Hello January and 2026!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized

Happy New Year everyone!! It’s a fresh new year out there, full of first sips of coffee to be had, new books to flip through, blank journals to scribble in.

The past few years, my word of the year has been “community”. I wanted to build a bigger community for myself, for Wyatt, for our family. And I feel like I have really done that! Through new blogging friends, our Scout/Blackbirds group, new friendships here, church, and all of our relationships built at our favorite destinations, I feel like we have a nice little community out there for us. As a very shy person, this was actually difficult for me. I had to push past my nerves and learn to find my voice. To engage with other people, to initiate. Sometimes this can be very scary for me, and it is easier for me to stay in my nice cocoon of comfort at home. Which if it was just me, that might be ok. But it is not just me. I mean, Billy is able to do all this for himself, and he is an extremely outgoing and extroverted person so he does, but as Wyatt’s parent at home and the parent who spends the most time with him, I can’t keep him in this cocoon. He needs to do things, experience things, have friends, see all he can. So, I made it my goal to make sure that happens, even if it gave me butterflies. And the more I did it, the easier it became for me. And so this year, my word is “connection”. I want to connect more deeply with what we are doing. I can move past the nerves now, and really experience what we are doing, and who we are with.

I also want to reconnect with nature. This is a part of my life that has been neglected for a few years. Billy and I used to be out in the woods all the time, and that is one area that we haven’t quite figured out yet, accessibility for Wyatt. I did find a front wheel that we can add and remove from his wheelchair and I am going to try to apply for a grant for it this year, but until then, it is tough unless it is paved. But, now with our new deck and ramp in the yard, we can turn our yard into an outdoors area that is accessible right here. Billy is putting in a pond this spring, and we are laying pavers in part of the yard to place wheelchair accessible raised garden beds, and a space for his outdoor toys. Billy and I are also hoping to get some flowers in this year. I dream of adding trees but I have been saying that for years now. Maybe this will be the year!

2025 had it’s challenges – the biggest one being Wyatt’s surgery, which all of you know about it if you read here regularly. That was a difficult time, and I honestly didn’t know before the surgery how we would make it through. And then it happened, and the support we received from people blew me away. We had neighbors send meals for days, friends drop by with food or sending gifts in the mail to make Wyatt’s days easier (and mine), grandparents who stepped in when Billy had to go to back to work and spent the entire day with Wyatt and I, helping me through the hard stuff. Cards and e-cards, comments of support here on the blog. There was just so much love and kindness and encouragement. And that was honestly my biggest takeaway from 2025. Not the hard stuff, but the love.

And we did do some really great, fun things too last year. Wyatt was on a bowling league, and went to music camp. It was a year of bookstores, and dragons. Of milestones – Wyatt turned 10, Billy and I turned 50, and our marriage turned 25. I got my mom’s insurance and medical help all settled, and I know that she is safe and taken care of where she is. It was a year where I found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, and the perfect lipstick color.

This year, one thing I want to do is keep reconnecting with myself as well. Somewhere in parenthood I lost a bit of me, which I think is normal. You live for your child. But there are places I can still be me, Erin, not “Wyatt’s mom”, which is what I am known as most of the time when I go places. I used to love getting cute outfits together, and now that I am no longer in my 30s (wahhh) and just didn’t bother much in my 40s, I want to reclaim that part of me now. Maybe not on an everyday basis, but I want to find my style now. One that works for my lifestyle but also is more than a tshirt and yoga pants on the daily. I’ve been on that quest for a while, and I have steps one and two conquered, now I am on to the harder part.

I also joined a movement from Little Truths Studio, the Analog Life Project. I’ve been listening and reading a lot about this new move back to life before all social media all the time. Like life in the 90s, the early 2000s, when we had access to the internet and social media but it wasn’t what it is now. I don’t want to give up social media and the internet, I believe it is important for access to all sorts of things, but I want to reclaim that space. I don’t want it to be a place I retreat to in order to doomscroll because I am bored or need to decompress or whatever. I want to put that energy or lack of energy in some cases, into other things. My journaling, reading, game nights, art nights, daydreaming. Puzzles and crafts. Learning to draw and paint. Pen pals and snail mail. I just don’t want to aimlessly scroll anymore. I also did a crazy thing and bought a book that is written in French. Do I speak French? No. Do I read French? No. I took French in high school, I took Latin for four years, and I took Russian in college, and I have always been pretty good at picking up languages when I try them. So, this will be something I do to decompress. Slowly, slowly translating this book. It might take me a very long time but I will do it!

I am also attempting two different reading challenges this year. The Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book’d Out, and the Books in Translation challenge hosted by Jennifer at Introverted Reader. I think I can manage probably the smallest level of each. Maybe more! We will see. I am excited about both. I am already working on a memoir for the Nonfiction Challenge, Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz.

And that is it from me this morning my friends. I will leave you with some random photos, and as always, I hope that you do something today that makes you smile!

26 thoughts on “Hello January and 2026!”

