The Road This Far: 2025 in Review (Thoughts from a deer blind)
Twenty Twenty-Five did not start off the way I wanted it to, just before Christmas, I fell and bruised my ankle bone so I was in a walking boot. I had just lost my paint horse Gypsy, completely unexpectedly, my lifelong dachshund Harley in October, my Nana in July, and my 5 year old bloodhound and German shepherd mix, Scout to cancer in May.
To say I started off 2025 on the wrong foot was an understatement. I was grieving, and told to stay off my ankle. (Which I honestly didn’t do that well of) but the whole year was bad, sure the grief is still there, I took that same grief into 2026. But there was a lot of good too. I can confidently say I’m not the same person I was on Jan 1, 2025.
I lost some friends, reconnected with some friends too. Tried new things, read and completed 21 books. (I started a few more)
I continued Kickboxing and was just shy of 18 months when the class was canceled, I attended my first Karate classes. I watched my sister excel in her karate this year! From training at home in the living room or backyard, or at the dojo, or competing she grew so much this year!
I found a church that I can call a home church, after almost 3 years of trying churches. I purchased a Bible this year and have been writing down my prayers in the margins. And I filled an entire notebook with sermon notes, from my new home church, visiting a few, from visiting the closest thing to a home church we had for a while when visiting my grandparents, to church in the dirt before rodeos. I’ve grown in my relationship with God, and saw answered prayers. I joined a women’s Bible study.
I finished my first rodeo season as a rodeo photographer (second shooter), and shot my first rodeo season as a solo shooter. I upgraded my camera and editing setup, this year.
I also got a second job and started this blog to help with multiple streams of income because honestly I don’t make enough doing photography.
I learned how to drive the tractor, and helped cut lanes for a local archery club.
We went on my mom’s dream trip to Kentucky to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. While we’re in Kentucky we went to the Muhammad Ali center, and Louis Ville Slugger Museum.
And I picked up my first long haired dachshund (something I wasn’t sure when I would be ready for after losing Scout and Harley the year before)
I bought my first vehicle (my dream truck) a 1987 Ford Bronco, that I’m going to be fixing up in 2026 with my Dad and his best friend.
I went back to the deer lease, (that seems silly but it was something I wasn’t sure scared of after losing Harley)
2025 was hard but I learned a lot, I learned about Love, sometimes it doesn’t stick around, and sometimes it never leaves you, and that it can take a few different forms, sometimes love can look like anger and grief. There were a lot of bad days, and good days. The bad days were heavy, but prayer, family and friends made them a lot less heavy, (even when they didn’t know I was struggling)
Life isn’t just the highlight reels you see on instagram or tictok. It’s the little moments we don’t know are important until they are gone.
Because you know what else happened in 2025, I got pretty sick and anemic and stopped going to martial arts class after going for 18 months.
My photography business didn’t grow the way I wanted it to this year. It got to the point I needed to look for another job, and I'm still exploring that. I went in to debt this year, something I didn’t want to do either.
I don’t think I competed any of my New Years Resolutions this year because most of them were written down in a book forgotten on my book shelves.
My point is, in all this rambling is that if your year didn’t go as planned, look for the good that did happen and if all you did was survive it’s okay. I heard a really cool quote today and it said.
“I may be hanging on by a thread, but it’s the tread of His garment I’ll be alright.”
And while I know 2026 won’t be perfect I defiantly want to keep this in mind.
