Wednesday, December 30, 2020

2020 Year In Review

2020.  That alone can invoke lots of thoughts and feelings in all of us... many of those not so wonderful.  It's been a year unlike any other we've experienced.  2020, the year of COVID-19 and quarantine.  2020, the year we stayed at home.  2020, the year the world stood still.  2020, the year Earth was closed.  2020, the year we fought over toilet paper.  2020, a complete dumpster fire of a year for most of us.

For Eliot and me, 2020 wasn't much different than a normal year overall.  Eliot still had to work, and since I work from home, not much in our day-to-day lives changed.  But at the same time, everything changed.  We wore face masks.  We washed our hands... a lot.  We practiced social distancing.  We learned how to Zoom.  We cried.  We were scared.  We watched too much news.  We were uncertain.  But we made it through. 

Now that we're at the end of 2020, we have a lot of hope for the new year and for new beginnings.  Things won't change overnight once the calendar flips to 2021, but things look hopeful.  Vaccinations are starting to be distributed, and we're hoping that an end of this coronavirus nightmare is on the horizon.

Still, I like to practice gratitude.  If there's one thing that I'm thankful for this year, it's that it put a lot of things in perspective for everyone.  For me, it clarified a few things and allowed me to put things where they needed to be.  And for that, I'm very grateful.

While we didn't do too much this year compared to last year, there were still some highlights that I'm also very grateful for.  Here's an overview of Eliot's and my 2020.

2020 Year In Review:

January- Eliot and I started the New Year in Reno, Nevada with his family while on a ski trip.  We returned home for a few days before we headed down to Florida for our Walt Disney World trip with my cousin Kaitlin and her family.  We enjoyed Sea World and a few days at Disney.  I got really sick at the end of our trip... so much so that I ended up in the emergency room on our last day in Florida.  After a few extra days at our hotel, we returned home where I continued to recover over the next few weeks.



February- After spending weeks sleeping and relaxing on the couch while recovering, Eliot and I went to our first Maine Mariners hockey game.  That was the fish time I felt like myself since we returned from our WDW trip.  We spent a relaxing Valentine's Day at home eating frozen pizza for dinner.  We went to a few UNE hockey games with Elissa.  I worked on some new mouse ear designs.  We went to get the new Cinderella key.  Eliot and I went to Boston to see the Dallas Stars play the Bruins.  Then, we turned around less than 48 hours after the hockey game and drove down to Burlington to go to the Disney Store for the Leap Year Day Tigger key.

March- In early March, we all started to become more aware of the coronavirus.  Both of Eliot's parents in California were suddenly working from home, but we carried on as usual.  I went home to help my family while my mother had another surgery.  Eliot and I launched our hair clips for Happily Ever Hatter.  Eliot and I went to another Maine Mariners hockey game.  Suddenly, you couldn't find toilet paper on the store shelves.  I had my first (and what would be my only) spring sewing class.  The COVID-19 memes started.  We had reminders on how to properly wash our hands correctly.  We went to the Burlington Mall one last time to get the Frozen 2 dolls.  I went home another time to help my parents and when I returned back home, I prepared to stay home in my own unofficial quarantine.  Before the knew it, everything was shut down and things got real very fast.  We all actually thought we'd only be in lockdown for 2-3 weeks.  I spent too much time watching the news and despair set in.  In order to find some humor, I started my Quarantine Memes blog segment.  Maine officially entered quarantine.  By the end of March, I was trying to keep my spirits up so I celebrated Quarantine-O-Ween.

April- Soon 2-3 weeks turned into 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 weeks... and it was clear that things were not changing anytime soon.  Eliot and I adjusted to our "new normal" which was him still going to work every day as usual and me never leaving the house.  Like many, I struggled to find the positive, but I always kept trying.  Eliot and watched Onward on Disney+.  We celebrated Nana's birthday from afar.  We kept rolling with the punches as they came.  We celebrated Easter.  I spend hours working on my Things to Do While Under Quarantine blog series.  We celebrated Mom's birthday from afar.  Eliot and I celebrated Very Merry Quarantime.  In 30 days of April, I wrote 23 blog posts in an attempt to keep myself busy and my mind off of things.


