As we begin to wind down 2025, I wanted to spread out my 25 for 2025 goal check-ins and address five at a time in five different posts, ahead of late December when I’ll turn my attention to new inspiration for a new year.

Here are updates on five of my goals:

Be A Word-Nerd

Status: Ongoing

I’ve maintained my (mostly) daily habit of playing my NYT word games. I love Connections and the Crossword Mini the best. I try to see if I can solve the Mini in under a minute and often get the Connections puzzle with no misses. I am collecting several badges for Spelling Bee and have now earned the Pangram First (guessing the puzzle’s pangram as my first word) FIVE TIMES! I’ve hit Genius twice and my longest word was, wait for it…INCONTINENCE. 💀

I subscribed to the Dictionary.com Word of the Day but honestly I’m such a savage inbox-zero person that I had to revisit this due to too much email clutter. I do, however, follow several Instagram accounts that I love, including @merriambebster and @pun_bible. I’m also still wearing out my Dictionary/Thesaurus and Urban Dictionary apps.

Status: Somewhat Complete and Hopeful for More

I love, LOVE, going to the movies. I have seen only five this year. There are several reasons for this I believe. (1) Not enough compelling movies to prompt the desire to go; (2) We live nearly 30 minutes from a theater so it requires more time and effort to get there; (3) my jam is mostly a weekday matinee and due to work and school rhythms, my weekdays just weren’t as free. Here are the theater movies I did see (so far) in 2025:

• A Complete Unknown (went with T+M at the end of their winter break)
• Better Man (the dumbest movie I’ve ever seen)
• The Friend (so good and saw it at the downtown SCAD theater)
• Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (went for Mae, hated)
• Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (had to, closure)

I do plan to see Wicked: For Good during the holidays.

I set up an Audience Reviewer account on Rotten Tomatoes and reviewed the first three movies listed above. I think this was one of those goals that would have much more easily and naturally followed if there had been better movies to compel me to go see and then rate. I also looked into becoming a reviewer for Plugged In and from what I understand you must have an existing catalog of reviews or widely read platform of formally reviewed movies on your own to be considered.

I still love seeing a movie on the big screen and hope that it will again become something I do more regularly.

Status: Mostly Complete

I mentioned the status of my SEP IRA that I started at the end of 2024 as it related to my goal for hiring outside tax help. Soon after we filed our taxes in April, my job status changed from “self-employed” (contractor) to W-2 employee with a 401(k) company match so it all became a moot point.

I closed out all of our Bank of America accounts in May. We still have our HYSA at CIT Bank, but all of our main banking is now at Regions Bank, as it has been for decades. It has been so much nicer to keep all of our “buckets” (sinking funds, kids’ accounts, etc.) all in one space visually. Regions is where my dad spent his career, so it’s one way to feel connected still to his legacy. In addition to consolidating where our accounts all live, I just prefer a regional bank instead of a predatory bank like BOA.

I did not achieve a 25 days per month, no spend. I don’t even know why I thought that was possible. I do, however, aim for 2-3 days each week where I try not to make any financial transactions. This has drastically decreased impulse purchases, wasting money on junk, and the chase of a dopamine hit from buying something.

It has helped me to bundle my purchases and errands–so less mental clutter and busyness. I open online carts and just leave them open for a few days to add or delete items and end up mostly only buying what is truly necessary. It has also significantly reduced how many debits are posting and needing reconciliation in my day to day accounting. (That was the biggest pain point I was hoping to overcome!) I have not been able to achieve only twice monthly budget check-ins or life admin days, but typically now I do this only once per week. I can be compulsive about budgeting and accounting, so this boundary and goal has helped me curb that a bit.

As for investigating and maximizing our AmEx Platinum benefits, this has been a GREAT accomplishment! We did get our college kids their own AmEx cards as authorized users on our account. They are each allowed one purchase for a tank of gas or grocery run per month, above their monthly allowance and living expenses we provide . We pay it off immediately after their transactions post. We did this because as an authorized user on your credit card account, it can help them build credit due to the account’s positive payment history and low credit utilization being added to their credit report, establishing their own credit history.

We were already using the AmEx credit to cover our Disney+ account. Due to some billing changes with our bundle, we were able to adjust it to include Disney+, Hulu, and now Max (HBO) and still come in under the entertainment credit. So that is a free thing for us.

Ryan and I have both used the Global Lounge Collection when we’ve flown this year, which just makes being in an airport feel elite. We have not used the hotel stay, but we are using the Uber credits, the Saks credits, and the now (new) free Walmart + credit, Resy, and Lululemon quarterly credits. We still don’t use the card for actual purchases or carry a balance, but we LOVE the amazing perks for military members having the hefty annual fee waived and all of the awesome benefits.

Status: Complete, Ongoing, and SO WORTH THE INVESTMENT

I recently wrote a post about the importance of friendship in this (and all) season(s) of life. I have made some very intentional choices and put things in place to do this in 2025 and it has been well worth the effort. I’ll continue this indefinitely. In fact, this is one of those goals that serves as a case study in a planned outcome improving your quality of life so much so that it becomes a natural part of your life that needs no ongoing monitoring or measuring.

