Staying close while socially distant in 2020

So 2020 was not quite the year any of us expected. But we know we are blessed because we all are healthy and have each other. We missed visiting our families, and doing all the things we normally get to do. But it was still a busy year! 

Caroline is closing in on her master's degree at Grand Valley State University, where she plans programs in the Student Life Department. She was able to go to Denver in February and helped plan and worked at a national student activities conference.

She had a neat summer job, working with the orientation program at George Mason University, which is just outside Washington, D.C. It wasn't quite what she anticipated, with Mason transitioning the program to be conducted virtually. But she enjoyed the experience, learned a lot, and gained a ton of GMU swag. 

Caroline had a fall internship with Grand Rapids Community College's Honors Program, where she works closely with student ambassadors. She'll continue working with GRCC in the spring.

Caroline was active during the election year. We attended a Grand Rapids rally for Bernie Sanders and she was selected to be part of the human backdrop. You can see her near the senator's hand holding the microphone. Caroline volunteered for a congressional campaign and was a poll worker -- a pretty tough job, we learned -- during the August and November elections. Her good friend Matt works in the State Senate.

This fall, she also organized a virtual conference for Student Life leaders from colleges and universities across the state, with about 50 people participating. GVSU posted an article about her adventures. 

Andrew and Aubrey had a pretty exciting event, too! They purchased a home with a lot of character near downtown Traverse City. It's a beautiful resort town in Northern Michigan.

They are quickly learning about home repairs, adding a new furnace almost immediately and discovering some other challenges. But it's a really neat house with a ton of nice features, and we know they will both enjoy making changes and turning it into a special home. 

Aubrey and Andrew are excited about their first home!

Andrew is a social worker and Audrey is a speech pathologist for local school districts, and they are able to do their work from home and keep safe. 

They did enjoy a nice trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, exploring Marquette and the Pictured Rocks. The UP is a good place for social distancing.

Julie and Dave also headed up north for a nice weekend in Petoskey, a bayside town famous for its Petoskey stones -- fossilized fragments of coral reefs that are Michigan's official state rock. 

We found a real Petoskey stone -- and spectacular sunsets!

Finding a real Petoskey stone in Petoskey is on the Michigan resident checklist, and we found one on the beach relatively quickly -- and ran into some former co-worker friends from the Flint Journal! 

Julie also found an acclaimed yarn shop, which is on her checklist wherever we travel. 

We both still enjoy working at Grand Rapids Community College, telling the story of West Michigan's best choice for credits for degrees or transfer or in-demand career skills leading to rewarding jobs. We are always on message. 

Julie has been able to work at home, and Dave is often at home, much to the chagrin of Tug, the cat, who is slow to adapt to changed schedules. 

Tug feels the need to be a co-worker and take part in various meetings.

Dave, faced with a summer nearly entirely void of baseball games to attend, turned to farming. Farming, we learned, is all about the cool hats, along with planting stuff. 

Our home farm harvest included two pumpkins, several butternut squash, corn, tomatoes and asparagus. He had a work farm, too, taking over some planters outside his office. Not everything we planted yielded produce, so we might need more hats next season.

Julie's big work project, the GRCC Foundation annual report, earned a Gold Medallion Award from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations, an organization for community college communications teams. The GRCC team earned eight district awards and one national award -- and Julie had the only gold!

Nephew Zack Horve had a big year! We traveled to Illinois in early March to see his Eagle Scout ceremony. Then Uncle Dave was able to meet up with Zack, Aunt Kris and Uncle Jeff in Indiana to see Zack pitch a complete game victory. He started his freshman year at Augustana College, studying biology, playing baseball and brewing coffee.

Julie also spent a lot of time with her mom as she recovered from surgery. We are glad Mom lives nearby, and we enjoyed a night watching the Professional Bull Riders prior to the shutdown. 

We snagged some sweet seats to see the bulls! 

We know this has been a very difficult year for so many. And we are disappointed we spent holidays apart and could not visit our Florida family -- though it was nice to virtually watch John and Ray get married and nephew Zack Horve graduate high school, and give the valedictorian address! 

Andrew and Aubrey joined us for Thanksgiving.

We are so proud Caroline, Andrew and Aubrey, impressed that they aren't discouraged by the pandemic and always look forward. We hope that this holiday season finds you happy and healthy. We are ready to ring out 2020. But it did help us focus on what and who is important, and take stock of all our blessings. Here's to a safer, more peaceful 2021.

We would love to hear from you! Everyone is on Facebook, and you can drop us a line at dmurray08@comcast.net.