Hailey Hudson's Blog

The first two weeks of June, I was drowning in work (because I was trying to get ahead so I could take off work during the last two weeks of the month). I wrote lots of science-heavy healthcare articles (including covering ASCO), and conducted lots (LOTS) of interviews for those articles. Beyond that, I didn’t do much. I did perform at Sing & Strum! And I spent time with my family for some holidays and birthdays.

Also, Ari got her wedding pictures back, so here are a few of those since I haven’t posted them on my blog yet (she was a STUNNING LOVELY GORGEOUS bride):

During the latter half of June, I took a 10-day trip to Charleston, South Carolina for the Oley Conference and then for a girls’ trip. I’d never been to Charleston before, but it’s now a city that I will always think of so fondly. Before I left for my trip, I wrote in my journal that I had this weird, unshakeable feeling that the trip was going to somehow change my life. And it absolutely did–in so many ways, that were both specific and more abstract.

If I attempted to share every single thing that I was fortunate enough to experience on this trip, this blog post would be the length of a novel! But here is a brief (?) summary. (Believe it or not, I’m only giving you the bare minimum of the photos I/we took. Our shared album for the girls’ trip had over 1,000 photos in it. So it could be much worse. Wink, wink.).

First up was the Oley Conference! It was my first year attending. Sponsored by the Oley Foundation, the Oley Conference is a huge annual event for people who are on home nutrition support (either tube feeding or TPN) and the professionals who support them (clinicians, dietitians, etc.). For me, it was both work and play: I networked with the professionals that were there (I met one of my clients in person for the first time, and I’m now working on a project for a new client whom I connected with at the conference); I learned SO much from the academic sessions that I can apply to both my career and to my personal medical care; and of course, I made so many great friendships and relationships (mostly with fellow tubies in their 20s, whom I’m still texting with multiple times a week, two months later).

Until the conference, I had never met anyone else in person who also had a feeding tube (and I’d been tube-fed for four years). And then to walk into a room filled with hundreds of people who also had feeding tubes? There’s no way I can describe that feeling. The conference was a week full of long, exhausting days that I pushed and pushed myself through. But it was all more than worth it to sit outside with these new friends–people we had just met this week but we immediately just got each other–and laugh and talk and not want to end the night to walk back to our hotel.

Meeting someone who invited me to tour the Norris Lab at MUSC, which specifically researches Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, while I was in town (separately from the conference) was the cherry on top. This summer was ten years since I first got really sick (although for many years after that, we still didn’t have clear diagnoses). To think back over the years, and then to now, a decade later, be touring the Norris Lab–meeting the patient-scientists I’ve looked up to for so long, observing how the lab accommodates their physical needs (which are obviously extremely similar to mine), seeing with my own eyes the visible evidences of the work being done to help people just like me? I was tearing up as I was walking through the lab and engaging in conversation about their current research.

I truly don’t have words for what my week at the Oley Conference–almost exactly four years after I first got my feeding tube–meant to me. Night two of the conference, I found myself starting to cry as I told someone, “It’s so much more than I could ask for.” This is just a small glimpse. You can also watch the official recap video of the Oley Conference–I appear several times, but mostly near the end, during karaoke night.

After the conference, Grace Anne and Michelle came into town, and we spent the best four days together having a long overdue girls’ trip! Our Airbnb was a little townhouse in the Daniel’s Island area. We hung out at the pool talking late into the night almost every evening.

We had a shopping day on King Street, and I bought far too many stickers and records and books. (I may or may not have also had to pay an additional $100 oversize luggage fee flying home because all of those books made my suitcase so heavy.) We’d scoped out all of the coffee shops and stationery shops ahead of time!

Another day, we drove to Folly Beach and set up an umbrella near the water… too near the water, apparently, because we spent the next five hours moving the umbrella further back up the beach. I swear, we must have moved that thing half a dozen times. At some point, though, we were in one place long enough for me to fall asleep (under said umbrella, wearing sunscreen) and get a truly fantastical sunburn line featuring the KT tape on my hip. (I still have a tan line from it, two months later.) But this was the first time I’d been to any beach/ocean in almost three years, and it was so nice to be at the water.

“You’re young! Have fun! Take the beach trip with friends!” — older lady taking pictures of us on the beach

I had decided to get a (somewhat) spontaneous tattoo. It was something I’d already been thinking about getting this summer–a delicate lily of the valley on my shoulder to represent God’s provision. But as the trip was coming to a close, I thought it would be extra meaningful to get the tattoo before leaving Charleston, since God had reminded me of His faithfulness through this trip in so many specific ways. So I found a tattoo shop on Reddit (lol) and we went straight from the beach to get my tattoo. I absolutely love the tattoo itself and its meaning, and I love the memory and the story of getting it on our last night in Charleston.

After I got my tattoo, we drove to Sullivan’s Island for a late dinner, and finished changing and getting ready in the car while we waited for our table. They seated us outside and it was the most perfect small-beach-town feel you could imagine.

We also at least briefly hit most of the major downtown Charleston tourist spots, like Rainbow Row, the pineapple fountain, City Market, etc. I really loved the French Huguenot Church, too. But man, it was HOT in Charleston while I was there and I was dying!!!

Overall it was just the best best time. There’s nothing like a girls’ trip and Charleston turned out to be the perfect place for it (I was also very glad to finally see something other than the inside of the hotel convention center, lol). It was SO good to spend time with Grace Anne and Michelle, and we made the absolute sweetest memories! Michelle and I were also completely randomly seated next to each other on our flight back to Atlanta–how the heck does that happen??!

Then I pretty much slept for the rest of the month after getting home. Really–quite literally. Someone said “you look so happy and healthy!” and I was like… well, I’m happy, but the healthy part is probably because I have been asleep for four days straight.

June 2025 changed me and changed my life. I am so thankful I was able to take my Charleston trip. All of it was exactly everything I’ve ever wanted. I listened to tethered and cried the whole flight home, and now, I smile every time I think of anything related to the trip. Those 10 days were a precious gift and I will be forever thankful for them.

