Here's my annual "Year in Review" post! :)
1. What age did you turn in 2025? 44
2. What was your relationship status in 2025? Married 8 years, together for 13 years, and in love with each other for 20 years! :)
3. Did you move in 2025? Nope. It'll probably still be several years before we think about moving. We'd actually like to find some land to build on...but we'll see. Oh...Aubry moved in with her boyfriend in July, so we are officially empty nesters!
4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2025? Nope. But Johnny is really wanting to soon.
5. Did you add any new family members in 2025? No.
6. Did you lose any family members in 2025? No.
7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2025? I wouldn't say I had work changes...but I did have an unusually busy July and August because my custom name labels sold really well for back-to-school. Next year I'm hoping to have a few more options available as well. Thank goodness I got the Siser Romeo cutter earlier this year...because trying to make sticker sheets on my Cricut Maker 3 was a pain in the ass.
8. Did you travel anywhere in 2025? I didn't, but Johnny went to Seattle to visit his mom and brother. Since I wasn't going with him, we spent $100 more for Johnny to fly first class...and he really loved it. He flew on Alaskan Airlines and was on a smaller regional plane which has a side with single seats. He was able to pick his seat (he chose the very front seat on the side with single seats) and had priority boarding, complimentary dinner on the way there and breakfast on the way back, and complimentary drinks. He was able to spend a lot of time with his mom, hiked Deception Pass and went to a salmon hatchery with his brother, and enjoyed the wildlife that visited his brother's backyard everyday. He had a really nice time, but the puppies and I were definitely glad to have him home after being gone for a whole week! Johnny and I haven't spent a single night apart in, like, a whole decade.
9. Did you make any big purchases in 2025? Aside from Johnny's airline ticket, we also bought a new sectional, coffee table, and tv stand for the living room. The couch was actually our first furniture purchase together! We also bought a new cat tree that we decided to put on the landing of the stairs so that the cats will have something to scratch that isn't the new couch. :P Plus it lets Angel be up a little higher and see what we're doing in the living room more than sitting on the stairs. For work, I also got the Siser Romeo in March and a Cricut Maker 4 in December.
10. What was the best gift you received in 2025? Mom makes me meatballs and cheesy potatoes each year for my birthday...and it's always one of my favorites! :) We also got a really cute gift basket for Christmas from my sister that had a crockpot and some other cute little kitchen things. My grandparents also gave everyone a little book with cash. Each page spread had a different theme...like going out to eat, getting gas, etc. It was really neat. Johnny and I decided all our new living room furniture is our Christmas present to each other this year. :)
11. Did you learn any new skills in 2025? I learned how to use my Siser Romeo...which has been amazing for making my sticker sheets. I also learned how to calibrate the Romeo and manually adjust the camera this past month when it suddenly decided to start cutting off-center. It was the first time I'd ever had to adjust it...including right after I purchased it. It was cutting correctly straight out of the box. But now it's back to perfect.
12. Did you redecorate in 2025? Just the new furniture in the living room. The only thing we have left to change is the ceiling fan...which I'm hoping to do by spring 2026 because the current ceiling fan doesn't move much hair and hot flashes are stupid. :P
13. Did you read any good books in 2025? I finally finished The Innocent Man by John Grisham this year. I received the book in 2020 from the "Bless and Be Blessed" exchange group on FB. I carried it around in my purse to read while waiting for appointments and stuff. I actually found it kind of boring compared to other true crime books I've read. I have so many books on my bookshelf that I hope to read at some point. I just don't really make the time to read, despite the fact that I read really fast. :P
14. Did you see any good movies in 2025? I'm sure we watched some movies this year...I just can't really think of any off the top of my head. We've watched a lot of good documentaries and comedy specials...if those count as movies. ;) Tom Segura just released one on Christmas Eve and it was pretty good. We watch more TV shows than we do movies.
