An insane year for everyone, don’t you think? I went back and forth on whether or not I wanted to even write this blog post because of all the heartache and hardships that came with the year (and that it’s 3 months PAST 2020!), but I know how much I love looking back on my 2019 year in review and in the end, I know I will love looking back on this one too.
2019 was a bittersweet year, so I was hoping for a really simple & relaxed 2020. All I can to say to that is: LOL. 2020 was anything but! And I know it wasn’t just me feeling this way, many of you did too. So let’s just dive right in, shall we?
January:
Things to remember:
* January started the year off extremely crummy. We lost my grandpa hoffman, my dad’s dad, at the beginning of the month. My grandpa hoffman was such a gentleman, extremely intelligent and just a really wonderful guy. He was such a tall man too compared to the rest of us in the family and L is on the taller side for his age and I really think that’s where he gets that from!
* We started potty training in January and it was something I was so nervous and anxious for! But if anything in 2020 could have gone right – this would be it for us and I’ll take it! Ha! L was potty trained in less than a week and was a pro before we even knew it! With no candy or treat incentives! Woo hoo!
* I taught L some dance moves and they are his go to now and the cutest thing ever to watch! 🙂
February:
Things to remember:
* I got to see all of my grandma and grandpa hoffman’s wedding portraits and oh my word, love. Looking through old portraits is one of my favorite things to do so I decided to make it a little series on my instagram stories and it’s something I treasure so much!
* Also, after looking through my grandparent’s wedding portraits, I noticed the wallpaper behind them is all magnolias! I have always been inspired by all my grandparents, my parents and my family in my why, ideas, inspiration and more in my business. Between all of my grandparents that helped raise me and my parents, that’s 63 (my memaw & pa), 64 (my grandma & grandpa hoffman), 53 (my grammy & grampy) & 30 years (my mom & dad) : 210 years worth of marriage advice and guidance! When I say they are all the backbone of my business inspiration, they are truly the backbone. SO seeing those magnolias was just the sign I needed! 🙂
* We had a lot of playing with our cousins this month and outside play which is so nice for February in Ohio!
* Mom, L & I celebrated mardi gras with jumbalya, mooflata and hurricane mocktails! We love celebrating this at home and I hope one day me and mom can go to LA and celebrate there!
March:
Things to remember:
* The month the world went crazy. Yikes. Covid-19 was running through the US and cases were beginning to pop up in every state. We went into lockdown on March 13th. But right before this was announced, me and mom went out to eat with L at a restaurant where it was eerily quiet because no one knew what to say or if it was safe to talk! Ha! Who would have known that would be the last time we’d get to go out to eat for a long time! At least it was yummy!
* L made leprachuan traps and yummy treats for St. Patty’s Day!
* Thankfully, March was pleasantly warm and we spent many days outside enjoying the sunshine and getting “out of the house” while we could!
* I also discovered TikTok and lost way too many hours of my life since! HA!
April:
Things to remember:
* Easter was spent at home with just me, Nick and L! It was sad to be without our families but also really special getting to spend the day together just us three!
* L ate wings by himself for the first time and while this isn’t a big milestone, LOL, it was the funniest thing ever and now it’s one of his favorite things to order when we get food to go!
* L’s bedroom got another big boy makeover! What started off as a I’m just going to patch some holes and paint them up, ended in painting the holes the wrong color and deciding to do a last minute room makeover!
May:
Things to remember:
* I celebrated my 27th birthday at home, snuggled up on the couch and it was A DREAM!
* Lockdown ended and I finally got to photograph for the first time again and took one of my top 5 absolute favorite pictures to date!
* I started to get into watercoloring and discovered that I love to paint watercolor houses! I am still a NEWBIE for sure and will not show the world just yet anything but my friends and family are all getting pictures of their houses in the near future! 😉
* Painted our front door blue after finishing L’s little room makeover! I can not just do one thing in our house I suppose!
* We started to get back to work on finishing our basement! Nick and his dad are finishing our basement together and they took a 2 year break so I literally started crying when they said they were going to start back at it because this means I get to have my pantry!! Oh the things we get excited for when we become adults!
* And finally, it’s warm enough to be at the beach again, mine and L’s happy place!
June:
Things to remember:
* I started to babysit my favorite four little girls again! I love getting to come back to them in the summer time and see them grow year after year and L just adores them too!
* Mom and I visited a new to us place in Lakewood that made the most insane, beautiful and yummy milkshake ever!
