Goodbye 2025...

2025

What a year 2025 has been. As I reflect, I can honestly say that it felt like one of the longest/shortest years. Because dang, how can it already be New Year's? Didn’t we just celebrate that? But, at the same time, did all of these things happen this year?! Looking back over those 365 days, there were a lot of emotions that came to mind. So many good things, but behind a lot of smiles were a lot of tears. Although, I think the best growth comes from being watered by our tears. We have been given a new opportunity to watch ourselves grow. I always expect something extravagant to happen on New Year’s Day, but I am only left with the decision to make the days ahead of me different. And that is pretty exciting. However, before moving forward, let's look back.

Jan - March 

I started the year off with a bang! I rang in the new year with new friends and clinking glasses as we all counted down to midnight. After our beds released us from their clutches, my housemates and I embarked on a long walk through the snow, occasionally using our coats as sleds. The rest of the months were coated in baby snuggles, from my sister's newest addition to her family, and sledding excursions with my other nephew. My favorite time of day. There were movie nights and adventures to Leavenworth with my roommate. Where we enjoyed shops, frozen lakes, and mountain views that caused the town to look like a postcard. After, a trip to Colorado was taken, where I met my eldest brother's son for the first time and had a reunion with my other brother, who met us there. We walked through the zoo, which is a tradition in our family. Then my brother and I flew back to Washington, where we made friends with the snow  by sledding and having snowball fights with our nephew. My housemate threw the cutest Galentine's party, packing our home with so many laughs and flowers. And if you didn’t catch the theme of the first three months, there was snow. A lot of snow. It was fun! A hop, skip, and a boat ride later, I embarked on a trip back to Kauai, HI. A much-needed trip home. It was the first time back after moving in July of 2024. Full of beaches, sun, family, friends, and a whole lot of much-needed reunions. It was short but oh so sweet! To wrap up the first quarter of 2025, there was a photo shoot at my sister's house for The Allie-Way turning 3!!! 

April - June

Wow, ok, can we talk about spring for a moment! My sister and I couldn’t stop talking about all of the flowers and the TULIPS that randomly exploded from the ground in our backyards. The world evolved from browns to vibrant pinks and reds. They coated the ground and created a fairytale. And as the sun began to warm the earth, my nephews and I spent more time outside playing and looking for bugs. I started my Naturopathic journey. (It has been a slow process of trial and error, working to fix my hormones, but let’s hope 2026 is the year of answers.) Spring cookies were made, crafts were enjoyed, and Easter was celebrated. I painted a lot more and remembered how much I missed it. I was also reminded how much I missed spending time outside, walking, and running. A new tree bloomed daily. My sister's family and I went and watched our community all gather to do a marathon through the City, I had more movie nights with the housemates, and dinners with family were outdoors. Then my sister, nephews, and I watched another race in Idaho that my brother-in-law ran in. We met kittens my friend was fostering, and then enjoyed more of Idaho with boat rides on the lake. I started taking ballet classes again, celebrated at baby showers, and watched my sister blow out her candles on her birthday cake. As the sun began to thaw the cold days and the sun stayed out to play longer, my sister, nephews, and I played in the blow-up pool in their backyard. There were lake swims, walks to ice cream, and family picnics in the backyard. Also, one of my close friends from Kauai came to visit, which concluded these months in such a beautiful way. 