This month I’m…

Reading: Freewater, Amina Luqman-Dawson. Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry. What I Carry, Jennifer Longo. We Were Liars and Family of Liars, E. Lockhart (both rereads). The Firefly Summer, Morgan Matson (reread). The One and Only Bob, Katherine Applegate. (again, only 7 total… but to be fair, it was a BUSYYY month)

Listening to: Oh my gosh, I listened to so much good music this month. My summer 2025 playlist. The new Head & The Heart album. Ben Rector’s new album. Boop! Our making it out of the group chat playlist. Mac Miller’s Circles album.

Watching: YouTube–Emma Pittman.

Writing: Not much happened in this category in June. The first two weeks of the month, I was busy working. And the second two weeks, I was busy having new experiences. And that’s okay! That’s good! I came home from Charleston feeling inspired in so many ways–full of musical snippets, and itching to junk journal, and motivated to dive back into writing projects. If you don’t take time to live, you won’t have anything to create about.

Grateful for: A friend/leader reaching an important anniversary and being in a much better place. Strawberry cake. A friend’s brand of humor that’s the exact same as mine. My petunias reviving after a near-death experience. A whimsical handmade CPAP cover that a friend sent me. Several high-paying assignments from a client lined up for when I get back in town. Blackberry matcha. Screaming about the TSITP trailer in the group chat. The STUNNING daylilies in the library garden. A client check arriving in the mail before I left for my trip. Being in a new city by myself–my favorite thing! Grabbing all the stickers with a new friend for our junk journals. Learning so many fascinating things. Connecting with a fellow believer. Decompressing with old friends. Bookstores, scones, cute windows. Constant laughter and inside jokes. Seeing the ocean for the first time in years. Meaningful/cool clients. So many good library books to read. Writing a song that I LOVE? Starting a new TV show. All of it, all of it, all of it.

I don’t even want to think about how many hours it took me to compile this blog post, but I’m just glad it’s finally done and posted. Whew! Anyway… what did you do in June (if you can even remember by now lol)? Have you been to Charleston before?

July was a very difficult month because of my health. I was diagnosed with a scary new respiratory condition, and also continued to decline nutritionally to the point that we began discussing (for the first time ever) starting TPN. This resulted in lots of time stuck at home alone feeling terrible; lots of last-minute medical appointments; and lots of big emotions (or just complete numbness) about chronic illness.

Some things I enjoyed this month were junk journaling/art journaling (I felt extremely inspired in this area, which was fun!); watching summer TV shows and listening to summer music; and working with some interesting, cool new clients. We had a fun Fourth of July event with our monthly open mic night (fundraising for Ukrainian families in need), and I really enjoyed spending time with church, family, and friends when I could since these were less than usual due to me being so sick.

(wow I really take an obscene amount of photos, don’t I)

This month I’m…

Reading: I Didn’t Do The Thing Today, Madeleine Dore (reread). Portrait of A Thief, Grace Li (reread). The Line Tender, Kate Allen (reread). Meet the Austins and The Moon by Night, Madeleine L’Engle. Counting Descent, Clint Smith. Into the Sunken City, Dinesh Thiru. (7 total… I have finally realized/admitted that I am malnourished again, which makes reading and writing go so slowly, and I absolutely hate it.)

Listening to: My summer 2025 playlist. Mac Miller’s Circles album. The We Were Liars TV show soundtrack. Shallow Alcove.

Watching: We Were Liars (as someone who has read the book five times, the TV show adaptation was EXCELLENT! — and heartwrenching). The Summer I Turned Pretty, season three (to quote one Grace Anne Johnson, I need Jeremiah Fisher off my screen immediately).

Writing: I’m realizing that my brain is really malnourished again, so I’m trying to give myself grace and realize that now probably isn’t really the season to work on my book. Because of the new respiratory condition I developed, singing was also more difficult than usual (turns out, breathing is kinda important for singing) (and for other things too). What I did do this month: lots of junk journaling/art journaling! I felt so inspired in that area, and enjoyed using journaling both to preserve fun vacation memories from June, and to process difficult emotions. I also did my usual volunteer work as communications leader at my church, and I officially stepped back into the Diamonds Conference–but this time, instead of being a staff member, I am honored to be the president of the newly-formed board. Oh, and I tried watercolor for the first time, which I have actually been really wanting to get into for the past few months!

Grateful for: Feeling so connected in the freelance world. Rediscovering friendship bracelets. How vibrant the colors of the sky and grass look in July. Unexpectedly meeting a really cool person I’ve been wanting to meet for a while. Roll-on glitter. My dad coming out to help me with “car issues” at 11 PM at night (it was actually just me being overtired and stupid). A dozen petunias appearing overnight when I thought the plant was totally dead. Falling asleep on the couch curled around Ramble with my head pillowed on him. Ribbon bookmark time (which happens each night before bed, when I write in my gratitude journal and Rocco lies in wait to pounce on the journal’s ribbon bookmark). A beautiful rainbow. The outlet mall carnival. Summer nights. A friend answering the phone and coming over to help me with a medical emergency at 3 AM. Buying flowers. One AM poor person nachos. My voice teacher putting so much thought into helping me sing safely for my body. A unicorn client that pays immediately when I submit an assignment. Getting to try a new art form, for free and nearby. Sitting by the water. Exciting news from a friend! The PJO season two trailer! Coming up with interesting new story pitches to dig into. Winning a book in a giveaway. Randomly finding a huge box of bag sets in my closet.

I know I’m out of order–I promise my June wrap-ups are still coming! There’s just so much to sort through, it’s very overwhelming, lol. I think I’m going to split June into two separate posts. Since July was easier (because I did nothing thanks to being sick lol), I thought I’d go ahead and put it up. Hopefully June will also be forthcoming before too long! How was your July? What did you do for the Fourth? What summer-y music have you been listening to? I don’t want summer to end!

