Reflections

Lookie here. Two months in a row. Miracles do happen.

A couple of months into the pandemic, I was interviewed by one of my childhood besties (Alison Burns-Jackson) for her podcast, 10K Dollar Day. (You can check the interview out here.) It’s a comedy podcast based on imaginary, luxury travel. Alison and Lulu Picart came up with the idea while struggling to make ends meet as starving artists in NYC years ago. They would find themselves sharing dirty diner meals over conversations about what they would do if they had $10,000 to spend on anything they wanted. What started as a fun game turned into what is now a very hilarious and clever podcast. Y’all. So clever. So many podcasts out there, and I haven’t came across anything similar. During the latter part of 2020, they did a travel web series where they traveled the country with a video camera in hand, making pit stops in several different parts of the U.S.—including Arkansas!—featuring local businesses along the way. To dive into all of the things…click here!

I had one goal in 2020—and that was to practice and reflect more on gratitude. I was very pregnant with the tiniest half-Swede, and the new-born stage (for me) can be very trying and tiring. Please tell me I’m not alone. I assumed adding a toddler to the mix would not make it any easier. Correct Assumption. Since it’s easy to lose sight of the joyful moments that tend to be intertwined in the hard days and sleepless nights, I decided I needed to jot down things I was grateful for as a daily reminder. So I did. For 365 days. Little did I know a pandemic would soon hit, and being mindful of the little things is what would carry me through.

A month into 2021, and I already find myself thumbing through my gratitude journals reflecting on 2020, laughing at some of the things I wrote down. Some days my gratitude was rooted from emotional experiences….others I was just thankful to have m&ms in one hand and coffee in the other. 😆 And on super special days…I was just grateful to have survived. 🤪 Here are a few noteworthy excerpts from 2020…in no particular order:

🍪Trade Joe’s Cookie Butter Sandwich Cookies—How had I not had these before 2020?!?! I mean the cookie butter is good, but these were surprisingly even better. Then again…what do you expect when you add cookies to cookies? 🤓

📚Greenlights—If you haven’t read Matthew McConaughey’s memoir, let me add that to your list. Whether you are a fan of the heartthrob or not, you will appreciate his openness and honesty of how he got to where he is today. He’s a good storyteller anyways. Don’t read the book, you need to listen to the audio version. Put your ear buds in, and take advantage of Audible’s free trial. He narrates it himself, and it’s like you are in kindergarten again sitting in a circle on the floor during story time eagerly listening to the teacher portray different voices as she/he animates each line with over exaggerated hand gestures and accompanying facial expressions. Green light.

🍷Bread & Butter— Even though I sometimes pretend to be, I am more than likely nowhere near knowledgeable enough to give an intelligent wine review. BUT, I have sampled enough to tell you that if you like a good cab or pinot—at a great price point—you should give Bread & Butter a try. Unintelligence at its finest.

🎙Podcast Interview—Catching up with besties is always good for the soul. See above.👆🏻 (Check out the interview here.) PS…Alison & Lulu are also both amazing singers. Broadway and all of that amazing. Maybe I can pull the bestie card and get them to do a Facebook/Instagram Live with me and share all of their amazingness. 💡🤔

🏠Home Renovations—This is two-fold. It was a huge added stressor to our 2020, but after the fact, they were well worth it. And they are over. For the most part.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Extra Family Time—I think a lot of us can agree that this too can be two-fold. But…I will probably never spend as much time with The Swede and two littles as I did in 2020. No big vacations. Very little outings. Many conversations. Lots of learning and growing–on all sides.

📺Ozark—This show. It’s so disturbing on so many levels, yet I couldn’t stop watching. Go ahead and put it in your Netflix queue. You will thank me later.

🏕Big Cedar Lodge—Speaking of Ozark, Big Cedar Lodge–located in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri–was mine and The Swede’s BIG 1️⃣0️⃣ getaway. Covid shifted our 10-year anniversary trip plan, but several months into the pandemic, any kid-free getaway sounded like a dream vacation.🤩 Highly recommend going in the fall!

📱💻 All of the technology! Grocery delivery with a click of an app, FaceTime Happy Hours, Zoom meetings from your couch…Throwing that sweater on over your pjs…Am I right?!

👶🏼Our Sweet Charlea girl—Definitely our greatest joy from 2020. So, maybe I did save the best for last. 💜🦄

Side Notes:

• January 6, 2021 will unfortunately be another day that will be added to the history books. I pray for the people that raided our nation’s Capitol that day. And I pray that we as a nation don’t let such a small percentage of our country’s population defame our name and represent who we are as a whole. 🇺🇸🗽❤️

• Dolly Parton recently turned 75 years old and doesn’t look a day older than she did 30 years ago. #Goals. Here’s to fake boobs, face lifts, and fabulous wigs.

• Speaking of Birthdays…Betty White just celebrated 99 years. 99 years old. That’s a lot of years. Beside starring in one of the best sitcoms from the 80s and 90s, in 1941 she put her modeling/acting work on hold and served in WWII as a member of the American Women’s Voluntary Services. Dear Betty…Thank you for being a friend.

• 22 years and 6 presidential elections later, The Swede can finally vote. 🇸🇪🇺🇸❤️

Big Hugs. Lots of Love.

Pardon My Thoughts