July - Sep

It was a simple year full of backyard adventures. And the 4th of July was no different. We spent it in Idaho on a boat as the lake glistened in the sun. Then, after, my sister and I rode bikes around the neighborhood. During these months, my brother and his family visited, meaning I got to see my nephew for the second time that year. We explored Idaho as they house hunted, and had many family dinners at my parents' house. I went back to Mt. Spokane to go huckleberry picking with my housemate for the second year. Many of my friends had babies. I also spent countless evenings watching my nephews play at splash pads, soaking up summer. I had beach days with my sister's family at a lake in Idaho. I enjoyed more picnics, only these were savored downtown by the river, spent an evening at the rodeo making use of the long, warm nights, and received a dose of Kauai yet again with a few visitors. We soaked up the weekends as my sister's family and I splashed in the river. And what is Summer without a baseball game? My dad and I reminisced our way through a game as the sound of a bat colliding with the ball echoed throughout the stadium. Later in the month, my housemates and I roamed the streets of the city watching a movie and chatting as we sipped our drinks. Hours were spent entertaining and enjoying the title of being a designated “back seat buddy” with my nephews on a road trip to Portland. Here, I met a friend's new baby and spent the weekend with another friend where we went to the county fair and laughed as they snuck me into her friend's wedding. As the leaves began to grow gold, my sister and I walked with the boys, soaking in the last warm days. I played pickleball with my housemate, and my sister made my birthday cake from scratch, which we enjoyed a few weeks early. But, September wasn’t all peaches and cream because I spent most of the month sick and without a voice. It was a grand ol' time!

Oct - Dec

With only moments to spare, my month of being sick came to a conclusion as I zipped up my suitcase to embark on our two-week trip to Japan! My sister's family and I journeyed to Japan to visit a few friends and family who live over there, but also to eat. I mean, come on. We ventured around from Yokohama to Kyoto, making a pit stop at Tokyo Disney. It was my and the boys' first time at Disney, and let me just say…it is a fun and magical place! From the characters to the atmosphere; it was filled with wonder. We also explored TeamLabs, a very hands-on and  impressive experience that had rooms full of lights, giant balls, and flowers growing from the ceiling. I celebrated my birthday on a beach there and watched the sun melt into the sea. We met some of the nicest people and saw such beauty in every corner. But, after the two weeks came to a close, we returned to reality. My brother bought a house close by, which meant I finally got to have all three of my nephews in one place. We had backyard fires, took fall photos, and roamed an orchard collecting more apples than we knew what to do with. A friend and I danced our way through the full 3.5 hour Eras tour. We celebrated all three of my nephews' birthdays. My housemates and I redecorated our home and decorated it for Christmas. I made pies, had Thanksgiving at my brother's new house, and then started the Christmas festivities. We drove to a Christmas town in Idaho, dressed up to watch the Nutcracker, and decorated gingerbread cookies. Christmas held the surprise of my brother flying in, making it the first time our whole family had been together for a very long time. We celebrated Christmas wrapped in gray clouds, but without the company of snow. To melt our mild sorrows of no white Christmas we watched one of the best Christmas movies of all time, White Christmas. Laughter and conversation danced around the walls of my parents house being illuminated by the Christmas lights who sang a peaceful hum. The year ended in a whisper as I watched the ball drop from my bed, begging my eyelids to hold on to the last second when everyone on the screen yelled, “Happy New Year!” 

Recap 

It was a beautiful year full of so many wonderful moments. Although intertwined in between the floorboards of this year were a lot of feelings of sadness, anxiety, and loneliness. It is so easy to see the pictures that people want you to see, but not the underlying layers that make up the moments. I’m grateful for all the good, and sadness that came from last year. I am eager to grow from them and improve on them this new year. There was no special change or tangible thing that came from last year tumbling into this new one, but there is a mindset shift that we have the power to create. To once again pass GO, collecting the $200, and pushing ourselves to be better than what our past selves were or thought. 

I hope that your 2025 was full of so many wonderful moments and memories. And I pray that you don’t look at this new year as resetting the clock to zero, but instead as a year lifted up by the years that have come before to make us better, wiser, smarter, and kinder. I believe that whatever God has planned for 2026, it will be a year that I look over and feel blessed for this life that He has given me, and I hope you feel the same. I hope that you had a wonderful 2025, and I am looking forward to all the adventures we will walk into together in 2026. Thank you to everyone who read, commented, subscribed, liked, and followed along with The Allie-Way last year. And in this new year, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, share The Allie-way with someone, subscribe, and let me know if there are any topics you want to read about this year. Thanks for reading, Allie-Cats!

• Dru Allie