I remember taking this photo (above) on my brand new polaroid camera that I had just got for christmas. It was New Years Eve. I had just finished grad school and got hired at my first job. I knew 2020 was going to be a big year, but boy was I still in for a ride. I remember having so much anxiety. I chalked it up to this new chapter in life (which was huge! dont get me wrong!) But in hindsight, I really think God was preparing me for the tumultious year ahead. I remember writing a blog last year on this day. It was all about praying through the New Year because I could feel it. I knew I was going to need prayre more than anything in 2020.
Here are some of the highlights from our year. A year no one will forget.
January
Summarry: Januaray 13th I started my new job. I was excited, but terribly nervous. I felt so proud for all my accomplishements but still had to pass my RD exam in order to keep my job. I also felt this huge weight on my shoulders knowing I was about to enter a new stage of life as a true working mom. It was all very frightening, but exciting.
Highs: New job. Lows: lots of fear around this time from all the unkowns.
Hubs tooke me to a nice lunch to celebrate my new job!
Celebreated my brothers birthday at bass pro. defintetly a highlight of the month.
February
Summary: Life is still pretty normal at this point. Talks of the coronavirus were starting, but literally NOBODY was worried about it. This month was difficult as I had been working for a month full time with plans to take my RD exam after my daughters first birthday. I ended up failing the exam and realizing I had caught the flu from a patient at work. Within my 90 days, I had to take time off and cancel our daughters birthday. it was such a bummer. We ended up having her birtday the next week and all was well, but this month was exceptionally hard. I had to fight for happiness, for sure.
Highs: My daugthers first birthday. Lows: Failing my RD exam and getting the flu.
When in person church was a low key, unstressful thing!
Shes ONE!
March
Summary: Corona hit. We were worried. We were unsure. And we were terrified. I remember the begining in March, I would visit pts in thier room and they would have the news on while I was talking to them. One room in particular, I could hear the news talking very sternly about the COVID virus. none of us still had a clue at the begining how serious things were, but I remember leaving that room with an eery feeling. Like somehow I knew this was going to be a bigger deal than we all thought.
High: we survived. Lows: literally everything.
Lots of outdoor adventures to keep our minds occupied!
And lots of snuggles to make our hearts feel safe!
April
Summary: Things started to look up this month. COVID was in full swing and we were starting to get settled in to a new way of life. Hospitals started screening and we were required to wear masks everywhere. Most places were shut down and life became very slow. It was still a little frightening, but I must say.. I kind of enjoyed this slower pace of life for its own reasons. Also, I passed my exam this month!! best feeling ever! Highs: Passed my RD exam. Lows: restrictions, so many restrictions!
Learning that maskne is a real thing! Never had so many pimples in my life!
Easter from the comfort of our own home. yes, I still made everyone dress up! lol
Remember that slower pace of life... Did us some good :)
May
Summary: Whew. This month is a blurb. Things with COVID are intensing, but not in the way one would think. COVID becomes incredibly political and this is where things really started to shift. In my own personal life, I found it incredibly hard to balance the turmoil with my own mental health. Many freindships and relationships were broken this month. And I dont honestly think they will ever mend. I also had my first COVID exposure at the hospital and was sent home on my 30th birthday. such a bummer. This was a month where I really had to push hard to find happiness. I did have my 30th britney spears themed birthday though! so that was nice.
Highs: birtday party
Lows: COVID politics
June
Summary: Things are revving up. COVID politics are even worse and racial tensions are high after the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Its even harder to have any king of social media presence as everyones emotions were just spewing out. My friend group became even smaller as my tolerance to hate and ignorance became non-existent. Riots broke out and things started getting scary. Rough month, but my husband and I did celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. Even though we stayed home, it was still the sweetest.
Highs: Wedding Anniversary. Lows: senseless loss of life
A visual of how to perserve through the storm and come out on the other side..happy and healthy.
Pool time at nonas and poppys!
8 Year Anniversary Dinner. So special!
July
Summary: One of the best months we had! Work was still very turbulent but our family was finally able to escape for some quality time. Traveling during the COVID 19 pandemic was controversial, but could safely be done if you took the appropriate precautions. For us, that meant finding a beach with as litte traffic as possible. We ended up choosing Amelia Island and it was perfect! It was not busy at all. The only downside was the travel time. We decided to break the drive up into two days to rest and eat instead of stopping in and out of quick stops, increasing risk of exposure/transmission. We found the cutest little air B&B in Mobile, Al to rest before the second leg of the trip. We ended up taking Rob to explore the battleship museum early in the morning before it got busy. Highlight of the trip. Oh and we also find out in this month that we were getting a new neice! July was a good one.
