I used to love writing these year-in-review posts. I’m not sure what has happened. Too many hard years, a pandemic, a website that feels like it no longer fits, embarrassment at past writing, a past self (the archives here date back to 2009 — YIKES)? I read someone else’s this past week, and something about it made me miss writing my own enough to actually do it. Here we are.
2025 has easily been one of the most dramatic and surprising years of my life.
January
- Celebrated my birthday, though I don’t remember how? Perhaps fancy pizza and a spice cake with caramel icing?
- Cut quilt no. 4
- Did serious bee research — read books, took the New Beekeeper Workshop with my local beekeeping society
- Planned our trip to Amsterdam and Paris
- Took the kids to Longwood Christmas; internalized that my children need early bedtimes, and evening activities are really just not worth it, especially in the winter. I decided to embrace this.
- Severance came back!
- Told the kids (6 and 3) they were getting a new sibling. Witnessed two very different responses and processing times, and did my best to make space for both of these.
Read
- Rooftop Beekeeper: A Scrappy Guide to Keeping Urban Honeybees, by Megan Paska
- The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money, by Ron Lieber
- Alphabetical Diaries, by Sheila Heti
February
- Continued bee reading; attended a board meeting for a local public space (a cemetery, how poetic!) to pitch them on letting me keep bees there — they were into it!
- Watched Charlotte’s Web and was delighted by how well it’s aged. “You’ve got feathers; I’ve got skin. But both our outsides hold us in!” The soundtrack is really underrated.
- Attended a friend’s presentation titled “Know Thy Neighbor: What Christians in Lancaster County Should know about Judaism in a Time of Christian Nationalism”
- Snagged Rilo Kiley tickets, emailed the venue to be sure they’d let me in with an infant, desperately hoped I’d feel well enough to attend when the time came.
- Spent a chunk of time at the cabin with family and, separately, a friend for a work-cation
- Attended the beekeeping society’s annual banquet
Read
- Homegrown Honeybees: An Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest, by Alethea Morrison
- Yellowface*, by R.F. Kuang
- Linea Nigra: An Essay on Pregnancy and Earthquakes, by Jazmina Barrera
March
- Scouted the cemetery for bee locations
- Traveled to Amsterdam and Paris with the kids. My mom met us in Paris.
- In Amsterdam, we stayed in a houseboat. It was so nice to watch the dancing light reflecting off the canals and onto our walls. We watched the season 2 finale of Severance on my laptop in bed in this houseboat.
- Took the train to Utrecht for a day.
- Hopped on a train to Paris, where my mom met us. I finally understood why people are so into Paris.
Read
- The Kids are All Right: Parenting with Confidence in an Uncertain World, by Gabby and Ben Blair
- The Harder I Fight the More I Love You, by Neko Case
April
- Attended my first educational hive check with the beekeeping society
- Saw Bread + Puppet’s The Obligation to Live show while they were touring
- Weekend in NYC to walk around and do as we pleased sans kids for the last time in awhile
- Got a dresser so I could start washing baby clothes
- Learned about a house that’d be going up for sale across town and met with a realtor to strategize
- Met another new beekeeper through a mutual friend
- Celebrated a child’s birthday at the park
Read
- Any Person is the Only Self, by Elisa Gabbert
- The House in the Cerulean Sea*, by TJ Klune
May
- Toured the house and immediately crafted an offer; had it accepted
- Bee pick up day! Got my new nuclear colonies from a local beekeeper and installed them in the cemetery after moving the bee site twice; spent the rest of the weekend in bed.
- Told the kids about the house
- Kindergarten graduation
- Watched the foxgloves bloom in the backyard
- Closed on the house
Read
- Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, by Kyle Chayka
- Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age, by Amanda Hess
June
- Last meal out as family of four at a fancy pizza place. Not as relaxing as I’d hoped, but still glad we did it.
- Checked on the bees one last time before needing to take a break for a few weeks
- Medically indicated scheduled induction, the least complicated I’ve had. It was so much nicer to have a scheduled induction rather than a “Surprise! This isn’t safe anymore and you gotta go have a baby RIGHT NOW” induction.
- Met a new family member
- Started letting go of items via a local Buy Nothing group
- Started watching The Righteous Gemstones
- Many visits to the pediatrician
- Reunited with the bees; noticed some queen cells. Did one of the hives swarm while I was busy recovering from childbirth?
