2025 Hangover: Slapped by the New Year

Who is ready for 2026? 

Not me. 

Nonetheless, here we are.

Year in review (bucket list and BIG things only):

• Celebrated 25 years of marriage
• Did the sunrise/sunset challenge in Florida (one coast to the other in the same 24 hours)
• Taught weekly co-op classes
• Cast and recast and recast again for Immortal (15 cast members -- from across the country)
• Scheduled & ran 3 weeks of rehearsals (booking venues, tech, rearranging schedules due to sickness -- kill me now!)
• Produced a professional staged reading of IMMORTAL the Musical
• Took an EMERGENCY trip to England to pick up our daughter up from her mission -- who had wasted away due to health issues (a three-day whirlwind - Iceland, Ireland, Bristol England, London England, Columbia, and home)
• Discovered our daughter's two-hundred-fifty+ food intolerances, hypoglycemia, and worked to get her calorie and energy levels up while she completed a service mission locally
• Started treatment for my faulty hip
• Went on an unplanned 2 week road trip to see historical sites (and ran into my brother...surprise!)
• Planned and ran activities for 15-20 girls twice a month
• RETURNED TO BLOGGING (could you tell?)
• Welcomed our oldest and his wife back to Florida (after they both graduated with their degrees)
• My youngest got baptised
• Hypoglycemic daughter finished her service mission, got a near-impossible-to-land job and got into a near-impossible-to-land university
• Built a video recording studio and started a YouTube channel and major social media campaign with daily video content
• Bypassed one potential trail date for defaulty construction on our house (3 years in the works now) and began negotiations again (undergone mold treatment, structural engineer investigation, and had WAY to many people telling us our house is trashed)
• Led a choir & performed in so, so many venues
• Homeschooled the kids - including challenges like dysgraphia
• Read approximately 100 novels (this doesn't include children's books and study materials...of which there were many)

And so if you couldn't even read that whole list, imagine living it. 

Nonetheless, we will brave forward with 2026. 

Because we must. 

Because there is no other choice.

And while we're at it, we're going to have a good attitude -- because life just goes smoother when you see the bumps as growth opportunities.

To start this year right, I'm on a cruise (which was almost free so don't get too jealous). I'll be around next week to say "Hi" and share some virtual cheese.

Here's to an epic one! Wishing you the best 2026.

Thank you to our awesome co-hosts Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray!

What's the craziest thing you did this last year? What are you most looking forward to in 2026?

Dragging Your Sorry Rear Across the Country

Have you ever been homesick?

The first time you left home, how did you handle it? My oldest recently got back from a week at Scout Camp, and while he had a blast, he was SO ready to be home. We visited for Family Night, and I don't think he's hugged me that much since he was about 4 years old. You could see it in his eyes, how much he ached to be back with his family. I was proud of him--making it through the week.

I was reminded of the summer I left home to work in West Yellowstone. It was a blast, but I couldn't wait until the weekly phone call with my parents, or to read their emails. When the summer ended, I returned to my parent's Taj Mahal of a house, and reveled in the loudness of my siblings. It was nice to be home.

We left our family in Utah 7 years ago, and set out for a grand adventure. We've now lived in NYC, the middle of nowhere, and a city with the second largest number of hotels in the world. (Right next to Disney, of course.) I remember going to visit the family in 2008, and as much as we enjoyed it, it wasn't home, not anymore.

Home is where your heart is--and for me, that means my hubby and kids. Mine happen to live here in Florida--sunny, happy, "vacation world." But you know, I've adored all of those other places that became "home" for a season. In fact, I think there's nothing better than exploring the world--and I'm not talking about hitting tourist traps. I think it's the coolest thing ever to settle into a new environment and learn how that society functions. I honestly think that's half the reason I wanted to be an author. (Give me a good excuse to travel, will you?)

This week I'm taking off on an amazing cross-country trip, hitting New Orleans, San Antonio, Roswell (NM), Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Nashville. So yeah, I'll be on the road--without 4G. Forgive me if I'm slow to respond, but I'll be back in two weeks and bubbling over with awesomeness to share.

Is there a place you're dying to visit? Where do you call home (literally, and in your heart)?

Picture courtesy of Martz90 at Deviantart