* I built a firepit for outside and did some DIY landscaping with some plants from my Grampy’s yard! I’m just crossing my fingers they show back up next spring! Yikes!
* Nick and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! The time has flown! We celebrated it just like we have for the past 4 years, at The Strip with our favorite steak dinner!
* L also discovered this month how to play with the TikTok filters and I found a wide selection of videos on my TikTok feed because he doesn’t know how to go back so he just uploads them all until the main screen comes back! That was a great laugh!
July:
Things to remember:
* Nick celebrated his 31st birthday and we had a great 4th of July at home in our backyard with seriously the greatest front seat to an amazing fireworks show! (I’m not kidding when I think that will be a good selling feature when we move one day! LOL!)
* L jumped into the deep end of the pool without me holding onto him and he must get this from his dad, no fear! Very proud of him! 🙂
* My cousin passed away at the end of the month and just days later, my grammy went into the hospital and had to have immediate brain surgery. It was a very difficult and hard time for our family. It’s not something I want to remember and think on when I think of 2020, but they were big moments that shaped the rest of the year and life really. Just extremely thankful that at this point, we were able to gather minimally with family to be there to support one another.
* Days after that, I got my wisdom teeth pulled. I swear it had to happen this year because I was poking fun at the dentist office that my brother was getting his pulled that day and they gave me the news that I really needed to as well. Let’s just say, a few infections and tons of cries later, I’m still hurting! Ouch!
August:
Things to remember:
* Lot of time was spent at home, recovering from my wisdom teeth. I’m telling ya, I had a heck of a time!
* Spent as much time as I was able at the rehab center with my grammy. Her surgery and time spent at the hospital was very scary, especially during a pandemic with extremely limited contact.
September:
Things to remember:
* L turned four this month! His birthday was spent at home eating his favorite foods and favorite cake!
* L also started preschool! Cue ALL. THE. TEARS! He was just being homeschooled this year for preschool, me being his teacher! It has worked out ok so far but I definitely was never cut out to be a teacher!
October:
Things to remember:
* Our favorite month! It didn’t feel too much like Halloween but we made the best of what we could and went to pumpkin patches, Halloween decorating, spooky car drives and wearing a Halloween costume (as in, me! HA!) out on Halloween just to make my boy happy! 🙂
* We got to attend a wedding as a family, L’s first wedding ever! My cousin Kathy, and her now hubby, Michael got married this month and it was a beautiful wedding day! We all got to get dressed up and I loved getting to be a guest and watch from the other’s perspective this time! 🙂
November:
Things to remember:
* We visited Santa at a store and it was just the strangest thing seeing Santa wear a mask and sit behind a plexiglass wall! L was extremely frightened by this and made quite a memorable photo!
* Nick’s grandmother passed away this month. It has been such a difficult year for both of our families and especially during the middle of the pandemic, has made it even that much more difficult.
* Mom and I hopped on the hot cocoa bomb trend and made tons of hot cocoa bombs! It wasn’t easy at first but once we started getting the hang of it, we had a good system going!
December:
Things to remember:
* December was a long, heartache of a month. The day after Christmas, my grammy was moved to in-home hospice. After a prognosis of possibly only 3 days left with her, we were given the gift of 6 beautiful weeks where we visited every day, held her hand, loved on her and she even became well enough to be awake more and have great conversations and laughs. As I am writing this, my grammy isn’t here with us anymore and life hasn’t been the same since. But I hold those 6 weeks in my heart so tight. My grammy and I were very close. I miss her so much but I hear her in my head telling me to keep going for that baby. She was such a light in my life and I’m the luckiest that I got to call her my grandma.
What a year. It was not one that was simple, that we could breeze on through. It had many valleys, but there were many mountains in there too. Yes, 2020 was a tough year with everything that took place around the world and around the US. But I don’t want the year to make me bitter. I want to take with me everything this year has taught me and grow from it, learn from it and find the brighter days ahead. Spending more time at home showed me what a gift my home can be to me and my family. Being away from family and friends a good portion of the year taught me how much I value those friendships and relationships, that life truly was never meant to be done alone. I have learned many things this year that I was so uneducated about, that I can only hope I teach L how to be a kind, compassionate and understanding human to all. And when life gets flipped upside and you’re not sure which way is up anymore, God will meet you there and help you back up. I know January 1st isn’t a magical number and the sorrows and worries of 2020 won’t just go away, but I pray that we are all stronger going into 2021 and come out better than we did coming in.
XX, Britt
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