May started out pretty chill–I tried to rest before the summer craziness kicked in–and beautiful as I was blown away at God’s provision in some specific areas. As the month went on, I started getting stressed as I was assigned a ton of work for June, but couldn’t actually start working on it yet because of the nature of the projects.

We enjoyed a lovely long weekend celebrating Emma’s high school graduation! Truly, where does the time go?

At the end of the month, my church had our local mission week, which I took (mostly) off work for so that I could participate as much as possible. I had an unexpected family emergency in the middle of the week that was very hard, but it was still a special time to serve our community together.

This month I’m…

Reading: I’m That Girl, Jordan Chiles. One Wrong Step, Jennifer A. Nielsen. Poets Square: A Memoir in Thirty Cats, Courtney Gustafson. The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits, Jennifer Weiner. Rebellion 1776, Laurie Halse Anderson. The Love Haters, Katherine Center. The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See. (7 total… yeah idk what happened there lol)

Listening to: My spring 2025 playlist (and my summer 2025 playlist). The new The Head & The Heart album. The new Shallow Alcove EP. The new Ben Rector album.

Watching: Movies–Thunderbolts/The New Avengers.

Writing: This month, I unfortunately barely worked on my book at all. And when it came to voice and songwriting, I kind of just did the bare minimum. I was busy doing work for my (volunteer) job at church, and making a bunch of cards, gifts, etc for all of the holidays, graduations, and events that happen this time of year (and I also had fun making the digital journal/scrapbook below for my Instagram).

Grateful for: One of my favorite YouTubers coming back to the platform after a years-long hiatus. Trying new artistic endeavors. The timing and specificity of God’s provision. Dollhouse miniatures. Connecting with people who do meaningful work. Cute spring washi stickers. How Ramble collapses on my chest and purrs his way to sleep. The library garden. “Free” flights. Friendships that are just so natural no matter how much time has passed. Getting a $110 dress for $15. Reading a book that I think about all day because I can’t wait to get back to it. Starting my summer playlist. That you can’t make old friends. Finding some good sales for birthday gifts. Having a pitch accepted that I worked hard on. Pretty, colorful sprayed edges on books. An eight-week-old pug puppy. “See you tomorrow.” Literally crying on my church family’s shoulders on a hard day. Hydrangeas. Unexpectedly running into a now-grown-up friend.

wow this blog post is obviously extremely late, but here we are regardless! I hope you had a good May… and a good June… and hopefully my June wrap-up will be out within the next week instead of the next month!

Come on, you know it’s coming, so just go ahead and say it with me: There’s nothing like April in north Georgia. Everything is SO GREEN!

Now that we’ve gotten that catchphrase out of the way… what did I do this month? Looking back on April, it feels like this was a really long month! One major event that happened was my friend Ari getting married. I was honored to be one of her bridesmaids, and it was such a special weekend spending time with Ari and Isaac’s friends and family as we celebrated their wedding (except for my feeding tube balloon popping 45 minutes before the wedding ceremony–that part wasn’t so fun).

In retrospect, my health was honestly pretty bad overall this month, from the feeding tube mess to migraines to odd neurological episodes and more. I enjoyed some really special days with friends and family, but they took a major toll on my body. I also felt extremely stressed and worried this month about work and about finances. There’s nothing like leaving your accountant’s office, where you just paid thousands of dollars in business taxes, and crying in the car on the way to the hospital, where you’re about to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills for a procedure! But I was really sweetly reminded that the Lord will provide. Despite feeling kind of horrible and being worried about work/money, I love spring and I was able to enjoy the good things about April, like poetry, flowers, and community. (Apparently I took a million photos this month…)

This month I’m…

Reading: Above Ground: Poems, Clint Smith. Saving Five, Amanda Nguyen. Wishtree and Odder, Katherine Applegate. The Housekeepers, Alex Hay. The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester, Barbara O’Connor. Upstream: Selected Essays, Mary Oliver. Yellowface, R.F. Kuang. Becoming Spectacular, Jennifer Jones. The Family Recipe, Carolyn Huynh. (10 total)

Listening to: My spring 2025 playlist. The Sun Is in Your Eyes – Voice Memo, Jacob Collier – Radio. Roomful of People EP, Rosie Darling.

Watching: Movies–The Wild Robot.

Writing: I had a big burst of creativity with my church job this month, and really enjoyed bulking out our content calendar and experimenting with making different types of video content. Voice and songwriting didn’t happen much in April, but I did get some work done on my book. And I was generously gifted a huge amount of name-brand, unopened stationery items (everything shown below, plus more that I passed along to friends), which kickstarted my creativity for letter-writing and card-making again (I’ve been majorly slacking on letters ever since I discovered junk journaling last fall).

Grateful for: Guava matcha. Easy sources. Producing work I’m proud of. Springtime in the valley. Doing ministry with my dad, like the old days. Trees. Sharing poems with people whom they reminded me of. Finding an old pair of jeans in my closet that fits. Laughing at a stupid TikTok literally until I cried. Finally getting my website portfolio in better shape. The scent of eucalyptus. Experiencing things alone and treasuring them in my heart. Paint pens and balloons. Apple rogaliki. The boys (meaning, my cats) discovering bubbles for the first time. My mom doing chores I’d been trying to get done for literal weeks. Finding a much better anesthesia combination so I didn’t have a reaction! How God is going to provide for me. My crocheted spring flower garland from Poland. Banana nut muffins. That Jesus holds dominion over death, dying, and decay. Stories that express what we can’t. Van Gogh washi tape. Jazz music. My bedroom. A young friend’s goofy personality. Worshiping in two different languages simultaneously. Candy-striped petunias. A practitioner who is so knowledgeable about my body as a whole. Possibility.

What did you do in April? Even with all the hard stuff this month with my health and with financial worries, April is one of my very favorite months, and I squeezed a lot of good out of it, too!

