I don't normally do recaps, but 2025 was quite the year. I can't say that I've grown a ton, but what I can say is that I am in the process of growing in some different ways I wasn't expecting.
This year:
* Robert and I bought an Awards/Personalization business (after shadowing a few months). Though it was like the flip of a switch as 2024 ticked away the seconds into 2025, Robert and I were already hard at work, cleaning up the building, asking customers what they loved and wished we could do, asking our employee what things she wanted to change and things she didn't want to change. I was scrubbing down bathrooms during the 2024 holiday break (before we realized we could squeeze bathroom refreshes into the budget). So when January 1st came around it was both a big day and also just another day.
* We became commercial landlords due to buying the property along with the business. Really this just means we will never have a snow day as long as we own the property and have a tenant next door.
* We not only bought the business but purchased some new machines for the business after traveling to Las Vegas for the APA conference. The machines started arriving in March.
* We also refreshed the building - changed out all the slatwall in the showroom, added copious amounts of technology (security cameras, lights, smart outlets, monitors where we can see what's going on out front while we're in the back), overhauled the entire HVAC system for both our shop and the doctor's office next door, added/replaced storage in the back, stripped the bathrooms and tiny kitchen down and replaced everything. We even added a door with a window in our workroom because there isn't a single window in the back, which is where we work 90% of the time (and one of the changes our employee asked for).
* Robert and I moved my dad to our city, got him about 80% moved in, and then had the unfortunate outcome of my dad saying the hell with us. This caused some family drama that nearly consumed me. But on the days it still gets me down I ask myself, would I do it again knowing the outcome? Absolutely. I know from outside sources he's happier, healthier, no longer isolated, falling, or unable to take care of himself.
* I did two art fairs this spring, connected with people and their stories, sold some art, and watched as the weeds from my imposter plant blossomed some.
* I started seeing a G.I. doctor willing to help solve the cause of my symptoms, rather than just the symptoms. He even referred me to Mayo, where I got even more help. Took most of our summer, but I am on the right path. I have a whole list of things I want to do again or try in my life that I thought I wasn't going to be able to do, and I'm getting closer to being able to tackle that list.
* Robert and I celebrated 20 years of putting up with each other.
* I completely tore the shit out of my right achilles. A day before my surgery I got a call from the hospital asking if I would be a part of a yearlong psychological study for people with achilles injuries. They told me they were looking into the psychological impact of the injury, and gave me one of the most depressing and complicated surveys of my adult life. I was just starting the hard work of all the things that went into my gut issues, trying not to drown in the family drama, nearing the end of my MLS degree, and still completely immersed in my first year as a business owner. Just the act of someone asking me to be a part of a yearlong psychological survey process for what I considered a small blip in the grand scheme of things felt like the last of the wind being kicked out of me. But honestly, each time I was absolutely consumed with despair during the initial healing after the surgery I thought about being a part of that study, and I knew I wanted to fucking win it, whatever that looked like. Maybe that's the whole purpose of the study?
* After getting through the bed rest part of my healing journey, I came back to work (after working from home during the bed rest) and discovered my one employee was fighting her own battle and was going to need to quit her job. Robert and I immediately started the interview process, and I buckled down and tried to learn everything I was hoping to learn in year two of owning a business. I failed spectacularly at this, but everything I've learned has been needed, and it took my mind off the injury.
* So far the two employees I've hired have been incredible in their own ways. One is absolutely fearless and willing to problem solve and make anything. He even modeled two trophy toppers out of clay for a customer. The other employee came right in, nested on the first day, filled the kitchen cabinet with her foods, learned sand carving in one day, and is incredibly wonderful with people. She reminds me of a couple people I worked with at the library. Any time they interacted with patrons I was right there taking notes. So that's what I find myself doing again!
* I turned 40 in the midst of all of this.
* I officially got my Masters in Library Science.
* I finally got to see Sara Groves!