  2. You have had quite a year, Erin, with a lot of challenges (that fortunately went well in the end.) Still they are always scary. You’ve taken leaps, getting Wyatt out of the cocoon, and lread so many books, seen so many films, done creative things (I think far more than I have and I don’t have a child to teach and tend!) I so admire all that you have done and look forward to all your new adventures in this new year.

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    1. Thank you Jeanie. That surgery was not anything I ever want him to repeat if it can be helped. I try to make his life as magical as I possibly can to balance out the hard stuff. I admire what you do too! I think you do the coolest things, your art camp for sure, your cork poppers, your indoor concerts for friends. So fun!!

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  4. You have some great plans there!
    I like the idea with the pen pals and snail mail. I looked a German pen pal site once, but sadly none of them seemed the right fit for me. I doubt, however, that I even could still do those 10 page letters of my youth, lol.
    I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year!

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    1. Lol I could probably not do 10 pages either!! I think it will be fun to have a pen pal. And that reminds me, Wyatt owes a letter to Little Miss. Lol. Maybe Miso could write to der Dekan?

      The same to you Cat! And “see” you at Crafternoon this month!

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  7. mireilleftm's avatar mireilleftm

    I really enjoyed today’s post with a look back at last year and things to look forward next year! I have worked on carving time for me the past couple of years and 2025 was easier for that as I didn’t have to care for my MIL who passed away Thanksgiving 2024 and while my parents have had health issues and I have had to helped them, it usually meant just a couple mornings a week. Simple things like meals outdoors have become a joy and fill my cup. I finally filled the bird feeders last week after leaving them empty for months and it is fun to see the winter birds enjoying them. Moving my body whether by walking, bike riding or running really helps my moods (happy perimenopause to me, lol).

    http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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    1. I miss bird feeders and seeing all the winter birds! What a fun cup filler for you. I really benefit from movement as well. Also – happy perimenopause to me as well. Noooooo. Lol.

      I am glad that you have been finding these ways and making the time for yourself!! It is easy to lose ourselves in the process of caring for others, but it is important to take care of us too. 🙂

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  10. I love your commitment to connections. I was more intentional this past year about finding more community and it felt so life-giving to me. And yes, pulling away a bit from the internet would likely be good for almost all of us. Easy for me to say, but harder for me to do. Sigh.

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  11. marsha57's avatar marsha57

    Erin, I’m so glad that what you took away from Wyatt’s surgery was how much you, Wyatt, and Billy are loved by your community, far and wide. I know it was a scary and very difficult time for all of you. I’m so glad it went well. I love the idea of community as a WOTY, but I’d definitely forget that as I have no idea what my one and only one even was. As an extroverted introvert, I know how difficult it is to be with people. As my granddaughter says, her social tank is empty. I think that’s such a fun analogy. I look forward to seeing the new Erin emerging from her cocoon where she has been waiting. I do find, even with blogging, I have been pulling away a bit from social media. I have even crocheted a shawl…well, I think I have four rows left. Next is finally finishing some WIPs.

    Here’s to a wonderful and fulfilling 2026!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  12. Pingback: Books, Screens, and In-Betweens – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

  14. Welcome to the Books in Translation challenge! And good luck with translating your French book!

    I love when I see public outdoor spaces like national and state parks post that they’re finally providing sort of all-terrain wheelchairs but I’m sorry that it’s just starting to happen and the idea seems to be spreading so slowly. Your idea to make your own outdoor space more accessible is an awesome one! I hope you’re able to get the grant for the wheel. I wish this was easier for everyone who has challenges with accessibility. I remember when one of my former patients told me how excited he was when the beach where he spent every winter finally installed some wheelchair fabric (my apologies that I don’t know the correct terminology). He was able to go out on the sand for the first time in years instead of looking out from a pier or boardwalk.

    I’m glad you’ve found your community and feel such a sense of love and support. As a shy introvert, I struggle with this too. I have a solid community back home and I drive them crazy texting them all day every day but I struggle with getting out and meeting people wherever we are. I made an effort this summer and fall through library programs (of course!) and met some truly nice people. I feel myself trying to avoid it now that we’re in a new place but I should keep my momentum up. I’m just so happy with my solitary pursuits while my husband is at work and then hiking or going to museums or whatever when he’s off.

    Your pictures are cute!

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    1. Thank you!

      Those wheelchairs are amazing aren’t they? I wouldn’t trust my ten year old in one lolol but they are so cool for responsible people. And yes!!! Wheelchair accessible beaches and water wheelchairs are awesome too. Sand and wheelchairs do not mix! It’s those little front wheels that mess everything up. We have been looking for ways to get him outside into different places for a while now, and that front wheel thing will be cool. It will turn his wheelchair into like a running stroller, but he will b able to move himself around like he is used to doing.

      It is so hard isn’t it? I am a shy introvert and I have had to really work on creating community for Wyatt since we homeschool. It is hard to push yourself like that! I think it is great that you are making an effort by going to library programs! The library is one of Wyatt’s little communities too – he loves it there, he is friendly with the staff, they love him as well. I am also happy with my own company, or just Wyatt and Billy lol, but it is really good to branch out too.

      And thank you!!

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