2020 Best Nine

I somehow skipped last year but I’m happy to be sharing my best nine from 2020 today! It is truly impossible to sum up 2020 with any combination of social media posts. It was a year of many lows and challenges for all of us. This year, more than any other year in my recent past, was spent with my immediate family. There was less travel than I had planned and MUCH more time at home, but these photos do reflect a few highlights:

Letters Are Lovely | 2020 Best Nine
  • This year I worked from home from mid-March through December. While there isn’t an end in sight to this WFH life yet, there were some amazing projects and learnings that came from re-imagining my daily work life. Pictured is chalk art I created for Hallmark spreading positivity in a time where we needed it more than ever!

  • This year Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected! While a highlight, there is still much work to be done and divisive challenges to work through. There is also a vital need to keep up the work led by the Black Lives Matter movement.

  • Dale and I celebrated five years of marriage! Our plans were to spend a week in Santa Fe. While that trip didn’t happen our outdoor appetizers at Campground and outdoor dinner at Plate in KC were just as special.

  • Dale matched at KU Med for his Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship! I’m so proud of all the work he has put in over many years to get to this point in his career. It is an unbelievably strange year to match in Pulm Crit Care and he amazes me every day with his dedication to his patients.

  • I was still able to participate in some amazing extra projects for Hallmark this year! They included helping with this mural for Children’s Mercy Hospital led my my friends Meredith and Matt. It was a much needed bit of normalcy to work on a creative group project (safely outside!).

  • My grandparents (Grammy & Pop) celebrated 60 years of marriage!! This is one of the days I’m most grateful for this year. So much work went into safely celebrating with our family this summer and I will never forget it!

  • My sister Sophie got engaged to the best guy, Alex, this year! I can’t wait to be a matron of honor in her wedding next summer and helping her find her dress was another highlight of 2020!

  • Dale and I managed to take a road trip to Colorado in September. I’ve shared lots of photos here on the blog and it was an amazing escape from reality for a week. I know that I will forever be extremely grateful for any opportunity to travel after this year.

  • We also fit in a sister staycation in Brookside this summer! I had really been missing the pool this summer so we rented an Airbnb in our neighborhood that had a pool and had the best day swimming, relaxing, and playing Catan.

The moments that aren’t pictured really are hard to sum up. Covid changed all of our lives significantly and while the year ended with Dale receiving the first dose of his vaccine those who have lost family and friends this year have been on my mind a lot. I hope that we can stay strong through 2021 in order to save lives and see a much different recap of this coming year!


Christmas Tree 2020

This year my family masked up and headed to Fulk Farms to pick out our Christmas trees! Kaldi joined us and we loved walking though all the trees. Dale and I finally picked a tree that was the right size for our living room (not too small this year!) and I love how people driving down our street can see it through the front window. Have you decorated for Christmas yet?

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Letters Are Lovely | Christmas Tree 2020
Letters Are Lovely | Christmas Tree 2020
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Ptarmigan Lake Trail

Our trip went way too fast and our last day arrived before we knew it! Dale’s number one request was that we hike up to Ptarmigan Lake, and while it was a little longer of a hike than anticipated the view at the top was spectacular. I’ve never been to Colorado in the Fall and really loved getting to see the start of fall with the orange and red ground cover and yellow trees. I’m more grateful than ever that we had a chance to get on the road and visit somewhere new. None of my travel plans went as expected this year but it was SO nice to have the smallest bit of normalcy with a road trip. I hope you all are staying safe and have some adventures of your own (even at home!) planned for this Fall!

Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail
Letters Are Lovely | Ptarmigan Lake Trail

Buena Vista, Colorado

We spent the last half of our trip in Buena Vista, Colorado! Dale had been once before and I was really excited to spend a few days hiking and enjoying the hot springs. We arrived right after the sand dunes and immediately went in search of dinner before spending the evening relaxing at our apartment. We ate at Eddyline Brewery a couple times during our stay as well as at the beautiful Surf Hotel. I’m grateful there were a couple great outdoor dining options in town!

Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado
Letters Are Lovely | Buena Vista, Colorado

Our first full day in town was spent sleeping in, visiting the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, and driving through Cottonwood Pass. We were able to plan out our hikes for our last full day and truly relax, it was the best.


Great Sand Dunes National Park

After our time in Colorado Springs Dale and I headed to the Great Sand Dunes National Park! I’ve always wanted to visit and as we drove up I couldn’t believe how big the dunes were. Since we had plenty of time and the park was our main stop for the day we decided to hike up to the top of the dunes. I’ve never hiked through sand before and despite a few moments where I wasn’t sure I could make it the views from the top were more than worth it! However, my very favorite part was running down the dunes because the moving sand sort of propelled you forward as you ran. Checking off this national park and looking forward to the next one we have the opportunity to visit!

Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park
Letters Are Lovely | Great Sand Dunes National Park