Highlight: family time. Lows: work and COVID politics
August
Summary: Another good month! the summer was winding down so we made our annual lake trip before the new school year. We brought Amos with us this time which was super special. He is a total water dog and wore himself out on this trip. It was so sweet to see him and Rob enjoy the lake life like nevere before. The end of this month, rob started school. We were excited, but terribly nervous as this was the first time coming back to school since the outbreak started in March. Many people were choosing homeschooling/virtual learning, but we just knew that wouldnt work for us as cal and I are both essential workers. We sent him back to Holy Rosary. A good fit for us as they were choosing to take the virus seriously and had many precautions set in place. Rob adjusted so well. I will forever be proud of him for this! Highs: Lake life. Lows: difficult decisions regarding family/work life balance.
September
Summary: A terribly hard month. Our dear family freind, Bob, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer earlier in the year. He was hospitlized multiple times this month and eventually passed the day after my sons 8th birthday. Care was withdrawn on the day of Robs birthday. He held on until the day after. We believe in our hearts he knew. Im still struggling with all of this as I know things in his care would have probably been different had he not been hospitlized in the middle of the pandemic. We miss you, Bob.
Highs: Rob turns 8. Lows: saying bye to Bob.
October
Summary: So manny challenges this month, but the begining of the holiday season helped ease some of the pain. Still mourning Bob, working long/stressful hours as COVID begins to peak, then contracting the virus, and having to cancel my sisters shower just all felt too much. Calvin tested positive for COVID Octotber 1st. I immediately was sent home and had to pick my babies up. My job basically asked me not to get tested as they said.."it would cause too many other problems." Something Im still pretty upset over.
My kids, however, had to be tested. It was horrible. This was the second time they were tested and it was just traumatizing. Thankfully, they were negative. Unfortunately, this meant my husband had to stay upstairs in a room for 14 days. Rob had to start virtual learning and the stress of COVID, his dad being positive, online learning, and losing Bob started to take a toll on him. There were two days straight where Robs anxiety got so bad, I almost had no idea what to do. I felt helpless. I knew though that we couldnt spend another day in quarantine though so I decided to get us out of ther house to do the drive by petting zoo. We then carved pumpkins and started to get in the halloween spirit. The end of the month was honestly the best! We had halloween at a friends house who made the gathering so special. I will never forget it. Highs: Halloween festivities. Lows: cal testing positive for COVID.
My kids, however, had to be tested. It was horrible. This was the second time they were tested and it was just traumatizing. Thankfully, they were negative. Unfortunately, this meant my husband had to stay upstairs in a room for 14 days. Rob had to start virtual learning and the stress of COVID, his dad being positive, online learning, and losing Bob started to take a toll on him. There were two days straight where Robs anxiety got so bad, I almost had no idea what to do. I felt helpless. I knew though that we couldnt spend another day in quarantine though so I decided to get us out of ther house to do the drive by petting zoo. We then carved pumpkins and started to get in the halloween spirit. The end of the month was honestly the best! We had halloween at a friends house who made the gathering so special. I will never forget it. Highs: Halloween festivities. Lows: cal testing positive for COVID.
November
This month started out pretty good. I was asked to host a small family gathering for my immediate family for thanksgiving this year and was really excited. I have always felt like the month of november was way under-rated. People just rush through this month and miss out on so many wonderful moments. I wanted to find ways to make this month extra special for my family and I, so we started some new traditions. One of my favorites was a game called grattitude. I bought some craft leaves, string, and a hole puncher at Hobby Lobby. Every morning before we left, we would write down what we were thankful for then at the end of the week we would play a game with the items we wrote down. It was honestly so fun. Rob was begging by the end of the week to play grattitude. I planned on using the leaves for my family gathering, but unforutnatly my sister was exposed to COVID and we had to cancel our entire family gathering. Cal and I decided to go ahead and cook the turkey (a 20 lb turkey lol!) for just our family. We had leftovers for days! Highs: Family time. Lows: Thanskgiving cancelled.
December
Merry Christmas! My favorite time of the year is here. Even in the maddenss, I try to find the magic anywehere I can. Work this month would end up being one of the most challening of the year. I was finally getting use to large patient loads, but the inequitable treatment of my department was becoming even more blatant and hard to ignore. Phase 1 of the COVID 19 vaccines started to roll out and we were not included. It was such a hard pill to swallow as me and my coworkers had been working 12 hour shifts as salaried employess, working tirelessy to provide care for our COVID 19 AND other patients, but were and are NEVER given any recognition or help. A few weeks in December about broke me because of this.
Good thing was my side of the family was all healthy and we were able to have our small get together for chrismtas! It was a good evening and something I will hang onto forever. The highlight though was of course, my children on christmas morning. We were abundantly blessed this year to give them a wonderful christmas and for that, I am grateful. Highs: Christmas Lows: work
