Last December, I wrote a blog called “What I Want in 2026: A Realistic, Lightly Unhinged Wish List.”


It wasn’t a list of resolutions because, let’s be honest, I know myself. By the second week of January, I’m usually wondering why I thought becoming a completely different human overnight sounded like a good idea.

Instead, it was a list of hopes. A few dreams. A handful of “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” moments that I tossed out into the universe.

Well…

The universe apparently read it.

It just added a few edits of its own.


When I wrote my wish list, I hoped to squeeze in a Disney trip somewhere during the year.

Instead, I spent a weekend at Disney World in Florida in April and took a family trip to Disneyland in California in June.

I don’t know who was in charge of approving that request for coast to coast, but thank you.

There’s something about Disney that reminds me it’s okay to be an adult who still gets excited over fireworks, churros, and waving at posing with Snow White.

No explanation needed.


Paris was the dream that felt just unrealistic enough to write down.

The kind of goal that makes you think, “Well…maybe someday.”

Except someday turned into September.

Passport is now in hand.

Everything is booked.

In just a few short weeks I’ll be wandering through museums, eating pastries, drinking coffee, pretending I know enough French to order coffee, and undoubtedly looking at Google Maps every five minutes while acting like I know exactly where I’m going.

If you see someone confidently walking the wrong direction in a striped shirt, it’s probably me. But there's one thing that's for certain- my outfits will be on point.


One of my goals was to enter an art show.

I did.

I wasn’t accepted.

A few years ago, that probably would have convinced me to stop trying.

Now?

Not so much.

I’m still creating.

I’m still photographing.

I’m still painting and drawing.

Turns out making art isn’t about getting a ribbon or hanging on a gallery wall.

It’s about making something that didn’t exist before.

And that’s still pretty incredible.

Plus, let's be real- I only entered one show. It's a start with putting myself out there.


One of the things on my original list was losing twenty pounds.

Somewhere along the way, that goal evolved.

I’m working with a dietitian now, and instead of obsessing over the number on the scale, I’m paying attention to nutrition, energy, and taking care of my body.

It’s a much healthier mindset.

I've spent so much of my life obsessing over the number on the scale.

Besides, life is too short to let the bathroom scale determine whether today is a good day.


One thing that definitely wasn’t on my wish list?

Cutting off more than ten inches of my hair.

After Mom died, I needed a change.

Not because hair fixes grief—it absolutely doesn’t—but because grief changes you.

Sometimes the outside catches up with the inside.

It felt like closing one chapter and quietly stepping into another.

And for the record…

I have absolutely zero regrets.


There was one wish on my list that I wanted more than any of the others.

I wrote that I hoped there would be no more hospital visits for Mom.

I didn’t know then that 2026 would become the year I lost her.

Reading those words now feels like opening a letter from a version of myself who still believed there would be more time.

If I could rewrite that wish today, I wouldn’t ask for fewer hospital visits.

I’d ask for one more afternoon.

One more trip together.

One more story.

One more phone call.

Life doesn’t always honor our wish lists.

Sometimes it completely rewrites them.

But if this year has taught me anything, it’s that love doesn’t end when someone’s story does.

I carry her with me everywhere I go—including Paris.

I know she’d be reminding me to take pictures, enjoy every bite, and probably telling me if I see it, I like it, then buy it.


There are still a few things left on the list.

Making more time for myself.

Seeing friends more often.

Baking more- especially pies- just because.

It turns out I’m really good at planning vacations and significantly less skilled at sitting down for an uninterrupted afternoon without an agenda.


Looking back, I don’t think this wish list was ever about accomplishing everything.

It was about paying attention to the life I wanted to build.

Some dreams happened exactly as I imagined.

Some looked completely different.

Some are still waiting.

And some taught me lessons I never wanted to learn.

That’s life, isn’t it?

Beautiful.

Messy.

Heartbreaking.

Funny.

Completely unpredictable.

Before I know it, it’ll be December, and I want to come back to this post one more time to see what the rest of 2026 had in store.

Maybe I’ll have baked those pies.

Maybe I’ll finally stop saying, “We should get together soon,” and actually make the plans.

Maybe the universe still has a few surprises left.

Until then, I’m choosing gratitude.

For the adventures.

For the creativity.

For the people I love.

For the memories that make me smile.

And for the reminder that even when life doesn’t unfold the way we planned, it can still be incredibly beautiful.

I’ll revisit this in December. I have a feeling the story isn’t finished yet.