2020 Year In Review

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are doing well. It’s been hard to get back into the swing of things since Christmas break!

Our community lost a High School student in a tragic car accident this weekend, so it’s been a solemn week so far dealing with that. The boy that passed had a younger brother who is in the grade I teach, and my heart just hurts for this family.

Definitely a reminder of how fleeting this life is and to enjoy every minute you are given!

Today, I am finally sharing our year in review with y’all. I always love putting this post together and recapping our year.

January

• Emily played a lot of travel basketball

• Elizabeth played a lot of travel volleyball

• Both girls went to our church’s DNOW weekend and loved every minute of it

• I was the proud new owner of a mini van, after totaling my SUV back in December.

February

• Chris was able to pick up his brand new boat he ordered and was like a little kid with his excitement level!

• Both girls attended their MS Winter Dance (Emily’s first) and looked gorgeous as ever!

• Chris and I went away for the weekend for Valentine’s Day while my mom stayed here with the girls

• Elizabeth made the Middle School volleyball team

• Emily started her volleyball season with the County League

March

• The girls were both able to play 2 volleyball games before our world shut down on March 17 due to COVID

• We were able to enjoy many adventures together while being on lock down and enjoyed the fresh air

April

• Still stuck at home, but made the most of it with a lot of river trips

• Celebrated Easter together at home

• Did a lot of organizing and decorating at the house, including this cute Scrabble wall with our names

May

• Celebrated Mother’s Day with a small get together at my Aunt’s House- this was the first time I had really seen my family since March

• Bought a couch for outside our master bedroom door and we all spent tons of time outside on it together

• Opened the pool and had lots of pool days

• Celebrated Emily Grace turning 12

• Bought a golf cart for the girls and it was the best purchase ever for the summer and being stuck at home so much

June

• Remembered my dad on the anniversary of his death by getting together with family and visiting his grave

• Celebrated Chris turning 37!

• Chris and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary with a day date to my favorite adventure place, Alley Spring

• June 14 marked 1 year of losing Chris’s mom to colon cancer

• Things started opening back up, so we made a quick trip down to FL since our cruise was canceled

July

• Celebrated 4th of July

• Enjoyed lots of river days with family and friends

• Chris caught a giant smallmouth bass and it’s all he talked about for days and days HA

August

• Stayed in a cabin on Current River for a few days

• Had our Annual Back to School Bash

• First day of school; so thankful we were able to go face to face!

• I turned 36! I share a birthday with my mom and she turned 57

September

• Both girls made the MS Cheer team and cheered at football games

• We had family pictures done that were long overdue

• We had our first annual girls only weekend with my side of the family and stayed in a cabin on Current River

October

• Made our own fire pit in our backyard and had lots of bonfires

• Went to lots of haunted houses

• The girls brought a stray dog home on the golf cart and he became a permanent member of our family~ Ripley Reed Bolin

• Celebrated Halloween

November

• I took and passed my Principal’s test and am now officially certified to be a principal!

• I was positive for COVID on November 9 and my whole family was quarantined for 2 weeks. I am so thankful I only had mild symptoms and felt fine the whole time I had it!
• Was out of quarantine just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with family

• The girls ended their MS cheer season

December

• Celebrated Lizzie turning 14!

• Survived our first semester of the school year and was so thankful we were always able to stay in person during the COVID pandemic

• Both girls had their first travel volleyball tournament

• Celebrated Liz’s 3rd Diaversary with a nice dinner out with friends

• Celebrated Christmas

• Went on a quick trip to Branson with my sister and nephews

• Rang in the New Year with friends

Lots of memories flooded back to me as I was making this post. It was a strange, weird year but it also had so many opportunities for quality family time!

So thankful for my family and can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2021!