It’s the most wonderful time of the year! If you like that sort of thing. Personally, I’ve always been more of an autumn kind of gal. That said, the end of the year doesn’t only mean icy roads and impending dread, it also means my annual end-of-year overview!

As has been the trend of 2025, I unintentionally left this until the last minute. My pace this year has been one of hectic weeks, early mornings, jam-packed evenings, and a general sense of AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH that is only just now starting to pipe down as I settle into a new job and say goodbye to juggling multiple work calendars.

Good God Almighty, I can’t say I’m sad to see 2025 go. What an intense year. I present to you a mostly coherent rundown of plights and highlights, brought to you by a severely exhausted individual longing for a moment with nothing to do.

(Ha! Fat chance)

Plights:

Changing jobs and choking my way through the end of an era (or at least the pause of one)

I’ve touched on this a few times throughout the year. After many years of freelancing as my main source of income, I was forced to step back and recognize that it was time for a change, not only because of the encroaching formless mass of AI applications cutting into my piece of the pie, but also because the work was not igniting the same passion it once did.

As I’ve turned my focus to editing, I’ve recognized that the path to being a fiction editor is going to be a windy one. In the meantime, I am happy to be exploring new industries and learning new skills—while also leaning into existing ones—at my current job. My first 9-5 since 2020! Well, 8-5, if you care about semantics.

Financial stress and the looming shadow of tax season

With job changes comes the inevitable pinch of transition. It was rough there for a few months while I tried to figure out what my next move should be, fighting against what I knew I needed to do, arguing with myself, doubting, etc.

It was not a fun time, in all honesty. I’m still grieving for parts of my old routines, even while knowing it had to be done. Sometimes the next step can feel like going backward. But you know what? Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are dreams.

Lack of time for artistic expression

I have been drawing and painting for as long as I could comprehend what a crayon could do. It is one of my favorite things—sketching, coloring, painting, creating characters. I love to draw.

So, tell me why on earth I thought it would be a good idea to not make any time for it for almost the entirety of 2025?

That has made for a not-so-great vibe for my inner world in the creativity sphere. Between working two jobs, trying to plan a wedding, keeping relationships alive, and maintaining some semblance of order at home, I have barely had time to brush my hair, let alone create art in a leisurely way.

Don’t even ask me about the state of my laundry room or what I’ve been counting as meals. Definitely don’t ask how long that unfinished painting has been sitting there on my easel. I don’t want to talk about it.

Highlights:

Getting engaged! (obviously)

I’ve watched a lot of rom-coms, read a lot of romances, and seen many cinematic love stories play out across screen and page.

I bet you’re expecting me to say it’s nothing like those and how they set me up for false expectations.

NOPE! It feels exactly like that, but better. Not every second of every day, but most of them. I have never felt a love like this before. I had never had the chance to be this honest with another person and have them look closer instead of leaning away.

I spent so long dreaming of this type of love. I truly thought it was a fantasy, only to be met with a love so deep and heart-squeezingly real, I have to pause sometimes and thank God for making me wait.

There is nothing better than knowing you have found your person. The one you will navigate life with, raise a family with, cry with, laugh with, grow with, fight with, pray with, all of it. I look at him sometimes and my heart nearly bursts.

But the important thing to note here is that this is not something that happened overnight. These feelings were not an explosion of love at first sight, or a dreamy, lethargic trance—we have built this love day by day, and it has not always been the easiest.

The crazy thing is, because we have had trials, it feels even deeper and stronger.

So yes, the fictional love stories are true. But there is more. So much more.

I’m not going to say love takes work—I’m not a huge fan of that verbiage—but it does take consistent effort and a mutual dedication to learning each other, even the parts that seem to come from a different planet. Or at least a different country, in my case.

It has never felt like work. It has felt like purpose. Intention. Humility. Grace.

And we’re just getting started. How amazing is that?

There was a time I thought maybe marriage was not for me. I did not have a great example to rely on. But that all changed when I met this man.

I am so excited to marry him. Even when he annoys the hell out of me.

Traveling, camping, careening down mountains, ya know

This year was not as full of traveling as I would have liked, but we did get to go to Baltimore and see the coolest library ever! We also went to the Roman Nose Lakes and camped right by the third lake, without another soul to hear or see. Which was great in some aspects and not so great in others. i.e., there were grizzly bears allegedly in the area. Thankfully, none were to be seen, and we survived.

We also went to Mount Rainier National Park and hiked part of the Wonderland Trail and others while staying at the cutest bed and breakfast ever. Most of the park was still barricaded off because of the snow, but it was still gorgeous.

Another cherry on top of the travel sundae was us getting to go tubing on Silver Mountain with my new co-workers. We found the best way to do it was jumping at the same time, grabbing hands, and staying linked all the way to the bottom for maximum speed.

Discovering The Stormlight Archives

Oh mama, what a treat. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first. These are some massive books. Real whoppers. The first one was a huge undertaking, but lemme tell ya, the pay off is incredible. I have had such a great time sinking into this series. It has been an unsung hero of the year, filling moments of panic with riveting fantasy and getting me through tough days.

I’m so grateful for fantastical writers like Brandon Sanderson and how they can turn a draining day into an enthralling one. That’s the type of escapism I aim to deliver with my fiction writing.

Starting this series is one of the chief delights of 2025.

Well, anyway—turns out those “new and wonderful-terrible-amazing-scary blessings and trials” I mentioned in my overview of 2024 were a bit more extreme than I anticipated. That makes my knees go a bit weak to think about considering what 2026 has in store.

But hey, what can I do? The time is going to pass anyway. Might as well focus on the good stuff! Like getting married to the love of my life!!

I hope your 2025 was a good one, and may your 2026 be everything you wish for. Thank you for reading!