I think this is a perfect song for 2020.
It's been a hard year - personally and communally - but even in the midst of all the pain and suffering, God is still sovereign, loving, and kind.
Christmas 2020 Style
When life was normal, Christmas was a multi-day, multi-family extravaganza! Obviously, nothing is normal about this year, so we had to make new ways to celebrate...and so we did! It was a bittersweet day for me, being the first Christmas without Dad, so it felt quite fitting that nothing about it was "normal." He very much loved the holidays and all the family-time that came with them. He was certainly in our hearts each moment of the holiday.
A masked visit with mom was a blessing to all of us!!
Jadey Bear enjoyed Christmas morning!
We even managed a little Christmas Eve talent show!
It’s the Little Things
Today, the little thing we are thankful for is at-home Covid spit tests. Available for FREE to all Minnesotans!
Click here to get your own! It takes about 2 days to arrive. Once you take the test, you get the results in about 48 hours.
Friday Fotos
Crazy week which entailed getting a new phone, so Friday Fotos are primarily selfies 😂
Big Day
Lost in the shuffle of holiday preparations, we had a BIG day here at the Johnson house!
This girl
Emily, aka dearest child number 5, graduated with her Associates Degree from Normandale. We are so, so incredibly proud of her hard work. She even made the Dean's list every single quarter there! Even though there isn't an in person commencement ceremony, we want to celebrate her accomplishments here!
She will be taking a little time off from school to earn money for the next stage of her education. She plans on pursuing a bachelor's degree in special education in the not-too-distant future.
Congratulations, Emily! You are amazing!!
Friday Fotos
I think Friday will be my day to post random pictures from my week. Maybe I’ll offer explanations, but maybe I’ll just do a visual “highlights” post.
It’s been a good week!
Decision Fatigue
I am suffering from a serious case of decision fatigue! You know, when you have to make so many decisions each day that your brain just refuses to make any more.
On top of the normal, what should I wear, what should I cook for dinner decisions, how will we juggle three cars between five drivers? Now we have - where can I safely go, who can I safely see, what mask goes with my outfit? Okay, that last one has NEVER crossed my mind...until now.
This is a problem today because...CHRISTMAS!
I have to make decisions about presents!! Yikes! This has literally caused me to freeze in my tracks. It doesn't help that we don't even know what we are doing for Christmas. Who will we see? Where will we see them? How are we going to eat all our favorite Christmas food stuffs if we aren't all together? What will I do with the plethora of stocking stuffers I am rapidly accumulating in my basement if I don't get to see these people?
Anyone else having a hard time completing their Christmas shopping this year? My misery would love company!
Musical Monday
I feel like Monday is a good day to post lovely music, so hear is a link to a truly beautiful song. Enjoy!
I'm Baaaaaaack!
Just when you and I both thought I would never blog again, along came 2020 and, just like the pandemic, here I am!
No doubt some of you are wondering "Why?" Why start blogging again after all these years? It has been six years since I blogged regularly and a lot has changed here in my little "zoo" and everywhere else. In those six years, I occasionally had a thought or two that I might want to share, but then life moved on and it was forgotten. Then my dear sister-in-love, Monica, encouraged me to start up the blog again, and here I am!
For my first post, I thought I would catch you up on the past six years...
Let's see...
Maybe this is best done in bullet form -
- My kids all got older, but Chris and I stayed surprisingly young 😉
- Evan and Erin have given us two beautiful granddaughters (with a grandson on the way!)
- Molly got married to Danny after dating for almost forever
- Nina started her career as a massage therapist (she is the best massage therapist I've ever been to - and that is a completely unbiased opinion)
- Nina moved out
- Aidan & Emily both graduated from high school, but are both still living at home
- Marcus is in public high school (Junior)
- Raelea is still homeschooled (Sophomore) and has taken up the violin
- Zoe is in public middle school (8th Gr)
- I bought a house in Minneapolis that I run as a short-term rental (Airbnb, VRBO)
- We traveled around before the pandemic shut that down (England, Scotland, Italy, Ireland, and various parts of the US)
I am sure a lot more has happened, but for now the above list will suffice. And now for good measure here's a picture from our Christmas tree hunting today.
Welcome back!
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