My first Saturday of posting in quite some time…but I’m going to try to post as many days as possible in January.
I saw this meme…
…which made me LOL!…but also inspired me to keep up with my blogging goal.
January has always been a favorite month of mine. It’s a fresh start and typically a much slower pace than November and December. To me, January is like exhaling on the deep breath I’ve been holding over the past couple of months.
How cute is this graphic? So cute and cozy.
In January, we have a bit more downtime, the house is reset back to normal, it’s my birthday month, and typically we have some chances for snow days!
This graphic is what I’m talking about:
This one is so cute too:
A few of my favorite points:
Starting a new hobby: You all–it might sound silly, but I’ve really enjoyed cross stitching these little ornaments over the past couple of weeks. I remember my mom cross stitching, and I would do little projects as a kid. It’s been a nice relaxing release.
First page of the 2026 calendar- It’s always hard going back to school after a couple of weeks off, but I do actually look forward to Monday, which is a teacher work day, to reset my classroom and turn the page on my desk calendar.
Lazy days, reading, tv- I’ve actually had a bit of those things over the past week, once Christmas was over…and I hope to continue those things in January and February.
Home decor refresh – Once all the Christmas decor is put up, it’s nice to get the “regular” decor back out and situation. That being said, we’ve lived in this house ten years, and I’m kind of “itching” to refresh a few things. I went to Home Goods yesterday and purchased a new paper towel holder and canisters for the kitchen. I also purchased new pillow covers for the couch…because Homer likes to put his head on a pillow, I tend to wash, but then refresh those slip covers a couple times a year. I honestly want to rearrange a few things too if it makes sense to do so…we’ll see.
Self-care: I will continue my monthly facials and my basement workouts. I enjoy walking and want to commit to going on walks during warmer weather days in December. I also want to try a few new workout classes, and my mom gave me a subscription to Headspace, and I will try to incorporate that into my daily routine.
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I enjoy following @parentingteensandtweens on Instagram, and I thought this was a good reminder for my teens:
I was lucky to get a “like” in the family group text, but maybe, just maybe, they read it!
How was your New Year’s Eve? We hung out with friends and actually stayed up until midnight, but overall, it was a low-key evening.
A few years ago, I participated in “Bloganuary” that WordPress hosted with topics every day. While I don’t think they host this anymore, I think I might challenge myself to blog every day in January. What I remember liking about Bloganuary is it was an opportunity to write about topics big and small. Sometimes, last year I felt like I had “writer’s block,” and I’d like to start the year strong.
I plan on sharing my regular content, but I hope to sprinkle in some random topics even if it provides for a short post. Now, once I get back to school, we’ll see if I can keep this up, but I’m going to try.
Last night, we had more of an informal New Year’s Eve. I’ve shared in the past that a few friends, who all live within a few houses of each other, started a progressive dinner years ago. Well, they expanded the invite to a few other couples, including us, a couple of years ago, and that’s been lots of fun.
This year, they/we decided to scale back and just host at one house an informal game night with pizza for people to come and go as they please.
We had lots of fun watching football, playing a few games, enjoying apps and pizza and just letting the kids come and go as well.
One thing that didn’t change was that one friend still organized the “words of the year” that we pull from a pretty jar. After we draw our words, we all go around and share them.
Here are my words for 2026:
Boundaries: I think I’m pretty good at setting boundaries…I feel like this is something that’s easier to do as we get older. If a situation or relationship isn’t serving me, I’m ok with saying no or letting that go.
Encourage:One thing about me is that I’m a pretty loyal person, and I think I do a good job encouraging my people. I’m in the “thick” of raising two teens, and I’m going to keep encouraging them through the ups and downs of life…and honestly, I’m going to keep encouraging myself to do things for myself and give myself grace.
Celebrate: Low-key celebrating, ok? I’m too old for much more than that. haha (That being said, my birthday is a couple of weeks away, and I’ve already started receiving birthday emails from my school district and places like Ulta, etc…I ‘ve got birthday coupons to spend, apparently!)
I always keep the three words in my bedside table every year, and it’s fun to look back on them and reflect on the year.
Hello and happy New Year’s Eve! Where oh where did this year go?!
Today, I’m taking a look back on 2025!
This year, I started “Monthly Moments” at the end of each month which I plan on continuing in 2026. I loved those little monthly snapshots, so I’m linking those in this post too.
January started off with lots of snow….we didn’t go back to school from winter break until January 16! We also celebrated my birthday in January. I appreciated the family time!
We finished the hall bathroom update, celebrated Mother’s Day, both kids got their driving permits, we had the last day of school, and Hadley ran in the state track meet.
