Hello 2025

 Here is to a new year and renewed energy to document all of our excitement for the year. 

I started off strong in 2024 to make sure that I was documenting our year and not just posting pictures. But as time went on that enthusiasm faded.  

I guess I will start off by giving updates going into the new year. We still live in Boise and love our home. Our neighborhood is quiet and safe. We’ve made some great friends on our street and feel really connected to the Subdivision. 

Exactly a year ago we started attending a new church called Valley Life Community Church. Matt and I had been praying for a church that would grow us spiritually regardless of how difficult it would be. We wanted a church that was going to challenge the current world view and give us a biblical world view. We felt strongly that church shouldn’t be a place that coddles us, but that should give us conviction to follow Christ. Zeplin really loves his youth group and has made some good friends. He is happy there. Our pastor and teacher is fantastic and is really strong in the Word. I am struggling to find true connection and friendship as most of the people there do not understand my background. Regardless of how I feel, the true gospel is being preached every Sunday and we are thankful. 

Matt is still working at health and welfare and is still the bureau chief in their payment systems team. It’s a hard job and he comes home almost every day feeling zapped. He's currently building a motorcycle from the frame - up. 

I am still cohosting and cleaning Airbnb’s. I’m growing to love it, but it is lonely. I ended up getting a subscription to Audible during the election season because the podcasts  I listened to were elevating my blood pressure. Even though my candidate won, It was still stressing me out. Apart from high blood pressure, I’ve been relatively healthy. I noticed that my migraines have not been as bad since switching out my AirPods for wired headphones. I’ve put on a lot of weight over the past few months since my hysterectomy and have a few diagnostic procedures scheduled for the next couple weeks. I’m sure everything is fine and I'm just headed into perimenopause. I started reading the Bible from cover to cover last year and I'm currently in Ezekiel. I've loved every word of it. I'm really looking forward to getting to the New Testament. 

Zeplin is excelling in school and absolutely loves being at Compass charter. He made some good friends and comes home every day happy. He doesn’t like that he has to wake up at the same time as his dad to catch the bus at 7 AM but he gets up and gets going. He just had a wellness visit and he is in the 70th% for height and 30th%  for weight. So basically he is tall and skinny like his dad. 

Arrow is also excelling in school. She is almost off the charts in her testing scores. Compass has been a great fit for her academically, and emotionally. She tends to cry a lot over the simplest things at home so Matt and I have to parent her very differently. She has a big heart and a big brain. She will be starting Y basketball this next week and she's so excited!

We still have our red Heeler, Max and our black tuxedo cat, Olivia. We also have a blue betta fish that we’ve named Jay Berry after the character in Summer of the Monkeys. Last summer, we attempted Backyard chickens and that was miserable because they pooped everywhere. Fortunately, our neighbors have a massive chicken coop, so it was easy to rehome them. We then decided to try a bunny and that was also short-lived as the bunny was not so friendly to me. Arrowlyn received a hamster for Christmas and it is very sweet. 

Overall, we are doing really well. We’ve really slowed down on a lot of our hobbies, including camping and mountain biking. Because Matt’s job is so difficult, he has promised to take more time off this summer to give himself a break more frequently. I hope to do the same this summer. We don’t currently have any plans for vacations, but we have an idea of what we’d like to do. 

I’m looking forward to this year. Lord willing, it will be quiet and simple.