Hi. Hello. Long time no see!

I’m writing this post 15 days into the new year as a way to solidify my intentions and goals for 2026. Is it late? Yes. Do I care? Not really.

I made a prayer board for the year before January even started, but now that I’m actually living in it, I already notice a few things I want to shift. So let’s start from the top.

15-days-in-a-slow-and-intentional-start-to-my-2026-goals

Building Community

This one feels both the most important and the most challenging. I’ve seen so many posts lately about people “wanting a village,” and wow—same. Living in a place where the only people I really know are not family and mostly work friends makes it hard to step outside my comfort zone.

So this year, I’m prioritizing community in a very tangible way: hosting one get-together a month. A rotating mix of acquaintances, overlapping circles, people who maybe don’t all know each other yet. The goal is simple—build connection, mix friend groups, and give myself a little space to just be an adult (read: child-free) for an evening.

Exploring Old Passions

I don’t fully know what this one looks like yet, and that feels okay. 2025 was my year of running—which I’ve always loved—but movement and expression were my first loves. Dance. Performing arts. That kind of joy.

Lately I’ve been searching (truly searching) for adult ballet classes, silks, or lyra that fit into my very real, very full schedule. Classes I could maybe attend with the help of a sitter here and there. The reality of single parenthood is that sometimes you just can’t do all the things you want to do—and that has to be okay. Trying to force solutions where there aren’t any only breeds resentment. I thank God daily for this life, challenges and all.

Teaching the Bible

To teach anything, you have to know it—so this one’s a two-for-one. As I grow deeper in my relationship with God, I want to be intentional about sharing that with my little Olive.

I didn’t grow up in a strictly religious household, but some of my favorite childhood memories are devotionals at the dining room table with my mom and siblings after dinner. I can’t give Olive the siblings part (yet), but I can begin building her foundation of faith now.

Consistency on Socials

In general, I’d love to grow my following across the platforms I actually use—TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest—but more than anything, I want to show up consistently and honestly.

I love to yap. My blog is my most sacred outlet for that. Everything else flows from here. So if growth comes, great—but the real goal is authenticity. If I had to sum it up in one sentence: I’d love to reach 1,000 followers on any (or all) of those platforms by simply being myself.

Running Goal(s)

Okay—this is where the big shift happened.

Originally, my plan for the year was to train for my first ultra marathon.

If you’re unfamiliar, an ultra marathon is any race longer than a traditional 26.2-mile marathon.

I’ve been so inspired by runners in my community—watching them take on races like Javelina Jundred and commit to the grueling training lit a fire in me. I have a need to try everything at least once (within reason). I even put on my vision board that I wanted to run the Midwestern States 100 in Wisconsin to ring in my 29th birthday—100 miles starting August 29th and finishing on the 30th. Truly a dream.

But as I sat with it longer, reality crept in. Similar to taking classes, I just don’t see a logistical way to spend that many hours away from my daughter right now. Without a trustworthy support system, training late nights, running long trail miles where she couldn’t come with me—it didn’t feel like a commitment I could make at this stage of her life.

So I’m pivoting. I just don’t know where yet.

Will I run 29 races this year instead? Will I simply run my heart out like I did last year and focus on time-based goals for the races I can get into? I don’t know. I don’t want to burn out—but I do want more.

That said, I do have some race goals (all lottery-based, because of course):

• SeaWheeze

• NYC Marathon (Would be my first!)

• Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

So my race season, apparently, is fully in God’s hands. But now that I finally have a running watch and some new training shoes, I’m at least prepared to prepare.

Slow and Intentional

Every year, I set my phone background to my prayer board—and all of these intentions live there in some way. Above everything else, my biggest goal is to include God in all that I do so that I have no regrets.

Happy New Year. Don’t let 2026 be the year you didn’t do what needed to be done.

With love,

LB