Latest Blog Post- 12/26/25

                                                  

Winter Break- Rest and Relaxation

Beginning Break

The past few weeks have been a nice break from my normal rythem. After a stressful end to the semester with final exams for my most difficult course I've yet taken, I was relieved to travel home to Madison for the holidays. I left Marquette on the first Saturday of break to be home in time for church that Sunday, where I got to play guitar for the kid's Christmas pagent. It was a bummer to leave Marquette just as the snow was getting good and ski season was starting up, and I was sad to say goodbye to Luke and my other friends. But, home was calling me and it's always fun to be back at MCC for the holidays!

Spare Time

At the beginning of break I had a whole week all to myself, since my mom and dad were working, my sister was still in Minnesota finishing up her finals, and most of my home-town friends were not home for break yet. Boy oh boy, I can't remember the last time I had that much free time. During the semester, I am constantly running between class, studying, hanging out with friends, voulnteering, and of course many many adventures. I'm used to days being filled sun up to sun down, and hey- that's how I like it! So, having a whole week with nothing planned was a little daunting. But I came up with a lot of things to do.

I applied for dozens of jobs for this summer after I graduate! I am hoping for an adventure out west, working on a biology field crew doing field surveys for raptors or maybe a wildlife rehabilitation center internship. I applied for jobs in California, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, and more. I'm super excited to leave Marquette beind and chase my wander lust for a few months, if only to return in the fall. Applying for jobs was a lot of work and took a lot of my time, but I had a blast imagining what my summer could look like.

I started a new strength training program to get my arms stronger -hopefully that will make my ice climbing season a little more successful, although I know the best training for ice climbing is to just climb! It's been fun trying new workouts and running around my neighborhood. I like to listen to music while I run, so I've added some new songs to my playlists since I've had some more time to do that.

I wrapped Christmas gifts for my friends and family! Preparing for Christmas is so much fun- I love crafting, decorating, making cards, and wrapping gifts. Gift giving in general is a passion of mine, and this year I picked out a lot of thoughtful gifts from a craft show in Marquette, and the rest I hand made (here's Bug wearing the sweater I sewed for her). I'm pretty proud that all the gifts I gave this year were either hand made, second hand, or local- wooho! I wrapped them all and made some cute cards to go along with them.

I hung out with some friends! I went thrifting with Carina, my childhood best friend, and we also had a craft night, where I made an awesome vision board for 2026. I didn't take a picture of it but maybe I will upload it to the site later. I also had a bunch of old high school friends over one night, we had a great time catching up about the past semester, looking ahead to what we'll be doing after graduation in the spring, and reminiscing on old high school memories.

I talked on the phone a lot! I like to talk to Lauren and Kate, some of my best friends from college who have since moved away, whenever I get the chance. I chatted it up with them a few times. And of course, most days I talk to my boyfriend Luke. He's been filling me in on his awesome truck project that he's been working on over break.

Cake pop party!

Before I knew it, I had made it through a week of calm and it was time to head towards Milwaukee- my destination; Adventure Rock climbing gym, where I was going to meet up with 3 of my old college friends and 2 of my college friends who still live in Marquette. We had a great time checking out Adventure Rock- it is one of the fanciest climbing gyms I've been to! But that's not saying a lot, because I have not been to many climbing gyms in my day. I prefer climbing outside.

Anyways... after getting into some antics at the climbing gym, we went out to lunch, and then hit up the goodwill bins. We were there for 3 hours!!! We got an overflowing cartload of stuff and had to shove it in my trunk. Then, we drove out of town and headed to Julia's family's country home. It was dark when we got there, and we were all tired from a big day, so we just had some dinner and tried on all of our stuff from the bins. There were some pretty crazy finds, like a multi-colored striped skirt, knitted bucket hat, and much much more.

We went to sleep and the next day was full of preperation for the big cake pop party. This is Julia's sister's holiday tradition, going on 13 years! We cleaned the house, prepped the cake pops, made food and treats, and decorated. Afterwards, we had enough time to head to Beaver Lake and have an ice skating dance party. We also got a tour of Julia's property. It's so magical, full of gardens, pastures, old farm buildings, and a big hay barn with a swing and little back room that she may turn into a craft room. After all that, we were pretty exhausted, but we rallied, because it was time for the party to begin!

The cake pop party was a success! There were so many people there and it was fun to chat with everyone and see them enjoy our preparations. We made some drinks, played games, and of course decorated a lot of cake pops. After the party, we were all exhausted, so we just cleaned up a little, and then at 10pm we started a movie, and everyone went to sleep. It was hard to say goodbye to my friends the next morning since I miss living with them so much, but we'll see each other really soon in a couple weeks when we're going to meet up at Mt. Bohemia, so it was all right. And, I was super excited to head home and be with my family for Christmas... but little did I know.....

        

Christmas

When I arrived back home on Christmas Eve, I came home to find out that my mom and dad had gotten super sick while I was out of town! I felt bad that I wasn't there to help them out, but my sister Anna said I was lucky to miss the worst of it. Anna and my mom had made over 50 Christmas cookies that all had to be thrown out since they could carry the virus :(. They were in no mood to eat, or cook for that matter, so our regular Christmas Eve family dinner would be a bit more simple this year. I made some hummus and we just snacked around the fire. Then, Anna and I went to the Christmas Eve church service, which was full of familiar faces, beautiful music, and warm candlelight. I was sad to go without my parents, but that's alright, the most important thing is that we are all together for the holiday, even if the tradition is a little different. One Christmas tradition will never be broken is watching It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve. That was the last thing we did before laying down for a long winter's nap.

Christmas morning was peaceful as always, and full of light and love during the darkest season. Everyone had thoughtful gifts and cards for one another and we all shared laughter and love. My favorite gift I gave was probably a super cute chicken Christmas decoration for my mom, or maybe the homemade cat bed for my sister's cat. My favorite gift I got was from my sister, thrifted candle holders and candles. I also got some supplies and a book for making bread, knitting supplies, books, and a nice Patagonia jacket that I can wear for skiing and ice climbing. Yay, merry Christmas!

Looking ahead

So what's next? Well, I'll ring in the new year in Madison with my best friend Lauren visiting from Duluth, and then we'll head back to the UP for some skiing at Boho, and some ice climbing and horse riding on the horizon until school starts up again in mid-January. That's all for now, stay tuned for more adventures!

Bonus feature- My New Year's Resoloution!

With the end of the year approaching, I've been reflecting on the year and thinking about things I can do to make next year even better. Thinking about my love for animals and protecting their habitats, I'm constantly focused on how society needs to shift in order to live sustainably on our planet with our animal friends. I believe that if everyone was more willing to shift away from SHEIN/buy-&-throw-away culture, it would make a huge difference! What ever happened to buying one item one time, and fixing it and mending it until you no longer need it, then passing it on to someone else?

I've been working towards buying less and if I really need something, trying to get it used for a while, but now I'm ready to take that next step! In 2026, I will buy nothing new- I will only buy used things (thrift, secondhand, homemade) starting on January 1st. I believe there is too much new junk on this planet and most of the time you can find something used in perfectly good working shape, and for less money too. So, for 2026, if I decide I need another white t-shirt, a light blue pair of jeans, a bowl for cooking, a cute decoration for my room, or any other non-consumable item, to the thrift store I will go! Will I be able to make it a whole year without buying something new? Stay tuned!