I thought March was, for once, actually going to be a good month this year. Ha! That only lasted a few days (or, now that I think about it, really just a few hours). There was some hard and heavy stuff that happened this month. Pair that with me committing to way too much work, which made my body feel absolutely terrible, and I am not sorry to see March go. But I enjoyed books, kitty snuggles, music, vintage book shopping, coffee shops, spring dresses and spring flowers, and other things pictured (and not pictured) below.

This month I’m…

Reading: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, Heather Fawcett. The Carrying, Ada Limon. Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, The Daily Grace Co. The Stationery Shop, Marjan Kamali. Star-Spangled Jesus, April Ajoy. A Whale of the Wild, Rosanne Parry. Wish, Greetings From Nowhere, How to Steal A Dog, Halfway to Harmony, and Wonderland, Barbara O’Connor. The Wedding People, Alison Espach. (12 total)

Listening to: My spring playlist. In The Heights. Kelsea Ballerini’s deluxe Patterns album. Maybe Happy Ending.

Watching: TV shows–The Voice season 27.

Writing: I was so slammed with work that it was difficult to find the creative energy for much else this month. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to work on my book very often (I have been “almost done” with this first draft for months now, UGH!). But I kept up with church stuff decently well; junk journaled here and there; and performed at the beginning of the month (listen to Wreck and Happy to Be Sad) even if I didn’t manage much other music afterward.

Grateful for: Spring in the valley. Laughter around the island. A whimsical new art piece. Spending time outdoors. A friend announcing a pregnancy. A large, unexpected tax refund from 2023. Good feedback from a client. Strawberry kiwi lemonade. Vintage postcards. Bachelorette planning. Finally (randomly) finding a pair of white tennis shoes I like (for $7) after needing a new pair for years. My sweet lovable kitty boys. Cathedrals. The feeling of getting in bed at 6 PM with a good book.

What did you do in March? I swear it is a cursed month

In February I enjoyed several fun Valentine’s-themed events, such as hosting a Valentine’s Day party and planning an outing to The Swan Princess ballet for 20 girls/women from my church. I also enjoyed really digging into voice and songwriting more than I have in a while. And the cats made a lot of progress with meeting new people, which was fun! But I ended the month stressed about work and about health (a weakness episode, a blood clot in my central line, weight loss).

This month I’m…

Reading: Orbiting Jupiter and Jupiter Rising, Gary D. Schmidt. Then There Were Five and Thimble Summer, Elizabeth Enright (both rereads). The House of my Mother, Shari Franke. Bird Brother, Rodney Stotts. The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin. Flip-Flop Girl, Katherine Paterson. What Cannot Be Lost, Melissa Zaldivar. An American Sunrise, Joy Harjo. A Well-Trained Wife, Tia Levings. Pax, Sara Pennypacker. The Lion Women of Tehran, Marjan Kamali. (13 total)

Listening to: Alessia Cara’s new album Love & Hyperbole. The latter half of my January playlist.

Watching: TV shows–The Voice season 27.

Writing: I did my usual work for my volunteer staff role at church, and worked on my book. I felt more motivated and excited about music than I have in a while. And once I finished sewing my Valentine’s garland, I got back into junk journaling again.

Grateful for: New experiences. Cheap prescriptions. Free mandarin agua fresca from Chipotle. Sewing with Rocco. Getting back in with an old client. Dancing in my kitchen with a girlfriend when You’re So Vain came on. Ballet stickers and scrunchies. Getting 23 cases of my formula for free. World Market (lol). A Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter tote bag for my sheet music and library books. Newsies nostalgia. Spring dresses. Constant toddler narration. The first daffodils of the year. Time at home.

What kind of things did you do in February?

Well, here we are on February 13th and I’m finally just now posting my 2024 yearly wrap-up blog post. I wrote the majority of it at the end of the year, but never quite got around to finishing it… so it languished on my to-do list until today, when my songwriting lesson was canceled and my work to-do list was caught up and I decided this was the perfect time to knock it out.

Honestly, 2024 was a hard year. It’s strange to revisit each of these months and what was happening at the time, because I can remember those feelings so acutely. This year was characterized by writing my book Still Good; by Windy passing away and by adopting Ramble and Rocco; by my fatigue/hypersomnia worsening and by how that affected my career and my finances. As best as I can summarize, here’s a look at what happened in my life in 2024.

2024, month by monthJanuary

January felt like it lasted an entire year all on its own. There were a lot of difficult, stressful, heavy things going on in my life and the lives of people close to me. I felt anxious and stressed. But I also worked on Spotify stuff and released my first original song (plus releasing two more later in the year). And probably my favorite memory from January is seeing the Aladdin tour at the Fox with Joshua, Josh, and Emma and then talking and laughing in my parked car until 1 AM because we just didn’t want to go home yet.

Notable quote (from my journal, blog, or other writing): “I have grown so much this month. Quite frankly, I’m tired of growing.”Art that impacted me the most in January: The Mystwick School of Musicraft, Jessica Khoury (book); As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow, Zoulfa Katouh (book)February

A good chunk of February simply felt like normal life, and that was really nice. My 25th birthday was on a Sunday and I enjoyed spending it with my church family. At the end of the month, Mom and I flew to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for a week of appointments. I heard a lot of “this is just EDS–all you can do is treat the symptoms, and you’re already doing that,” plus some “yes, she will ultimately need an ostomy.” Fun!

Notable quote: “‘From dust you came and to dust you will return. Repent and believe in the gospel.’ And, unexpectedly, I started to cry. I felt such a great awareness of my sin, of how small and human I am–and yet, of the greatness of God’s love (so much so that He would think to send me Italian ice on my birthday). I felt an overwhelming sense of peace.”Art that impacted me the most in February: Check & Mate, Ali Hazelwood (book); Em Beihold (musical artist–particularly Maybe Life Is Good); Not Strong Enough, Boygenius (song)March

March is honestly pretty consistently my least favorite month of the year. This March continued in the tradition of being pretty not-great. I went a little crazy over a situationship I was in at the time. My body flared up into a major “weakness episode,” but I was bullheadedly determined to go to a Em Beihold concert and a childhood friend’s wedding (in Alabama) anyway. And I ended the month by going to urgent care on Easter. But there were also kittens and flowers and books about faeries.