I have tried to continue my connection at New Life Church. I go now on Wednesday nights and some Sundays. In early summer, Ryan transitioned to the senior chaplain at The Rock (Fort Stewart Chapel) and most Sundays (when he isn’t in the field training or out of town for work) that is now our primary place of worship. I had to let my NL Games Group go due to work rhythms, but have enjoyed all of the activities and people at New Life so much.

I have easily hit the 25 phone calls with friends. It’s pretty much just become a weekly part of my life. I’ve learned that this also includes being regularly in the mix of texting these friends too. I have a dozen or so gals that I will have long (like 40-60 minute) catch up calls with once or twice a month. These calls feel like free therapy and restore my soul.

This summer I did a little activity where every time I had a long phone call or in person meet up with a friend, I wrote the date, their name, and the activity on a star. It blew me away how much I needed and enjoyed this. It also reminded me that important things require intention and care. (I have a whole Reel dedicated to this Summer of Stars on my Instagram feed.)

I have also completed (or exceeded) my 25 handwritten notes or cards goal. I have sent several notes or delivered notes as porch drop offs with food or care packages but the bulk of this has come from sending handwritten birthday cards to every member of my extended family and Ryan’s.

At the end of 2024, I took five minutes to text my sister and sisters-in-law (the keepers of important dates) and input everyone’s birthday into my Google Calendar. Around the first of the month, I go stock up on birthday cards…usually at Dollar Tree, or Trader Joe’s (the few times if I’ve been lucky enough to be near one). I immediately ink them with my address stamp, add postage, and write out birthday wishes. Then I stick the cards into the mail as specific birthdays pop up on the calendar that month. I’ll continue to do this, and for 2026 I think I’ll just do one bulk buy of cards in January for the whole year to further reduce the friction of having to get out and buy them monthly.

I have scheduled and planned for friend meet ups most of the times when we have been in Chattanooga or Cleveland (Athena, Brenda, Jeni, Jamie, and Emily). I don’t make a huge deal about doing this other than to shoot texts to people once I know when I’ll be around. I proactively toss out dates, times, and plans and if we can link up for a lunch, a coffee, or a walk–super! If not, I know people are busy.

And I did plan for two out-of-town friend meetups: I met my friends Jamie and Emily in Senioa, Georgia in February for a girls weekend, got to have a boat day with Athena at Bear Paw in September, and then met Jamie in Hilton Head just last month when they were on their fall break.

This is something I will be doing again and INCREASING in 2026. I have big plans to use our cabin as a meetup or almost retreat-like space for catching up with friends. (Meghan? Amy? Bethany? Mere?) My friends Barb and Gaye (twice) did come here this year and it’s always so great to be together.

Status: I Wanted to Care More, But I Just Don’t

This was one of those aspirational, do better, be better, maybe even just try to be someone you’re not goals and well… I have just never been super into makeup, skincare, and beauty things. 2025 was going to be my year to change all of that! 😂 And… it turns out, it was not. I’m just a simple, if-I-can’t-get-it-at-the-drugstore-I-don’t-need-it kind of person.

I will say, I have been much more committed to actually washing my face at night. I have added that into my evening, pre-bedtime routine. It’s not so much something complicated and age-defying, but literally me, just rubbing a warm washcloth over my face and rubbing in a blob of Trader Joe’s moisturizer on before I brush my teeth.

I did not have my makeup professionally done. I have a few simple things I do, again, with drugstore makeup. The more I thought about going to Ulta or Sephora or even the Clinique counter, the more I resisted because I knew it would be a huge upsell moment. I have bought all of that stuff before and I just don’t end up using it. My aging philosophy with make-up is to use less, not more, as I get older. I use a little under-eye concealer, maybe a light coat of an all-over foundation for special events or church, a little loose powder, blush, mascara, and always, L’Oreal-color-riche, gold tube, the-kind-I-still-find-in-my-93-year-old-grandmother’s-bathroom-lipstick.

In fact, my makeup is one of many “decide once” categories that I no longer try out various brands for. I’ve done this with my deodorant, my toothpaste, my Trader Joe’s face lotion, and my hair care. I am using Tresemme across the board. Shampoo, mousse, and hairspray. I can buy it anywhere. It lasts a long time. I like the way it makes my hair feel. It is not expensive. And everything I use also comes conveniently in a travel size.

Hair and makeup stuff is something that I prefer to keep on autopilot. If it’s working, I don’t need to keep searching for something that promises to change my life.

I still keep a running eight week hair appointment. I don’t love the girl that does my hair here, but it’s been a good enough experience. I prefer a dry cut and certain layers. I am in and out. Again, nothing fancy. I think I’ve had some version of the same bob haircut since high school (with a few unfortunate multi-layered, bangs, or pixie moments).

As for monthly at-home manicures, I’d say I have tried to do this most months. I typically will do a fun color and paint my nails for an event or holiday. Kate and I got the Olive and June gel kit last November and it does provide a nice alternative to a nail salon manicure. I did get two salon pedicures and they were nice. I think I’m going to make this a quarterly thing in 2026– less about aesthetics and more about just general foot maintenance. 😂

I started this post with goals that have mostly complete resolution. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as I address other 2o25 goals. Some are incomplete and a few are totally untouched.

How is your year shaping up? Do you set goals, intentions, or resolutions? Have you kept up with them?