May- Spring slowly started to arrive and Eliot and I launched our desk accessories over on Snowblade Creations. I celebrated my 7 year Blogiversary, Cinco de Mayo, my friend Katie's birthday.  I did everything I could to keep myself busy.  We finally did something that felt somewhat normal when we met up with Mom, Dad, Jeremy and Nana in a parking lot to celebrate Mother's Day.  I celebrated the Princess of Corona as well as my half birthday.  I found happiness in handmade good from small shops.


June- By June, tensions were rising.  Everyone was tired of quarantine and feeling like they were trapped.... which in turn shed new light to the fact that for years, many people of color have been trapped and that inequalities and racial injustices are everywhere in our society.  I took a moment to pause and learn.  I celebrated Dad's birthday from afar.  We tried to celebrate Eliot's birthday the best we could.  I spent more time at my parents' house helping out.


July- In July, I was pretty bummed that we couldn't go home for 4th of July so I went for a walk down memory lane.  Eliot and I had our own very scaled back 4th of July celebrations.  I watched Hamilton for the first time and loved it.  Eliot and I made a trip to IKEA.  Walt Disney World opened back up.  I shared my affinity for headbands.  Eliot and I spent some time with his sisters Sara and Elissa before Elissa moved back to California.  We celebrated Christmas in July.  


August- Eliot and I escaped reality in the form of swimming in a friend's pool.  My Mom had her final and most complicated surgery mid-August and I went home a few times to help Dad out.  Thankfully, Mom's surgery went well and she was home a few days later.  Orders for Happily Ever Hatter started to pick up.  We went swimming some more.  We watched Hallmark movies.  We had a block party with the four houses in our neighborhood.  And Eliot and I spent most of the month of August watching so many hockey playoff games once it returned on August 1st.


September- I was determined to have a good month, so of course we lost our water for a few days at the beginning of the month.  We went to visit my parents over Labor Day.  We had fun going into Bar Harbor for ice cream and lunch.  Eliot and I met up with my friend Katie for dinner.  We watched more playoff hockey and cheered former Shark captain Joe Pavelski and the Dallas Stars when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final!  Football season started.  Eliot and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and the 5 year anniversary of buying our house.  We also made sure to enjoy the simple things like the leaves changing in our backyard.


October- By October, I was going a little stir crazy.  Eliot and I took a quick day trip down to go shopping in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  We decorated the house for Halloween.  I got some more headbands.  I started my fall sewing class.  We had another neighborhood block party to celebrate Halloween.


November- On November 3rd, Eliot and I voted.  We had a picnic on Old Orchard Beach on an unnaturally warm 70 degree day.  We celebrated my birthday pandemic style.  Disney's movie Tangled turned 10.  We had Thanksgiving at my parents' house, picked out a Christmas tree and walked around Bar Harbor.  
I finished my fall sewing class and was thankful that we made it through the entire class with no cancellations. 

December- December was a blur like it usually is.  Eliot and I busted our butts to get all of our holiday orders out in time.  We had a few snowstorms.  We closed our Etsy shops and took a much needed holiday break.  I had too much fun working on our 2020 Christmas card photo.  We spent Christmas at my parents' house and Eliot and I started a new Christmas morning tradition for my family.  Then, we returned home and I spent a quiet week preparing to welcome the new year... which brings us to today!

As rough as 2020 has been, Eliot and I still had plenty of wonderful moments.  This year has made us all stronger.  It hasn't been pretty at times, but looking back, we did it.  We survived 2020.  Here's hoping that 2021 will be kinder to us, and that we will all be able to get back to our new normal, whatever that looks like.  °o°

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