Read
- Mothers and Other Fictional Characters: A Memoir in Essays, by Nicole Graev Lipson
July
- Packed the house
- Spent lots of time in the backyard. Alone, with kids, with friends.
- Started venturing out a little more, partly because the kids missed their babysitter
- Moved
- Finished watching The Righteous Gemstones
- Early anniversary dinner
Read
- The Road to Tender Hearts*, by Annie Hartnett
- Reckless Christianity: The Destructive New Teachings and Practices of Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, and the Global Movement of Apostles and Prophets, by Holly Pivec and R. Douglas Geivett
August
- Saw a teen production of Hadestown in Mt. Gretna. It was surprisingly good!
- Met some new friends for coffee and a potluck
- Got to know our new neighborhood elementary school
- Wandered around the yard in the evenings, trying to figure out what all the plants are
- Took an indigo dyeing class at the PA Guild of Craftsmen
- Started to enjoy playing with clothes and getting dressed again
- Listened to a lot of Big Thief
- Became horrified by the mite counts in the beehives
- First overnight trip for a family reunion. Poked my head in a cabin I haven’t seen since I was a little kid. My mom ushered the kids outside and told us not to breathe too deeply or we’d get hantavirus.
- Started back at work after parental leave.
September
- Got terribly sick with mastitis
- Learned I’m frightfully allergic to wisteria
- Planted saffron corms along some pachysandra that we hope to banish in 2026
- Saw Rilo Kiley in Philly
- Survived solo parenting three (with the help of an amazing postpartum overnight doula) for about a week
- Saw a friend perform in an incredibly well produced concert the day Chad returned
- Observed no. 3’s transfer-versary (in my own mind)
Read
- Death of the Author*, by Nnedi Okorafor
October
- Treated the bees with Formic Pro (controversial and late in the year, don’t come for me)
- Finally got a new fridge
- Company party
- Admired the moon
- Scored the same vintage metal Squeezo my grandma used at the thrift store
- Visited pumpkin patch/orchard
- Made applesauce
- Sent no. 3 to daycare so we wouldn’t lose his spot, despite a divine two months of working with him at home with me.
- Washed/soaked/restored antique quilt
- Longwood trip with book club and the baby
- Spent a gorgeous weekend at the cabin
- Saw Lucy Dacus at a local venue for a surprise show
- Halloween in the new neighborhood — what an experience
Read
November
- Pumpkined the baby. This was cruel and I regret it.
- Said goodbye to the beer garden (at least at its current spot, I hope!)
- Started harvesting saffron
- Tagged a Christmas tree alone on a cool and drizzly Sunday afternoon.
- Attended the closing reception for Mixtape Metaphysics at Modern Art: “I had a thought today!”
- Found an Amish woodworker to make a replica of the spindles on our staircase
- Took the baby to an old favorite brunch spot
Read
- The Hour of the Star*, by Clarice Lispector
- Parable of the Sower**, by Octavia Butler
- Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler**, by Susana M. Morris
December
- Hosted a child’s birthday party in our house
- Started writing and sending a newsletter again
- Started watching The Wire on Wednesdays with friends
- Gorgeous winter storm that knocked our power out and convinced us to try out the fireplace
- Hung out with some new friends
- Got the house ready for some painting
- Spent over a week out of town, where we saw family and caught up with an old friend
Read
- This is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web, by Tim Berners-Lee
- A Mannequin for Christmas* (lol), by Timothy Janovsky
- The Siren’s Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, by Chris Hayes
- Didion & Babitz, by Lili Anolik
*Books I read for book club
**Books I read for an Octavia Butler course/book club with local favorite Pocket Books
Miscellany
At some point, though I seem to have no record of when, I finished piecing the fourth quilt top I’ve made. Maybe November.
These bullets don’t really capture the amount of time it took to move with two kids and a six-week-old baby. It feels like I’ve spent much of the past six months moving. I feel like my brain’s gone through a shredder. It was an inopportune moment but the right decision, and I’m glad we made it. I’m also glad that someday it’ll be a distant memory.
I’ve really embraced the circular economy more this year. I had more time while I was on leave to pick up FB marketplace finds. The local Buy Nothing group has also been a nice resource.
Something I’m thinking about as we move into 2026 is attention. What it is, how we’ve lost it, both individually and collectively. How to restore it.
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