We made it fam!! 2020 is finally over and while I’m happy to close this chapter, I’m also cautious going into 2021. I’m sure you feel me, while there’s hope for better days ahead there are still so many changes and unknowns we are faced with. I wanted to write about my year but wasn’t even sure where to begin and what to even say. I found some good reflection questions and I’m going to answer them on here. Some of the questions will be pretty basic end of the year questions but I’ll also share things specifically related to 2020.

Let’s start back in 2019 really quick, I had high hopes for 2020 and I was so excited. A new decade and a new year to travel and make memories with my Fiance. We had plans to go to our favorite places like we did every year and even considered having our wedding in 2020 before the year went to sh*t (and before we realized we were way behind on planning). This year has been a wake up call for all of us. Life won’t always be the same and anything can happen regardless of our plans and dreams. In 2020 people were forced to adapt to homeschooling their kids, working from home, wearing face masks, social distancing, food shortages, loosing their jobs and isolation. We couldn’t attend weddings, funerals, parties or any other events. Your wedding might have been cancelled, my own wedding still has a chance of being cancelled. We couldn’t visit our grandparents or other at risk relatives or friends. We cried, worried and complained a lot.

This year has been craziness but I’m proud of you. If you held it together and made your kids breakfast every morning while you were falling apart, I’m proud of you. If you watched TV and wore pajamas all day, I’m proud of you. If you lost 50lbs or wrote a best selling book or started a side hustle, I’m proud of you. If you were an essential worker and busted your butt working long hours in a hospital, factory, grocery store or anywhere else, I’m proud of you. Let’s look back on this year together and give ourselves some grace and celebrate how far we’ve come.

Let’s get into some of these questions!

  • What did you do for work during Covid

I currently work as a receptionist full time at a Senior Center and also work at the local YMCA about once or twice a week. In March the senior center closed to the public and I was sent home while thankfully still being paid. I went back to work at the end of May and we were still closed to the public so my job was just answering the phone. I read books to pass time and took walks outside a lot. In October I was sent home again but this time to actually work from home. I am still currently working from home and even though it’s nice to not have to dress up and drive to work, especially in the winter, it has been a strange adjustment for me and it is easier to fall behind on work.

  • Favorite places you visited this year

In late February, one of my sisters and my sis in law came over to visit from WI and we took the train to Chinatown Chicago. We went to Joy Yee and got food, bubble tea and a bubble waffle and explored the shops. It was really cold but we had fun and that is the only time I’ve been to Chicago this year. We used to go fairly often during the summer every year with Christians cousins and I miss that.

In September, my sisters came over again to go wedding dress shopping with me and stayed for a few days. We drove 2 hours to Dubuque Iowa for me to try on dresses and then went out to eat at an Italian restaurant after. We had good food and drinks and sang karaoke on the car ride home, got ice cream pints at culvers and stayed up late watching a movie.

In July over the weekend of the 4th, Christian and I went to visit my older brother and sis in law in WI and spent the day at Lake Wazee out on a big inflatable boat with a few other siblings of mine. We drank, laughed a lot and got sunburnt, it was a good weekend.

  • Best thing you did for someone else this year

I have an Aunt that I used to live with who is a night shift OB nurse. During Covid, people dropped off meals to many essential workers but no one brought meals to the night shift nurses at my Aunts hospital. I brought her and the other nurses working night shift food and snacks after hearing about their shift being left out. It was so fun surprising them, they loved it!

  • Time you laughed the hardest

Anytime I talked to my sister Anna. We had several phone conversations when one or both of us was feeling down and talking to her always makes me feel good and makes me laugh the hardest. She has always been my rock and my favorite person.

  • Something you learned to do/Had never done before

I rode a longboard for the first time this year and also got my own for my birthday. I have a lot to learn but it’s so fun riding it around whenever I can.

I learned a lot about handling finances from reading books by Dave Ramsey and from following his IG account. I learned how to save money, make a budget and spend money more wisely.

  • Most newsworthy event

Honestly, I don’t have anything very exciting for this one. Just wedding updates I guess, buying my dress, booking a DJ, photographer and officiant and asking our bridal party to stand up with us. Also doing an engagement photo shoot.

  • Most memorable days

Christian and I babysat my 2 year old nephew over a hot weekend in August. It was good to get away from our town for a bit and do something different because I was going through a hard time emotionally. My nephew made me laugh a lot and with cooking, cleaning and taking care of him, I was worn out by the time we left!

On Valentines day, Christian and I had a picnic with snacks and wine and his cousin and her bf joined us. It was a fun little double date that we had never done before.

Christians parents got a pool and we spent time swimming with his little sisters on hot days. One night we had a bonfire, ate smore’s and watched the stars. We spent a lot of time with the girls and his parents this year.

We took Christians sisters trick or treating around their neighborhood and that’s something I love to do every year.

  • An achievement you are proud of

Starting my blog! And learning how to set up an email welcome sequence on Kajabi and create freebies and other things on Canva.

  • What or whom are you most thankful for this year

I’m thankful for my relationship with Christian, I really believe we have something special and will build a wonderful life together. I’m very thankful for our marriage counselor. I’m thankful for my sister Anna for keeping me laughing or crying with me. I’m thankful for my sister in law Charity for being another person to laugh with and talk with. I’m thankful for my employer for keeping a paycheck coming in even with work being shut down.

  • One word to describe the year

Challenging. This year has challenged me emotionally, spiritually and mentally. It has challenged my relationships, my plans for the future, my viewpoints on many things. But if we’re being challenged than there is opportunity for growth and I think I’ve grown a lot this year.

  • Is your faith in God stronger than it was at the start of this year

I love this question so I added it in here and I want to keep asking myself this every year. Yes, I do have stronger faith now at the end of this year. This year I went through months of depression where I felt so hopeless and fearful and I haven’t felt that way since I was 18-19 years old. I started prayer journaling this year and would write about my relationship, family, personal life and my fears and struggles. I felt better just putting my life in Gods hands and trying to trust God more. I watched church services online and that’s something I didn’t do before. My favorite church currently is one my older brother and sis in law go to in Stevens Point, WI called Refuge and watching their services has strengthened my faith as well.

  • What did you learn about yourself

I learned that I still need to heal and work through some painful times from my past.

I learned that I can be lazy especially when I have more free time to get things done. I struggle with consistency and often give up on things. I am doing better at the end of the year at accomplishing things and creating better habits but I have a lot to work on.

I learned that I needed to slow down and be more present. To set boundaries with people who drain my energy and to work on my own life and not focus on others lives so much. I learned that I need to be more open minded and loving.

I know 2020 looked different for a lot of us, some suffered much more than others, but we can all relate to so many feelings from this year. I didn’t want to get into politics or the injustice and disasters from the year in this post but maybe we can talk about that a different time. This post is just a little peek into my personal life in 2020.

Let me know some of your answers to these questions or some of your favorite end of the year questions.