I actually accomplished most of my 2025 goals, although I definitely did not lose any weight (but didn’t gain any either). Neither Brett nor I bought any new clothes during the year but gave each other one wanted piece at Christmas. We did not set foot in Target, Home Depot, or Walmart, or use Amazon for the entire year and saved a lot. WenYu had a beautiful, fun wedding in September with our whole family together, and we had a nice trip up to Massachusetts and back, including a national park visit along the way (and a t-shirt for Brett, of course). We downsized some more even though we didn’t think we had anything left to get rid of.

I wouldn’t be me though if I didn’t have some goals to accomplish in the coming year. I came up with a short list of just five goals:

1. Get the heck out of Tennessee. Our lease expires over Labor Day weekend, and the day after that holiday we are out. of. here. Tennessee is an extremely beautiful state, but has a dark undercurrent that we will be glad to be away from. It hasn’t turned out to be all that affordable either.
2. Prepare for a big move. We haven’t decided yet whether we’ll go full service or do the packing ourselves.
3. Embrace our new location. We are confident we will find the right place for us and truly make it home.
4. Spend less time on the computer and more time reading. A genuine challenge, but I’m trying.
5. Stay healthy. Keep up with medical appointments, watch what and how much I eat, and get some exercise every day!

I decided not to set any sort of reading goal this year, and am not going to even keep a list of the books I read. I want to keep my reading enjoyable and relaxing rather than try to finish a race. I’m pretty sure there will be lots of mysteries/thrillers, which are my favorite genre. I’m hoping to reread the entire Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny – we’ll see how that goes.

Here’s to looking forward, staying positive, and making this a great year for change!