2020 was a year. A year like most of us have never before lived through. I'm planning to have a recap of our year up tomorrow but today is a good old list of favorite things from the past year. I LOVE a good list, at all times, for all things, but especially this time of year. I love seeing others' favorite books (especially books) and things that were highlights of the year.
I had started collecting a list of 10 things I really liked (Target drive-up was DEFINITELY going to be on there, I've mentioned it so many times and I still love it so) when I was listening to The Lazy Genius podcast on Monday morning while doing my morning workout (about the only time I can listen to podcasts when Luke's out of school). That episode was "My Favorite Discoveries of 2020" and I thought "yep, going to copy that". I paused my workout, grabbed my faithful planner (home of MANY lists) and immediately jotted down 8 things. Then I was able to come up with a few more so here we are! {10} Favorite Discoveries in 2020, things that brought me joy.
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1) Utz's Honey Barbeque Chips
Back in mid-March, Matt and I were making a lot of grocery stops to stock up before things really tightened up. I was at our neighborhood meat market for our 3rd stop in 3 days to try to get some ground beef since they kept selling out. On impulse, I grabbed these chips near the checkout because they sounded good and I was hungry and probably frustrated over the meat situation. Then I proceeded to sneakily eat the whole bag myself over the course of a week (I am very proud of this accomplishment, sneaky eating with kids around never seems to go well). They were AMAZING and quickly shot up my list of favorite salty snacks. We've bought more bags since (mostly over the summer, for the lake) and they are still my favorite potato chip and definitely better than the BBQ chips from Aldi.
Technically, "GIVON Womens Comfortable Long Sleeve Lightweight Pullover Hoodie with Kanga Pocket". I found things thanks to Putting Me Together and bought myself the "orange" one (telling myself it was more coral) in the spring and then proceeded to wear it as many days as possible March - May. It went with jeans, went with my black yoga pants, and was a springy color. Then Matt gave me the "jade" color for a birthday present (HEAVILY suggested by me) and I've worn that one a lot in the fall and even on Christmas Day (2 of us wore red, 2 of us wore green, yes, we're adorable). Now I'm debating if I need a blue one too (I don't, as I sit here in a different blue hoodie with my black yoga pants). Comfortable and I like the colors. I wear a long sleeved tee under them in colder months because they aren't real thick but just a t-shirt or tank top in the spring. My wardrobe got even more casual this year with so much time at home and these have been staples.
3) Zarbee's Children's Melatonin
I wrote about this back in the spring and they continue to be so helpful. I took 5mg melatonin for awhile and it made getting up in the morning SO HARD but made sleeping SO EASY. I also couldn't take one of those in the middle of the night if I realized later I was having trouble sleeping, at least if I wanted to get up at a reasonable time (and school kinda mandates that kids are there at a reasonable time). I initially bought these for Luke and he does take them from time to time (time change, getting back to school sleep schedule after breaks) but I use them often. I am very careful of not getting hooked on them but when I've had a few nights of bad sleep or I know I'm over stimulated in the evening, these are SO HELPFUL. I never take the 5mg ones anymore, sometimes just 1 of these do the trick. Obviously, make your own medical decisions, I'm not a doctor, etc, but these have really helped me this year. (I wrote about this back when I started using it.)
4) Getting up at 5:30am
I KNOW, this sounds painful and it definitely is at times (see the above referenced bad nights of sleep) but when Matt's schedule changed at the beginning of March (and I thought that would be the "big news" of our March...) I started getting up before he left. It gives me time to workout, shower, and get around on school mornings. On mornings like today, when the boys are just now waking up at 8:15, I got to workout, shower, drink some tea, AND work on this blog post. In the spring I did almost all my working in these early morning hours and over the summer I caught up on tv shows and read some days. It's hours before the sun this time of year but starting my day with a little time to myself is helpful. (We definitely sleep in most weekends, I'm not a 5:30am riser all week!).
