2025 recap & 2026 goals

hey, friends!!

today, i’m sharing my 2025 recap along with my goals for 2026. this post is one of my favorites of the whole year, and i love getting to look back and see what’s changed & what’s the same from my other yearly recaps.

2025 highlights

• learning to draw – i talked about this a bit a while ago, but i’ve never been amazing at art or drawing. i did a bunch of doodling & drawing this year and i’ve gotten way better.
• taking senior pictures for my sister and my best friend – loved being able to do this and working more on my photography skills.
• all of our trips! – we went to lutsen, minnesota to ski, went up north in the summer and stayed in a cute lakehouse, and then this fall we went on a trip with all my family on my dad’s side to a waterpark resort for a week.
• track and cross country season – so many fun memories! it was my first track season so i got to pr in every event, set the school record for the indoor 3200 and my 4×8 team broke both our indoor records and outdoor records. my sister tore her acl in the summer, which was so sad because we run together all the time for xc season, and then i ended up getting injured for part of the season. i still pr’d once and made all conference but my season overall was rough 🥲
• doing fun things with my family – boating, skiing, our vacations, going to a cornmaze, hiking, watching movies & playing board games & wii sports, and just all the amazing things we’ve done this year!
• watching period dramas with my mom & sisters – all of my favorites that we watched this year are in this post.
• christmas – i did a whole happy list but december was lovelyyy and one of my favorite months of the year!!
• church and youth group – winter tubing trip, went to a youth conference, vbs, and summer esther study with some of my girl friends.
• got my license – i kinda hate driving, but it’s really nice to be able to go places myself haha
• turned 16 and had a great birthday & party – for my birthday, we went to the lake for most of the day, then my sister and i went on a run together and we had a pasta dinner with my grandparents and aunt. my party was also amazing – we made bracelets, watched honey i shrank the kids, ate lots of food and had a sleepover on our porch!
• lots of baking and coffee making – i made a bunch good recipes and also perfected making coffee at home.
• lake days & boating – the best part of my summer! we also bought a campsite and park model at a lake near us, and i’m so excited to spend days there this summer.
• hanging out with friends & doing fun things – had a lot of campfires, sleepovers, taking friends skiing & boating, and all the things.

• left ydubs – this was really sad after being part of it for four years, but definitely the right decision. i would absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to make friends and get better at writing! cww is coming up soon, and i’m so excited for it.
• training & fun runs – honestly, i almost like training for xc/track more than i like racing, haha. for the year, i ran 1,402 miles and cross-trained over 50 hours. i also did a bunch of fun runs & races with my family!
• started working for my parents – definitely a big part of my year! i designed a website for them and have been managing trainings.
• read 86 books – the best books i read this year are in this post. this is the most i’ve read in a year in a while and i found so many new favorites!
• bible study, memorizing scripture & growing closer to God – favorite verse from this year:
  when thou saidst, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will i seek ~ psalm 27:8 🤍
• girls trips – shopping, getting our nails done, lavender fields, getting coffee & all the things with my mom and sisters (& sometimes my cousins and aunts!).
• blogging – i didn’t post as much as i wanted to in the beginning of the year but i’ve posted a lot the last few months and it’s been great! posts for the year: 22 most popular post: cute & easy running hairstyles (from someone who couldn’t do hair)
• other favorite things from this year: seeing so many gorgeous sunsets | got my ears pierced finally | redecorated my room | swim team | entered art & photos in the county fair | sunday walks with my mom | planting our flower gardens in the summer |

2026 goals

• faith: read my bible every day, memorize 3 verses each month, start prayer journaling again, and do another summer bible study.
• running: consistently weekly training, have successful track and cross country seasons, run the trails at my house this summer, get stronger & stay healthy/injury free.
• writing & the blog: write and edit one project, post weekly on the blog & look at finding more ways to promote.
• business: work 10-15 hours a week, possibly revamp daisies & design co. (i need to think through this one lol), and make a budget to track what i’m spending/saving each month.
• reading: read more classics (my goal is 10), and read/listen to 8o books overall.
• fun & random: watch anne of green gables (the 1985 version, i’ve only seen parts of it and i NEED to watch the whole thing), write more on paper and less on my phone, and keep learning to embroider (my new favorite hobby).
• other: spend time outside every day (i spend hours sitting/reading/working/doodling outside in the summer but then it’s so cold in the winter that i don’t usually go outside unless i’m running, sooo my goal is to get outside every day even if it’s just for 10 minutes bc it makes me feel way better!), finish sonlight & start taking dual enrollement classes in the fall, and spend less time on my phone/screens & do more hobbies (i’ve been way better about this the last few months and i want to do a post about it soon!)

this list might seem kinda crazy but i love setting goals and i already do a lot of these things. however, i’m not waking up tomorrow and expecting to do everything on this list perfectly. 😂 these are simply things that i want to work on during the next few months, and if i try something and it’s not benefiting me, i’m not going to do it only because i wrote it down on my list!

now, it’s your turn!

what were some of your highlights from this year? what are your goals for 2026?

thank you all for reading and supporting me this year! it means so much to me and i’m so grateful for everyone who reads what i write. i can’t wait for what 2026 brings for the blog & everything else. happy almost new year, friends!! 🎉✨
pearl 🤍