A Year in Review: 2025
I'm exhausted and thankful all the same.
Published on: December 23, 2025
Here we go. Year four, baby!
This is my fourth year-in-review and I’m just going to warn everyone that a girl was stretched THIN this month so there is no photo round-up at the end of the post this year, but just know I tried my best to collect my thoughts following a series of really tough events. Also, in lieu of a formal photo round-up, I sprinkled them throughout the post because, as always, I really did take a lot of photos that I find joy in sharing.
To reiterate, every year, I take some time at the end of December to answer these questions:
What experiences did I have this year?
What did those experiences mean to me?
What major realizations did I have as a result?
Let’s Not Bury the Lead
First things first: Lexi and I left Dallas.
Let me start with that because I make references to “our new kitchen” and “our new city” in the following paragraphs and would hate to confuse people.
Sometime in January, the two of us had a thought: what if we make a real, concerted effort to move back to California sometime in the next year or two? The idea that we could raise a family in Texas as two moms grew increasingly daunting as more and more anti-LGBTQ policies were implemented. We feared what the future might look like for our family and so, following an emotionally heavy night, we decided we would keep an eye out for opportunities that could take us back to the Golden State, where we knew our human rights and identities would continue to be protected.
My career has always been flexible and location-agnostic, and so we’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity to spring up for Lexi. Fortunately, she’s not leaving Charlie Health and will have the privilege of expanding mental health care in the Bay Area through a territory transfer!
While we feel grateful and relieved that this move came at an opportune time, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s extremely bittersweet. When we arrived to Dallas seven years ago, something we kept telling ourselves was “One year. Just one or two years and we’ll be out of here.” We had intended for Dallas to be a means to an end, but it’s evolved into such a special chapter; it is now the city we’ve spent the most amount of time in as a couple.
Moving to Dallas enabled us to:
Access a thriving job market
Become people managers
Earn promotions that catapulted our careers
Purchase our first home
Beyond these accomplishments, we met so many incredible folks in Dallas, both in our personal and professional worlds. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that the community we built from the ground up is what we will miss the most. We moved there knowing just a single cousin…and having to say goodbye to the hundreds of people we had fostered meaningful relationships with over the last seven years was heartbreaking.
We came to Dallas with reluctant hearts and an escape plan, but sometimes the detours become the destination and sometimes “temporary” becomes the foundation for everything that follows. Thank you, Dallas, for proving us wrong. I never thought I’d say this, but I am so, so happy we moved to the Big D seven years ago.
With that said, back to our regularly scheduled programming!
Health
In all the years I’ve been running, this has been my most consistent and mile-filled one yet. Last December, I had set a goal of logging 400 miles in 2025 and I’m so excited to share that as of today, December 23, I ran… *drum roll plz* 555.41 miles!
I had a strong start to the year thanks to my Runna training plan for the Cowtown Half Marathon in Fort Worth, where I had successfully shaved five minutes off my best time! It left me at 2:35:44. That may still be slow to some folks, but what I love about running is that the only person I’m competing against is me! And I can’t wait to continue decreasing my half marathon time.
If I'm being honest, though, my proudest running moment this year took place in April. I had signed up for the Rockaway Beach Half Marathon as a way to maintain my fitness, but when I woke up the morning of the race, it was rainy, cold, in the low 30s, and Rockaway Beach was still an hour away from Queens, where we were staying. I sat up when my alarm went off, looked outside, and after assessing the extreme weather conditions and realizing I didn't want to be sick for my family's visit to Dallas the following week, I laid back down.
But! That wasn't the end of it. I went to New York to run a half marathon, and I was going to do it, official race or not. The following Monday, before my workday started, I ran three miles to Astoria Park in Queens, clocked seven miles around the track, and then ran three miles back to where we were staying to officially hit 13.1 miles before my first meeting of the day.
That run, the one I chose to do entirely on my own terms, reminded me why I love this sport. It wasn't about the medal or the official time. It was about showing up for myself and keeping the promise I'd made. By no means did I achieve a PR, but I am so proud of myself for completing something that I had committed to, even if I didn’t get a medal out of it!
