random stenbakken: 2020

Wow. What a year, eh? But you knew that already.

Here's an overview of our year. It won't take long. We didn't go far!

We did visit the mountains in February with our friends the Aakkos. Eric and Erik got to do some cross-country skiing there in Rocky Mountain National Park which is always fun. Erik and Eric also went on a hut-to-hut ski trip in Feb (that's like backpacking on skis, except instead of a tent, it's a really nice log cabin with real mattresses and cook stoves!).

In mid-March, I (Erik) went down to Tennessee to do some flooring work on our short term rental property there. Between when I left Denver and when I returned, almost everything changed. That's when 2020 really kicked into gear for us too.

Travel and vacation plans got shelved. Visits got postponed, and even simple things like going out to lunch with friends was impacted. That was only the beginning.

Covid Home Haircut

When the US hoarded toilet paper

Finn and Aubrey's schools switched to online learning. Finn loved it and thrived with the ability to work at his own pace (fast). Aubrey is more social and it was much harder for her. Besides, as a high school senior, her classes are substantially more challenging than Finn's 6th grade subjects ;-). As a senior, Aubrey has begun checking out colleges. She gets more mail than we do these days from colleges near and far trying to recruit her. She's visited Union College (with Mom last spring) and Southern Adventist University (with dad this fall). No decision yet there. Yes, Gelerie and I have fond memories of Union College and think highly of it now, but we're leaving the choice to Aubrey.

January, Finn's 11th Birthday!

August, Aubrey's 17th Birthday!

Gelerie had about a month of days off (unpaid) because of shutdown, and when there was work, there was very little of it because nearly all non-emergency surgeries were cancelled. Yes, she did have to intubate COVID patients. It is unsettling to launch a human into an intubated semi-coma so that they can fight for their lives with the help of a machine -- especially when they are a decade younger than us and were healthy till that point. As of now, she is back at work almost close to her normal 60% time (which is still about 30 hours/week). She has to wear an N-95 mask and face shield all day, every day. On arrival at home, she changes and showers immediately.

For those still wondering if the pandemic is real: yes it is. She's been a doctor for 21 years and been through 21 flu seasons. This is not "like the flu"; it is not a hoax.

Erik's work has all but disappeared. There is one client I still serve by doing a production once every other month. But other than that, my photo & video work has gone to about 5% of what it was. It wasn't even this bad in 2008-9. It was in the last recession of 2009-11 that we bought rental properties and I began rehabbing them.

In the spring of this year, I sat and took a hard look at the viability of photo/ video work in slow economic times and made a decision: I'm going to lean into real estate investing hard. Yes. I will continue to serve existing clients or new ones that fit my skillset (one acquires skills and gear in 24 years). But my time this year has been spent studying for my real estate license exam, analyzing potential investments, reading, and networking. This represents a major shift in focus for me and is not something that will end when the pandemic turns a corner. You can follow my journey on Instagram at @reiforthewin (rei = Real Estate Investing).

Our short term rentals took a major hit in the spring, then rebounded well over the summer and fall. Long-term rentals are holding on ok. Grand Lake area was devastated by the 2nd largest Colorado fire in history (193,812 acre fire). We are very fortunate that our houses were not damaged. The fires got to within 1/4 mile of our properties.

What does 2021 have in store? All we can say for sure is that we for sure do not know. We know how it ALL ends (see Revelation 21 for that). But between then and now, so many unknowns.

This has been a watershed year for us in many ways. Not just shifting how school works, losing work, refocusing careers, but also in our personal journey. We've seen things in our country, friends, and faith community we thought we'd never see. Some of them good things, some of them not.

We have chosen to seek an even deeper, more personal relationship with Jesus through all this. We believe that's the only trustworthy bearing for navigation. We invite you to a deeper personal relationship with Him too. If you don't know where to start, the book of John is a great one to see how God works relationally. Watch how Jesus interacts with people. If you'd like to see what God's idea of a kingdom looks like, the book of Matthew paints an amazing contrast between His kingdom and the kingdoms we think of and champion.

We cannot wait to re-connect with our friends again. Literally. We can not wait. Why wait? Drop us a line or call!

Instagram: @onlygelerie @erik.stenbakken

Other highlights this year.