Some highlights from June include pool time, our niece’s wedding in Louisville, going to KC, Trav and I celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary as well as Father’s Day.
In July, Hadley headed to camp, and we celebrated the 4th of July. Trav and I traveled to Michigan for a few days, and we went to our nephew’s wedding in Louisville.
September was a somewhat “simple” month focused around school and activities. I even squeaked in a couple more pool days, but also decorated for fall towards the end of the month. School pictures were in for sophomore year, and my dad came to visit.
We ended September kicking off fall break in Florida.
…and we’ve been spending the last few days of the year/break at home getting organized, watching movies, hanging with friends and more.
I love looking back on a year before ushering in a new one, and there was a lot to be thankful for this year. That being said, 2025 was pretty difficult as well…and I’m ready for a better 2026. I’m wishing the same for all of you too.
How was your Christmas? Ours was good and very uneventful. We had a fun Christmas Eve Eve and a lovely Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was just the four of us at home not doing much.
I can’t believe it’s already Friday. Why do the weeks of break seem to fly by?
I’m joining Andrea for the final Friday Favorites of 2025…
…to recap some of the favorite posts I’ve shared this year.
A few stats from the year:
Posts: 195 (it seems I blogged a bit less this year…probably due to the fact that in 2024, I posted every day in January for Bloganuary and the same in November of that year sharing gratitude posts). Anyway, still a great year of blogging for me!
Total words: just over 138K
Average words per post: 709
Best day: Friday, Best hour: 8 am
Most popular day: I think it will forever be March 14, 2023 with 931 views.
Most popular post in the past year: September 10th’s Let’s Look “managing teenage life” post.
Some all time stats include:
Views: 610, 963
Visitors: 158, 760
Posts published: 1,381
Countries: (This always blows my mind!) At least one person in 153 countries has read one of my posts. So crazy cool.
As I say every year, blogging is a hobby of mine, and I still really enjoy finding the time to share my thoughts and share a snapshot of my life. I’m still really grateful for those who choose to read my posts, ask me about my favorite books, comment and support me via links. Thank you!
New in 2025:
One thing new to my blog this year was I decided to recap the end of every month. Traditionally, I share a recap of the year, and I still plan to do a condensed version of that next week, but I loved the little snapshots of every month…
Now, on to some of my favorite posts from the year…
1.
With all the snow we got in January, it made me reminisce on snow days in the past.
2.
In February, I shared a few simple things that I love …
3.
SSYS is still where I find so many of my clothes, and I had fun sharing a Fashion Filespost all about what I’d been wearing that was SSYS.
4.
We had lots of fun in Isle of Palms, SC for spring break…
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5.
After the spring break recap, I shared what I wore on vacation. Of course, I over packed, so I like having this post as a reference for future vacays!
6.
I enjoyed writing the May Let’s Lookpost where we looked at wellness.
7.
I love a “recap” (can’t you tell?!), so I enjoyed writing a Teacher Talkpost about the end of the school year.
8.
We hadn’t done a “major” renovation/update project in a while, but I’m oh so thankful we *finally* tackled the hall bathroom. It went from drab to fab, and I still love it so much.
9.
May was just a really good month. The kids had track, and both got their driving permits. We finished the hall bath project, and we also finished the school year! We had a few other things going on as well, so I enjoyed writing that Monthly Momentspost.
10.
June’s Share Our Livestopic was to share unique things about where we live. I think Lexington has a lot to offer!
10.
In June, Trav and I celebrated our twenty year wedding anniversary. That’s hard to believe!
11.
In July, I had fun creating this this or that summer template and sharing my answers.
12.
4th of July is still one of my fave holidays, so this was a fun recap.
13.
Another favorite Share Our Lives post…all about vacation memories. I’m thankful we’ve been able to go so many places and show our kids so many different places as well.
14.
Trav and I traveled to the Lake Michigan area to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We’d always wanted to go, but we weren’t sure which town to visit. So, we visited four towns in our five days that we were gone. We loved Michigan and definitely hope to go back there sooner rather than later. (Part one, two and three)
15 and 16.
Right before the kids started their sophomore year of high school, I started thinking about when they were about to start kindergarten. I spent a day with each one doing things I thought they’d like to do. That was a sweet time for sure.
I can’t imagine living somewhere that didn’t have all four seasons. I love something different about each one, so that was a fun topic for Share Our Lives in September.
18.
The “unfortunately I do love” trend was all the hype on Instagram, so I loved writing this post about random things I love.
19.
We had another awesome fall break in Seaside, Florida with friends, and I always love writing those recaps. (one and two)
20.
Home from fall break, and immediately finished decorating for fall.