Passions
Filmmaking
I had set a goal of creating one recap video per month, even if it was thirty seconds, to exercise my filmmaking skills. Though it was short-lived, I did maintain the momentum for four months (LOL) before a busy summer took hold of our lives and rendered me incapable of sitting down for more than a couple hours at a time to edit together footage.
For the months that I did manage to create a video for, March was my favorite; it was just a series of great events throughout those 31 days and exercised my creativity the most. I’m excited to continue experimenting when I have a moment to catch my breath in our new home in California (and in a new home office!)
Photography
On top of continuing to capture the Drifter Dinner Series at Quarter Acre, I had the privilege of photographing Audrey and Devin’s wedding as well as Kimi and Jin’s Vietnamese tea ceremony in April and Priscilla’s graduation in June! These moments only reinforced what I already knew: I love a good ol' portrait session, and for me, nothing beats photographing people.
However, I did enjoy all the new landscapes and cityscapes I had experienced for the first time this year (See “Travel” section below)!
That said, something that Lexi and I are really looking forward to post-move is exploring all the hikes and national parks that California (and neighboring states) have to offer. There's something full-circle about returning to the West Coast. I remember visiting Santa Cruz and northern San Francisco often in high school, and it was always so easy photographing those rocky cliffs that opened up to the ocean horizon or those massive redwoods towering over you and enveloping you in a cool, shady bubble. I'm excited to rediscover those places with fresh eyes and new skills, and I reckon there will be a lot more landscape photography in my near future.
Cooking
This year, I really grew into my own. I free-styled even more dishes than last year and these were my favorite contenders:
Steak sandwiches
Chimichurri shrimp
Smoked crab dip topped with roe
Basil oil
The last one technically doesn’t count as an actual meal, but it was really cool to create a homemade flavored oil that I was able to drizzle on dishes, like the chicken pesto sammies I made for our best friends.
Another major development………I started making cooking content for my friends and found a lot of enjoyment in making said content. I even had my first collab with a local cafe in Dallas and was able to get some free drinks and discounted matcha powder out of it! 😂 That was rad and I hope to continue collaborating with more brands, even if it does just lead to some freebies.
Family
There were lots of positive moments celebrated with family this year, like my mom, dad, and grandpa’s visit to Dallas in April, Lexi’s family reunion in Mexico in August, and my sister’s visit to Dallas in September.
It was really special that my grandpa got to see mine and Lexi’s first home before we sold it. He had lots of kind things to say and complimented how tidy we kept everything. He even roasted my mom and said, “Their home is cleaner than yours!” which was entirely unnecessary but made me laugh. While my sister didn't join my parents in April, she spent some time here in September before starting her last year at UCLA and it was yet another great 'ttunity to bond.
In August, I got to bust out my Spanish chops (I had been learning Spanish on Duolingo for eight months at that point) with Lexi’s extended family. We met the aunts, uncles, and cousins on her tita’s side and it was really cool to learn more about tita's parents and family history and explore the colonial parts of Mexico.
What's probably the toughest family update to share is that Greta, our stepmom, experienced a stroke on Monday, December 15th, and has been in the ICU since then. As a type A planner, it's been difficult to navigate the ambiguity and uncertainty of not knowing what the next milestone is because every stroke patient is so different. I'm thankful we've had the opportunity to visit her in the hospital and that she's present enough to interact with us at all, even if just for a lil.
The other day, I continued reading where she left off in Colleen Hoover’s “November 9th” and it started getting real…racy. Bubby (my father-in-law’s older sister) asked me, “What are you reading her, Le!?” and I responded, “It’s okay, Greta and I have a very close and intimate relationship” and I could have sworn that her mouth curled up as if she was laughing 😆 And if I’m just being delusional…that’s okay, too.
Bubby had also said a couple days prior that “The journey ahead will be long, if we’re lucky.” Well, in the meantime, I will take every hand squeeze, toe wiggle, arm lift, and moment of eye contact with those pretty blue eyes that I can get.
I'm still in disbelief about the timing. Greta's stroke happened just one day before we sold our home. The stroke itself happened close enough to medical care that she received treatment quickly. We were already planning to be in Texas for the holidays. The house sold exactly when it needed to.
