This year was... wild... It was not the hardest year of my life (I think that might be 2017-2018), but it was the most bonkers, roller coaster of a year I have ever experienced in my 43 years of living.
I will not go into the news of the year. Here are my top 20 moments of 2020.
1. My son and daughter-in-law had their first baby in February. Brent and I became grandparents. We were able to visit her in May.
3. I took four graduate courses this year and maintained 4.0 GPA. I took History Methodologies, Genealogy, Non-fiction Writing, and Global History. In History Methodologies, I learned about the multi-faceted ways that historians look at the past. There are many perspectives and lenses to consider. Historians review how previous historians analyzed the past and they look for new angles to consider events. I especially appreciate historical approaches that look at the experiences of ordinary people, the disenfranchised, minority groups, and women. In my genealogy course, I took a deep dive into William Lane Fenex and Sabra Ann Johnson. They were Wyoming pioneers. I created a blog for my research findings. I'm really proud of how it turned out. I continued my research in my non-fiction class and researched William's father, Capt. William L. Fenex, a militia captain during the Civil War in Missouri. Learning about the period and reading documents from Fenex's service was incredible. The papers I wrote turned out really well. In Global History, I learned about approaching history from a global perspective. My last two papers were modern environmental history, a subject that is dismal and depressing, but also fascinating.
4. Trent started college at BYU-Idaho. I flew with him to Wyoming and then my parents drove us to Rexburg. I'm so proud of Trent and the person he is.
5. Brooke graduated from 8th grade and started high school.
6. Josef worked as a lifeguard this summer. Trent worked as a census worker.
7. Winter finished kindergarten.
8. My kids survived and adapted to online school.
9. We played a lot of games as a family. Getting time as a family was a precious gift of this year.
10. We went hiking a lot. In Provo, we hiked Y mountain. Even though I am terrified of heights, I made it the whole way. (I cried the last 100 yards because I was so scared, but I did it.)
11. Josef got a job as a grocery store.
12. Brent is rocking it at his job.
13. We painted the exterior of our house ourselves. It looks amazing. I'm so proud of us.
14. We had a little vacation in Virginia.
15. I went to Monte Carlo in February.
16. We survived a pandemic.
17. Brent mastered sourdough.
18. Jonathan was ordained a deacon by Trent.
19. We went to the beach.
20. Concentrating on the miracle and beauty of my family.