21.
Reading is one of my favorite things to do, so I loved sharing some of my reading habits.
22.
It’s really still hard for me to believe it, but the kids turned 16 in November. We had a nice family dinner, and then Hadley celebrated with her friends. Overall, I think they felt loved and celebrated!
23.
Just like with the fall, I look forward to the cozy Christmas decorations.
24.
I think Enneagram posts are fun, and my 5w6 tendencies were confirmed with this post.
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25.
I had a really great first semester of school, so I enjoyed writing this recap too.
These favorite posts were a fun way to look back on the year. I know the time between Christmas and the new year can be quiet in the blogging community, but I still have a couple more favorite posts to share next week…including recapping our Christmas and the books I read this year!
I hope you have a great weekend. I’m going to spend today trying to get this house back in order!
With the first day of the new year, I’m looking back on 2024 to share my “year in review.” These years seem to fly by, and it’s always fun to look back on all we did!
January:
I tend to take less pictures in January than any other month! It’s typically a slow month for us which is why January is a favorite month of mine.
We started off January thinking about my “words of the year” from our New Year’s Eve night dinner. Faith, forgiveness, growth…good focus for the year.
Another reason I love January…it’s my birthday month!
We had our first snow day in January which means I made snowman pancakes, per tradition.
“Snow pretty” haha
February:
The kids had their third cotollion dance in February. “Malibu Mingle” was semi-formal attire.
Trav and the kids went to Florida to cheer on our nephew as he ran an Olympic qualifying race.
I stayed home and my friend helped put the finishing touches on Hadley’s “room refresh” by putting up the wallpaper.
The Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and of course we were excited about that! I don’t want to jinx it, but we have our party prep down!
Of course, we celebrated Valentine’s Day.
Hayden’s 8th grade basketball season wrapped up. His time as a “baller” was officially over…another middle school milestone.
March:
We went to the Bailey Zimmerman concert in Cinci. This was the kids’ first concert, and he put on a great show.
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef, cabbage, and Irish soda bread.
Hadley had fun playing volleyball during club season.
April:
We celebrated Easter at the beginning of April…
…and then headed to Washington, DC for spring break. We had a fun few days touring the nation’s capitol.
We had one extra day of spring break thanks to the solar eclipse.
Hayden went to Louisville to run in the Eastern Relays meet.
Both kids had lots of track meets.
Trav and I went to Keeneland for the afternoon.
The kids dressed in more formal attire for their final cotollion dance.
Hayden ran in the Dream Mile in Louisville which was the top 15 8th graders in Kentucky.
While Hayden was running, Hadley was at the 8th grade dance with her friends.
May:
Travis and I went to the Oaks races with friends.
We celebrated Mother’s Day by going to church and then out to brunch.
Hadley’s club volleyball season wrapped up and they finished runner up in the tournament.
The 8th grade track season finished with both the city and state meets. Hayden holds the school record for the 800, 1600 and 3200 times and Hadley’s relay team holds the school record in three relays. The city and state meets were a perfect way to end their middle school running careers.
With the end of middle school came 8th grade graduation. The students had a wonderful celebration and then we went out to dinner.
The next day, they kids had a fun pool party with all of their friends.
June:
We were so happy to be out of school by June. We headed to KC for a few days. We went to the Royals game, and they had a huge come back win. It was nice seeing family and kicking off our summer that way.
Hadley went to camp and had the best time.
We celebrated Trav for Father’s Day.
Then, it was time for our trip to the Pacific Northwest…Oregon and Washington. We went to the Olympic Track Trials, saw the Oregon coast, stayed at a resort and toured Seattle. It was a trip we’ll always remember.
While in Oregon, Trav and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary.
July:
After a couple of days home, I went to KC to help dad after his knee surgery the first week of July. The kids celebrated the 4th as Hayden ran a 10k, and then Trav and the kids went to our spot to watch the fireworks.
When I got home, we celebrated Trav’s birthday.
Hayden had fun at running camp.
I spent a lot of time at the pool!
We celebrated Trav’s mom’s 75th birthday.
Hadley had volleyball tryouts, and was excited to make the team.
August:
Volleyball and cross country commitments cranked up. The kids had meets and games.
We all prepped to go back to school…
I tweaked our back to school breakfast/brinner to dinner at Ihop…and none of us were mad about that new tradition.
The kids started high school, and I started my 23rd year of education!
Trav and I went to the Larry Fleet concert in Lexington…on a school night!!
September:
By September, Hadley was in the thick of volleyball season.
Her team had a fun weekend in Tennessee at a tournament. Their freshman team placed high in the JV bracket, so it was a fun and rewarding experience.
