Happy New Year's Eve, friends!
This year was one for the books. A strange mix of struggle and triumph, canceled plans and empty calendars, worry and learning new things. Amidst the angst and anxiety of the year, there were so many small, sweet moments to celebrate. Here's a look back on our year:
In January (pre-COVID!), we spent a long weekend in Miami visiting Steve’s aunt and uncle. The company was wonderful and we enjoyed getting outside for walks, bike rides, and afternoons by the pool. Such a luxury in January!
I hosted the 3rd round of the Music Education Basics Workshop, launched my podcast, Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning, and launched The Art of Music Teaching & Learning.
In February, I saw a new ENT and finally got some answers about my persistent voice loss: muscle tension dysphonia and vocal cord paresis (and partial atrophy). I had outpatient surgery over February Break and began voice therapy.
In March, the world shut down. I moved my studio online and we, like the rest of the world, hunkered down for what we thought might be a few months of quarantine. (Little did we know.)
We learned how to use Zoom, baked our first loaves of bread (once we were able to get flour), and started vegetable seedlings for the garden. We went for walks, got our groceries (and everything else) delivered, and swapped Marco Polo messages with friends and family. We took online courses on Skillshare and watched Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals on YouTube.
In May, I held my first virtual piano recital and began working on my curriculum project for Growing in Grace. We stained the porch floor (a near-disaster), painted the rest of the porch furniture, and did some landscaping. We also planted the vegetable garden (18 tomato plants!).
In July, we discovered a new lakeside park about an hour from home. We packed picnic lunches of pimiento cheese sandwiches and lemon-poppyseed cookies and sat in the shade looking out at the water.
We celebrated the 100th anniversary of our house with a 1920s-themed party (for two!) on the porch. We made deviled eggs, Spanish olive canapes, tomato sandwiches, and my Grammy’s pineapple-upside-down cake.
In August, we spent a quiet week at the lake — canoeing with Rory, going for long walks, painting in the morning, and swimming in the afternoons. We made homemade ravioli and scallops with peach risotto, toasted couscous and tomato salad, and cornbread panzanella with squash.
We harvested our first tomatoes (and eggplants and peppers) and started making sauce every weekend.
In October, we hosted a virtual Stars-Hollow-themed chili cookoff with my sister and her family. We made four kinds of chili and rated them together over Zoom (with scorecards!). We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary with French toast for breakfast and we spent a warm, sunny Saturday at our favorite place.
In November, we celebrated our birthdays with Vanilla Cake Pan Cake and a take-out lunch from our favorite bakery. We launched Musician & Co. — a new resource for freelancers, musicpreneurs, and self-employed musicians and recorded our first course together over Thanksgiving weekend.
In December, we baked cookies and wrote Christmas cards, helped organize virtual Christmas events for our neighborhood, and decorated the tree (including ordering a new strand of lights when ours suddenly stopped working. #2020). We recorded Christmas music and spent a long weekend at a cozy lake house in the Adirondacks with Steve’s parents (we both quarantined for 14 days first!).
I also finished reading my 27th book of the year! See my top seven books here.
2020 was our year of home: celebrating the centenary of our house and street, finishing our porch project, planting a garden, and trying new recipes. It was a year of lost opportunities and learning new things, waiting and wondering, savoring and simplifying.
As always, I’m grateful for what has been and hopeful (more than ever) for all that is to come. Cheers to 2021!
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