Notable quote: “I’m happy with my life. But still, I feel like on and off the past few months I’ve just had this kind of yearning, or maybe just a wondering, of what is next? What do I want to have, what realistically can I have… God, what do You want me to have?”Art that impacted me the most in March: Coyote Lost and Found, Dan Geimenhart (book); Katie Lynne Sharbaugh’s musicApril

In April I went on sabbatical. I took the entire month off work in favor of spending time with people I love, working on personal creative projects, and resting–and it was the absolute loveliest month. Hannah came to Georgia on her book tour; Kristen and I went to Oklahoma for Annabelle’s National Guard graduation; Grandpa came to visit for a week. I unexpectedly started writing a new book about God’s goodness in my chronic illness journey. I read poetry, colored my hair for the first time, and discovered I love matcha. I am so, so thankful that I was able to have April. It was honestly one of the most wonderful times in my life.

Notable quote: “I love being on sabbatical. I’m never going back to work. I can do anything I want today! My brain is blissfully, blessedly uncluttered. But not empty–it’s full of words and thoughts and ideas and stories… I feel unspeakably happy and grateful and aware of the goodness of God.”Art that impacted me the most in April: If God Is Good, Randy Alcorn (book); Selfishly Inclined, Elle Coves (album); Fireworks & Rollerblades, Benson Boone (album)May

May found me jumping back into work and life with both feet. That worked for a couple of weeks that were productive and fun, until I was hit with another “weakness episode” that sent me to bed. And right around the time I got over that flare-up, my feeding tube started having issues. I ended up having a very difficult hospital admission the week of Memorial Day. Lots of things went down; they were having trouble fixing my tube, and I was extremely weak and sick. It was very hard.

Notable quote: “a five-foot statue of a saint is hanging on the hospital wall. his gaze follows me; eyes blank, face serene, hands extended. below his bare feet rests a hand-scrawled sign: out of order.“Art that impacted me the most in May: My Name Is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok (book); Stateless, Elizabeth Wein (book); Instructions For Traveling West, Joy Sullivan (poems); A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat (book); Revelle, Lyssa Mia Smith (book); A Perfect Little Death, Eleri Ward (album–particularly Take Me to the World and Send in the Clowns)June

Quite literally as soon as I got out of the hospital, my church was shaken by unexpected news. June found me trying to recover both physically and emotionally. It was a heavy and stressful month where I struggled to see the good. Work was slow and I spent time working on my book, getting back into pen palling, and eating baked potatoes in the sun on my porch.

Notable quote: “At least I’m no longer feeling imposter syndrome about not having suffered enough to write my book?”Art that impacted me the most in June: Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (book); The Outsiders (musical); My Days, The Notebook (song)July

July started out with some fun, happy times with friends! Things at church were stabilizing. I was really enjoying the theological study required by writing my book (paired with lots of lavender matchas). But my mental health was really dipping as I missed participating in musical theatre and music in general, and felt lonely. Work was still very slow, too, which stressed me out. At the end of the month, Joshua and I went to Grandpa’s house in Mississippi for a week. Although it was so wonderful and special to see everyone, my low level of physical functioning discouraged me.

Notable quote: “I have so many people and I have no one, at the same time.”Art that impacted me the most in July: The Outsiders (musical); Family Business, Lawrence (album); The Risk of Us, Gracie Abrams (album); A Ring of Endless Light, Madeleine L’Engle (book); New Money, The Great Gatsby (song); Appalachia, Rebecca Rhea (song)August

I came home from Mississippi doing really badly myself to also find a very sick cat. I knew Windy had been off for a while, but I didn’t realize how bad things were. She was diagnosed with advanced stage kidney disease in early August and the vet was unsure how much longer she had to live. All of my physical and emotional energy immediately went into caring for her. Once she had stabilized, I pushed through my worsening fatigue to squeeze several fun activities with friends and family into the last couple weeks of the month, as well as onboarding several new clients.

Notable quote: “I am so exhausted from quite literally just trying to keep the two of us [Windy and I] alive. And I’m so scared of grief.”Art that impacted me the most in August: The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters (book); Waiting on a Miracle, Encanto (song)September

September was a very difficult month. My health was significantly worse, and any physical and emotional energy I had was being poured into caring for Windy. Her health had a lot of ups and downs. I felt anxious, full of dread, and crushingly weary. Eventually, however, at the end of the month, there was nothing more we could do and I brought Windy home from the vet on comfort care. Other things that happened in September: I spent a lot of time with my church family, I went to an Avery Anna concert with friends, I became obsessed with junk journaling.

Notable quote: “Crying so hard in the shower last night about Windy and saying ‘please, God’ over and over but didn’t even know what I was asking for. Finally whispered brokenly ‘… just be good to me’ and felt Him say, ‘I am.'”Art that impacted me the most in September: Little Girl Blue, Janis Joplin (song); Avery Anna (musical artist); Mama’s Broken Heart, Miranda Lambert (song); The Fortune Seller, Rachel Kapelke-Dale (book)October

Windy passed away in my arms on October 6th. I was devastated, but in some ways it was also a relief because the emotional limbo of the past two months had been so hard on me mentally. I threw myself into work because I’m an enneagram 3 and that’s what we do rather than feeling emotions. Mid-October, I took the loveliest vacation to an AirBnB near Blue Ridge, Georgia–three days by myself and two days with Brooke of journaling, reading, just being. It was pure peace. That week ended with a crazy, wonderful weekend of putting on a music event at CHOA and then jumping into adopting TWO new cats!!

