*adapted from Full Focus Co

1. If the last year were a movie of your life, what would the genre be? 

Among all movie genres, 2024 stood out as a year of Adventure.

Key characteristics of an adventure movie:

• Heroic Protagonist: A central character with courage, determination, and resourcefulness who drives the story forward. 

When I consider all of our family adventures this year, I would say we all exhibited a fair amount of courage, determination, and resourcefulness.

• Quest or Goal: A clear objective that the protagonist must strive to achieve, often involving exploration, finding something lost, or rescuing someone. 

Many, many quests and goals for 2024: namely, graduate school for me and landing on a college choice for Mae.

• Unfamiliar Environment: The story takes place in a new or dangerous setting like a jungle, mountain range, or uncharted territory, offering visual spectacle. 

Yep. Anytime you and your family move to a new duty station, the environment is most definitely unfamiliar. I am grateful we have settled in to life in Georgia so quickly. These marshes and beaches all around us aren’t so bad.

• Physical Challenges: The protagonist encounters obstacles and dangers that require physical ability and skill to overcome, like climbing, fighting, or navigating treacherous terrain. 

Definitely remembering the back breaking work of the physical aspects of our PCS. Ryan and I both remarked that we aren’t as young as we used to be.

• Sense of Discovery: The journey often involves uncovering secrets, exploring new places, or learning something about themselves. 

This year with so many transitions in our family, I continued to be a beginner. I continually submit myself to this act of discovery both of new surroundings and also about my own passions and interests.

• Action Sequences: Exciting and visually engaging action scenes that showcase the protagonist’s skills and the dangers of the environment. 

Thankfully, I didn’t feel any true danger this year, but I guess the “action sequences” of our life would definitely involve a lot of traveling from place to place and navigating life with the five of us being spread out in multiple locations.

• Character Development: While the focus is on the adventure, the protagonist often undergoes personal growth or transformation through their experiences. 

I’ll keep this brief, but YES! There has been significant personal growth and transformation in 2024. I’d say I’m most proud of my ability to persevere, my routines and habits that aim to keep me strong in mind, body, and spirit, and the ways in which I’ve taken on challenges of the unfamiliar.

2. What were some major themes that kept recurring? 

• Family life is changing and change can be fun
• Go; take the trip, drive the miles, be where your people are
• God is faithful even if my patience and perspective are slow to evolve
• Being an educator will continue to expand in how it plays out in life

3. What did you accomplish this past year that you are the most proud of? 

• Finally starting a doctoral program after 15 years of considering it
• Taking on some new responsibilities at my job and building new skills
• Parenting through a huge life transition of launching another child into adulthood
• Recognizing I needed a short season of some counseling sessions to help me over the hurdle of adjusting to too many changes all at once
• Joining the YMCA and returning to a place I’ve always loved
• As managing household CFO, setting and hitting exciting milestones
• Starting over in a new church community (again)

4. What do you feel you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t?

• Probably all of the hundreds of small details I keep track of for our entire family; the mental load I carry so others don’t have to
• The fact that we often go out of our way to travel back to see friends and family even when it isn’t reciprocated
• The hundreds or even thousands of lists I make, check in on, and tackle as a way to maintain a high level of productivity and keep my sanity

5. What disappointments or regrets did you experience this past year?

• I regret allowing myself to fall into a two-week anxiety and panic spiral while awaiting (perfectly normal and good) results from my annual mammogram
• I regret renting a house with no fence as a two-dog family
• I have felt disappointment to let go of such a solid life in Williamsburg only to come to Georgia and experience the usual slow process of rebuilding community and friendships

6. What was missing from last year as you look back? 

As I reflect on 2024 and consider all we had going on, I did aim for some fun and relaxation along the way. However, when I look back I do feel that some true, cut-loose, laugh-til-you-cry moments were sparse or missing. In many ways, it was a year both celebrating huge milestones but also grieving some losses and change.

There’s always so much to do during a life-launch and PCS year. I struggle to get out of my head, set aside the many, many to-dos on my list, and simply allow myself the freedom to seek out fun. That’s also hard to do when you are new to a place and don’t totally know where all of the fun is yet or who the fun people are.

I’m already scheming for 2025: more movies, most live shows, more beach visits, more local adventures, more friend meetups, and more hobbies that can’t be measured in productivity.

7. What were the major life-lessons you learned this past year?

• I can’t control the outcome, but I can control my input
• Giving is better than receiving; be an outrageous giver
• Big goals don’t scare me; I break them down, make them smaller, and just start chipping away at progress. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
• Traveling with or to see my people or experiencing a new place or activity is some of the best money spent
• Reading, both to escape and to learn, is some of the best time spent
• Being outside, especially walking, is some of the best free therapy; bonus points if you can find a walking buddy
• I started a doctoral program at 47 and my mantra has been, “Life is long and I am young”

There’s certainly a lot more I can say about 2024. Some of it only matters to me. Some of it is not my story to tell. Some of it I’m still processing. However, I am so incredibly grateful to God for his constant provision, protection, and peace amidst a year that felt incredibly full, tiring, and often overwhelming.

Here’s to 2025!