2024 Year in Review

 1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before? Ben and I adopted our daughter! Never, ever did we think we'd say that!

2. Did you keep your New Years resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I always resolve to try and eat healthier and exercise more. Those have been my "resolutions" for a long time. This time, I really want to spend more time outside and focus more on hobbies.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Chelsea had baby number 4 - sweet little Evan. Our best friends' daughter had a little girl, Amelia.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No deaths.

5. What countries did you visit? None.

6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024? More hobbies and more downtime. Better health

7. What from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Finalizing the adoption on November 1st.

8. What was your biggest contribution of the year? Settling into life with a young adult, a high school senior, and a toddler/preschooler.

9. What was your biggest failure? I can honestly say I don't feel like we "failed" at anything this year. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope, thank the Lord!

11. What was the best thing you bought? I bought a machine that makes tinctures in just 4 hours. 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Gabe has been amazing this year. He's taken on the big brother role so well. He's worked hard to address the anxiety he's been struggling with - seeing a counselor and putting himself out there more. He amazes me!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The entire foster care system is a disaster and needs a major overhaul. 

14. Where did most of your money go? Preschool and therapies for the little one. She's in preschool, OT, and play therapy.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? We went to MI twice! That leaves us with only 2 states left to visit. One of those is Alaska which we already booked a cruise to for May 2025. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2024? Angels We Have Heard on High (the Chelsea Stay Away Oh song according to Azalea.) Anything off of the new 21Pilots album.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? Same
iii. richer or poorer? Richer


18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Hiking and getting outdoors in general. Hobbies. 

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Fretting about other people's happiness when it's their job to make and keep themselves happy.


20. How will you be spending the Winter? Taking care of a toddler and making time for myself whenever possible.


22. Did you fall in love in 2024? Nope, same loves as always.

23. What was your favorite month of 2024? May when we took our trip.

24. What was your favorite TV program? We're Cobra Kai junkies here. Love that show so much

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope. Not a hater, such a waste of time.


26. What was the best book you read? I'm sad to say I didn't read as much as I'd have liked this year. I did enjoy reading some of the old classic kids books again and reading some of the new kid's books that are out there. So fun!


27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Our whole family enjoyed the new 21Pilots album - even Azalea. I also enjoyed Judah and the Lion.

28. What did you want and get? The adoption. We seriously had no idea how that was going to pan out. We were waiting on termination of my sister's parental rights and then she surprised us all by signing and Open Adoption Agreement. That allowed things to move ahead.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? I'm not sure there was a standout film for us this year.  

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 44. We had a really fun Jane Austen-themed tea party at home with my brother and his girlfriend. Everyone was a good sport and we had a great time.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Losing weight. 

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024? Nothing standout, but having to take Azalea to preschool and her appointments 5 days a week has lead me to get dressed every day in actual clothes. So that's been good!

33. What kept you sane? Supportive friends and family. Our daughter's therapist has been amazing. 

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I really, really don't care about celebrities anymore. It's all such a joke. 


35. What political issue stirred you the most? I'm glad the election went the way it did. I'm not a rabid Trump fan or anything, but I think electing him was a step in the right direction for our country. 

36. Who did you miss? We got to see Paul and Amanda twice this year which was nice. I miss them a lot. We also have some friends who moved about an hour away and we've really felt their absence. 

37. Who was the best new person you met? I can honestly say I'm not sure we made any new friends this year. I'm not sure what that means about us, but oh well. I've been trying to be more intentional about getting together with the friends I already have and that's been enough to fill  my time.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024: I don't have do do everything and I don't have to do it perfectly for things to be okay. Putting Azalea in preschool was such a hard decision. I felt like I was letting her down. But I needed to have some time back and I needed to know that I don't have to do everything 100 percent for it to be okay.

39. Best quote of the year?