It’s 6:05am on the last day of 2025.
I only took one photo last night, which feels very on-brand for this season of my life. It happened after someone declared, “Where’s Jen? We need a selfie - she’s the best at it.”
After a few failed attempts and one shameless test of my new, sucker-purchase iPhone 17 Pro, it worked.
This is the only proof I have that I went out, laughed hard, and stayed up late… 
I went out last night and hung out with my gal pals, watched a few bands, soaked up a little music and laughs. I was home and in bed by 11pm, and because I have gotten wiser in my years, I skipped the alcohol knowing I had a full day ahead of me. This morning I’m patting myself on the back.
Attagirl.
I was raised with a few New Year’s superstitions. The classics, of course - cornbread, black-eyed peas, and greens for lunch. Gold, coins, paper money. But the biggest one was always intention. My mom would say, “Whatever you’re doing or going through on New Year’s Day sets the tone for the whole year.”
Because of that, I’ve almost always stayed up to ring in the new year with people I adore.
Friends, family, lovers.
This year looks different. And it feels right.
This morning I have two dog hikes.
After work, I’ll finish cleaning the house - something I started last weekend - and then I’ll settle in to ring in the new year with my dogs in this cozy little farmhouse that I have made exactly the way I’ve always wanted it.
I may even open the windows at midnight to let the old out and the new in. I don’t think I’ve ever done that one before. We shall see if it makes me a believer.
When I was younger, I was always out on New Year’s Eve. And for much of the last decade, I didn’t care much about the new year at all, because life had grown stagnant, and I was complacent in it. But this year I feel alive. Clear. Intentional. Let’s see where this goes, open windows at midnight and all!
For the first time in two years, I’m home for this turning point. No overnight house or dog-sitting jobs. I chose to take December off from all of that.
My Christmas gift to myself.
Tonight at 11:59, I’ll be sitting in a clean, tidied house, watching the ball drop on TV, warm with my little wood stove crackling away, and tomorrow a morning workout (my home gym is finally set up), a lunch of greens, peas, cornbread, and a real me kinda day.
No cleaning.
No laundry.
No hay stacking.
No nonsense.
No loose ends going into 2026.
I’ll be ringing in the New Year the way God intended: horizontal, dramatic, and with a Poptart snoozing on me.
I’m ready.
xo
-s
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