Hayden ran Varsity in many competitive meets.
The kids went to more Kentucky football games then Travis and I did. haha
At the end of September, we had bad storms and lost one of our favorite front yard trees.
October:
We started October in 30A on fall break with our friends. This was the third year, and we love this tradition. We’re so lucky to have these friends and families to go on this vacation with year after year.
The KC Royals made it to the playoffs and were fun to watch!
Hayden ran an awesome race in the city meet. Trav was getting over Covid, so he watched from a distance, but I got a pic with Hayden! (Then, it was my turn for Covid.)
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Trav and I were able to go to Keeneland one afternoon which is one of my favorite fall traditions.
The leaves changed our our remaining tree, and I got one of my fave pics of the year!
Right before Halloween, the kids carved their pumpkins per tradition.
November:
Hayden ran another great race in the state meet. He won a freshman award at the end of season banquet.
Hadley had her volleyball banquet, and earned an award too.
We’re proud of all that the kids accomplished in their first high school seasons, and they had a lot of fun with their teammates.
The kids turned 15!! How is that possible?
We celebrated Thanksgiving in Louisville.
Then, we headed to Charlotte for Hayden to run in the Foot Locker South Regional race. We’d never been to Charlotte, and it was a fun city to explore for a couple of days.
December:
In December, we did all the holiday things.
We celebrated Christmas a couple of days early, and then…
…we headed to KC for a few days to see family there!
Now, we have a little less than a week before school starts back, so we’re taking the time to relax but also be productive before heading back to the hustle and bustle of life.
Today’s the fresh start of a new year, and I hope 2025 is a great one for all!
Well, it’s hard to believe that the Christmas season is over. I hope you had a great holiday.
As the year wraps up, I always like to share my favorite posts that I wrote in the year.
I’m linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites…the last one of 2024!
Here’s my 2024 blogging recap.
A few stats from this year:
Posts: 242
Total words: 161K
Average words per post: 661
Best day: Friday, Best hour: 8 am
Most popular day: is still March 14, 2023 with 931 views
I’ve been blogging for over five years, and it is still such a fun hobby for me. This year, I’ve felt like I had a little bit less time to blog, but I made it work.
Some all time stats include:
Views: 475, 923
Visitors: 125, 931
Posts published: 1,186
Countries: At least one person in 118 countries has read one of posts. After the United States and Canada, I have quite a few views from Japan. Who knew I was so popular in Japan?!?
As I say every year, I’m not “here for the numbers.” This is just a fun hobby for me, a way to capture memories from year to year, and share my thoughts. It is fun to see the numbers grow a bit from year to year…even how many posts I write and the word count.
I appreciate every like, comment, and read. Truly, thank you!
A few thoughts first:
Well, a couple of years ago, I shared my top 10 favorite posts. Last year, it was my top 20 favorite posts…and this year, we’re up to 25! I need to learn to edit a bit…sorry for that!
I enjoyed starting 2024 off with the WordPress Bloganuary Challenge again.
I also did a November Gratitude Challenge too. I like blogging on smaller topics and sharing my thoughts that way.
I started linking up with Joyce for the Wednesday Hodgepodge posts when I could. It’s always fun finding a new link up.
I also enjoyed continuing co-hosting the Share Our Lives link up with some of my favorite bloggers.
We’ll be back in 2025!
Favorite posts from 2024:
1.
One of the “Bloganuary” topics was to write about colleges I attended.
I did a few “Throwback Thursday” posts this summer too. I loved the one reminiscing about summer reading through the years.
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Another “Summer Sunday” post was summer craft ideas for kids. It was a fun post that was reminiscent of how I used to spend my summers with the kids.
15.
Another sweet Throwback Thursday post was when I shared about the summer of 2010. I loved that summer with the kids!
16.
In August, I had a couple of “Teacher Talk” posts…the first one, I shared about the first week of school (including before and after the students arrived)
17.
Then, I had another Teacher Talk post specifically about my schedule this year.
18.
The September Monthly Musingtopic was all about fall things including back to school. I love writing about fall, so this was a fun post to put together!
19.
We’ve enjoyed fall break on 30A for the past three years. I always love writing that vacay recap.
20.
I did two “day in the life” posts recently, but they were “hour by hour” for a weekday and a weekend day. I love reading and writing those kinds of posts, so this was a different way to capture those days.
21.
I was scrolling Instagram, and saw this graphic for a Gratitude Challenge, and decided to blog every single day in November!
22.
I always enjoy recapping the kids’ birthday, and this year they turned 15! that was definitely worthy of a Friday Favoritespost.
