It’s been a year…

Who thought when we went into quarantine a year ago that we’d still be here? I stocked up on pasta and beans and frozen food and milk and as much hand sanitizer that I could find (it wasn’t much). I also laughably stocked up on (and continue to stock up on) olives and pepperoncinis. What can I say? My love of Greek food runs deep.

We had just returned from Grand Cayman when everything got real. We pulled L from school, worked on a schedule that in no way felt manageable but was necessary. And most of our days had a hike or two somewhere in them.

Our lives quickly went to only delivery or contactless pick up for groceries and necessities. We tried to do things he would normally do at school — like numbers and letters and art. We loved mess-free paint time.

In May, we planted our garden. I did a contact-less pick up order from the nursery and the whole family got involved in sprucing up our garden and then watching it grow.

We loved on Tucker and he loved so much that everyone was home with him ALL THE TIME. We had no idea that we only had 4 months left with him. We splashed around in our new inflatable backyard pool, played in the sand table and had lots of ice cream sundaes outside. It was a completely unusual time and I wanted to do everything I could to make it feel fun and normal for L.

We had a backyard 4th of July celebration with ice cream and sparklers. We did our first socially distanced getaway in July — we visited Valle Crucis and had a wonderful stay in the mountains.

We had so much fun on round 1 in the mountains, that we went back in August. We also booked a week at the beach for our anniversary. For all the trips, we took our own food or had takeout/delivery. We had to cancel our Canada trip that was planned for August.

In September, we went back to school. I had a lot of anxiety about the exposure but it has been so good for our boy and the school has been very safe. We’re all happier for this decision.

We did normal things like go pick out a pumpkin (and a Christmas tree later in the year). This day was fun — until we got home and Tucker couldn’t walk and then it became the worst day of the year (or ever?). We miss that big guy so much.

We had lots of hikes even in November. We went to Saxapahaw for hikes. We had a small Thanksgiving with just Nana & Granddad. We had one very excited little boy for Christmas (he made his list in July). We decorated early.

We made lots of cookies and muffins and banana bread throughout the year. Favorite ingredients were definitely sprinkles and dark chocolate chips. We had so much fun decorating cookies for Christmas with my mom.

A new year. We kicked it off at the beach which was good for all our souls. And halfway through the month we adopted a gremlin, I mean a puppy. The tiny human tells us every day just how nice it is to have a puppy and loves him so much. We also celebrated birthdays in January — low key for me, a drive by party for L.

February was cold and rainy. We probably watched too much TV but on the flip side, we’ve greatly enjoyed having movie nights on the weekends.

Our favorite was probably Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, though we’ve also loved Moana, Lilo & Stirch, The Bee Movie, Onward, Frozen and Toy Story.

Our boy learned to ride his scooter and his bike this year — and to enjoy riding them. We’re still hiking (he did FOUR miles this past weekend). Landon is still playing basketball and is looking forward to starting to play tennis again. I kept running and have almost hit 250 peloton rides.

It’s been a year of challenging ourselves to be flexible and patient, to be understanding and adaptable, forcing ourselves to stay up til midnight to get that grocery delivery spot and finding ways to get “me time.” A year of being creative to keep a toddler entertained and to hopefully not let him get behind his classmates in what he’s learning. A year of missing family and friends but of closeness to our own little family that we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. We survived, while so many others didn’t. We know how fortunate we are and that our privilege throughout this time is partially what kept us safe. We will get our first vaccine this week and there’s 100% chance I’ll cry. It feels so close to the end that I can feel the hugs already.