Good morning everyone, Merry Christmas Eve!  As 2020 winds to a close, I wanted to share 10 things I am thankful for this year.  I hope you can relate to some of these things and have other things you are thankful for as well.  If you want, please share what you are thankful for in the comments.  Without further ado, here is what I am thankful for in 2020:

Laura

It goes without saying, but I am very thankful for my wife, Laura.  She has been my constant stay at home companion and has made this year special.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  I’ve enjoyed watching TV shows, Hallmark movies, BBQing and making dinner, baking cookies, going for walks around our neighborhood, helping me with puzzles, and much more.  I am also very proud that she finished her Masters Degree this year.  She is incredible and I love her so much.

Family

We are fortunate that we were able to see Laura’s family several times this year for home cooked meals, birthday celebrations, and (smaller than usual) holidays.  I really enjoyed our family trip to Lake Tahoe over the summer.  We also visited my family in Southern California and spent quality time at Balboa Island and enjoying some of my favorite restaurants.

Health

We are very fortunate that we have remained healthy and safe this year, along with out loved ones.  I hope we can all stay heathy until we receive the vaccines.

Jobs

We are also fortunate to have jobs that allow us to work remotely and enjoy the work we do each and every day.  Part of me likes my 5 second commute to our home office, but I also miss seeing my friends at work.  Hopefully we will return to the office sometime next year.

Travel with Grant

I am also thankful that TWG has continued to bring me joy and excitement whenever I write blog posts.  I love interacting with blog readers and appreciate your emails, comments, and Twitter DMs every day.  Thank you for reading and your continued support of TWG!

Road Trips

Like I mentioned earlier, we did a few road trips this year to visit family in SoCal, visit Carmel / Monterey for weekend getaways, and a fun-filled week to Lake Tahoe.  It looks like road trips are in our future for the first few months of 2021.

Travel in January & February 2020

I’m glad I was able to get on a plane and travel at the very beginning of 2020.  I enjoyed flying down to SoCal to watch the Super Bowl game, fly to Las Vegas with my brother to do some desert hiking and watch the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and then fly down to SoCal again for my cousin’s wedding at the end of February.  Hopefully I will get on a plane again soon.

New Credit Cards & Pandemic Benefits

In 2020, we added 5 new credit cards to our family and racked up 40K Alaska Airlines Miles, 45K Wyndham Rewards Points, 60K Delta SkyMiles, 125K IHG Rewards Points, and 5 Marriott Free Night Certificates.  We don’t have any immediate plans for the miles, but we will put the hotel points and free night certificates to good use in 2021.  Thanks to credit card companies for making big improvements to their credit card benefits and allowing us to use our travel credits for restaurants, grocery stores, wireless charges, shipping expenses, and new Dell gear.

Stimulus Money & Home Refinance

Thanks to the stimulus money we received in 2020, we were able to refinance our home mortgage to a lower monthly payment.  I had no idea how much work a refinance required and thought it would be a quick and easy process (it was anything but quick and easy).

Gardening & Indoor Plants

I put my green thumb to good use this year and enjoyed spending time in our garden.  It was very relaxing watering the plants, watching flowers bloom, hearing the bees hard at work, and picking some of our home-grown lemons and tomatoes.  Since the weather is freezing (for Northern California standards), I enjoy watching our indoor flowers bloom and look forward to Spring when I can plant next year’s flowers, plants, and herbs.

What are you thankful for this year?  Let me know in the comments section.  Have a Merry Christmas, a happy New Years, and a joyful holiday season!