Year in Review: 2020

This year was in no way a typical or normal year. There were a lot of things missed (like our dream vacation to Spain) but also a lot of blessings in disguise (working from home while pregnant). I wanted to document the year either way as a highlight to look back on (good and bad) although it is definitely a year that will never be forgotten. And I know this is SUPER late, but I am just getting back into blogging!

January

January started off slow as I was recovering from being in the hospital, but we were able to visit family and celebrate a late Christmas and Birthday.

And also spent a lot of time out with friends!

February

February brought more social time and going out with friends more than I had in a long time and I am so glad that I did – because we had no idea that the rest of the year would literally be the year of no socialization.

We also celebrated Miguel’s 27^th birthday this month.

And I was nominated for engineer of year of my organization at work and made it all the way to the top five finalists. This was something I never expected to receive ever in my career and I was so grateful. There was a banquet to celebrate the semifinalists and finalists at the end of February.

March

At the beginning of March we took a trip to Disney World for the Women in Avionics Conference.

And then after we got, things started getting weird. While things hadn’t really shut down in Cedar Rapids quite yet, essentials and food were very hard to find at the grocery store and getting my groceries delivered (which I had been doing for almost 4 years) was impossible. Things started shutting down and by March 23^rd I was officially working from home “temporarily” (spoiler alert- I am still working from home now). But – I figured by May things would be back to normal.

April

Into April, we were still staying home and going basically nowhere. (Miguel was still going to work though). We took the time to do many outdoor projects including adding bricks around all of our landscaping rocks. I also painted a wall in our dining room. I completed a puzzle and watched a LOT of Netflix.

May

In May it was more of the same with no social life – but we were able to “Ice” our friends one Friday night as a fun way to get out of the house.

The biggest news in May was that I found out we were pregnant on May 14^th

June

Then pretty much once June hit, I was sick from my pregnancy and so started my summer of not moving or eating and just trying to survive.

The highlight of the month was seeing our little peanut on the ultrasound and seeing the heartbeat.

We also took a quick trip to Illinois to see my dad (and also stopped for some ice cream).

July

In July we were able to announce our pregnancy and see the baby on the ultrasound again.

(I was still very sick – and probably at the height of my sickness)

We also started our big home project of the year of getting a large patio poured in our backyard.

August

In August I finally started to feel better – just in time for our city to be completely devastated by a derecho storm. It was extremely scary to be home alone and feeling like our house was about to be ripped from the ground.

We were lucky to not sustain any serious damage – just a mess to clean up – but most in our community were not so lucky. So many roofs gone, and homes and businesses destroyed.

We were also without power for 8 days which was a challenge. The day after the storm when we realized that we were not going to get power anytime soon (almost every power line in the city was down) Miguel drove all the way to Minnesota to get a small generator so we could save some food. We were unable to work and it was just a crazy time.

September

In September we found out we were having a GIRL.

We attended a wedding.

And also celebrated our 3^rd wedding anniversary.

October

We kicked off October with a trip to Branson for our babymoon.

We also unfortunately had to say goodbye to Miguel’s “grandpa” and my “tweety”, Bill which was very hard.

At the end of the month we celebrated Halloween and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dress up.

November

In November we finalized the nursery and announced baby Girl’s name.

We also took our Christmas card photos.

And I was able to have a baby shower thrown by my sister and it was perfect. Baby girl is very spoiled.

And I have no pictures but we celebrated a very small Thanksgiving at my dad’s as well.

December

Then it was time to switch to Christmas mode and decorate. I didn’t do quite as much as I normally do (putting up my main tree was a lot for me lol) but I still made sure the living room was all done.

We also had maternity photos taken this month on the most gorgeous day for December.

Of course, we sent Christmas cards like always.

And we celebrated the last Christmas season just the two of us. We were able to spend time with family and friends and had a really nice Christmas. We didn’t go anywhere which was different but nice (especially at 36 weeks pregnant) and I had two full weeks off of work and it was wonderful.

I spent the last days of the year taking down Christmas decorations and crossing off my pre-baby to do list. And on the 31^st I turned 27 and also hit 37 weeks in pregnancy!

And that was our year in a quick overview. It honestly went by very fast. There was good and bad for sure and nothing was “normal” but we will appreciate everything this year brought and taught us. We are ready for 2021 and all this year will bring us (which with a new baby – also won’t be normal in anyway either!)