2020 Is Over (Finally)

It’s been an insane year, to say the least.

With the pandemic still in full-swing, it almost seems impossible that 2020 is finally over. We’ve been dealing with the COVID chaos for over nine months now — hard to believe, right?!

Even though December is here and 2021 is impending, it’s hard to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. The uncertainty surrounding the pandemic makes it hard for us to plan much of anything for early 2021.

That’s not stopping me from trying though.

I think this New Years will be so different from the past years for a lot of reasons, with COVID certainly being at the top of that list. I’m not sure if any of you guys are making Resolutions or what your 2021 goal setting looks like, but I’m definitely working on mine right now.

I’d like to get a little more serious with my business, Kristan Buck Creative, and also focus more on my marriage.

Those are super vague goals, I know. I’ll probably elaborate in another post as we get closer to the new year. But today, I actually want to focus on 2020, and do a mini review of all the things that happened in my life and business.

Here’s a recap of what took place in 2020, good and bad.

Three (!) of my sisters got married.

My family has been commenting on the fact that we’ve technically had four weddings this year. (Even though Seb and I got married in 2019, we had our official wedding ceremony this past summer.) Three of the engagements took place this year as well, so nobody wasted any time in tying the knot soon afterward.

One of my older sisters got remarried, and both of my younger sisters got married. While I was only able to attend one of the three weddings (one occurred just a few days after I gave birth to Teagan, and another was in Arizona), it has been great to add three new brothers to the clan.

Two of my sisters got pregnant.

Two of the three who married this year are also expecting! One is due in January, the other in late February/early March. Both are having girls — yay! This will make it 3 boys and 3 girls as far as our parents’ grandchildren count goes. (Editing to add: The sister due in January gave birth on December 21st!)

Our grandma passed away in May.

A strange coincidence/story with this one. When I was 35 weeks pregnant with Elsie, my dad’s dad passed away. When my dad’s mom passed, I was 35 weeks pregnant with Teagan.

I have joked with my family that it’s a good thing I’m not having any more children, because someone else would probably die if I did. (It’s not funny, but sometimes you have to have a dark sense of humor to cope with death of a loved one.)

We had a mini family reunion in August.

Save the COVID lectures, please. Seb and I had our wedding at the end of August after postponing it three months. We cut our guest list down to only parents and siblings (and respective spouses/kids), so there was less than 30 of us total in attendance. Nobody was positive, and nothing was spread.

The biggest reason we had everyone come together was so we could get some family portraits. I’m so glad we did too — I now have a 2′ x 3′ canvas of our big family photo hanging in our living room. I was able to put together an album of just family photos, and one of the wedding ceremony. It was great to have a mixture of both, and with both Teagan and Elsie in them.

Speaking of Teagan, he made his appearance in June!

I was right on the money when I guessed his birth date. Though he was not due until July 7th, I guessed that he would be born the week of June 22nd through 29th. He arrived (by emergency induction) on June 24th.

Elsie started pre-school in August.

Our little girl is growing up so fast! She has been learning so many new things every week, it’s crazy. Some days I look at her and wonder where my baby went. She’s her own little person now, and it blows me mind how quickly she is learning new skills.

Elsie has a fairly strong grasp of logic, and is getting good at explaining her feelings. Her memory skills are top notch for a toddler, and her language has always been hella advanced so it’s no surprise that she’s using complicated phrases and words that most kids her age wouldn’t.

Elsie turned 3 in October.

We got her to start pre-school a year early, actually. She’s potty trained (except during naps and bedtime) so even though she missed the age cut off by almost three months, they let her in early. But honestly, you wouldn’t even know she’s so much younger than her classmates because of how smart she is!

Sebastian and I both celebrated our 28th birthdays.

It’s a little weird to think we’re not even 30 yet, but also weird that we’re so close to 30. Some days I feel so old. But then other days I feel like I’m still a kid myself. No complaints here about it, it’s just a strange age to be honestly.

Sebastian and I also celebrated our one-year anniversary in October.

2020 has definitely been a shit show as far as the world is concerned. But my world has been absolutely incredible. I could not have asked for a better life partner. I am just as in love with Seb today as I was 10 years ago. In fact, I’d dare to say I’m much more in love with him now.

It feels unreal that I am married to a man as wonderful as Seb. I look at him and am instantly filled with warmth, and this sense of security and safety washes over me. Being in such a stable, healthy, and happy relationship has truly changed my life. On my dark days, he is the light that leads me; on my sad days, he is the comfort that consoles me.

I signed my first client in November.

The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of work. While I’m typically a workaholic anyway, I have kept myself even busier than usual with client work. Thanks to some personal recommendations from someone I consider a mentor and friend, I have been able to jumpstart my business with my first few clients.

Overall, 2020 hasn’t been the worst year.

Personally, I have definitely been through many worse years. I’d say 2012 and 2015 probably tie for first place as far as my worst goes, with 2010 trailing closely behind.

In many ways, 2020 has been even better than 2019. Despite the pandemic, there has been far more good than bad that has come out of this year. And I wouldn’t change any of it if I could.

Pandemic aside, what has 2020 looked like for you?