Last Updated on January 4, 2025 by Natalie
Every year, I love to write a year end review and publish it on my blog. It’s mainly for me, as I doubt there are many people out there searching for random year end reviews for (former??) travel bloggers. I’ve noticed that it helps me with my yearly goals in several ways. The big question, since I’ve not been writing this year, has this travel blogger been traveling? Let’s drive in!
That joke might make sense if you continue reading. Is it funny?
Eh. Probably not. It is accurate, however. I drive a LOT.
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Year in Review 2024
If you’re interest in reading a past review, here’s the 2023 review.
First Quarter
We did several field trips – this one was on a cold day in March.
January started with a bang. We always spend the night at my in-laws on New Year’s Eve (expect when we were in Mexico and we’d often be flying home on NYE, which is a GREAT time to fly, by the way). It was a lovely, though bittersweet time for us as my father in law passed in 2023.
Early in January, my mother fell and broke her shoulder. She’d also fractured her wrist, but didn’t know that for the first two weeks. She healed well and rocked her physical therapy, though it was well into the summer before she was back to “normal.”
January also saw my husband hop on a plane to go to Japan for a few weeks. The day he left, we had a big snowstorm, which made the trips to and from the airport a whole lotta no fun. I stopped at an outdoor mall not far from the airport to wait for the sun to rise and warm up the snow and ice covered roads. It was kind of fun because we just were waiting for the sunshine to come out and had a leisurely breakfast before heading back home.
The next day, my son was going on a winter outdoor Scout event about two hours from us. I got up extra early, was ready to leave on time in the negative Fahrenheit temps… and my garage door WOULD NOT CLOSE. Keep in mind, with my vertigo issues, I have no business getting on a ladder but there I was right up on a ladder when it was about minus 6 degrees F outside. It turned out that the garage door opener was not fixable, though we didn’t know that until after my husband returned from Japan in early February. We ended up being very late to the scouting event, but still had a wonderful time. There’s something about the high being around 18 degrees and spending the daylight hours outside. We were all dressed for the weather and had our Hot Hands with us. I loved it.
Early in the spring, my husband bought me a new wheelbarrow. I wanted to model with it and here’s the result of that.
I was struggling heavily at the end of 2023 and into 2024 with vertigo/POTS symptoms and neck pain. I did end up finally getting an MRI in February and there wasn’t anything alarming in the results. Yay, I am very glad, though I still don’t have any additional answers about the POTS symptoms. In the fourth quarter, I do finally get something done about my neck and my hip pain (it’s not my hip, which is also good!)
In March, the kittens named Minty, Milo, and their two siblings were born on the 2nd. I was not in the market for cats. Stayed tuned for the second quarter.
Second Quarter
Wearing my solar eclipse glasses as I was in full totality for the April, 2024 solar eclipse event.
April came around and everyone was talking about the solar eclipse happening on April 8th. It turned out that our house was in the full totality area, which was actually incredible. It was such a cool moment of our lives and an incredible thing to get to see especially from the comfort of our very own yard. We did miss the incredible display of the Northern Lights later in April, to my chagrin.
Also in April, we were invited to an event where we got to watch a crash test being conducted. It was super cool, though if you’ve ever been in an accident, it also might make you cringe at the sound of crunching metal.
My friend joined me (both of us pictured) and my family to watch the eclipse.
May brought us kittens. My friend’s daughter’s boyfriend’s cat had kittens and all four kittens needed homes. We agreed to take one, as it had been years since I’d had a cat. My former cat is still living the fat cat life with my mom. Yuki went to live with my parents when we went to Mexico, because it seemed the logical thing to do. He ended up bonding with my mom’s cat and now he’s my mom’s cat. He’s very happy (and should I need to take in my mom’s cats, I would, lest you think I’m an evil monster for some reason). Anyway, the morning of May 2nd, I convinced my husband that we should take two kittens instead of just the one we agreed on. I’d learned that cats do tend to live in loose groups and do enjoy company.
Me with the kittens when they were still small.
This turned out to be one of our best decisions as the kittens play, sleep, and eat together without any issues. They are turning into lovely cats. Milo, our orange boy, is a playful giant at not quite 10 months. Minty, our gray girl, is smaller than her brother and sweet and aloof as only beautiful cats can be.
In June, we went to an amusement park and my kids had a day camp at the end of the month. My son and husband left the last day of the month for a sleep-way camp (tent camping for the kid and a cabin for my husband). My daughter and I hung out, went places, and enjoyed some downtime.
Third Quarter
Me at the New River Gorge Bridge in New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia.
While July could’ve involved a little more downtime (less driving), I am looking back at my calendar with the realization that I still did a lot of activities. The year to this point involved a lot of various types of doctor’s appointments for three of the four family members, but we did end up solving a few mysteries.
In August, we finally did some traveling! We spent the weekend in New River Gorge National park in West Virginia. My sister and two of her kids were able to meet us there and we first visited the famous bridge (after driving over it twice, which was slightly anticlimactic). I will write about NRG eventually. We stayed at a wonderful independent motel/inn that I highly recommend.
We also went camping in Oak Openings in August. We only stayed one night and my son and husband went on to camp up in Michigan for a few additional days, while my daughter and I went back home. We have cats now, you know.
