Oh what a year it has been. It is so easy to dwell on all the bad that has happened but if you just stop and think for even a minute you can come up with a lot of good things that happened. When I was looking for a few pictures to put on this post I found that yes 2020 had a lot of bright spots. We did not get to do all the big things we had planned for the year but as we adapted our lives around the new world we are all living in and we found out that we could still find joy.
Remember way back in January when we thought nothing about being around family and friends! These first few pictures are of the last time I was together with all of my extended family.
I started my quest to walk and run 2020 miles in January. I was on the road no matter the weather.
Rick achieved a life long dream this year opening a storefront for his archery business
R-Strings and Cables It has been a great move for him.
Rick had a lot of archery fun with the family in January and February before the shutdown.
And then the world shut down. I won't lie it was hard to go to work at the school everyday and see all the empty classrooms and hallways. The place that had brought me so much joy was now a hard place to be. We were all scared of the unknown and I cried a lot in those 12 weeks. But even in the situation we managed to find things to make us laugh....
We played a lot of games this year. I also may have drank a lot more this year than in other years....
We had a zoom Easter
Rick and I bought new bikes this year and got to enjoy them a lot.
I was still out walking and running as the weather got nice
We put in a small garden. I have not had a garden in years and years. It was just the right size and we harvested lots of good veggies.
I will never forget the joy of Larina and Nash when they saw me walk into there house after not seeing them for three months. Needless to say I let them do what ever they wanted while I was there.
With the warm weather brought spring fishing and getting to see the grandkids again outside.
Christa and I decided that we should walk a marathon one day in May. It was an amazing day!
After I left Christa at her house when we finished the marathon I kept walking and ended up walking 31 miles on that day to complete my first ever Ultra marathon.
These are all the races I walked or ran in 12 weeks in the spring.
Rick did a lot of baking this year so along with drinking too much this year I did a lot of eating...
I finally got to see my mom and dad at the end of May.
In June we started to relax a little and we celebrated Eli's birthday
First time in a store since March....
In July we finally got to go camping
With all of our extra time we remodeled the bathroom and bedroom including finding a wood floor in the bathroom that I restored.
In August we went on one more camping trip with Jese, Christa and Oliver to celebrate Olivers birthday.
In Sept. we bought a boat! We has so much fun taking it out with the kids, grandkids and friends.
I made a lot of mask this year!
In September I finished my goal of walking and running 2020 miles in the year 2020!
We had an apple pie making day, making 32 pies. We also may have drank a little wine while making the pies...
Rick got a nice 6 point deer this year.
Back working in the school again, it may be a little different than last Fall but we are so excited to be able to see our students. I could not ask for better coworkers!
I ran the Mankato Half Marathon virtually in October
We got to see Larina and Nash for there birthdays even if we had to stay 6 feet apart and wear mask we were happy to see them.
Zoom Thanksgiving
Doing some hiking with Christa and Oliver
We had a Zoom Christmas but I did not take a picture so I thought you might enjoy a picture of my new favorite beer that I discovered this year...
Yes that is right Fuck You 2020! You threw everything you could at us and we fought back, you did not break us. We found out that slowing down was a good thing. We realized what really matters in our lives and we ran with it. So 2020 you may have tried to break us but we lived, loved and thrived....
Happy New Year
Sharon
