2020 - Year in Review

January
*We spent NYE in Greensboro with the Millers and the Avett Brothers.  The kids stayed at home with grandparents.*We celebrated my friend Tina's birthday with a fun party at Highland Avenue with some of our favorite people.
*PE Club performance season began at App.
*My sister and mom came down for Brenna's LR unicycle performance.
*Both kids played basketball - Davin at Startown and Brenna at Mt. View Rec.
*Davin scored the winning shot with 3 seconds left at a basketball game.  Mom and Dad freaked out!

February
*Brenna was on national TV during the Davidson game.

*I served at A Night to Shine with friends from church.  It was an amazing night for some amazing people.

*Brenna had her first archery tournaments and did so well.

*Dav and I had an early Valentines Day date to BurgerFi.

*Jonathan traveled for work and got home on Valentines Day night. 

*We spent Valentines Day in Winston Salem for the NC State Archery Tournament.  Startown took the win at the elementary level!  It was a blast.  We hurried home and celebrated with cookie cake, pizza, and a movie together. 

*We took the kids tubing at Beech Mountain.  It was a blast!

*Brenna started Lil Devils Wrestling at Maiden High.  

March
*Brenna turned 10.  She had a birthday dinner at Gepetto's.  We delayed her party for a few weeks.  Whoops!

*We had Favorite Book Character dress up day.  I love a good dress up day!

*The PE Club performed for both the Womens and Men ACC tournament.  The men's game ended up being the best performance for them of the year (essentially flawless).  What a way to perform for 15,000 fans!

*Coronavirus hit and the world seemed to come to a screeching halt.  We had to cancel our trip on March 14-15 to Great Wolf Lodge for Brenna's birthday.  I worked a couple of days and then school for the kiddos and for me went all virtual on the 23rd.  

*I worked like crazy to finish up the yearbook.

*Startown Staff did a caravan around to our students' homes and it was so sweet and so special.

April
*SO.MANY.GOOGLE.MEETS!!!

*Brenna slept outside with the Raineys on the trampoline.

*I read about a trillion books.

*The kids did a lot of playing outside.

*Brenna had to have a tooth pulled at the dentist.

*A lot of people complained about Common Core math.  I tried to change the world by explaining why conceptual math is important.  I did not, in fact, change the world (or anyone's mind).

*We spent Easter at home (and every other day).  We did an egg hunt, watched church online, and decorated cookies.

*Quarantine convinced us to get a trampoline and a kids' dirt bike for entertainment.

*We started some home renovations.  

*Governor Cooper made the sad (necessary, but sad) decision to keep all K-12 schools virtual for the rest of the year.  I cried and cried and cried.  

*We redid Brenna's bedroom to her desidered "modern" look.

May
*I redid our pantry.

*We had Field Day at home with the Raineys.

*We celebrated Mother's Day at home.  I probably took a nap.

*We wrapped up the 19-20 school year with virtual goodbyes.  

*We went strawberry picking and I made a TON of strawberry jam.

*We did a pickup drive through at the school and seeing some of the kiddos was good for the soul.
*We completely redid the kids' bathroom.

June
*We went to Virginia and saw grandparents, aunt/uncles/cousins, and celebrated our Davin.

*We had a drive by birthday parade for Davin's 8th birthday.  Parker stayed the night. 

*We celebrated Father's Day on the lake with the Crumps.

*Our sweet nephew and godson Owen Dean was born.  

*I had to take 2 tests to renew my teaching license.  

July
*I gave about 4 million things away via porch pickup.

*We drove out to watch fireworks from the car on the 4th of July.

*We ripped out all of our appliances, flooring, cabinets, etc and started a huge kitchen remodel. 

*My sister and her family and my mom came down for a day to go to the pool and take our kitchen cabinets to Virginia. 

*The kids went to Virginia to stay with Jonathan's mom and then my mom while we finished up renovations. 

*PGA Junior League started.

*We got to FINALLY meet Owen.  We hung out in the driveway with masks, but it was so good to finally see his face (and the faces of his parents and big brother).

*We redid Davin's bedroom while they were out of town.

*Tucker Chip Halsey joined our family.  Best surprise ever!

August
*I went back to work.  Most meetings were virtual, but all staff was in the building.

*Kiddos went back to school on August 17/18.  They started just going on Mondays and Tuesdays and the rest virtual days at home.

*Brenna started art lessons with Mrs. Karen.  She's been dying for this for years.

*I started the year as a 2nd grade teacher.  I threw the room together in a couple of days and we had a great 2 weeks together. 

*We enjoyed some pool days.

*We went to Virginia for a day to celebrate Lainey and Brady's birthday.

*I interviewed for a new job, but did not get the position.  It turned out to be a HUGE blessing.

September
*Brenna asked for a "girly" shopping trip.  So we masked right up and headed out for a day of fun.

*I started E2M on September 14.

*Brenna started softball and Davin started baseball with Startown Optimist.

*We enjoyed a driveway tailgate for the start of college football.

October
*We got to see Owen be baptized.  It was the kids' first time meeting him.  Covid tests were 110% worth it to get to hold that special baby.

*The Braves were SO close to making it to the World Series.  Baseball really helped our sanity this year at home.

*We spent a weekend in a camper (thanks Miller fam) near Linville with Jonathan's friend Wesley's family.  It was fun to hike, fish, relax.

*The kids both got mountain bikes.

*We wrapped up baseball and softball for both kids.  Brenna played catcher mostly and some 2nd base.  Brenna played pitcher mostly and some 1st base.  

*We had 2 Halloween dress up days at school and they were so, so fun.

*Remnants of a hurricaned cancelled school one day.

*We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood and Avian Woods with some friends.

*We rented a golf cart for Halloween.  

*Brenna was a skeleton and Davin was Harry Potter.

November
*Election day finally came.  Joe Biden won!

*My first round of E2M ended.  I lost 30 pounds.

*We put up our Christmas tree (fake for the first time!) and put some up in the kids' rooms too.

*We celebrated Thanksgiving at home.  Jonathan's mom and stepdad and his dad and stepmom both came to spend a few days with us. 

*We wrapped up the PGA Jr. League for Davin.

*Davin had a serious allergic reaction to something so he suffered through steroids and an allergy test panel.

*We redid our guest room.

*I began teaching 5th grade.  It was an exhausting week leading up to my first day in the classroom.  My students are precious, and we make a great team!

December
*My students and I did lots of fun activities leading up to break.  Gingerbread houses for everyone!

*We had a holiday dress up week.  One day was cancelled due to potential ice. 

*We had family pictures done.  It felt good to get dressed up.

*We did a lot of holiday baking for neighbors and friends. 

*We did mostly online shopping.

*We went to McAdenville to see the Christmas lights. 

*We went to Virginia before Christmas to see my family.

*We went to Pine Mountain after Christmas to see J's family.

*My 2nd round of E2M is almost over.  I've lost about 38 pounds total.

*We are finishing up a remodel of our guest bath downstairs.