September brought a return to all of our usual activities, plus I signed the kids up for an art class to punish myself with an additional day of driving. I jest. Sort of. We do two co-ops weekly and the drive to one is 1.5 hours and the other one is a field trip group, so the drive is usually between 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours. In September, this was fine. It started to become an issue in October.
Fourth Quarter
My friend and I on our way to an 80s birthday party sometime in the pleasant time of year.
October started out just fine. It was beautiful, my garden was still alive and producing fruits and veggies. The kids and I were doing our usual events and sometimes going to the amusement park at which we have passes.
I started getting worn out. I’d attended a memorial service in August for an older gentleman I’d known from my acting days who had passed. By October, I knew that a friend of mine no longer had any treatment options for his cancer. Plus, I was driving so, so much. Other things changed, too (tech and car), and really threw my brain for a frustrated loop. By the end of October, I’d realized that I’d driven 3500 miles in about three weeks. The first week of November, I drove 1,000 miles. I was worn out from driving, from emotions, from things changing. I eventually realized that I wasn’t going to get to see my friend before he passed because I’d waited too long.
I spent a fair amount of October and November complaining, feeling uncomfortable, feeling very forgetful. I took steps to minimize how much I had to drive. Additionally, I was able to start physical therapy on my neck (diagnosed with tight neck muscles, which sounds stupid but I’ll take it because it’s fixable) and then finally on my SI joint which I believe was being aggravated by how much I was driving.
My friend did pass before Thanksgiving and I attended his memorial service as well. The grief cloud I’d been experiencing started to let up around that time. So many people attended and we all know the same thing: Our friend was kind hearted, generous, and always helpful. He would’ve hated being the center of attention, but we all needed that closure; to share our stories about our favorite times with him.
December found me starting to come out of that overwhelm I’d been experiencing for a few months. I continued physical therapy and finally started getting relief in my SI joint once our activities were finished for the year and I wasn’t driving long distances quite as frequently. Art classes are over and I’m taking a break from those in the first quarter of next year (and I will decide later about spring art classes).
My sister, her family, and my parents all spent the weekend before Christmas with us at our house. I was worried about how many people would be here and how crowded it would be but it was wonderful! Everyone went home on Christmas Eve Eve and we spent our first Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in our own home in 8 years. It was low-key and relaxing and I didn’t mind it one bit!
Goals for 2024: How Did I Do?
- Finish one story and edit it
- Submit it to a publisher
The latter of the goals above was my stretch goal. I failed the first one, so I obviously failed the second one. I did make PROGRESS on the first goal, though, so I’m still happy about that.
- Do NaNoWriMo in November for the second year in a row
I participated, but in a very low energy way. I don’t even know how many words I actually ended up adding during NaNo WriMo this year. Not many, but some. I did meet up with a local writer (who also writes romance!) and there will hopefully be monthly meetups locally.
- Walk 212 miles
SUCCESS! I got to 212 miles on Christmas Day. I ended the year with 219 miles even. I wasn’t sure I was going to make this one because I slacked in the summer time. I didn’t want to walk after all my driving, but I did it. I have to give our amusement park passes a shout out right here, because I did have my Runkeeper going while we were at the Park (turning it off for rides, of course, IF I rode anything), which would add 3.5-5 miles to my goal. I love fall and winter walking, plus we had one of the best autumns ever this year. It made it easy to grab 1.5 miles here and 2 miles there.
- Read 24 books
I don’t know when I exceeded this, but I did. I read 38 books this year (two physical books, two audio books, and the rest on Kindle. Loved my Kindle Unlimited for this, too). I really thought I’d read a lot more than this, but I’ve had to be somewhat disciplined and not read all day, every day. I also wouldn’t let myself reup my Kindle Unlimited subscription until I finished writing a book, but I am going to give myself the gift of reading for the month of January.
Goals for 2025
Me holding a large chick.
I’m going to keep my goals largely the same. Walking is for my health and I find that the goal gets me out and walking more. I want to get chickens, but I don’t think that’s going to be a goal in the same way that other things are goals. If I want them, I can just go get some.
- Walk 225 miles in 2025
Normally, I just match whatever I end up walking for the previous year and make that my goal. I was originally going to go for 215 miles this year, but with it being 2025, I’m going to try for 225 miles.
- Finish one story and edit it
- Submit it to a publisher
Same as last year. Let’s see if 2025 is the year I get out of my own way and make this happen. I have some ideas in the back of my brain, too, but getting my “first” story done and edited would be amazing.
- Read 25 books
Again, I’m using 25 because it’s 2025. It’s not original, but it’s catchy. It’s also something I can do while also continuing to write. When I can concentrate on writing, at least.
Conclusion
2024 ended up being themed “Health” and also possibly “Driving.” I managed to simmer down on driving in the latter half of December, which helped my SI joint a lot. Health was for working on my own health, my family’s health, and helping care for my parents during the time my mother’s arm was healing. In 2025, I want to do more camping. I camped twice in 2024 (and it was awesome both times), but only one night in 2025. We went to New River Gorge NP with my sister and a few of her kids. I’m hoping to do something like that again, as well. Other than those ideas, I don’t currently have any large trips planned. I love traveling, but I also love the life we’ve created here. I’m feeling content. That’s a great thing!
How was your 2024? What goals and hopes do you have for 2025?
