Hello, friends! Happy 2025! Having released the need to have my goals ready to roll on January 1 a few years ago – but fully retained my delight in sharing them with you here – I’m so happy to chat all things goals today. This is a process I find deep joy in. I know it’s not the case for everyone, but the idea of goals being stressful or guilt-ridden is alien to me. I say that not as some sort of strange brag, but just as an acknowledgment that I have been doing this a long time, and that the Cultivate Way is so deeply ingrained in me it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. To me, the goal-setting process is almost all upside: it’s a chance to clarify what matters in the big picture, make decisions based on what I uncover that focus my time and attention right now, and experience joy and satisfaction as I take small steps forward. Goal setting, for me, also brings joy because it’s about connecting with others. Chatting with you all here, and with friends offline, has always been one of the best parts of goal setting! I’m grateful for our conversations and for your encouragement along the way. Enough intro – onto the goals! This year, I’ve organized my pursuits into buckets, loosely titled big goals, small goals, and habits – five of each. I’m also sharing my tech-related goals, though pointing you to The Connected Family for more detail on those. Buckle up, because we’ve got a lot to cover this year – more than usual! I’ve tried to describe each goal in brief below, but rest assured we will be chatting about many of these in more detail as the year goes on. It also

I am aware that we are in the sweetest of sweet spots in our family’s life. It’s rather unfashionable to say so – the more correct thing to say is that there is beauty in every season, and that we shouldn’t elevate one over another – but sometimes unfashionable things are also true. Of course (of course!) there is beauty in every season: I fully expect to delight in our family when everyone has graduated from elementary school, when we have teens, and when kids are home on college break. I will relish the days when we can all huddle around the same game board and no one is whining to be carried on a hike. And yet: so many people say that the years between six and twelve are the golden ones for family life, and I can see why. Our kids are squarely within our sphere of influence. They like our home the best and spending time together the most. They don’t have phones or computers – there’s no algorithm shaping, splintering, spoiling their psyches. They’re growing more capable every day and look out for each other while on the go. They’re full of questions and eager for answers, willing accomplices, sweet and genuine and unguarded. They smile and hug and snuggle and hold our hands. They also bicker, and vehemently express outsize opinions about inconsequential things. They complain and whine and dawdle and melt down. I lose my patience and come down hard in the wrong places and make the more expedient choice instead of the one I know is better in the long-term. This is family life, with all of its joys and furies. This is our life together, and here I am to mark one more year in its span: to pin it down in

I hope you’ve all had wonderful holidays, friends! Our days have been full – hosting family, traveling to see family, and squeezing in some favorite traditions. Still, I’ll always make time for the two posts I have planned for the end of the year: today’s best of and my traditional final post, our year-in-review. They help me count the fruit from another precious year, and that’s an opportunity I’ll fight for even in the midst of these full, chaotic, slow post-holiday days. I hope they can serve as an opportunity for a little reflection on your own 2024, if you haven’t had a chance for it yet! In the comments, please share a few of your best memories, finds, and favorites from 2024, if you’d like. As always, I can’t wait to hear! Best adventure, travel, or trip: We had a number of memorable adventures this year, but the one that glows brightest in my mind is our long weekend cruising around on a golf cart on Bald Head Island. While I treasure our time in our families’ special summer places, the novelty of traveling to new places with just our little family always leads to rich memories. Best trend you tried: Gen Z socks! Inspired by the mom (five years my junior) who ziplined alongside us on our anniversary trip, I was emboldened to try out a pair. (And found this ivory version looks better than stark white with my coloring.) I mostly wear them with workout outfits so far and feel young and hip whenever I do :) Best new podcast listen, newsletter subscribe, or blog follow: I have long loved Coffee + Crumbs’ essays and podcast episodes, but this year I subscribed to the personal newsletter of the founder, Ashlee Gadd. She is truly an incredible writer

It seems funny to return to a sunny summer adventure here at the end of the year, but I couldn’t let our biannual family trip to Northern Michigan pass without a mention on EFM! As always, we loved our time visiting with extended family (there were 35 of us in total!) and exploring the picturesque towns and lakes of the North. In its original form, this post was supposed to include not only photos from our trip but my answers to your questions about organizing extended family vacations and reunions. I’d been plugging away at the draft for weeks (you had such good – and so many! – questions!) and was about 3/4 done… but alas, it’s just a few days before Christmas and time to get this post up. I’ve tabled the longer discussion for the new year and look forward to revisiting it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a peek at our time in one of our favorite places in the world! (I’ve written many times before about Northern Michigan with more detail, but don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions about where we are or what we’re doing!) I took almost the exact same photo (on the right) a few years ago – same girls, just reading longer books now :) In the midst of all the kayaking, fishing, dune jumping, ice cream eating, card games, family meals, and s’mores we took a few family photos, and they are a treasure. I’ll use one to wish you all a very merry Christmas, peaceful time with the ones you love, and a few moments to celebrate the birth of a most special tiny baby – Emmanuel, God with us. I’ll be back in a few days with 2024 superlatives and my yearly recap. xo! Past