to find Mark is planning a fun adventure I didn’t know about. $4,000 for gambling 😂😉 One of my favorite things about Mark is how often he makes me laugh!

We chose to stay home on president’s day and to use it to catch up on a few things. We bought Mark some new church pants and I did some work from home. Mark went to campus and met with his professor.

I’ve still been busy teaching VIPKID for an additional hour most evenings. Also, my supervisor at WebAIM asked me to take a course similar to ours. I get paid to do the course at home (in addition to my regular hours) for four weeks. It’s nice to have the money, and I’m enjoying the course, but I feel even more busy with the extra work from VIPKID and WebAIM.

Mark spent almost every spare minute writing his proposal for his dissertation. He also submitted his dissertation committee! He got to invite five professors to be on his committee. They will help him know if he’s taking all the necessary classes and will eventually be the ones who say if he successfully earned his degree. He is also beginning to look for a technician to help him with his research this summer.

Our highlight of the week was Valentine’s Day! We spent a few days celebrating and enjoyed every minute of being together.

Thursday I met Mark on campus after my work and between his classes. We went to the Sky Room for lunch. The Sky Room is a fancy restaurant on campus. We got the soup and salad bar. The food was delicious and the view of the mountains was beautiful.

Friday morning we exchanged presents. I gave Mark a calendar with pictures of us and Mark gave me the first three Rangers Apprentice books and chocolates. We gave Flynn treats and toy sloths. He loves them and will even carry them in his mouth when we go on walks.

Throughout the day I text Mark cheesy Valentine cards made by the DNR. The bobcat was his favorite.

We bought tickets to a date night event with Hank Smith and John Bytheway. We laughed so hard we cried and we gained some good tips for our relationship. We were reminded to recognize our differences as men and women and were given advice on how to support each other. One idea I loved was making the 5 minutes before we part in the morning and the 5 minutes when we reunite in the evening extra special.

After the event we came home to eat an Oreo Cheesecake I baked. It was delicious! We stayed up late watching Monk and the next morning I didn’t have any lessons. I found myself wide awake at 7:00am, but that is much better than my regular 3:40am.

We enjoyed more time together on Saturday going on walks, doing a little shopping, and eating more cheesecake! I read an entire book! Granted, it was a middle school level read, but that’s a big deal for me because I’ve been trying to rekindle my love for reading. All the reading I did for college made me too tired to read for fun. I used to spend so much free time reading when I was growing up and I hope I can find some more good books so I’ll love reading that much again! Mark knew this was important to me and was so sweet to give me fun, quick-read books for my valentines gift.