While this has obviously been devastating for Greta and everyone who loves her, I'm so grateful that Lexi and I are able to be here in El Paso right now, supporting her and Bruce, my father-in-law, without the weight of an unsold house hanging over us. I believe with every fiber of my being that despite this awful stroke, there were blessings woven throughout to keep her safe and alive, and blessings that have enabled Lexi and I to show up in the way we're able to now.
Travel
I’m not even going to try to calculate the number of days we spent out of town in 2025. Last year, it was 102…and I know for a fact that we had so many more loved ones puppy-sitting Runa this year.
So, here are the notably new places we traveled to:
Zion National Park
Bryce Canyon
Seoul, South Korea
Tokyo, Japan
Kyoto, Japan
Queretaro, Mexico
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Of all the places we visited for the first time, would you believe me if I said that my personal favorite was a domestic location? Bryce Canyon takes the cake for the most spectacular place we visited this year. While it was wonderful to eat our hearts out in Seoul and Tokyo and experience the vibrance of San Miguel this summer, Bryce Canyon felt otherworldly. The fiery hoodoos surrounding us as we gallivanted through the canyon made me feel insignificant in the best way possible.
Best of all, we got to experience this surreal landscape with Sydni and Dami, our best friends, and Kelly and Warren, Sydni’s parents, as part of Sydni’s 30th birthday weekend!
I especially appreciated the approach Sydni had in mind for her celebration: each couple would be responsible for planning the activities and meals for their respective day. For example, Sydni and Dami orchestrated all of Friday, Lexi and I handled Saturday, and Kelly and Warren took charge of Sunday. It relieved the trip originator (Sydni) from shouldering the entire weekend's planning, and I'm taking notes for future celebrations.
It was yet another memorable year of travel, full of moments that stretched us and fed our curiosity. But as much as we recognize and enjoy this privilege, I think Lexi and I have grown quite weary from the constant movement. After ten years of back-to-back domestic and international trips that started early in our relationship, the exhaustion has finally caught up to us.
Something we're genuinely looking forward to in California is being able to stay in and actually enjoy our home. Where that will be, we're still unsure, but we know we're going to relish what will be our new safe haven. We'll continue hosting (that's a non-negotiable when it comes to our lifestyle), but the travel will decrease significantly. We're ready for the relief that comes with feeling more grounded in 2026.
Work
In April, my colleague Amanda (AKA "Professor Austin," though she won't respond to that) asked if I was open to giving a guest lecture at Southern Methodist University (SMU) to 30 MBA students. I took a page out of her playbook and had no choice but to say, "Yes, and."
Yes, I'm happy to do that, and what would you like me to talk about? Yes, I'd love to discuss how design is everywhere, and how much time do I have? Yes, I'm pumped to give a 30-minute guest lecture about a subject I'm passionate about, and when/where does your class take place?
I still can't believe someone I admire and respect as much as Amanda trusted me to share my design insights and beliefs with her class! I appreciated the thoughtful questions her students asked and loved having the privilege of watching her teach. Her ability to command attention through humor, wit, candor, and respect is what I aspire towards, so getting to observe and learn without paying tuition felt like a gift. And to be able to bring up MySpace in a classroom setting, no less? Thank you, Amanda, for inviting me to give my first guest lecture. It was an experience to remember.
And then in May, I rolled off the project I was design lead of for three years! It was certainly the end of an era, but I’m grateful for what I had learned and accomplished during that time. Beyond the steady stream of fun and my shenanigan-filled tenure, the meaningful relationships are what I’m most proud of. I’m grateful for friendships that have persevered through the last seven months regardless of my departure, and I know it will feel like it was just yesterday when I catch up with these folks all over again the next time I'm back in Dallas.
Exactly one month after rolling off that distribution project, I joined a healthcare-related one alongside a dream team! We have Dialexans like Gordon, Anne-Marie, Simba, and Samer staffed, and now I’ve had the ‘ttunity to meet new, long-time IBMers like Susan, Karolis, Aurelija, Grazina, and Jurgis, all of whom I adore already.
