2020 - What a year.

 

As anyone reading this thing can tell, for the past three years, I basically only use it for my yearly New Year survey of myself. This year is certainly worth documenting. We started off the year with Australia burning, midway into March the Covid-19 virus became a global pandemic, which caused the stock market to crash. While the entire world was dealing with social isolation and debilitating disease, white Americans all of a sudden became woke, Millennials tried to take over TikTok (much to the disgust of GenZ), the west coast decided to have an End Times dress rehearsal, and then we had the worst political season before a presidential election EVER. And after.

So. Lotsa fun times this year. Luckily for me, we didn't do much as a family this year. We just entered the kiddos into extracurricular activities for the first time ever (which we then had to withdraw them from 2 months later) accepted a new job for Thomas, put our beautiful house in Barboursville on the market, Thomas got laid off, then our house sold within days of the layoff, put out dozens of job applications, got a job, found a new house to rent, MOVED, all while social distancing and continuing to homeschool. No biggie. 

1. What did you do in 20 that you had never done before?

Wear a mask to the grocery store. And everywhere else. 

2. Did you keep your New Years resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Did I make any last year? We had about a 3 month period between May and June where where we worked out almost every day and ate sort of healthy. Since moving to Richmond, I've made an effort to go outside every day I can with the kiddos, which has been awesome.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Not me *personally*, but Thomas's coworker did, and lots (I mean LOTS) of people I follow online have had babies/gotten pregnant this year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Nobody close to me.

5. What states/countries did you visit?

Florida in February and August, and Pennsylvania in June when I was about to have a nervous breakdown. 

6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you didn't have in 2020?

Last year I proposed that I make a mission statement for myself. haha. This upcoming year I just want to attempt to have a balance in life so I'm able to be a good mom and wife without driving myself insane. 

7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

The day Thomas told me he lost his dream job. That one was a real downer (especially considering what else happened on may 27th of this year), but the start of social quarantine and the week of the elections are also very memorable 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I managed to get our little family through social distancing, my husband starting a new job, losing said job, selling a house, helping with job applications, packing, donating/throwing away a LOT of stuff to downsize, moving, husband starting a 2nd new job, all while parenting two children and homeschooling. I also made a point to focus on my mental health, because I knew that if I didn't make it a priority, nobody else was going to. There's no one big achievement, but the fact that I never ran away from home after all that is a big enough achievement for me. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

I often feel like a failure when those around me are having a tough time. Thomas losing his job was really really tough, and the residual from that still lingers. Meggy especially has had a hard time with social distancing, and I feel like bad mom when I can't 'fix' things for her. But in the end I know we all, every single human around the world, had a rough year, and if I'd give grace to anyone else, why not give some to myself?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Our whole family got a bad cold at the beginning of January - and that was it! Probably because we haven't seen anyone in almost that long, but I see it as a personal best. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

It's really a toss-up between the containers I bought when we moved for storing all the things, or the now THREE matching sweat suits I own. I've worn sweatpants almost every day for 4 months straight.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Once we moved to Richmond, Thomas went kind of crazy on DoorDash. And I learned the thrill of one-day prime. 

13. What did you get really, really excited about?

Oof. 

14. What song will remind you of 2020?

All the tiktok music/dances that were trending this year. I fully expect Savage Love to come on when I'm in my 60s, and I'll embarrass my grandchildren by standing up and doing the stupid dance. 

15. What do you wish you'd done more of?

I wish I'd have exercised more, but in reality I'm not really mad I did. 

16. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Probablyyyy spent money. But again, not really mad about it. 

17. How did you spend Christmas?

This year was so fun! We went to the OBX and spent the week in Kitty Hawk. It was cold and windy, but we had a lovely time just spending time together and not worrying about too many things. 

18. 2020 Word of the year?

Crap.

19. What was your favourite TV program?

2020, year of the BEST ENTERTAINMENT EVER! I'm only slightly exaggerate. Here's just a smidge of what got us through this year, in no particular order:

Emily in Paris

The Mandelorian

The Office (watching along with The Office Ladies podcast)

Star Trek movies (old and new)

Cobra Kai (Thomas loved this one, I haven't watched it yet)

Outlander

Big Bang Theory

Bridgertonnnn

Lucifer (Thomas again)

Schitt's Creek

Julie and the Phantoms

Along with so many zoom cast readings of old shows like Chuck and The Nanny, Some Good Things on youtube, lots of TikTok creators, and other random pieces of entertainment. I can safely say that I watched some things this year that I probably wouldn't have at other points in my life, but this year I (and apparently lots of other people) needed distractions. 

20. What was the best book you read?

It should come to no surprise that this year I read the most books since probably high school. Over 100 - not sure how far over, because I didn't record some of the more embarrassing ones on Goodreads. I spent 2 weeks on the most sappy ya romance series, and I don't need people like my sister in law finding out about that, haha. 

My favorite books this year were definitely in the Fantasy genre. I learned more about fairy folklore than I probably ever needed to know. My two favorite series were The Crown Prince and A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I also read a trilogy steeped in Japanese folklore, as well as plenty of fluffy YA and chick lit. I attempted books like Rebecca and Brave New World. I got though Rebecca because of a new movie version (surprisingly I didn't get all the way through the movie) but I did not get through BNW, I thought it was boring. I googled the ending. 

21. What was your greatest musical discovery?

All the tiktok songs. Also Taylor Swift came out with TWO new albums at the end of the year, because we all needed them.

22. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

My birthday came one week after Thomas got laid off, and between that and the BLM marches that were happening, I told everyone I wasn't celebrating my birthday. And I didn't - no cake, no phone calls, and as few presents as possible. My grandmothers were the only ones I accepted presents from, and they went toward a new set of pots and pans, so I don't think that really counts as 'presents'. 

23. What one thing could have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Less political unrest. 

24. What kept you sane?

Instagram, tiktok, sunshine, and Disney+. And medication.

25. What political issue stirred you the most?

I don't even have the energy to answer this. 

26. What was the best movie you saw.

Prom! on Netflix was really good! This wasn't a stellar year for movies though, mostly because the big ones got pushed to next year. 

27. Who was the best new person you met?

Ha. This is almost funny. 

28. A valuable life lesson you learned in 2020?

How very very very important it is to have a good family life. I can't imagine what our lives would have looked like if we 4 didn't like each other, or weren't already good at tolerating each other. I kept telling Thomas that this season is just here for us to grow as a family. To have consistant movie nights, or game nights, to have Sundays really dedicated to our family learning about Jesus, and to just be together. It hasn't been easy, but I've ended up being very grateful for most of the things this year as brought us. 

29. Areas of growth/ areas of struggle?

Growth: Better advocate for myself. 

Struggle: When bad things happen to other people, it is not my fault. 

30. Pet Peeves?

"Freedom of speech means that we can say what we want to say, and disagree with someone else, and not go to jail for it. It does NOT mean that if I scream louder than you, I'm right."

I said that a lot this past year, and I will not be retiring the phrase anytime soon.