15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2025? Man...favorite? I like all my TV shows! lol. I think my favorites right now are probably Reacher and Virgin River. Stranger Things FINALLY released the last season...and it was an enjoyable watch. I like how the finale tied up everyone's storylines. We finished several series of shows this year: The Killing and Burden of Truth (both of which I'd watched before), The Old Man, the Tony & Ziva spinoff of NCIS, and Chernobyl. We started Invasion in December and it's been pretty good so far. We just started Season 2. Our other regular shows now that we're still watching are: Tracker, Law & Order SVU, Law & Order OC, NCIS, High Potential, and Murder in a Small Town. We'd been watching Tulsa King and Criminal Minds...but we've slacked on them and have quite a few episodes to catch up on. I've also rewatched Burn Notice, 24, and Manifest a few times. ;) But I don't actually just sit down and watch them...it's just playing in the background while I'm working and stuff. The only time I typically just sit and actually watch a show is when Johnny and I sit in the living room to eat dinner and watch one of our shows.
16. What things did you do in 2025 that you'd never done before? Mom and I cut my king size memory foam mattress in half to create two twin XL mattresses instead of buying brand new mattresses. I was really happy that it worked out...and we're enjoying being able to adjust the bed separately now so that both me and Johnny are comfortable. It's also really nice being able to sit it up to relax and watch TV together. We watched a couple episodes of Stranger Things while relaxing in bed.
17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2025? I don't know...there's always a huge list of things on my "to-do" list that usually take a backseat to work. Even with work I have a list of things I want to get done and there just never seems to be enough time to do it all.
18. What were you proud of in 2025? For me personally...I'm proud of my progress with CandiMaker. I finished 2024 with 1820 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and 94 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. Last year, my goal was to hit 3500 sales in my CMS shop...and I met that goal on December 2nd. I also hit 500 sales in my CMP shop on December 20th (I didn't set a goal for that shop last year). So I'm glad that my business is continuing to have steady growth. I'm also proud of Ashlyn...she got her first "big girl job" this year working for an aircraft manufacturer (different company than Aubry and doing composite instead of sheet metal) and it seems to be going well so far. She'd been working retail for several years, but this is her first job using the WSU trade certificate she got in 2024. Aubry continues to do well and I'm proud of her "adulting" journey. She moved in with her boyfriend in July and that seems to be going well. She suffers from pretty bad anxiety, but Danny is a very laid back kind of guy and seems to be a calming influence in her life.
19. What was the one defining moment of 2025? Probably being empty nesters now. Since our kids have been adults for awhile (the youngest turned 21 this year), it doesn't really feel like it's as much of a defining moment, but it has been nice. :)
20. How would you describe 2025 in three words? Loving,
productive, and comfortable. :)
And now for some 2026 questions...
1. What did you NOT have in 2025 that you would like to have in 2026? I would say probably my CandiMaker website. Technically I already have it...but it's still not finished yet. Hopefully soon, though!
2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2026? I still want to find the right material combination/process to start making magnetic bookmarks again. That's what I'd wanted to do for 2025, but I never really got around to it. I focused on revamping CandiMakerPlanners instead. And I'm actually thinking that's where I might list my magnetic bookmarks instead of my CandiMakerStickers shop. We shall see.
3. What do you want to do more of in 2026? Organizing/cleaning out the basement and garage. And probably still exercising. That was my answer for 2025 and I didn't devote as much time to it as I wanted. I've just been having a lot of problems with my back and my joints which makes it difficult...plus hot flashes which exacerbate my existing health issues even more.
4. What do you want to buy in 2026? I can't really think of anything for the house except that we want to replace the ceiling fan in the living room. Oh...and Johnny is wanting to get at least one truckload of dirt to fill in the settled spots around the house and the yard. He also mentioned wanting to get a new set of dishes. One of these days we might get a new oven. It's the only appliance we haven't replaced. As for work, I eventually want to get a better (and perhaps bigger) guillotine paper cutter, a binding machine, and possibly a dye ink printer (looking at the ET-8550) to print things other than stickers that work better with dye ink...but I'm not in any rush for those things.
5. What is your number one goal for 2026? I'd like to reach 6000 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop and 1200 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. :) Technically those are two goals...but they're both the same kind of work-related goal. ;)