What 2020 Taught Me

Hiiii, remember me?! 

I went into 2020 expecting a very normal year where I was going to bake bread, just for fun. Then the world closed down, everyone learned to bake bread, and I didn’t even have the energy to do that. For all of us, 2020 was heavy and disorienting. But I’m thankful for a new year, a clean slate, and the promise of a hopeful tomorrow.

The number one lesson 2020 taught me is to appreciate the little things. Of course, I’m thankful for HUGE things in my life, like health, family, a job I love, etc. But when a year like this removes a lot of the small, everyday routines in life, I’ve learned to chase the tiny joys harder and appreciate the new:

• the satisfaction from placing the final piece of a puzzle
• challenging how many times I can flip the same vinyl without feeling sick of it
• walks around my neighborhood have become an anchor I didn’t know I needed
• the happy + sad feeling from finishing an addictive tv series
• sitting around a fire during a snowfall was just as magical as it sounds
• the shared intimacy of facing a tough year with people I love

Ironically, the one project I did keep up with in 2020 was recording 1 second of (nearly) every day of the year. I went into 2020 thinking this would be a fun hobby, without having any clue that it would become my personal time capsule for a year the world was turned upside-down.

 

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Some days from 2020 feel bigger than others — the day we left the office to work from home, knowing barely anything about what a pandemic was. Easter at home. My best friend’s wedding. Biden winning the election. Thanksgiving and Christmas, to name a few.

But recording 1 second a day gave equal time and priority to every day of 2020, and it’s a good reminder that the bulk of our lives happen in the small moments between each big event.

Sending you so much love + well wishes for 2021, savoring the little things, especially as we face the (hopefully!) final days of this pandemic.

xoxo

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My Favorite Date of the Year

Austin and I tend to eat out pretty often in this stage of life, and—this might surprise you—we're not big movie-goers. A lot of our date nights are pretty simple, with a dinner we'd enjoy, or a little time downtown. Since we both work downtown, too, there isn't always a huge difference between our "date" nights and our day-to-day. For an anniversary or special occasion, we may do something a little larger, but for the most part we're pretty predictable. We like sharing cubicles at J.O.B. or a cheese board at Scotch & Soda.

But, there is one day of the year that we make an exception to our basic date, and I look forward to it more than anything else. Since Austin and I have been married, we've started a New Year's Eve tradition of setting goals together and making a date out of it.

We'll call it the "let's do this" date, because we like writing our goals on this notepad in particular. Cherry Picker is another favorite of ours, and that's where we like going for this date. It's the best place in town to focus on contentment, cherishing the past, and considering what we want for the future. And I really can't explain why, but the vibe is there. We like taking it slow on this day with our tasty drinks and aspirations for the next year.

If you want to try your own "let's do this" date, here are some things we like to focus in on.

• We both write out individual goals on our own papers—we take some time to consider where we're interested in improving on our own first.
• Then, we trade papers and see what each other wrote. This is one of my favorite parts of our little tradition because it's a special way to connect, and I think it's extra important to share your goals with people who can root you on.
• Some of our goals are bigger, and some are small. For example, I wrote "bake a loaf of bread" on my list this year. That, theoretically, could just take a day, but it's something I know I want to do in 2020, so it went on the list.
• Finally, we sync up and write a list together. Some of the items are copied from one or both of our lists, but the focus here is that we both have individual goals, and then we have our goals as a couple.

The most important part of goal-setting is mindset. I try to never set goals from a place of negativity or beating myself up for things I haven't done yet. I love to think of a new year as full of potential, with endless possibility, especially as I go into it welcoming expansion. Wishing you all a 2020 full of both growth + peace. ❤️

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