read between the runs

well… for better or for worse, the year 2025 is now complete. following up the great year i had in 2024 would be difficult, but 2025 handled it with poise. there was no real part of the year that i felt dragged, it was more or less a balls-to-the-walls affair from start until finish, leaving little time for breaks. i don’t think i will remember 2025 as a whole as a particularly impactful or special year, but it was just a fine year all around. my valleys were minor and my peaks were middling. 

aside from once in a lifetime travel destinations, 2025 will stand out as a great year of teaching. i finished a school year with what will likely be the best students i will ever have. their drive, love, care, and attention were so unparalleled to other students i’ve taught, i just can’t imagine having a better group. so many great, lovable students left my class for the last time in May, and i genuinely miss them constantly. even though it appears that i will not earn any TIA money, i know my kids made incredible strides in their learning. i won the teacher of the year award, which is something that i have genuinely been envisioning since pandemic times in 2020 while i still lived with laura and logan. i may not have advertised that it was something i wanted, i feel incredibly grateful and honored to have been selected. it reminds me that all my extra hours, style, and patience are worth the investments i put into my students.

mentioned above was travel, and this year was defined by three big trips (and one small one). in february, autumn and i took our first cruise and it was such a legitimately fun trip in all regards. ship days were full of activities and fun, excursions to mexico were cool and informative, and the food was actually delicious. i never felt bored and when we disembarked, i was not fully ready. there was so much to do and see that it was impossible to cover in a “short” five days. having nobody around except autumn was an immense treat, and we enjoyed laxing together endlessly. for my spring break in march, autumn allowed us to spend some days camping as we made a bit of a “texas tour” up and around everywhere. those days on the hard ground, particularly when it ended up being far colder than we expected were special to me. over the summer i joined the math team on creating some nearpods for math teachers across the district to use, and once those two quick weeks were over, i prepped for my annual wisconsin trip. seeing friends, family, and acquaintances is a blessing each year as everyone gets older. of course, highlights included attending maria’s bachelorette weekend with book club, running my second marathon of the year, and spending big days with the big mans. last, in october, autumn and i brought our mom’s (and joe!) to italy for a trip to commemorate us both having graduated from grad school. it was such a beautiful trip, despite being incessantly busy from sunrise to sundown each day! we saw the pope, toured the vatican, walked the colosseum and roman forum, toured pompeii, made pasta, rode a gondola, and enjoyed great food! that minimizes the rest of the small moments we enjoyed, but i promise they are all treasured. being able to go on such a large trip, my first time in europe, was incredibly special, particularly when viewed as following other amazing trips we were able to go on. the fortune is going crazy.

2025 was filled with several other new experiences, too. on top of a basketball league, i joined a volleyball league with chelsea which was… fun! even though it didn’t always seem like it. i started coaching basketball at my school. i made my first attempts at becoming an influencer, and it was a weird experience. i definitely was out of my comfort zone in those instances, but it was fun doing something just for the plot. i made a video about book shopping, and am finishing the one about the houston fry tour which vern flew down for! the fry tour was a slog itself, but i am so proud that i finally did it. i had a genuinely great time eating so many fries and just chatting with the boys.

in more “regular” aspects of daily life, i made a lot of strides. i began using audiobooks more as a tool for consumption, which was necessary as i expanded my list of activities that i was engaging in and enjoying. i started the year out on a climbing tear, but fell off significantly as the school year started up again in august. running was on and off, but i believe that i am ending the year not just strong, but healthy, so 2026 should be able to get off to a strong start. i got class pass and went with autumn to various ryde’s at least five times, and i actually started to like some of those classes. taylor and i played all the way through baldur’s gate and that was such a fulfilling experience. i have played few campaign style games over the past couple years, and diving into one as robust as bg3 was incredible. i absolutely understand all the hype.

unfortunately, i do think i made some backwards strides in my body image. for the last two months, my stomach has been on my mind incessantly. over the summer i was feeling strong, healthy, and fit, but as my free time evaporated, as did my self-confidence. i know i am not fat and i understand logically that i am not “big”, but i don’t like the look of myself in a t-shirt right now. it’s become a bit neurotic how often i think about it, and i am really hope to be better year-round about my fitness to diminish and remove those feelings of inadequacy.

in other news, the spurs have been great to watch again! i have yet to miss a game in the 25’ season, but they enter 2026 on a high note. i read some really great books that are now all time favorites (overstory, lies of locke lamore, all the colors of the dark), delved even deeper into the regulation podcast and their content, and got really good at doing more chores around the house. as autumn was finishing her grad program, a lot of responsibility fell on my shoulders to complete activities, and i really tried to rise to the challenge. i cooked a lot, got the groceries, swept, cleaned litterboxes, took out trash, did dishes, and kept the apartment generally tidy so autumn had less to worry about when she was actually home. now that she is done, we have been able to spend a lot more time together. though i will selfishly miss my weekends alone a bit, i am much more excited to have time with the person i love most in the world. i know that i can show that to her more. i can get moody and unappreciative for autumn and everything that she does for me, so i aim to be more cognizant of that as 2026 and the rest of our lives kicks off.

i did an okay job on keeping up with the blog, but there is still lots of more room for improvement in other aspects of creativity. i don’t think i painted anything this year, i played less than 5 minutes of flute, and didn’t cook as many new meals as i would have liked. those should all get more attention going into 2026. autumn and i actually hosted people over more often than i thought, and i hope we continue that next year. plus, we have all these games available to us, so i want to make sure we actually play them!

when i was healthy, i did a pretty decent job of running (sometimes). as the year progressed, i became significantly less likely to run before school, even if the weather was great for running. sometimes i would even get up but just choose not to run. for some reason, my discipline has wavered despite previously being great at it. i need to develop some sort of routine like i had over the summer so i can really ball out, especially when i am having such negative thoughts about my body image. yes, mornings are often slow bc of my bowel movements, but i can’t let that stand in the way of me accomplishing so many other goals.

as for stats, here is what 2025 offered in terms of accomplishments:

• 644 miles ran
• 68,498 spotify minutes
• 101 books read
• 6 concerts attended
• 12 blog posts
• 184 bg3 hours
• ? switch hours
• 2 weddings attended

potentially, the most important aspect of this whole transition document is recording the goals that i have for the upcoming year. as much fun as it is to reflect on all that i accomplished in the past year, this is where i set myself up for success in the year to come. however, i fail myself if i take time to construct this list and then never visit it again throughout the year. that makes this whole process empty and worthless. so to combat, i have already created a document for tracking how i am doing on my more tangible goals that i hope to use each day. i’ll also include this in my actual goal writing as well.

• look back at my goals at the end of each month to make sure that i am making adequate progress.
• accurately update my year tracker in sheets.
• start the year by following the 75 hard system until the cruise. after that, reevaluate how it’s been going to develop a new plan.
  • this includes specifically not eating a lot of processed meats or other highly processed foods. i want to see if there are any bodily changes if i cut those out for a time.
• i really enjoyed how i read in 2025. a good mix of audiobooks for what i didn’t have as much passion about and physical copies for everything i loved. i’ll continue this i 2026 and aim to read 83 books.
• read at least four full book series from what i already own.
• run 1500 miles. i continue to throw out numbers and miss, so let’s go here. my current shoes have been great about not giving injuries, and i am hopeful this trends into 2026, which would make 1500 miles attainable if i can get myself up early in the mornings.
• run 2 marathons! i did this last year and it was an amazing feeling. i think i can do it again.
• repot some plants that are getting too large.
• move????
• actually maintain the list of restaurants we eat it. seeing that it would be on a tracker i utilize more often, this should be no issue.
• hit 10k steps a day, 90% of the days of 2026
• push my body actively each day in someway. aside from running, it could be climbing, blading, yoga, calisthenics, basketball, or anything else that gets the body pumping. i think it would be really cool to look back on 2026 knowing i had a 365 day active streak.
• listen to the albums released by each of my top 50 bands. i neglected favorites this year
• get out of debt on the farm with taylor
• have at least a few game nights with the boys in the north
• five more concerts! they’re genuinely always a blast once i’m there
• keep using the oculus more. it was fun when i brought it out, and i like fun.
• keep all of my goodr’s scratch free
• get rid of 30 books from the house. sell or take to school.
• actually, actually, actually ride 50 miles in a day. i know i can do it.
• go to pilates at least once!
• plan another fun, exciting trip for 2027 or 2028
• return to using class pass. since i have it, i should use it.
• try out the new studio across from pj’s
• complete my 12 week calisthenics course
• get a new snake plant!
• cut useless spending down. i have a lot of stuff; i don’t need more.
• reduce eating out to only twice a week. if we have food at the house, eat it even when i don’t want to.
• go on another solo camping trip–4 days!
• reach out to people i have’t talked to in a while. i miss my northern friends.
• make it back to san antonio for another spurs game!
• bring back the fruit and veggie challenge, but actually be thinking about it
• learn to cook three new meals.
• avoid drinking in excess
• i’ve been wanting a new tattoo, so let’s go ahead and get one, if it fits the budget
• if i’m being active, i should have no issue dropping the 5k to sub 20 again. i said this last year, but put about zero effort into the training of it.
• utilize yoga as an active workout. i started 2025 really strong with it and actually was surprised by how much i enjoyed it. that means i should hit it back up
• write an inspiring quote on the mirror to make me get up
• don’t fall into the culture of the school, but work on continuing to set it.
• when doing duolingo, do more than just the matching each day. i am there to actually be learning the language, not keep a streak
• keep loving autumn each day, even when it is difficult
• keep working on being a villager
• be happy

do great; be happy