The work is significantly more complex because it's in the healthcare space, but that complexity has been such a rewarding challenge. In the last six months alone, I've learned so much about open enrollment, a federal process that has affected my health and access to care since immigrating to the States in 1999! I feel exhausted every day, but it's the best kind of exhaustion that stems from learning new things daily. I look forward to my brain continuing to be stretched over the next year.
Content Consumption
Albums (Taken from Spotify Wrapped)
If Nevermore, Sub Urban
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan
The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift
Six: The Musical, SIX
Manners, Passion Pit
Film
Sinners
Kpop Demon Hunters
Juror #2
The Perfect Neighbor
Dodgeball (Yes, it was my first time watching it this year)
Television
The Studio
Adolescence
Hunting Wives
Murdaugh: Death in the Family
America’s Sweethearts
Literature
I didn't finish a single book in written and/or audiobook form this year. These are the ones I had started and set aside:
The Emperor of Gladness, Ocean Vuong
The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins
The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, Michiko Aoyama
It's unfortunate, but life was hectic this e-n-t-i-r-e year. Even when we were in the car for hours, my mind was racing and I couldn't focus on anything. The good news is I have these books waiting for me in my Audible and Libby catalog, so there's always the 'ttunity to revisit them in the new year.
Something I'm looking forward to in our next home is creating a lil reading nook so that we have a designated spot to fully absorb the words we're reading and hearing. I've already started building the Pinterest board for this space!
Final Thoughts
When I look back on the last twelve months, the only thing that I can think is, “Erm, this was a lot," though I acknowledge that my assessment may very well be clouded by the events over the last few weeks.
Last Tuesday afternoon, on December 16th, we found ourselves needing to stay an extra night in Dallas. We were too exhausted to safely make the ten-hour drive to El Paso, and we still needed to get a hitch installed on our Grand Highlander. We ended up staying with the Tallios, our former neighbors and dear friends.
The next morning, something shifted. For the first time in two and a half months, I woke up feeling well-rested and…normal. The weight I'd been carrying since we started navigating the stress of selling our home in a difficult market had finally lifted. I felt like an entirely different person, or more accurately, I felt like myself again. Sometimes it takes an unexpected pause, in the company of people who know you well, to realize just how far you've drifted from center.
And even now, it’s not like things are settled and normal. We’re still searching for our next home; we have no idea what our stepmama’s recovery will look like; we don’t know at what point we’ll officially move to California; and we are, once again, in limbo.
But if there’s anything I’m good at, it’s finding silver linings:
I am thankful we built a community that made it so hard to leave Dallas after seven years
I am relieved we managed to sell our home in a tough market and no longer have a mortgage and utility bills to pay in the interim
I am proud that Lexi and I are even in a position to purchase our next home in California
I am rejoicing that my stepmom is alive and showing signs of treading upwards
Most of all, I am grateful that 2025 marked ten years of being with someone I can navigate all this joy, laughter, turbulence, heartbreak, and grief with.
While this life is jubilant most of the time, it's also heavy and uncertain at others. I know I would be a wreck without Lexi. This world should be grateful that we married each other because she makes me more kind, generous, helpful, compassionate, and thoughtful. She softens me in ways I never thought possible, and everyone (loved one or stranger alike) benefits from this. I'm in disbelief at the joyous, peaceful, and abundant life we've managed to build together despite the differences in our cultural, religious, and socioeconomic upbringings. In fact, I know these differences have made our marriage and partnership that much stronger.
That strength has been essential because this year, and this month in particular, beat my ass, chewed me up, and spat me out. I experienced a mental breakdown stemming from stress for the first time in my life, but I also know I'm that much more resilient because of it (Also, two mental breakdowns in nearly three decades of life is pretty impressive!)
As we approach the final days of 2025, I'm filled with gratitude for all that I've experienced and relief that we're finally closing this chapter. If there's anything I'm walking away having learned, it's that we should all: appreciate any stability we have when we have it; hug our loved ones as tightly as possible when they're in our vicinity; and find reprieve, not distraction, in every moment of stillness available.
See you at the end of 2026.