2025 Recap & 2026 Hopes ✨

Happy New Year’s Eve!

I hope this finds you enjoying some much-deserved downtime (or celebrating in sequins, if that’s what you prefer!). The weeks leading up to the holiday can be so busy that, at least for me (and I suspect for many of you), it’s tough to really take it all in until the day itself arrives. And then, it flies by in a blur, and we are just as quickly ushered into the shiny promise of the new year. So, I hope that maybe you’ve had a chance to enjoy some extra time just sitting by the tree, or off work spending time with family and friends, or taking a few minutes for yourself.

The other day, I took some time to reflect on each month of 2025. It’s amazing how much fills a year that we forget about, until we really sit down to look back at pictures, journal entries, or our planners/calendars and appreciate all that one year can hold.

I made some wonderful memories with family, like our trip to the gulf coast of Florida (the kids got to drive a sail boat! How cool is that?) and to our happy place along the Jersey shore, plus cheering my girls on in all of their pursuits, whether it was on the gymnastics mats or the soccer field. I dined and danced with girlfriends, and Steve and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary. Personal wins included hitting the gym consistently and getting stronger, advocating for my kids when needed, deepening friendships through time, fun, and intention, and starting therapy for the first time. This year was full of personal growth; and although wonderful and necessary, growth is rarely comfortable.

When I learned that 2025 was the “year of the snake,” it made so much sense. I don’t follow the zodiac much, but man, the description of the year of the snake could not be more dead on for what this year was for me and many others I’ve talked to. Shedding things that no longer serve us, identities that don’t fit any longer, expectations that don’t align with who we are and want to be.

My word for 2025 was clarity: I took the entire year off paid work (for the first time since I was 16 years old!) and focused on my family and making space for whatever might come next. Because of this, I was able to lean into volunteer work, like organizing my 20th high school reunion, which not only emphasized the beauty of reconnection, but led to getting involved with my hometown’s education foundation (more to come with that in the new year!). I took a seat on the board of the PTO for my kids’ school, and signed up to help teach junior achievement classes. I practiced what I’ve come to call following the breadcrumbs: instead of forcing things, I said yes to what felt right and walked that path until the next breadcrumb came along.

Looking ahead to 2026, I have never felt more hopeful about what might lie ahead. The last year of my thirties, the year I will be mom to three solidly school-aged kids (plus a teenager come the end of the year—hold me!), the year I will embrace fun and laughter as often as possible, the year I will put in the work.

The great thing about setting goals for the new year, no matter how cliche it might seem, is that it gives you something to aim for. Setting goals doesn’t mean you’ll achieve every last thing on the list, but it does ensure that you are striving toward things that mean something to you. In the striving is the journey and in the journey is the lesson.

And maybe that’s the whole point.

Whatever this year brought you and whatever your goals and plans for 2026 may be, I hope the end of one year and the beginning of the next meets you with peace, gratitude, and hope. The best is yet to come. ✨