The Last Post of the Year! | 2024

Wow – my next blog post will be in 2025. What a thing to write! I can’t believe a whole year has gone by and we are on the cusp of another. I’ve sat down several times today to write this post and have been pulled away each time, so let’s see if I can pull all of these fragments together into something coherent.

Christmas came and went last week and we all survived. I managed to not be a total grump on the actual day and that’s a success. It helped that I took a break and went for a walk after breakfast and the presents and before it was time to start preparing the big lunch. And I’ve been doing my best to take it easy while keeping the kids busy over the last week, hence no blog posts since last Monday! I definitely didn’t want to go a whole week without writing anything, so here I am with an update:

My favorite tradition on Christmas happens at night after everyone is in bed: I put away all the food but leave the rest of the mess as it is, then crunch through the mess to the couch and watch The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on Netflix. It’s not a Christmas movie at all but I love it just the same. I coax myself along all day by reminding myself that Matthew and I will be spending the evening on Guernsey Island. We’ve done this for at least the last four years and it’s been wonderful. Not only is the scenery spectacular, but I’m always inspired by Juliet’s click-clacking on her typewriter and her little notebooks and fountain pens. And the supporting characters always make me laugh and swoon! I just love the fact that Dawsey Adams has the cleanest barns in all of Guernsey. How wonderful is that?! (Although that little detail may come from the book and not the movie.)

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Juliann introduced me to the idea of the up/down photograph that’s in the opening picture. The idea is to snap a picture of your feet and another of the sky to change your perspective as you’re out and about. I’ve been trying it on my walks lately and it’s been a lot of fun. And a change in perspective is exactly what I’m going for in 2025.

I haven’t picked out a word yet and may choose not to in 2025, since I wasn’t particularly inspired by my choice this year (Nest — I don’t think I wrote a single post about it after the initial introduction). But I know I’ll be thinking about perspective and connection next year, so it helps to practice looking at the world around me in a different way.

I know we are all shocked about how quickly 2024 has flown by and many of us are hesitant about 2025, but I hope we can use our connections with each other to help ease the fear and to continue finding joy in the world around us.

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I don’t want to rattle on too much today so I’ll stop here. But tell me – how was your holiday week? I hope it was restorative and full of rest. And I hope you have a fantastic start to 2025. See you next year!