Grabbing a pen, I jot a list.
Lists are a great tool for processing, for gratitude, for soulful introspection, for recalling the good, for memories, for hopes and dreams.
The list of good lists is, well, quite a list! 🙂
No denying this year’s been different. But no denying there’s still been a whole heap of good in it.
God hasn’t missed a nanosecond of it, for starters.
I cross t’s and dot i’s and form a list of twelve things that were absolutely delightful for me in the year of our Lord, 2020.
I’m so grateful.
I’d love to hear your list!
No. 1
Aeropress coffee
Thanks to my niece and sister for changing our coffee life! They told me to try an Aeropress and I love it. I’ve been grinding my own coffeebeans and playing barista for my good farmer man and myself pretty much every morning since April.
No. 2
Hopewriters Tuesday Teachings
I’ve been a member of hope*writers for over two years and am so grateful for this community. Each Tuesday Emily P. Freeman interviews a person in the writing space and it’s so interesting to listen + learn. I look forward to Tuesday Teachings each week. It’s been part of my weeks and schedule for quite a while, but this year it was more meaningful to me.
No. 3
Event with Beth Moore, Melanie Shankle and Sophie Hudson
As soon as I saw this free event anounced, I signed up and lettered it onto my planner. This fun evening included so many of my long-time favorites. I enjoyed every minute and every bit of laughter in it.
No. 4
Olive + June and home pedicure
I placed my first order from Olive + June this summer. May I say I absolutely love their nail tools and the polish too? I still don’t make time to do my nails as often as I’d like, but I enjoyed upping my at-home pedicure game.
No. 5
Picnic lunches in the park with my favorite farmer man
I would ride along on farm errands this summer or pop into Dillons for groceries while my good farmer man would go to the auto parts store. Then we’d motor through a drive-thru for tacos or fries and find a table at one of our several local parks to eat our easy lunch.
It made me happy. As a kid, I would often go to the park with my parents. My sister and brother and I loved the curly slide and the SO-FANTASTICALLY-TALL slide. We’d ride the merry-go-round as it squeaked in circles and choose a swing in the shape of a duck or a seahorse or ladybug.
When I became the parent and had my own small people, we’d trek to the park to meet friends or swim in the kiddie pool. We’d drag scooters or ripsticks and wrack up mileage around the walking path.
No. 6
Riding my bike again on our dirt road
I haven’t felt confident about riding my bike for a while. Between my back/sciatica and twisting my foot badly a couple of years ago during a bike ride, I hadn’t been on my bicycle much. I was delighted to ride again this summer and autumn.
No. 7
JORD sent me a beautiful giftset, a watch and sunglasses, and offered a giveaway to my ADG comrades. It was super fun to host! I’m grateful for their sponsorship with us. This rose gold watch is so pretty and it makes me happy to wear it.
Hop over here to see more photos + links to more of their products.
AND…you can use the code adeligGPQOzu to save 20% at JORD.
No. 8
Hosting Send one/Receive One Book Exchanges
I hosted three different book exchanges using Instagram. Send a book and receive a book. I’ve done this before and was glad to host it a few times this year. It’s such fun. All that’s required is sending a favorite book to your recipient, but if you want and have time, you can add in other fun things. Hot tea, coffee, bookish things, stickers, chocolate, notepads, a mug, booksleeve, bookdarts, or any other fun things you want to bless your comrade friend with. I loved packaging up and sending a box on its way and eagerly anticipated the arrival from my comrade sending a book my way.
No. 9
Hutchmoot is a conference I’ve long thought would be neat to attend. Miles and money presented big obstacles. Besides the fact the tickets sell out at warp speed each year. This year Hutchmoot went virtual. {Surprising, huh? 😉 } Now, I wouldn’t choose the year to be as it has, but getting to attend Hutchmoot virtually was a definite positive. It’s very doubtful I would ever be able to attend it in person. I was deeply grateful for this opportunity.
No. 10

I was so happy to get to offer several beautiful Bible giveaways on ADG again this year. It delights me to get to review them, photograph them and share them with you.
No. 11
Box of books from Zonderkidz


Zonderkidz sent a box of children’s books to my doorstep and I was so pleased to sort through them and share them in my IG stories. Two of them pictured above! I adore children’s picture books and these were quite fun. The words and stories and illustrations. I love noticing all the details.
No. 12
Advent + The Quiet Collection + Shadow & Light
I have loved the peaceful cozy evenings of the Advent season this year. The twinkle lights and soft colors of the vintage ornaments on my Christmas tree glow warm and shine peace and hope. We’ve read aloud from Shadow & Light and listened to hymns and Christmas carols.
It’s been soulful and soothing.
I subscribed to Emily P. Freeman’s The Quiet Collection. It was ten days of short podcast episodes for Advent and Christmas. I’d get up each morning, sip my coffee, and listen to her soothing and thoughtful words.
