Fever Free!

We are finally fever free in the Banks household! That means we will be back to the real world by Monday. It’s been a long week at our house with everyone fighting the flu. I’m so glad we are all starting to feel better. I haven’t had coffee since Tuesday so I’m really looking forward to that tomorrow morning.

While we have been bound to the house due to the flu, I’ve heard the world is in a panic over COVID-19. The thing that makes me most nervous about this virus are all of the unknowns. I’m also concerned about my close family members that this could effect to the point of a hospital stay. We are just going to wash our hands as much as possible. The last thing any of us need is another week home sick. The flu was about all I can take this year.

It is day three of no social media. I have decided to log in on Sundays during lent. This way I can respond to messages and not completely shut myself out from the world. You can always still message me on messenger and I am checking LinkedIn.

Keep It Real
-iEllie-

Day 5

It’s been five days since the flu entered our household. Grant and I both have fallen ill and it is day 2 for us. Today is Logan’s birthday and he is still fighting it. His fever keeps trying to come back. I hate that he is sick on his birthday. Our fevers have stayed somewhat low except for the one time Logan’s spiked to 102.7. We are all sleeping a lot. If there are weird sentences or typos in this post, please disregard. I’m still running fever even as I type this.

It is also day 2 of Lent. This year I decided to give up social media for Lent (except for work purposes). That means I won’t be posting to social media during lent. If you want to keep up with what’s going on in my life, you will have to come here.

Why am I doing this? Well, I find myself just mindlessly scrolling. I have to break this terrible habit. I’ll pop on to my accounts throughout Lent to check certain things That are work related or for Logan’s school. I may make a special post or two but the goal is to stay off as much as possible. It’s a detox that I’m desperately overdo for.

Keep It Real

Ellie

Quarantined

No, it's not COVID-19. It's the dreaded FLU! Even with tons of hand-sanitizer, hand washing, and getting the flu shot, the flu has made a visit to our home.

Logan woke me up early Sunday morning complaining he was freezing cold. He seemed a little warm but no more than normal, so I thought. By 8 a.m. he was running a fever of 100.3. We spent the day in bed focused on getting as much rest as possible and taking some medicine. When Logan woke up this morning he had a fever of 102.7. The poor kid was really feeling bad. We got some medicine in him and went straight to the doctor. My heart sank when they told us it was the flu.

Logan and I have quarantined ourselves in the backroom at the house. I've watched Boss Baby, Paw Patrol Charged up and now I'm watching the most annoying nursery rhymes ever! As I'm typing this the guy on the TV is loudly singing "I see something PINK!" Okay, dude.

Having the flu on your birthday is no fun. We had some great festivities planned. I guess we will just have to wait. 

Called Out

I was called out recently for the lack of posts on my blog. It's been a struggle. Since I joined the workforce years and years ago now, I have less and less time for my personal writing and creative outlets. I've found it hard to save some of my creativity for myself the older and older I get. I just get burned out after doing the same types of things at work all day. I was challenged to make this a priority recently from someone close to me. So here I am, doing my best to make this part of my life a priority again.

Family

Logan Banks and his Mickey Mouse Birthday cake.

My son Logan turns six years old this week. I still can't believe he is now a little boy. Kindergarten has been quite an adventure this year. He has learned and grown so much and we have too. Logan can now read and his math skills are better than mine (though that isn't very hard). On the behavior side, we are all still learning. He struggles sometimes with following directions and understanding how to best play with others and express himself. It's all growing pains. Logan is an only child and an only grandchild which doesn't always make things easy.

We moved to a new neighborhood a couple years ago hoping to find some kids his age. We had a wonderful young family living across the street from us but they moved and we have not found any other young families nearby. We had a few houses go up for sale on our little street and to our disappointment, no one with young children moved in. Hopefully, we will find a young family nearby. I always had neighborhood friends wherever we lived when I was a kid. I just think it's important for Logan to have the same type of relationships.

For those being nosy and wondering, Grant and I are hoping to have another child. Hopefully, we will be blessed with another child. We shall see. It's not in our hands.

Faith

Rosary at Saint Joseph Catholic Church
Port Gibson, MS

We started going back to church as a family last year. This was something on my personal list that I really wanted to do. I'm pretty private about my faith. I just believe that every person has to find their own way to what makes them feel whole and at peace. Even with all the different religions and faiths out there, I think we can all agree on one rule "don't be a jerk". For me, I find myself most connected to the Catholic Church. I know, I know, there are definitely some issues, and I totally believe there are some major changes that need to be made. For a long time, I've struggled with my thoughts on the Catholic Church and how many things have been addressed and handled. I came to realize that I need to focus on my faith and relationship with God without allowing the sin of others to affect that. This is my personal faith journey, and no one else's.

Career

Ellie Banks speaking at Leadership Graduation
December 2019

Last year I started a new job. I left Mississippi Public Broadcasting after a lot of thought and soul searching. It was definitely the right decision. I'm now working with an incredible team. I've been given tons of opportunities for growth and some much-needed mentorship and training. I love digital media, but that isn't the only thing I love. It's only one aspect of what I enjoy doing. I love writing, strategy, public speaking, working with people and doing something that makes a difference. I'm getting to do both internal and external communications. I LOVE both. It's exactly where I need to be right now. I'm very grateful to my coworkers and the amazing leadership. This is really a place where people build each other up and not tear each other down.

Life

Grant, Logan and Ellie Banks at the Southern Miss 2019
Homecoming Game

Life has had a lot of ups and downs for our small family recently. We have had some wonderful trips recently. Follow me on Instagram iellietv or friend me on Facebook to see some of our recent adventures. You can also find me on Twitter but I don't post as often there lately (more on that later). We also had some big surprises with the new house. With one issue right after another in the span of a month, we survived. We had foundation issues, a pipe burst, and had new windows put in. We also had some projects done with replacing light fixtures and some cosmetic issues. The Windows and the light fixtures were the only things planned. We made it through though. You just never know what life is going to throw at you.

Fun

Ellie & Grant Banks at Disney World
in October 2010

In June, we are headed to Disney World! This will be Logan's first trip and our first trip in ten years! That's right, Grant and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in October. I just can't believe how fast the time has gone by. My in-laws will also be joining us for the trip and we can't wait to share this experience with them. Instead of going through a vacation planner, I asked to plan the whole trip. I LIVE FOR THIS!

I'm really excited about the planning process and I'm deep into it at this point. I'll share some of the tools I've used in some future posts. It's been a learning process because SO MUCH has changed since the last time we went to Disney World. Let me know in the comments if you have any specific questions.

Well, that's all I'm going to attempt to squeeze into this post. I'm going to do my best to continue to post to my blog and work on using my creativity for me.


Keep It Real.
-iEllie-