Notable quote: “Windy was the best thing that had ever been mine. I’ve grown up from a girl into a woman with Windy. Really, I’ve never lived alone, because I’ve always had her… I love her so much. I will miss her snuggles for the rest of my life.”Art that impacted me the most in October: The Mountain Is You, Chance Pena (song); Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan (book series); I’m Not Afraid of Anything, Songs for a New World (song); Bright Dead Things, Ada Limon (poems); Stevie Nicks (musical artist)November

November was characterized by medical stuff and cats. The medical stuff felt very heavy and honestly, I struggled not to despair. I was going through the process of getting my own health insurance for the first time and it felt incredibly discouraging, especially with the timing of the election. Then I landed in the hospital for a few days starting on Thanksgiving because of my feeding tube. I felt like I was grieving a lot of things. But after my new cats (Ramble and Rocco) spent their first week home behind my washer (lol), we fell in love with each other! I had the best time getting to know them through snuggling with Ramble; playing with Rocco; and, yes, even watching them fight and smack each other around 24/7 (it’s a brother thing, I guess).

Notable quote: “Have you ever had to beg strangers on the internet for the food you need to stay alive? Nutrition is a human right. And I am absolutely exhausted of fighting for it.”Art that impacted me the most in November: Greenwild, Pari Thomson (book); Sixpence None The Richer, Sixpence None The Richer (album)December

December was the first month since May that I’d had a “normal” workload. I was thankful, but also struggling to stay on top of everything as I juggled holiday stuff and recovered from my November hospital admission. It was all very tiring. Christmas week was tiring, too, but I got to spend time with all of my three separate grandparents and that was nice.

Notable quote: “I have so few usable hours. I hate sleeping my life away.”Art that impacted me the most in December: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, The Arcadian Wild (song); Lasagna Means I Love You, Kate O’Shaughnessy Overall thoughts on 2024

Some big unexpected things that ended up characterizing this year were my book and my cats. I started writing Still Good, which is half memoir and half theology, during my sabbatical in April. By the end of the month, I had a 20,000-word outline of the full book. By the end of the summer, I basically had a full draft. Researching and writing my book absolutely characterized last year, in a deeply wonderful and wholly unexpected way.

But sadly, in the late summer and early autumn, so did Windy’s sickness and death–she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in early August (after turning 10 in May) and died almost exactly two months later. I would never, ever have imagined that Windy would die last year. It was extremely difficult and devastating, and it’s still sometimes odd to me that now, she will only ever be a memory. But I absolutely love my new boys, Rocco and Ramble, four-year-old brothers whom I adopted around Halloween. They are playful and hilarious and snuggly and lovable.

And on a fun note, something else I enjoyed in 2024–for fun/rest/gifts for others and to stretch myself creatively–was trying out different kinds of art!

God knew I needed my sabbatical when I had it, because honestly, from approximately the middle of May through Thanksgiving, life was just really, really, super hard. I’ve mentioned several of those hard things already. But another thing that characterized this year was my fatigue/hypersomnia worsening, and how that, in turn, affected my work and my financial situation. As best as I can figure, my overall health got worse once in June, and again in maybe August or so. My fatigue worsened, and specifically my hypersomnia and sleep schedule: I try to set an alarm and get up at 1:30 on weekdays, but if I don’t set an alarm, I can easily sleep until 3-5 PM (after going to sleep around 1 AM and sleeping hard all night/day). I feel like my cognitive abilities have worsened. I have a lot less usable hours in the day–less hours that I can use to work, or to leave the house, or to be productive with much of anything (yes, I’m up until 2 AM, but my body and brain aren’t good for much of anything during those nighttime hours). It’s extremely discouraging, frustrating, and hard to work with. Combine that with the freelance industry and all of the many challenges and changes we’ve seen, and from June-December my monthly income has been easily half what it’s usually been. I also had some major unexpected expenses–try $7,000 back taxes, immediately followed up with $6,000 vet bills on for size–and all of that led me to live off of my savings for much of last year. (God also worked on me a lot this year about my pride surrounding money and finances.)

My best day of the year

I think often about what I’ve long considered (since well before the year ended!) to be the best day I had in 2024. It was a Saturday in May, when I’d gotten up in the morning and driven to a familiar little town about 30 minutes away to meet several close friends from church. We walked around an arts and crafts festival that was set up in the botanical gardens; we bought some gorgeous items, discovered whimsical fairy gardens, and petted lots of dogs. Then, when everyone else left in the early afternoon, I drove across the street to the small city park and spread out a blanket in the grass under some trees. I read Joy Sullivan’s new poetry book from cover to cover and wrote in my journal–all while listening to Eleri Ward’s A Perfect Little Death album of acoustic Sondheim covers, which I’d discovered for the first time that day (and it truly is perfect). Finally, hours later, I drove home and took a nap. It was the most perfect, lovely, beautiful day.

The highlights of 2024…

In 2024, I read 149 books, watched 16 movies, and listened to so much good music. I saw one Broadway musical (Aladdin at the Fox), and I went to two concerts–Em Beihold and Avery Anna (although man, I don’t know if my body can handle concerts anymore). I wrote 50,000 words of a nonfiction book and released three original songs on Spotify. I adopted two cats whom I love. I went to two weddings with my family for longtime friends who felt like siblings at different points growing up. I also went on four trips! I went to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio (a new state for me) with Mom; Fort Sill in Oklahoma (also a new state for me) with Kristen (and some other friends) to see Annabelle; Mississippi with Joshua to see family; and Blue Ridge, Georgia with Brooke/by myself.

…and the lowlights

I also went to three funerals this year. I went through medical situations that I described in my journal as “a nightmare that won’t end and just keeps getting worse.” I cared for my beloved cat for two months as she got sicker until she passed away in my arms, feeling like she took a part of me/a season of my life with her that I’ll never get back. I cried alone in bed at one AM many times. I walked through some very hard circumstances with my church family. I was told we were at the end of the road and I needed major surgery to take out my large intestine. I struggled more with my career than I have in years. And I went through several other hard situations and hard seasons–looking back, 2024 was honestly just a hard year.

