Our Savior Reigns! – My Digital Christmas Card 2020

Hello Family and friends,

I thought I’d do a 2nd annual Christmas card on my blog here, enjoy!

It’s been a year, quite a year – but you already knew that so I’ll just start telling you what that meant for me!

January started off pretty normal, I was back to my sales job in the first week. I went to some youth group events. But then I went on a date with this guy names Nicholas (he’ll come up a few times in this letter 🙂 ). We would go on later that week to go to our first swing dance together. Later in the month I went to snow camp again with the youth group and it was (yet again) a successful year with more fun and polar plunges. I even finally got the chance to go cross country skiing with Laura! Despite both of us loving this sport for a large part of our lives it had always been in different contexts fo both of us, and I finally made it happen with her!

I kicked off February learning that Nicholas’ sister was running in the track event named after my Grandpa G at Bethel so we went to that together and enjoyed a dinner and Christian comedy (for New Life Family Services) with some of his good friends. In Februaty Nicholas and I got the chance to go to a super bowl party with his friends, and enjoy a Valentine’s dance with each other as well as a dinner with my family.

March 2nd has come to mean a lot as it’s the day Nicholas and I went official. We went downhill skiing for the first time just before the shut down. In March I also go the chance to spend time with work friends, cousins, Nicholas’ family, and even my senior highers j u s t before the shutdown. The youth group trip was an overnight to Des Moines from the 13th to the 14th, this and skiing on the 12 have been very interesting events to remember as they were the last things to happen in my life before the Great Shutdown as I like to call it.

The next month of time I spent mostly at my apartment, my sales job went remote and so did youth group, and church, and…well you get the point. I did get the privilege to spend a week with Nicholas’ family for a week during April though and goodness was this a nice change of pace even if I sat in the guest bedroom making my work calls during the day. Unfortunately on Thursday of that week I got the heartbreaking news that I had been let go from the company I was working for (to to COVID-19s effect on the company. It was hard and I struggled with the news but thankfully I got to spend the weekend after with Nicholas and my family. Not much else besides dates with Nick happened that month, but that was to be expected at that point as the world was still largely shutdown at that point.

In May there still wasn’t much happening for me, outside of job applications a little to much TV streaming, and weekends with Nick and my family. And a visit with a friend or two.

June I got in for a haircut finally, I went to the mall, I met Nicholas’ extended family at a day at the lake. I took a day trip to Duluth to visit my friend Brandon – who took the photo in the cover card, and I found some local parks to visit.

In July Nicholas and I visited my uncle Tim’s family with my family for the 4th and I am thrilled to say that I finally stayed up on one ski for the first time going around the lake! Nicholas and I also got to enjoy a trip inner tubing down the river with his friends.

In July I started making YouTube videos for a while to work on my filming, speaking, and editing skills as well as working on my on-camera presense. I made one each week for a few months, and then got busy with my church job. I’m hoping to get back to this sometime soon. )If you want to see my videos click here)

Come August we were off to Grand Marais on the 1st for our first vacation together to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Glader (we got to see Grandpa and Grandma Parkin on Mother’s day). We enjoyed hiking together, good food, and time in the yard by the bonfire with extended family.

That month I also enjoyed a trip to SeaLife (Underwater Worlds) with Nick, a double date with Becky and her special friends (a family inside joke referring to the person we’re dating) Caleb, having my friend Lydia over to my place, and a trip to Stillwater with Hope, Samantha, and Beelie (our Praxis friend from Utah).

In September I had the Parkin side over to my apartment so more of my family could meet Nicholas’. Went to an Apple Orchard with Nicholas and my family. I enjoyed the youth group being back in person and I started on church staff at GPC that month for both youth groups. The work is part time through the end of the school year and has been a fun endeavor already. At the very end of September Nicholas and I went to a Bible study with his friends Austin and Ari Hoeg Driver who told me about a job available at the place they work part-time, I applied and got the job I now also work as communications and staff support specialist at Hospitality Center for Chinese.

October brought swing dancing with friends (finally) a youth group retreat, and axe throwing with the senior high leaders. It also brought the chance for me to finally do a couples costume I’ve been waiting to do since middle of high school: Doctor Who and his companion Clara Oswin Oswald. Nicholas and I watched a few episodes and I got him as hooked as I am I’m pretty sure. But we were also invited to a murder mystery party with his friends so we (somehow) made our costumes do double duty and went as Dr. Jykell and a ghost of sorts to that.

Besides celebrating my birthday, Thanksgiving with my family ,and dates with Nick on the weekends, not much else happened in November. Don’t get me wrong all those things were great – my day to day was pretty slow with the shut down throughout the month. It’s been the same case for December so far. I am really excited for Christmas, time with my family, Nick’s family, and extended family in general.

That said Nicholas and I got to also enjoy time with his friends celebrating “friends Christmas”.

Can’t wait to see family and friends in 2021!

Much love to all my family and friends,

-Katherine “Katie” Glader

PS I’m moving back up to New Brighton next month to a two-bedroom unit with a roommate!