23.
Hayden ran in the Foot Locker South region race after Thanksgiving. We’d never been to Charlotte, NC, so it was fun to recap our time there as well as Hayden’s running season.
24.
I pretty much kept everything the same as last year for Christmas decorations, but I did share a few new Christmas decor touches for this year.
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One of my favorite traditions is baking Christmas cookies, and this year we baked cookies with my brother’s family which was even more fun.
I also love sharing the books I read this year and a recap of our year, and I will have those posts next week! While the last couple weeks of the year are typically “quiet” in the blogging world, I have more time to blog and always have post that I want to share at the end of the year.
It’s been another great year of blogging, and again, thanks so much for reading!
Well, it’s the last day of November…how is that even possible? It’s time to wrap up this gratitude challenge.
Day 29: 3 of your favorite foods
Only 3?!
Off the top of my head, I’d have to say:
chips and queso
sushi
a warm chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks
Day 30: 3 things you love about your family
Listen, there are plenty of days where I seek the peace and solace of my quiet bedroom to get away from the crazy. That being said, I’m part of the crazy too haha! I’m very grateful for my family or four.
To keep it simple, I’ll share what I’m grateful for in regards to my three faves:
Trav: He takes care of all of us. He knows when I’m feeling overwhelmed and will take something off my plate. Listen, I’m an independent woman…until I don’t want to leave the house one more time 😂He takes care of the things that I have no desire to take care of…for example, bills that need to be paid. He’s just the best. I remember when we first started dating, I got the flu. He brought me medicine and a People magazine. He’s been taking care of me since day 1. He’s the best role model for the kids, and he’s always there for anything they need too.
Hadley has the best smile and gives the best hugs. She brightens anyone’s day!
Hayden will tell me he loves me out of nowhere. (Don’t tell him I told you! haha) Listen, no one prepares you for raising a teenage boy, but he’s maturing right before my very eyes. I appreciate his love when he’s willing to give it to me 😉
This challenge was a great way to keep up with my blogging and share things that I’m grateful for in my life…including my blog readers 🙂
I can’t believe my November gratitude challenge is almost over. I only have a few days left.
Picking up where I left off…
Day 27: holiday traditions you are grateful for…I’m grateful for many traditions. Of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas typically have quite a few traditions. For us, Thanksgiving looks different year to year. Some years, we stay home (but have to travel to E-town or Louisville for Thanksgiving), and other years we are in KC.
On Thanksgiving, a tradition I have no matter where I am is to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
As for Christmas, we always bake cookies at some point during the holiday season. We also go to the Horse Park to drive through their lights display.
One of my favorite traditions is letting the kids pick out a gift for each other to open, usually on Christmas Eve if we are home. It’s always fun seeing what they pick out for each other.
Day 28: something that made you smile today…
Thanksgiving always makes me smile. It’s my favorite holiday…great food, time with family, and no stress of buying gifts!
Gobble til you wobble! If you need a way to use up your leftover turkey, this recipe is a day after Thanksgiving tradition in our family.
If you need me, I will be sipping my coffee and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade this morning.
This Tuesday feels like a Friday for me! For that, I’m grateful. Speaking of gratitude…I’m picking up where I left off with the gratitude challenge.
Day 25 is a favorite quote that helped you…
I love a good quote! I wrote this post four years ago (wow!), and so many of them are still my favorites.
Day 26: 3 hobbies or activities you love
I love when I find time to read, but I haven’t been in a great reading groove lately.
I’ve always loved to color. When the kids were little, I’d sit down and color with them. Lately, I’ve been loving this marker set and coloring in my “cozy girl” book. I’m going to order the Christmas one soon I think.
Ok, while not really a “hobby” or “activity” (that I’m proud of…) I enjoy watching the Real Housewives franchise. I don’t watch them all, but I watch most of them. My faves are OC and Beverly Hills. I think sometimes my mind needs to relax and doesn’t want to think, so I veg out with my trash TV. Hayden asks me, “Mom, is that one of your trashy shows?” haha
What’s one of your favorite hobbies or activities?
I’m continuing to play “catch up” with my gratitude.
Day 23 something you often take for granted
Well, I try not to take things from granted, maybe one thing is that most of the time Trav is able to help take kids to school, pick them up, run out on his lunch break to pick up gifts, etc. Not everyone has that kind of support. Since we don’t have family in town, it’s nice that we are able to help each other out as needed.
Day 24 something you have that you used to hope for
I’d say my kids. It took us a while and a little help to have them, so I of course I’m grateful that the wish was granted (x2). We were never able to add to our family of four which makes my gratitude for them more meaningful as well.
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