What’s coming up in 2025?

Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t really feel the need or the desire to set any big goals for 2025. Mainly, I just need to be more disciplined with the things I’m already working on–getting over that final hump to finish the first draft of my book, actually doing my physical therapy exercises every day. I’m interested in continuing to explore doing different kinds of art or making other creative hands-on projects. And I already have some big fun plans on the calendar I’m excited about (and crossing my fingers my body will let me fully participate in)–like being in a friend’s wedding in April, planning/participating in my church’s local missions week in May, and attending the Oley Conference for work in June in Charleston plus maybe pairing it with a vacation.

As my body has gotten sicker, I find that setting a lot of big goals really far in advance doesn’t work great for me anymore. So I plan to just keep moving forward, taking things as they come and being faithful month by month, week by week, day by day in every aspect of my life.

Overall, despite all of the hard, 2024 also held so much good and I am thankful for all of it. A month and a half into the new year, 2025 has been pretty good so far (knock on wood). I’m looking forward to seeing what else the year brings. And that’s my wrap-up of 2024! (Just for fun–here’s the very first picture and the very last picture I took in 2024!)

How was your 2024? What were some highlights or lowlights? How is 2025 going so far for you?

January is always such a long month, but this year, it was mostly good for me (besides frustrating insurance issues that have left me struggling along without my daily IV fluids so far this year). Some weeks were very busy; I worked a lot and caught up with several friends (both of those things involving many lavender matchas). Others were cozy and slow, with a sewing project, kitty snuggles, and lots of 5+ star books that I sobbed my way through. We also got snow twice in Atlanta this month. I had multiple church meetings to plan Q1 and led an elementary girls’ prayer journaling event. And I ended this month by going to an incredible Kelsea Ballerini concert with Annabelle!

This month I’m…

Reading: Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell. The Story Girl, L.M. Montgomery. Love to Everyone and The Swallows’ Flight, Hilary McKay (both rereads). Every Woman A Theologian, Phylicia Masonheimer. The Briar Club, Kate Quinn. Kill Her Twice, Stacey Lee. Light and Air, Mindy Nichols Wendell. Heiress Takes All, Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. (9 total)

Listening to: My January playlist. Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky. The Messy EP, Margaux Beylier. Kelsea Ballerini’s setlist.

Watching: TV shows–XO Kitty season two.

Writing: Besides my usual work at church, I did my usual volunteer work with the Diamonds Conference (social media management and speaking on a panel for our event this month), but this was my last month on staff–after serving as our social media manager for the past 5-6 years, we’ve hired and I have trained someone else, and I’m stepping down. This month I also worked on my book; junk journaled; worked on voice and songwriting; and started a hand sewing project–the first time I’ve sewn anything since I was probably 12 years old, which has been unexpectedly soothing and nostalgic.

Grateful for: Books with magical creatures. The opportunity to plan noble things. *Not* hitting the deer that ran right in front of me in the dark. Central heat. Snowy woods. Cute new sheets. Constantly unexpectedly running into various friends at the coffee shop. Thrifting $10 Altar’d State dresses. The puppy that now lives on my hall. Both cats sometimes napping tucked against me under the blanket in bed. My new curio box on the wall. The Outsiders tour is coming to Atlanta this year! My Kindermusik teacher from 20 years ago sending me a handmade garland. Waving at friends as I drive by their house. Living near a major city where most artists/bands come on their tours. 1 AM YouTube birdwatching with the boys.

What did you do in January? What books did you read? Did you get snow? I promise my 2024 yearly wrap-up post is still coming soon!

This is always one of my favorite blog posts of the year: Let’s recap all of the amazing books I read in 2024!

I expected that my total number of books read this year would be a little lower than usual. I still read before bed every night just like I’ve done every night of my life, but as my fatigue has worsened, my brain has gotten slower and my cognitive function has gotten worse. I can trace the progression of my hypersomnia throughout the year by seeing how my number of books per month declined over time (from 16 in both February and April, to just eight in November). And that’s really discouraging to see and to feel.

Anyway, my final number of books read in 2024 was 149, so it was actually just ~10 books less than my usual yearly average of 160:

2017 – 135 books 2018 – 153 books 2019 – 154 books 2020 – 174 books 2021 – 190 books 2022 – 157 books 2023 – 160 books2024 – 149 books

The first book I read in 2024 was The Mystwick School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury. I absolutely loved it (so much so that I got a signed copy for my birthday, and also gifted it to someone later in the year!). It was an incredibly fun, brilliant concept that was executed very well (and yes, it made me cry, lol).

The final book I read in 2024 was a reread of The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright. The Melendy family books always feel like a warm, comforting hug. Even though it had been years since I’d last read this one, I still think about the quote below on a regular basis:

“You know, Rush, it’s funny, but we always did seem to be luckier than most of the people we know.”

I do the very large majority of my reading in bed, between 11 PM and 1 AM, before I go to sleep. It’s the best time of my day. But in 2024, I also read books on planes, in hospitals, in Airbnbs and hotels, in coffee shops, on my balcony, under trees…

Windy, who passed away in early October, was a literary cat! Nearly every book that I read from June 2019 through September 2024, she read with me, curled up in my leg triangle. She was a very well-read cat. Now, I’m trying to train up the boys in the way they should go, but so far they seem to prefer having a WWE smackdown each night as I’m trying to enjoy my latest read.

