an 18,000 piece puzzle got me through eight months of the pandemic

I've always loved puzzles. While some might look at a 1,000 piece puzzle and think "Oh that would be something fun to do this week" I think "An hour before bed? Yeah, I can finish that."

December 2019

As a Christmas gift in 2019, my husband got me an 18,000 piece puzzle. He laughed as I opened it and was a little concerned it would make me go crazy or even be a hit to my self-confidence when I would ultimately fail. Not that he believed that I would, in fact, he thought he might lose his wife to the project.

At the time we were living in a 1,000 square foot, two-bedroom, 1940s cottage with our sweet pup Remington. When I opened the box I was absolutely stunned and excited all at the same time. To give you an idea, the 18,000 individual pieces came in a box that was 19.25 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 7 inches tall. According to Amazon, it weighed 8.8 ounces, though I don't believe we can trust that, I'm pretty sure it was like 20 pounds.

The outside of the box was beautiful--stunning. A paradise sunset puzzle showcased a beach filled with flowers and a small boat. To the left and right are palm trees that frame two amazon temples that have been abandoned long ago. Over the rolling waves is the moment the sun appears over the horizon and pulls itself over the water and into the sky. A few birds stretch their wings in the morning (or evening) clouds slashed with blues and pinks. It's absolutely stunning.

If you want to see a picture (or even to try this challenge for yourself) you can purchase it here. But what I really want you to understand from the description is that beautiful bright, almost white, sun in the middle of the puzzle. In the middle, remember that.

My fingers inched with the anticipation of beginning the challenge before me. I could not wait. My husband opened his gifts, but all I could think about was pulling open the box and letting my fingers run over the individual pieces. Finally, Caleb and I cleaned up our simple dinner and settled in for a movie.

"You can open it," Caleb laughed through the words. He could see how much I was itching to open the puzzle. In our tinny living room, I placed the box on my hope chest that served as a coffee table. I pulled the box open. It was the Apple product of puzzles. That smooth anticipation as the lid of the box lifted off the bottom to reveal four bags inside each labeled with A, B, C, and D.

As a tip - the easiest way to complete a puzzle is to find the thing/color that stands out the most and start with that and build around it. Lines are also a great place to start. Looking for the star color change will help you find the pieces more easily and help you finish the puzzle faster.

Knowing this and being the small and skilled puzzle maker that I am, all I could see was that shining sun in the middle. In the middle. The skilled puzzler I needed to begin there, so I opened a bag that I saw the most white in. Pouring about a fourth of it into one of my large baking bowls I began to dig, moving the unneeded pieces into the puzzle box lid. I pushed the bag around to see if there were more pieces of the sunrise I was missing and then opened up another bag and poured a bit of that bag into the mixing bowl. I repeated the process digging into each of the bags. When I ran out of the pieces in my mixing bowl I opened the next bag and performed the same process moving the pieces into the lid with the pieces from the bags before.

Now, dear reader, what you and, from the reviews found on Amazon it seems that the other 172 others who have completed this puzzle understood, is the necessity of the labels on each of the bags. A key piece of information that I probably should have caught onto, but in my haste and excitement to dig into the puzzle happened to overlook until I have opened and thoroughly mixed each and every one of the four bags. I overlooked this fact until three months after I have opened the box and the bags were completely mixed together.

So, while the other 172 people were completing four 4,500 piece puzzles. I was completing one 18,000 (completely mixed) piece puzzle.

January 2020 - March 2020

In January my husband and I had been married for four months. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but the introverted side of my little heart needed a moment alone. When you get married, you kind of see that person all the time. I felt terrible when I went to him and asked if maybe we could spend time alone for a second. He smiled.

Let me tell you, it was the best four and a half hours of my life.

At the end of February, I was leading a trip of college students through Israel. Having to leave my puzzle behind :(

Thanks to the global pandemic that struck the world, we had to leave Israel early bringing over 150 students home within 24 hours of deciding to cut the trip short, which was not a small endeavor (a great puzzle some might say). With the ever-present pull of jetlag, all I could do was head to the basement and work on my puzzle. By this point, I had mixed all my bags (go me) and was working on sorting out pieces as I worked on different sections at the same time.

April 2020-September 2020

I was using every different surface I could to work on the puzzle. Cookie sheets, canvas pictures, coffee tables, other puzzle boxes, anything. Literally anything.

Finally, the portion I had completed so much of the puzzle I needed to move from upstairs and my makeshift horizontal surfaces to a Ping-Pong table.

It was there I began to see progress taking shape.

Please excuse the mess of my house (thanks) during the great puzzle building of 2020 my husband and I were renovating our little cottage for resale and (obviously) there was a pandemic happening. In August I ended my employment as my company moved down to Texas, leaving me in Chicago. But it did give me extra time to work on the puzzle, oh and to renovate the house too.

As challenging as this puzzle was I did learn a few things.

1. Change takes time to see. I think we often forget this. Especially at the beginning of change. Just like going to the gym hoping to be 15 pounds lighter the next day, when we work to make changes in our life we have to give ourselves time and have grace. Be patient. Step back and see the picture take shape.
2. Self-care can be challenging your mind. I always thought self-care was face masks and bubble baths, but on the days when I felt overwhelmed, I would set up my laptop with a movie or press play on my audiobooks and build my puzzle. By the end of my time, I would feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Rest meant challenging myself to see something completed.
3. You truly do lose track of time when you're doing what you love. I could not tell you how many times my husband walked down the stairs and asked me if I knew what time it was. I'd respond "8?" He would just laugh and respond with something between 11:15 p.m. and midnight.
4. No, I'm not insane. If I were crazy (like I believe my husband thinks I am) then so are the 172 others who have worked on this puzzle.

Eight months, too many 11:45 p.m. nights, and I don't know how many hours I finished my puzzle, which, by the end was only 17,998 piece puzzle, but whether it was the dog sneaking an afternoon snack or the vacuum monster (who Remington, my pup, works diligently to save me from) we will never know.

October 2020

To answer some questions. Yes, it is still together. In fact, it's currently glued, and survived the move into our farmhouse. And yes, I would do it again. Maybe it will be my New Year's resolution to consider trying the 50,000 piece puzzle--just for fun!