5) A Step-Ladder
Matt had been trying to talk me into buying one of these for YEARS. We have tall ceilings downstairs, 9-10 feet maybe? (Should I know exactly how high? Probably.) and thus high kitchen cabinets in the kitchen, my office, and Matt's office. For years we just used kitchen chairs to stand on and it worked just fine, if not perfectly. Then Matt made a new kitchen table and we bought new kitchen chairs and they weren't quite as rugged as our $10 Target super clearance table and chairs we had bought right before we got married. We didn't want to keep standing on them so, 4 months after we bought the chairs, Matt finally talked me into a $10 step ladder. You guys. It's amazing. Ours is super compact so takes up next to no space when folded (KEY!), it's higher than our chairs so I can more easily reach the back of those high cabinets (and the ones in Matt's office are maybe 2 feet deep, all the organizing possibilities now!), and it even came in useful when decorating our Christmas tree. Ours is from Home Depot and no longer on their site (probably why we got it for $10) but this one at Lowes looks similar and has the same weight capacity.
Matt and Luke had been casually watching Dude Perfect for a year or two and I caught glimpses but in the last few months this has turned into full family viewing (Sam even has a favorite guy). It's 5 guys in Texas, a few years younger than us, who do trick shots and battles and, family favorite, Overtime. It's all family friendly with the worst language being "stupid" (which I try to keep the boys from saying but they still do) BUT it's still entertaining to Matt & I. We've even been discussing buying tickets to a live show, once those safely resume. It's a bit goofy but all good natured fun. Plus, they have 54 MILLION YouTube subscribers (we are one of those) and I am fascinated by their business model. I tell Matt almost every time we watch a video that I need more information on their planning process and how many people they employ (they have 4 editors alone) and how much prep work goes into their videos...I know they make a ton of money and I just...have so many questions. I wrote about their documentary (which made me tear up) back here. (Starting point: Overtime 14, Top Ten Candy List, had a segment that had Matt & I nearly crying from laughter.)
7) VimAnnVigor Etsy Shop
I found this thanks to my niece-in-law and immediately bought 3 things from her shop. She's a local graphic designer and I love so many of her local prints. This is, obviously, most appealing to anyone from/living here but I really enjoy her work. I bought this print, this sticker, and a holiday card set that is no longer listed. I only have the holiday cards out now (framed) but once Christmas decor is put away I'll put up the map print and I'm very excited about it! Supporting local and small businesses is important to us so I was especially happy to find her shop!
I had heard about Hamilton for years but, despite being in New York twice since it's been on Broadway, we've never seen it (we've never seen a Broadway show, or any show, there at all. Eventually.) Once it came to Disney+ in the summer I got Matt to watch it with me and it was amazing (I wrote about it back then). Just the production, all the moving pieces, it was an amazing feat to witness. That lead to me getting the soundtrack and watching some YouTube videos. I keep meaning to rewatch it but haven't made the time, I think it'll still be great on the rewatch, especially since I've heard the songs so many times.
One of my favorite thing is getting rid of things (Luke frequently tells me "You LOVE getting rid of things.") and I like following my own version of being a minimalist (I say that until I count my mini Christmas tree situation...just the bottle brushes alone number almost 20...). This has been a fantastic podcast listen for me this year, especially as we've been so home focused. Most episodes are around 30 minutes which makes them easy to get through and cover a variety of topics, not just parenting but home and schedules too. I wrote about this when I first found it!
10) Heated Seats
We just (as in, earlier this week) replaced a vehicle and my new (to us) Pilot can not only hold the 3rd child we are trying to get (as well as the two kids we have), it also has HEATED SEATS. We've never had a vehicle with heated seats, even though Matt's car is newer than the Pilot. As someone who is perpetually cold in the winter, heated seats is a life changer. My old Jeep had leather seats which I hated since they were hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The Pilot doesn't take care of the hot in the summer part (I'll still be sitting on a towel to save the back of my legs) but just in my driving it home from the dealership and then to the grocery store...the heated seats were amazing. I hope they kick it on the drive to school and back! Also, my Pilot is blue which I really wanted but we weren't holding out for so it makes me SO HAPPY that I finally have a blue vehicle (it was literally on my not bucket list but basically a bucket list).
There were a lot of frustrating and hard moments this year. A lot of things didn't go as we expected them too. It was helpful and refreshing to look back at things that weren't in my life before 2020, things that made this weird year better, even if just in small ways. 2020 wasn't all bad!
I'd love to hear anything that made your year a little better as well! Maybe they can improve my 2021!
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