Of course, I have to give you the requisite list of books that made me cry this year:

The Mystwick School of Musicraft, Jessica KhouryBlood for Blood, Ryan Graudin (reread)Wildoak, C.C. HarringtonA Heart in a Body in the World, Deb Caletti (reread)That Sounds Fun, Annie F. Downs (reread)The Wishing Game, Meg ShafferCoyote Lost and Found, Dan GeimenhartThe Green Glass Sea, Ellen Klages (reread)Revelle, Lyssa Mia SmithRemarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van PeltFunny Story, Emily HenryLessons in Chemistry, Bonnie GarmusLove, Theoretically, Ali HazelwoodThe Breakup Pact, Emma LordLeonard: My Life As A Cat, Carlie Sorosiak (reread)The Rom-commers, Katherine CenterAccidental Demons, Clare EdgeGreenwild, Pari ThomsonLasagna Means I Love You, Kate O’ShaughnessyThe Wrong Way Home, Kate O’ShaughnessyThey Went Left, Monica Hesse (reread)

What stands out about my reading experiences in 2024? I loved soaking myself in poetry this year (easily meeting my goal of reading at least one book of poetry per month). I barely read any series this year, but did enjoy a long-overdue HoO reread in the fall. And for some reason, the month of May was (just coincidentally) packed with a bunch of killer five-star reads. I read so many good books throughout this entire year that touched me and taught me and changed me–I wish I had the time and the energy to talk about them all. (I do post my thoughts about each one on my bookstagram and my Goodreads if you’d like to follow me there!)

Helping Hannah with her book tour–purchase a copy of Open Hands: A Journey to Trusting the Lord With Your Desires and Disappointments if you haven’t!My 2024 reading statistics

Let’s get into some statistics! Before officially adding everything up, I made some predictions. I didn’t think I had a lot of rereads this year, or a lot of DNFs, either. I was right on both counts: I DNF’d just five books, and had 29 rereads vs. reading 120 new books (as represented by the chart below).

Of course, I always read more fiction than I do nonfiction (this year, 108 and 41, respectively):

Out of the nonfiction books I read, most of them (17) were poetry collections. I absolutely loved reading so much poetry this year, and after making it a point for 12 months, now it’s simply become a habit to add a poetry book to my library hold list. My other nonfiction reads were mostly Christian nonfiction books or memoirs.

When it came to those 108 fiction books, I predicted that I read more middle-grade books this year than adult or YA. I just really wasn’t into young adult books for much of this year (at least, not contemporary or spec fiction ones); I wondered if I’d finally outgrown them. I enjoyed discovering/catching up on some new-to-me adult fiction. And middle-grade books will truly always be the genre of my heart. But when I looked at my actual statistics, it turned out YA and MG were almost exactly even.

The last metric I looked at: what fiction genres I read the most of. I was honestly surprised that I read so much historical fiction! (At 39 total, many of those books were middle-grade historical fiction.) Next came spec fiction (mostly fantasy–hardly any sci-fi or dystopian), which was also a surprise to me–but again, I think it was quite a bit of light MG fantasy rather than the YA dystopian stuff I favored in high school. And finally, contemporary novels (mostly YA and adult) + general children’s lit wrapped up the list.

Movies and TV shows I watched in 2024

Another of my goals for 2024 was to watch at least one movie per month. I accomplished this, too (although December was a little iffy tbh). Here’s the final list of the 16 movies I watched:

The Boys in the BoatCastle in the SkyCODA (rewatch) Dirty Dancing The Breakfast Club ()The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesTangled (yes, for the first time)Pollyanna (rewatch)CluelessMoana (yes, for the first time)10 Things I Hate About You (rewatch)Captain America: Winter Soldier (rewatch)The Young Woman and the SeaPrince of Egypt (YES, FOR THE FIRST TIME)When Harry Met SallyWicked(I also half-watched Elf and The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve but I feel like that doesn’t really count lol)

I didn’t watch very many TV shows this year, but I did watch the following shows/seasons:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (season one)The Artful Dodger (season one)Sex and the City (season one)America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders (season one)Cheer (season two)

All in all, it was a beautiful year of books and stories and words. I feel so fortunate that it seems I can still read at more or less my usual pace (some genres, anyway), even with worsened cognitive symptoms, and also to have such a good library a half mile away from me. I’m so excited for another amazing reading year in 2025–so far, it’s January 11th and two of the three books I’ve read have made me absolutely sob, so we’re off to a great start!

How many books did you read in 2024? What were some of your favorites? Have you read any of the ones I mentioned here? What genres do you gravitate toward?

My December wrap-up is usually pretty short and sweet because the large majority of December is documented via Blogmas (start here for day one). This month, I struggled with my health and focused much of my energy on work. But I also enjoyed some fun times with friends, such as performing at the grand expansion re-opening of my favorite coffee shop; a Christmas party plus a Christmas tree “farm;” and helping with my church’s kids’ Christmas musical. And the week of Christmas, I spent time with my family and was able to see all of my grandparents.

This month I’m…

Reading: Lasagna Means I Love You and The Wrong Way Home, Kate O’Shaughnessy. The Brightwood Code, The Girl in the Blue Coat (reread), and They Went Left (reread), Monica O’Hesse. Dungeons and Drama, Kristy Boyce. Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz. Lucky Broken Girl, Ruth Behar. Spiderweb for Two and The Four-Story Mistake, Elizabeth Enright (both rereads). (10 total)

Listening to: This hot cocoa by the fire playlist and the CINEMA album by The Marias.

Watching: Movies–Elf and The Christmas Story (kind of, lol).

Writing: Between work, the holiday (homemade Christmas gifts), and recovering from my November hospital admission–I struggled to find the energy for much more than the usual church volunteer work and voice lessons, and some junk journaling here and there.

Mixed media collage of a ruby-throated hummingbird I made for my grandpa for Christmassaying “is the pedal plugged in?… no, I’m pretty sure it’s not”

Grateful for: Two snuggly kitty cat boys. January leads. Sitting on my bedroom floor for makeup and girl talk. A community I’ve built through committing. Getting back to my normal rate for running feeds. My cozy, festive apartment. Cute little boxes for storing junk journal supplies. Post-party debrief texts. Rocco playing soccer. The grace of God. An unexpected gift card from a client. Chocolate pie. The Melendy family. Time to reflect. My family.

What did you do in December? How was your Christmas?