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2020 Notes and Thoughts

I think it’s safe to say that 2020 was totally different than we all expected it to be. Different isn’t always bad. COVID brought a lot of changes to our everyday lives, but going with the flow and learning to make the best of it has made all the difference.

I don’t know what 2021 has in store, but I’m praying it’s awesome for each and every person reading this! Here are a few of my thoughts and stats from 2020. Feel free to share yours in the comments 🙂

Books Read 39

Best Fiction Read Lulu’s Cafe by T.I. Lowe.

Best Nonfiction Read Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra.

New Addition Niva.

Girl napping with husky

New thing Homeschooling Sadie.

Different thing No longer nursing.

Excitement Finding out my brother and sister are expecting baby #2 for their families!

Travel Ohiopyle and North Carolina.

Family photo at the beach in Outer Banks

Hard stuff COVID, rehoming Mavis, and Jimmy’s hospitalization.

Celebrations Valentine’s Day, Forth of July, Jimmy + my brother-in-law + niece’s birthdays, Sadie’s second birthday party, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Funny thing Accidentally baking a cupcake carrying case.

Looking forward to 2021, I’m excited to keep doing what I’m doing right now: sharing my life here, serving the Lord, and loving my little family zoo ❤

What are you looking forward to in 2021?

P.S. I’m currently working on a Q&A post, so if you have any questions, let me know and I’ll be sure to include them!

Five Years of Memories in One Book + Snow Day

It’s no secret I love memory keeping. From blogging for the past ten years to scrapbooking and taking a million pictures. I like to look back and remember things 🙂

Five years ago, I started a One Line A Day Journal and filled it out every. single. day. for five years! 

One Line A Day Journal

That little journal took me from 2015 to 2020 and is bursting at the seams with stickers, memories, hard moments, happy times, and everything in between. 

Any time Jimmy and I would wonder what we did on, say, Valentine’s Day for the past five years, I would just flip to the date and be able to read what we were up to. 

I thought it would be fun to go thorough and share some notes from the past five years. 

  • December 14th, 2015 – First entry! Jimmy and I celebrated 1.5 years of marriage and it was 60 degrees and rainy.
  • September 9th, 2016 – I worked (I was a household manager for a busy family) and then in the evening we adopted Malcolm! 
  • July 15th, 2017 – Pet sat a few dogs and cats, mowed the lawn, and fell asleep on the couch in the evening. Jimmy woke me up by using Malcolm’s laser to get him to jump on me, lol.
  • January 9th, 2018 – Found out we were expecting Sadie! Pet sat, took a nap, and bought decaf coffee at the store. 
  • June 2nd, 2019 – Went to church, took a family walk, and Sadie crawled! 
  • January 27th, 2020 – Worked, went on a Starbucks date with Sadie, and did a swab kit to join a bone marrow donor program. 

It was fun to flip through the journal and remember some everyday moments, special days, and more! I don’t plan on doing another One Line A Day Journal, but I did just start a 100 day gratitude journal 🙂

The potential snow storm I mentioned the other day did not disappoint! 

Girl pulling child in sled with husky

We got somewhere between 8-10 inches of snow over the course of the day and night and it was so much fun to pull Sadie in her sled on the streets. 

Jimmy built Sadie a snowman and… she was terrified of it, lol.

Child afraid of snowman

Niva has been in heaven with all of the snow. I’m pretty sure she’s spent more time outside than inside the past couple of days and every time I check on her I see her prancing around, rolling in the snow, and generally looking really happy. It’s adorable! 

Have you had any snow yet this season where you live?