2025

To quote The Mountain Goats, “I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me.” (Spoiler alert: I did, in fact, make it.) Even though this year has felt, at times, more like an affliction than a span of time, I’m so proud of everything I’ve accomplished. Some of my small victories in 2025 have felt just as meaningful as my big wins. 

SMALL VICTORIES:

• Started going to a new church •  Blogged throughout the year • Bought myself a Nintendo Switch • Saw My Chemical Romance live for the first time • Went to see the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” live (also for the first time) • Got back into running • Kept consistent with journaling all year long • Read lots of books • Started dressing more authentically to my personality • Went on tons of mental health walks • Enjoyed a girls trip with my family

BIG WINS:

• Got promoted at work •  Got out of an abusive relationship • Refinanced my car •  Took a social media break in January • Saved money • Worked on myself a lot in therapy • Strengthed relationships with my family and friends • Started feeling like me again • Didn't give up

My words for 2026 are “analog” and “free.” (2025’s were “heal” and “kind,” if you’re curious.) The former boils down to simply wanting to be more offline. I feel like I have been screaming saying this to myself since the dawn of time, but it’s my biggest goal for this next year. It’s just plain necessary for my mental health.

I want to intentionally cut back on the online pursuits that steal my focus (social media, shopping, scrolling) and replace them with analog activites that make me feel like me — listening to records, reading magazines and books, doodling in a notebook, running in the park. Basically, anything that offline 10-year-old Erin would do, I want to do. (Except for maybe climbing trees. And having bangs. But hey, you never know!)

And now, please allow me to present my list of the following items, media, people, and/or experiences that I could not have endured 2025 without, in no particular order, and with zero context:

• “Message Man” by Twenty One Pilots • Subway • Suja green juice • “Sinners” •  Running • Jesus • This live performance of Conan Gray’s “Vodka Cranberry” • Native’s sugar cookie body wash • “The Summer I Turned Pretty” series •  These cozy matching sets • “I’m Yours” by Jesse Jo Stark • Girrlscout socks • YouTube videos from Lexi Dahlia • Dan and Phil’s relationship reveal •  My local library • This sketch • “Schitt’s Creek” • Animal Crossing • Lunchables • Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” album • Bandanas • This “Survivor” clip that reignited my obsession with the show • Learning that it is actually possible to make quinoa IN THE MICROWAVE • “On the Floor” by Perfume Genius • My blog • Netflix documentaries • Matcha • Button Poetry • Dark chocolate • Matthew 11:28-30 • The Therapy & Theology podcast • My family • “Hannah Hunt” by Vampire Weekend • Steven Furtick sermons • This masterpiece that gave me so much serotonin • Selena Gomez’s album with Benny Blanco • The Google Weather Frog

Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I’m going to be holding my breath until the end of “Stranger Things” debuts.

Off to make a vision board,

Fall Favorites

Earlier this year, I posted my springtime mood board of little inspirations for the season. Now that it’s officially fall (my favorite season), I thought it’d be fun to share my fall-themed mood board (it’s green- and rust orange-colored, but I think it counts 👻). I’m not sure if I will continue making mood boards for every season, but so far they’ve been fun to create and they give me something fun to share with anyone who visits this blog.

None of these photos were taken by me.

Unlike other seasons, for me, fall seems to

come with a built-in soundtrack.

Certain records trigger memories from over a decade ago, memories of driving to college while listening to my favorite folk CDs. Now those albums always remind me of college and my commute, of being on campus in the fall, sipping a latte while reading issues of Nylon magazine and the college newspaper while waiting for my next class to start. Oh, to be a college freshman in a 3000-level creative writing course! *cries in 2012*

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the books on my fall reading list are very academia-oriented (the closest thing I can get to a time machine, LOL).

I’m currently reading “Heart the Lover,” a campus novel recommended by the book critic who writes a column in the magazine that I copy edit at work. (I recently finished reading another recommendation of hers, “Class Clown” by Dave Barry, which was very funny and resulted in many laugh-out-loud moments while reading it *in the wild* at my local Starbucks.)

Other books on my fall-specific reading list include “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt, which I started a while ago but never finished; “The Wilderness” by Angela Flournoy; “Mystery Lights” by Lena Valencia; “The Idiot” by Elif Batuman; maybe a vampire novel or two (such as my very worn copy of “Twilight”); and anything by Sally Rooney. If you have any recommendations, I’m all ears! 👂 Happy fall.

I like me,

32

Hello, 32! Today I continue my long-held tradition of posting to my blog on my birthday. I couldn’t be more excited to enter my 32nd year, leaving behind 31, which was *womp womp* two thumbs down, LOL. After moving back home after living hours away and getting out of a toxic relationship, I am finally starting to see myself again in the mirror. I’d like to think that younger me would be proud of how far I’ve come after everything I’ve experienced. Thank God for new beginnings!

Today has been everything a peaceful birthday ought to be: enjoying a latte with a friend at my favorite coffee shop, buying new plants, texting with friends and family, eating cookies, and later, enjoying Thai food with my mom and sister.

In this next year, I want more life in my life: more community, more Jesus, more writing and creativity. I want to be online less (unless I’m working on this blog, of course, which somehow I have managed to keep returning to after all these years), to cook more, to run farther, and love deeper.🎈

Set my heart on fire immediately,