For as long as I can remember I have always looked forward to celebrating ringing in a new year. I don’t wish time away by any means, but when we get into those final days of December I find myself reflecting a lot. This reflection takes me not only over the past year, but over many years. I don’t live in the past, but I always try to learn from the past. I honestly don’t want to be someone who repeats my same mistakes without learning and growing from them. The start of January is always a bit refreshing for me… the chance to start a clean slate, set some new goals, add a few bucket list items and grow & learn some more.
2025 reminded me that I have learned a lot over the years about control and the fact that as much as I would like to have lots of it, I simply don’t. Navigating the unknown is always a bit scary to me… 2025 gave me a few solid doses of that. I get annoyed with myself more often than not about my control issues. I have grown a lot in this area, but I need to be reminded sometimes that no matter what level of control I have, God is with me and he will help guide me through every tough decision.
Every year has ups and downs, but 2025 brought some bigger surprises our way. After Christmas of 2024, we decided to book a trip to Alberta to spend time with the Thomas family during their March Break. Right before we were set to leave in March my Mom ended up in the hospital and it took days for them to discover that she had blood clots in her lungs. She ended up being in the hospital for 10 days, so we cancelled our trip and stayed back. That brought a lot of changes for her that we certainly didn’t expect going into 2025.
In January our sweet Zeus passed away after a struggle with diabetes. He was amazing cat and when he was no longer with us I realized it was the first time in my life since I was little that I didn’t have a cat. I love pets, they bring us such joy. In February I set out to find 2 cats and we decided on British Shorthair. Leo and Coco joined us in early March. We just love them so much. We still miss our Zeus, but our grateful we can love these 2 new cats as well.
In April Sandy was laid off along with a large group of developers at Automattic. We were honestly quite shocked. Thankfully he received severance and unemployment insurance, so it has allowed him time to develop some additional skills and look for the right role for him. The uncertainty and frustration of applying for jobs combined with the unknown of what is next, has brought it’s own ups and downs for Sandy.
Despite some downs, we had a lot of ups to our year. In April our granddaughter Aria was born and she is a joy to us all. Alex is in a much better place than she has been in a long time and has a very supportive, understanding husband. It is wonderful to see them happy and growing as a family.
We went on a lot of adventures this year. We went to Cape Breton for 2 long weekends in the spring / summer and explored all sides of the Cabot Trail and a number of their beaches. Early in 2025, Caile found love and her partner, Nathan is from Cape Breton. We enjoyed spending time with his family and adventuring with him. Ezra loves it there and we look forward to returning again this Spring.
We went to Toronto in August with the Fisher family for Nate’s graduation trip. The girls and I were there for Taylor Swift in the fall of 2024, but Ezra had never been and Noah hadn’t been there since our March break trip of 2019. It was fun to be tourists and explore all the big highlights. We did the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Toronto Zoo, Casa Loma, City Boat Tour and the Toronto Botanical Gardens, along with some outlet shopping and lots of Chick Fil A. 🙂
Shortly after that trip, Ella, Noah and I went to Montreal for a weekend to see Benson Boone. This was a huge highlight of my year and one of my “Just do it already” moments. The concert fell on Brianna’s birthday and hearing him sing In the Stars brought so many emotions. It was honestly so incredible.
In October, Sandy and I went to Nashville. I was attending a recruiters conference there, so he came along with me. It was great to explore with him and show him the great places that Caile and I discovered last year.
Lastly, in December, I attended a Talent Operations focused meetup in Edmonton. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel a few days in advance and spend some time with the Thomas family. I was sad not to be able to bring my family, but grateful for the time. I was able to see them in their element on the ice and I loved every minute of watching them play hockey. We also made some Christmas memories while I was there and decorated their tree as well as introduced them to their first Chick Fil A. 🙂
2025 also brought a new change of homeschooling for our family. Ezra started Grade Primary in Homeschooling and we have been really blessed to connect with some great family and that the valley has some very cool opportunities for him as he grows up. He took part in 4 weeks of training and then a final Cross Country race with the homeschool group. He has been learning and growing and has been so focused. We feel so good about this choice and where it will take his education.
Noah decided in the fall of 2025 after playing basketball since he was younger than Ezra that he was done and it was time for something new. He really took a strong interest in track in the spring and he did a lot with his training over the summer. He has been dedicated to running and training daily, no matter what the weather. I am proud of his determination and endurance. He has already achieved some personal bests and I am excited to see how his training pays off in the spring.
Ella is teaching dance more than even more than last year. She completed her ADAPT Teacher Certification program and has her sights set on a few other training programs. She plans to own her own studio one day, but is appreciating all of the experience opportunities she has currently. I have loved seeing her choreography come to life through her amazing dancers.
Caile finished her contract at Automattic working as a Happiness Contractor and is now focused on a career in social media marketing. She will likely take a course next year to add to her existing experience. I am excited to see where this will take her. She has a marketing eye and I can’t wait to see how it evolves.
As we enter 2026, I want to be even more brave with my travel. God created this amazing world and there is so much more of it for me to see. I want to say yes more often and explore places that I have not had the opportunity to explore before.
I also want to blog more. I bought my Mom a book which encourages her to share all of her stories with me. I realized after my Nannie passed away many years ago, that there was so much more I wish I asked. I want to write more and give my children lots of memory posts to read when I am no longer around and I enjoy it… we should all do more of what we enjoy. 🙂
Lastly, I want to get back into a good fitness routine. I am busy and active, but I want to make that more consistent and focus on the great BODi workouts I used to enjoy. Snow makes me want to hibernate, but I am challenging myself to embrace Winter and find more and more ways to find the joy in these months.
Here’s to a great 2026. I am sure there will be ups and downs, but they are all part of the journey.
I Dream of Summer 
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