2025: Still a Rough Draft
For long stretches, this year felt stagnant.
Not falling apart. Not dramatic. Just unfinished. The kind of year where progress is happening, but slowly enough that it’s hard to tell from the inside whether anything is actually changing.
Looking back, 2025 wasn’t empty. It was under construction. A year spent rebuilding pieces that don’t show much progress day to day, but add up when you step back far enough. It didn’t feel finished because it isn’t. It’s still a draft. But it’s one I actively worked on.
Rebuilding the Blog (and Returning to Writing)
I stopped writing and blogging in 2023. Midway through 2025, I decided to start again.
However, starting again meant starting almost from scratch, because when I quit blogging, I also lost my original domain and website. Years of work disappeared behind a broken link, and with it went a name and brand I had built over time. Starting again meant more than opening a blank document. It meant deciding what was worth rebuilding, and how.
Months before the blog relaunched, I was already working. Digging through archives. Recovering old posts. Sorting through years of writing. I bought a new domain that helped guide the focus going forward: sharing stories made out of ordinary moments.
Returning to writing mattered more than the site itself. Writing helped me process life as it was actually happening, even when I didn’t have clarity.
Relaunching the blog was nerve-wracking. Putting it back into the world felt vulnerable. The work had already been done by the time it went live, and it gave me a small sense of pride to see what I had built.
I rebuilt structure, categories, series, and templates from the ground up. I restored pieces I wasn’t ready to lose and let go of others that no longer fit.
It was tedious. Consuming. Time-intensive.
But it mattered.
The blog became a living archive again. Not because everything was polished, but because the story was being recorded while it was still unfolding.
Work, One Year In
I started my current job in December 2024, so the first part of 2025 was spent learning, adjusting, and finding my footing.
Somewhere along the way, I realized I had settled in.
When my one-year mark arrived, I felt steady enough to quietly celebrate it. I work with a great team. The environment is healthy. For the first time in a long time, my job isn’t something I’m bracing myself against.
Living Again
Somewhere along the way, I started leaving the house more.
Fall especially felt full. Farms for donuts. Fall festivals. A hayride. Weekends that didn’t feel so heavy.
Seeing friends again. Saying yes more often. Life started to widen.
I made a conscious decision to take back more control where I could. Working on my finances to build independence. Working on my health and weight loss. Some things still feel out of my control, but not everything does anymore.
Running, Together
This became the year I returned to running.
It wasn’t easy. Shin splints, soreness, frustration. Some weeks were strong. Others were humbling.
Both boys ran with me. Different paces, different abilities, the same goal. Running gave us something grounding to do together.
The bigger goal was the Turkey Trot. Every year, we've done the 2.5 mile race. Caleb wanted to do the longer route (4.4 miles!) together for the first time.
And we did.
We showed up side by side. I reminded myself that I can still return to things. I can still show up.
Health, Adjusted
Health was a mixed bag this year.
I live with POTS, and for the most part it stayed stable in 2025. I still experience occasional dizziness when standing, and I had one flare during a minor medical procedure, but overall it was very manageable this year. It does bring with it constant fatigue and a crazy heartrate, but all in all, I'm doing okay!
Summer brought more migraines than I’ve had in a long time. The second half of the year improved significantly after switching from Emgality to Qulipta.
Toward the end of the year, I also shifted focus back to weight loss, cutting back on sugar and making changes I could maintain. It's a work in progress... but it's still progress.
Money, With a Direction
Finances stayed a steady focus.
I continued paying down debt and saw huge improvements to my credit score. A large chunk of savings this year went to car expenses (see below), but I'm grateful to have a healthy emergency fund that made the car trouble less of an emergency than it would have been in years past.
I'm focusing on saving more in 2026 and getting out of debt. I made huge strides in 2025, and expect to have all cards completely paid off in the first half of the year. The goal isn’t perfection, though. It’s stability, options, and independence.
A New Car, Unexpectedly
At the beginning of the year, I put about $3,000 into repairs on my old Jeep.
When it needed another major repair soon after, I caved, and in August, bought a 2022 orange Chevy Trailblazer. The color I wanted.
I hadn’t had a car payment in years, and now I do. But I’m paying for peace of mind. My Jeep was in rough shape and always felt like it was on its last legs. I was nervous driving it, especially towards the end.
On the plus side: for the first time ever, I have Apple CarPlay. Heated seats. A car that starts every time and gets me where I need to go without anxiety. Comfort ended up mattering more than I expected.
The Boys' Year
This was a big year for both boys.
Caleb is in his second year of band, playing French horn, and also continued with chorus and piano. He was named Musician of the Month two years in a row and selected to play in Solofest — accomplishments that reflect both his talent and his quiet dedication.
Holden "played" soccer again and grew socially in ways that mattered just as much. Friendships strengthened, confidence grew, and birthday party invitations became a regular part of the year.
We also shared more together as a family: bingo nights, movie nights at school and at the theater, and Take Your Kid to Work Day. Ordinary moments, but the kind that stick.
Halloween was soggy this year. Wet costumes, damp shoes, rain threatening to ruin the whole thing, and yet, it was still ours. We walked anyway. We laughed anyway. The boys still cared more about candy and being together than the weather, and that felt like a small win tucked inside an otherwise ordinary night.
And then Christmas came, and somehow, it still felt magical for them. They both still believe. I don’t know how many more years we’ll get like this, how many more times the magic will land so easily, without effort or explanation.
They’re growing fast. Taller. Louder. More independent. I see it everywhere now, even in the way the year moved.
Best of the Blog
- One Kick Per Season (One Minute Memoir): Holden “playing” soccer in his own offbeat way. He never touches the ball, but he shows up fully himself, and that somehow ends up being the whole point.
- Racing in the Dark: A night at the track where speed didn’t matter. We all ran different paces, Holden made a friend, and for a few laps, we were simply there together.
- Run Through It: Rain, resilience, and the quiet ways determination gets passed down. Caleb runs through the rain; I remember running through snow years earlier.
- On the Cusp: A reflection on that bittersweet middle space of parenting: not little anymore, not yet big, and how you often don’t realize you’re standing there until you’ve already moved past it.
- The Hurricane and the Heart: On raising Holden, the child who never quiets and never stops loving. A piece about loud joy, constant motion, and the kind of love that takes up space and asks you to make room.
- Level 3, Row E (One Minute Memoir): A short piece about driving into a parking garage despite fear, and the quiet courage it takes to show up even when your body insists you shouldn’t.
Closing
2025 felt like a rough draft while I was living it.
It wasn’t a year of big reveals or clean endings. It was a year of adjustment, persistence, and quiet progress that didn’t always announce itself in the moment. Looking back, I can see how much was actually happening beneath the surface.
I’m not done. I’m not behind. I’m not starting over.
I’m building something in real time, piece by piece, page by page, letting the story exist even before I know how it resolves.
I’m still becoming. And that’s enough to carry forward.
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