Happy New Year! 2020 in Review

As we kiss 2020 goodbye, there are plenty of things I – and most of the world – wish we could leave behind. City shutdowns, quarantine, masks, and social distancing are all terms we are sick of hearing. Unfortunately, it looks like they will be staying with us in 2021 for a while, but hopefully the end is in sight! Even though this year was a weird one, I can\’t say it was ALL bad.

I\’ve been saying for months that I feel like I need an actual vacation, and even though that probably won\’t be happening anytime soon, at least I was able to go on one nice vacation this year: Disney! We were able to sneak in this trip at the end of February, right before Covid hit hard. I\’ve always loved going to Disney, and I don\’t think it matters how old I am, I will always feel like a little kid when I\’m there. I was able to go with my parents and my brother, and we had a wonderful week exploring and eating all kinds of food!

Shortly after we returned from Disney, I was let go from my job at Persona. Covid was raging and businesses all over the place were taking a hit. While I was pretty bummed about it when it happened – it WAS the second time I had lost a job after all – it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I didn\’t hate my job at Persona, but I didn\’t find the people to be particularly nice to work with, and even though I was working in marketing (what I went to school for) researching competitors for sign manufacturers just wasn\’t very interesting. After being unemployed for almost four months, I was fortunate to find a job at Lake Area Tech, and I\’ve loved it ever since. From day one, I\’ve felt like I was part of a family, and even though it can be frustrating at times, I do really enjoy my job. It\’s fun, I\’m able to work with lots of great people, and I\’m able to let my creativity shine. I can\’t wait to continue to learn and see what I can do at LATC!

I signed up to run two half marathons this year, and both of them ended up being virtual. 🙁 While I am glad that a lot of WARC members also signed up for these races, and I had someone to run with me both times, I\’m definitely looking forward to getting back to REAL races this year! And I can\’t wait to gear up for marathon training in a few months!

One new thing I tried this year, I was able to participate in my first ever solo mini triathlon. They were able to hold this one in person, but spaced us out and capped the race at half capacity. I\’ve been wanting to try doing a mini tri by myself for a few years now, and this year I finally did it. AND I already want to do it again this year. It was SO much fun and I\’m excited to see if I can do even better this time.

Due to the pandemic, and a lot of places being closed around town, I was able to spend a lot more time outdoors. This was my first summer living at the lake, and it was so perfect. Dan and I went out and kayaked a few times, and almost every day we were out there letting the dogs swim around.

While we weren\’t able to go on any big vacations after Covid hit, Dan and I did go camping one weekend, and he took me to Sica Hollow for the first time! Can\’t believe I\’ve lived in SD for most of my life, and I had never been there before this year. It was beautiful, and I had my very own wildlife expert with me to tell me what everything was.

Now that I live in SD again, and Molly and Tanner finally have their own place together, I\’ve been able to come visit them a lot more often. As I write this, I\’m down in Tyler hanging out with them! My sissy is my best friend, and I\’m so glad I\’m able to spend more time with them now. We try to take adventures when we can get away from the farm, but otherwise we just hang out and eat lots of good food!

And finally, 2020 brought me the best gift of all: Dan!! We\’ve been together for most of 2020, and we made the most of the weird year together. We watched lots of movies, both at home and at the theater; took countless walks together; made time to see each other as often as possible, even if it was only for half an hour at a time; and he introduced me to the world of hunting! I\’ve never hunted before, and even though he doesn\’t trust me with a gun yet (I tripped and fell down twice when he took me pheasant hunting, so I can\’t really blame him) it\’s been pretty fun to experience it and see him get in the zone. He is very passionate about hunting, and I love seeing how much fun he has with it. I can\’t wait to make many more memories in 2021 with my favorite fella!!

It\’s so easy to absorb ourselves with all the bad things going on around us, but I\’m sure almost everyone can find SOMETHING about 2020 that was pretty amazing. Despite everything, I can\’t really complain about where I\’m at in life right now. I\’m happy, and I\’m very excited for all the things 2021 will bring. Here\’s to the New Year!!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger