2026 Greetings
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Welcome to 2026.
It felt like 2025 went faster than previous years. Mark read that time appears to go quickly when you are doing the same routines day in and day out. As I reflected on the year, we were definitely stuck in the daily rut. However, a peek through my journal showed we did have several adventures!
I was going to start talking about how much I love my new Hobonichi planner, but I think I will save that for a separate post!
2025 Highlight Reel
Travel
We did a fair amount of traveling in 2025 without going overseas. In January, I went with my sister and niece to California to be with our aunt for her husband’s funeral services. Our aunt is the most generous person I know and she married the only person who could outdo her in generosity. It was a sad way to start the year, but I was so glad I could be there despite the fires that decimated the area. I also enjoyed spending time with my sister and niece. We are all so good at eating.
In March, Sofs went to NYC for a band trip. Aside from performing, they saw “Wicked” and the “Back to the Future” in concert. Michael J. Fox was at the same event! While she was having fun with her friends in NY, Mark and I went to see the Caps beat the Panthers.
Mark, Sofs, and I drove to Nashville in April to visit Teresa and Colin. What a LONG drive. Even with an overnight stop in Roanoke, that is a long drive. We visited Buc-ee’s for the first time, checked out Belmont Mansion, the Parthenon at Centennial Park, The Hermitage, and Nashville Zoo. We drank all the coffee, ate all the pastries, and had barbeque. Mark and I had time for an anniversary dinner date in Nashville as well.
Toronto. Stray Kids. Floor Seats. Frying.
At the end of June, we drove to Toronto to see Stray Kids perform at Rogers Stadium—absolutely brand new construction and in the middle of nowhere. Really, even Bang Chan said we were in the middle of nowhere. We met up with my sister and her family, as well as another family. The show was phenomenal, the crowd when trying to leave—nerve wracking.
Here are other things we experienced in Toronto:
St. Lawrence Market
Acadia Bookstore
Hockey Hall of Fame
St. Michael’s Cathedral
Mineral (Filipino restaurant)
Kensington Market
CN Tower
The Distillery Historic District
Mogouyan Handpulled Noodles
Baldwin Steps
Casa Loma
I think we need to go back again. There are so many more sights to see. Toronto is a beautiful city.
We stopped by Niagara Falls on the way home just to take a look at the falls. It was a hot day in Canada, but the falls were beautiful.
In September, we took the train to NYC. Click that link to read more about the trip in a separate blog post!
I don’t think we have any specific trips lined up for 2026 yet. Comment below with any suggestions!
You can’t see the insane number of people in this shot.
Local Experiences
We don’t need to venture far to have fun. In 2025, we stayed local for the following experiences:
Visited the Saint John Paul II Shrine in Washington, DC for the first time. They had an exhibit on the Shroud of Turin.
Had our photo taken with actors (Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, and Liv Tyler) from The Lord of the Rings at Awesome Con.
Snapped photos of the cherry blossoms at the tidal basin in DC for the first time.
Listened to Fr. Mike Schmitz at DAR Constitution Hall on his Parables Tour.
Went to see ATEEZ at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore (and had amazing seats).
Grooved to Good Shot Judy at Mason District Park.
Mark ran the Marine Corps Marathon’s 50th anniversary.
Sofs saw Tomorrow x Together at Capital One Arena (my sis had to take my place since I was still recovering from COVID).
We saw Seventeen at Capital One Arena.
Checked out the artwork and cafe at the National Museum of Asian Art.
Ate at Union Market in DC for the first time.
Raced at the F1 Arcade in DC for the first time.
Books
I feel like “Mistborn” and manga kind of even things out…
I hit my 40-book goal again! Yes, 18 of the books were manga, but that’s why it’s such a good goal for me. I finally got around to reading “Mistborn: The Final Empire”. I read some fantasy classics that were on my list, such as “A Wizard of Earthsea” and “Guards! Guards” from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.
I read the wildly popular and hilarious “Dungeon Crawler Carl” and tore through 4 of the 5 books in “The Heroes of Olympus” series by Rick Riordan. I didn’t get the fifth book done in time. It seems like 2026 will be the year of the sequels…maybe.
Check out my 2025 Goodreads Year in Books to see more!
I’ve got another 40-book goal this year. Comment below with your reading goals!
I did this watercolor last year to track my reading. I am still working on putting titles on all the books!
Writing
It’s possible you haven’t noticed, but I made big strides with my writing this year. I signed on with coach Heather Jones to help me figure out why I was stuck in a rut and always doubting myself. There was visualizing, self-care, mindset shifts, goal-setting. I got back to blogging and my newsletter. I signed up to sell books at Once Upon a Convention—my first time doing book signings since COVID.
I have a way ahead in 2026! This is going to work!
One Word for 2026
I juggled with a few options for my “One Word” (see 2020 post) this year, but I finally settled on CONFIDENCE. This feels like a natural progression from last year’s which was POCO A POCO. I truly worked little by little to move ahead and now that I have building blocks in place, I need to move forward in confidence.
2026 Wishes
I mentioned my uncle at the beginning of this post. We said good-bye to more people than I expected this past year. An aunt in the Philippines. A friend’s mom. Cousin’s parents. A family in a car accident. My mom’s friend. A high school friend.
Our time is not guaranteed. Enjoy the daily tasks. Step away from routine. Take a chance, even if it’s little. Laugh so hard you cry. Give real hugs. Appreciate a different point of view. Make your brain remember on its own. Splurge on that thing. Refuse the shortcut. Baby steps are okay. So are leaps of faith. Be kind.
Let’s not wait until we’re on the other side of 2026. Comment below on how you are going to live to the fullest this year!
There’s so much possibility ahead!