2020: What a year!

This year was like none other. And hopefully, we don’t have any repeats of it. While there were plenty of lows — like canceling our Banff trip, trying to figure out how to work full-time and keep a 3 year old entertained at home, and saying goodbye to our best boy — there were also highs. We both somehow got promoted this year — even though we both feared we’d be laid off. We did get to go on one big trip — to Grand Cayman — just days before the world shut down. We stayed healthy (other than L’s scary flu back in January and my think-it-was-COVID sickness in March). We got to explore the outdoors more and used our backyard LOTS with our new inflatable pool. We got in a few trips to the beach and mountains where we mostly stayed in our rentals and took all of our food with us. I did more face masks and eye patches than I’ve ever done in my life. It was a mixed bag of happy days and longing for normal life to resume.

I put together a quick “Year in Review” but it only captures a handful of items that had impressive numbers this year. When the hustle and bustle slowed down, I read more — almost double what I did last year. I used my Peloton more this year, and especially in the last 6 months of this year, than I did in the first year of owning it. I ran more — even though my races were canceled and I had no set goals. But I did achieve my fastest mile in 4 years, a few random 10ks and a new fitness level that I’d been missing in my life.

We watched our little boy grow a lot bigger. His already enormous vocabulary has expanded and he impresses us daily with the way he thinks and speaks. He loves letters and spelling words to see which ones have the same letters as his name. He loves soccer and basketball and playing tag. He’s gotten so artistic lately and recently drew our house and a bus for us that were pretty realistic. He loves nature… and also is very curious about natural disasters. Our nativity scene endured a lot of tornados this year because it looked like they were on flat farm land. He enjoys learning about the planets and stars and looking at them with his daddy. And he’s just the sweetest, best human being. We’re so proud of who he is growing up to be.

We found some fun new items this year that we’ll carry into 2021:

• My favorite budget friendly face masks
• Golf range finder
• Best running shoes
• L’s favorite book
• Landon’s beloved joggers
• L’s favorite new puzzle
• Our charcuterie board
• My favorite new face cleansing tool
• L’s new stuffie “dragster” (which is actually named Dexter but is a dragon so he combined the two)
• Our new toothbrushes (mine and his – we both tried Quip before buying these and were disappointed)
• Dry shampoo that got me through 2020
• L’s talking globe
• My favorite books of 2020 (here, here and here)
• Our new drinking glasses
• My favorite running tanks
• L’s new slippers
• Our vitamix blender
• Volcano experiment
• Rothy’s sneakers (I have the leopard and bright white)
• L’s watercolor paint pens
• My favorite body scrub

We’re hopeful in 2021 that we’ll be able to see some family again and maybe some friends, too. We miss that the most. We’re looking forward to meeting the newest member in our extended family, and celebrating a wedding of another. We’re continuing to hope that our families and friends stay healthy until the vaccine can reach everyone. And while we know there is no magic switch that flips when the calendar turns to 2021, we’re hoping for maybe just a teeny change that will start the upward climb from this strange year. Ending 2020 with a full heart and lots of hope. Wishing you a happy, healthy 2021. Thank you for following along this crazy year!