Welcome, 2025. We're so glad you're here.

Happy New Year! I sincerely hope your family had a wonderful holiday season.

Last night, the five of us wearily stepped back into our RV after two weeks of travel and almost one week of the flu, which tore its way through our crew and several other family members we visited over Christmas. Our holiday break included a busted tire and a trip to the E.R. for a breathing treatment and IV steroids after I suffered an asthma attack Sunday night, delaying our trip home even further. But we welcomed the new year in cough-medicine-induced hibernation, cozy in our own beds.

I have perhaps never been more ready to ring in a new year than I have been today. The second half of 2024 was a real humdinger for our family. We started off June on a high note with a week-long vacation with our dear friends from Portland, who now live in Texas and Tennessee. They stayed in cabins here in the campground, and we enjoyed multiple cookouts, campfires with s’mores, pool days with a cooler of popsicles, Dads vs. kids NERF wars, and exploring both D.C. and Annapolis. We treated everyone to the LEGO Discovery Center for Riley’s birthday, and we took a tour of the U.S. Capitol, the National Archives, the SPY Museum, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, and the Washington Mall. It was perhaps the best summer vacation we’ve ever had, and we were grateful to spend it with such good friends.

In July, Liam attended Encampment with Civil Air Patrol, his first overnight camp ever. This was such a stretch for our family; not only was he gone for a full week, but we didn’t have any contact with him the entire time. So, we all wrote little notes to him and hid them all throughout his suitcase for him to find during the week. It was an intense basic-training style experience for him that made him begin to question whether the Air Force was a good career choice. He was homesick half of the week, got physically ill along with a third of the cadets due to contaminated water, and just didn’t understand why they all kept yelling out orders all the time. But he got to ride in a Blackhawk helicopter and a C-130, which were the highlights of the week for him. Whether he decides to apply for the Air Force Academy or just pursue his private pilot’s license, we’re proud of him for bravely stepping out of his comfort zone and trying something new.

The week that Liam came home from camp, we adopted a second ridgeback after a lengthy and exhausting vetting process through the Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue. At almost five years old, her owner could no longer keep her due to an extensive travel schedule for work. So I flew to Dallas, Texas, and drove her home. Unfortunately, what we thought was going to be a fun experience for our family and a playmate for Ranger turned into somewhat of a nightmare. Through all of our careful thought and research about Remy, we were not given her full story, and we discovered a little too late that she had some significant behavioral issues. Though for the most part, she was a sweet, cuddly companion, she was unpredictable, and after about two weeks with our family, she attacked our son Riley without any provocation or warning. Thankfully, he didn’t need medical attention; his wounds were all over his body but mostly superficial. But because she tried repeatedly to attack him after I separated her from him (and because, as it turned out, it wasn’t her first time to bite a human), we immediately surrendered her to our county animal control. It was heartbreaking, to say the least. Though it was really a non-decision to give her up, we still grieve her absence. We know we could have given her a great life and a lot of love here.

To add to a tumultuous summer, a few days after we said goodbye to Remy, Liam suffered buckle fractures in both of his wrists after (unsuccessfully) jumping out of a swing at a nearby state park, all while Kelley was out of the country on a work trip. Because of his age, he wore a combination of hard casts and soft splints for about three months. I had planned a fun overnight excursion to Luray Caverns and Shenandoah National Park that week, since Kelley was out of town, and we were supposed to leave the next day. After leaving the emergency room after 11 p.m. that night, we stuck to our plans to demonstrate to Liam that his life didn’t have to come to a standstill despite encountering a major setback. (We just had to walk a little slower throughout the underground caves, and I had to constantly remind him not to run through the outdoor garden maze.) It was a lesson in mental and emotional toughness. He promised he wouldn’t try to fly again unless he’s in an aircraft, but autumn was a test of humility for him. He couldn’t do much on his own and had to learn the art of contentment in just “being” instead of constantly doing. This was a tough lesson for a kid who hasn’t stopped moving since he exited the womb, but I was so proud of his determination, resilience, and strength. Through the whole experience, he kept an upbeat attitude, and when people would ask what happened to him, he’d respond, “Bar fight…but you should see the other guy.” (He actually made this comment at church youth group one night, and the other kid, who didn’t get the joke, slapped him in the face. True story; I guess not everyone has his sense of humor.) I was also so proud of how his siblings comforted and supported him, taking on extra chores and looking for ways to serve him. They are growing into such great human beings, all of them.

Throw in a little campground drama with a crazy new neighbor (a story for another time), a few fun field trips to the National Portrait Gallery, Mt. Vernon, and the Planet Word Museum, and a handful of work trips for Kelley, and that about rounds out the year for us.

If I’ve learned anything in 2024, it’s that, when I am gifted a bit of margin, it’s okay not to feel the pressure to fill it or spend it. I’ve always felt that if I have extra time, or extra funds, or extra of anything, I should look for opportunities to give it away to others or be the most productive with it. (We have just enough space in the RV; let’s get another dog!) But maybe the point of margin isn’t to always reinvest it but to savor it. Enjoy the pause, the bit of extra breathing room, the little smidge of rest. No sooner do you acknowledge it than it could be gone.

We have several goals for 2025, including finding a new living arrangement. We moved to D.C. within a week of Kelley accepting his new job, so the travel trailer provided a quick place to land in a part of the country we weren’t familiar with. We also weren’t sure how long we would be in the D.C. metro area, as the company Kelley works for provides plenty of opportunities for promotions and transfers, so it didn’t make sense for us to rent or buy a place that we’d have to furnish if we could be moving within a year or two. It also didn’t make sense to buy a larger RV or a second vehicle when the possibility of moving overseas this year loomed overhead.

But while living in a travel trailer has had its benefits, including ample bonding time and cost savings and the amenities of a campground, it’s simply run its course. Our kids are getting older, and we have quickly outgrown what was never intended to be our permanent home, but only a travel vessel. Our teenager is several inches taller than me now, and the younger two are quickly catching up. Our dog is twice the size he was when we moved in, and our homeschool curriculum and supplies demand more space than what we have available. While we have relished all of the adventures we’ve been fortunate to experience over the past five years—traveling all over the U.S. and spending quality time together as a family—we are getting to a phase in our family life where we yearn to put down some roots. We are ready for a place where our kids can begin to pursue some of their individual interests and make friends in our community. A place that doesn’t feel so temporary all the time.

We are ready for indoor plumbing and in-home laundry and a decent oven to cook in. And dressers and closets. And more than one bathroom. We are ready to find a home that we can settle in while our kids are still in the house with us (possibly only five more years with Liam—yikes!), where they can enjoy playing with LEGO, where we can spread out jigsaw puzzles on a card table and practice our musical instruments (I will NEVER let go of the family band dream!), where the dog can play off-leash in our back yard. Where I can roll out pie dough onto my marble pastry slab on an actual kitchen counter and bake with the kids. It’s not lost on me that while the kids’ toys sit in boxes in our storage unit, our kids are quickly outgrowing them. Time with them at home is so precious, and it’s going by so fast that it takes my breath away. In my gut, I know it’s time not to feel like we’re stuck in transition, just waiting for some distant point in the future when we’re able to set up home. It’s time for everyone to be able to sleep in their own beds—actual beds, not pull-out sofas or cramped bunks. It’s simply time not to feel like we’re perpetually camping. We don’t know the when or the where yet, but we’re actively looking forward to the next step as we yearn for more stability.

One thing is for sure, 2025 will be a year of some big changes, and I’m looking forward to it.