2026: Mindful

My word of the year and what it means to me

Ever since using Powersheets, I’ve been a big fan of a word of the year. In years past, my words have been abundance, tend, rooted, joy, hope, rest, and liberty. This year, my word is mindful.

To be clear, I don’t think these words are magic spells that transform the year. Instead, they serve as reminders to me of the kind of year I want to cultivate and the kind of person I want to become.

In 2020, I wanted to be better at resting—both physically and in God’s goodness. In 2022, I wanted to have joy despite our struggle with infertility, because I knew joy wasn’t dependent on my circumstances but instead on God’s character.

In 2026, I want to be more mindful. I want to notice how I’m spending my time and with whom I’m spending it, where my thoughts are going, and be more intentional with my life. I also want to be better at noticing and listening to God in the mundane, daily moments. I want my mind to dwell on Him more often than it does fear, worry, or anything else.

Specifically, I want to be mindful of

• Our money—spending and saving it wisely. While we love our home, we would be open to moving to a larger space someday or investing in significant renovations to our current home to accommodate our growing family.¹ Both require being in a better financial spot.

• My walk with God. I want to grow in the practices of silence and solitude, and I want to spend more time in Scripture than I do listening to the voices of others. I want to hear God’s voice first.

• Healing my body. I spent the better part of last year growing a human being, and that took a toll on me. I want to focus on healing my body this year—physically, nutritionally, mentally, etc. I’m not interested in “bouncing back” or any of that nonsense. I want to heal.²

• Raising my children. God has given us two amazing children, and I want to be mindful of how I am raising them. Yes, for my daughter, we’re mostly in the “keep the baby alive” phase of life, but my son is almost three. He’s entering a new phase of life, not only as a big brother, but his brain is leaving the toddler stage behind. I want to help him cultivate a love for exploring the world and learning—not through a rigid pre-K program but through curiosity and play. That requires me to be mindful about how I interact with him and how I balance being a freelancing SAHM.

• My business. It’s a joy to document the start of family legacies. While I could continue to level up and book more weddings, I don’t want to do that. Instead, I want to continue to cap my weddings and give the clients I have my very best. I’ve gone through seasons of 16-20 weddings a year, and it was brutal. Instead, 7-10 weddings help me meet my financial goals as well as give my clients the best of me.

• Pursuing joy. Being mindful of my time means creating more space to pursue the things I love, instead of doomscrolling or wasting time on my phone.³ For me, that means more reading, crafting, hiking, etc. I’m using my “35 before 35” list as inspiration for what to do with my time when the kids are sleeping. It helps with decision fatigue at the end of the day.

• Relationships. It’s hard to cultivate a marriage when you’re in the throes of the toddler and newborn days. It’s even harder to prioritize friendships. But those relationships are vital to my well-being. In 2026, I want to be mindful of my relationships. I want to prioritize date nights⁴ with Adrian. I want to practice hospitality and have friends over for dinner more regularly. I also want to encourage Adrian to spend time with his friends outside the house and create space to do the same.

• Maintaining the house. I bought my house as a single woman in February 2018. There are still projects I planned to do then that are not finished. That needs to end. In 2026, we are going to finish putting up trim, paint walls that need painting, and actually complete projects we started. We’re also going to create a cleaning cadence that works for us and declutter things that no longer serve us.

So there you have it—2026 is the year of being mindful about how I spend my life.

1. No dining room and one bathroom are really challenging aspects for us, so we’ve considered an addition for a dining room and/or a dormer upstairs for larger bedrooms and a second bathroom.

2. My biggest advice for anyone who’s had a baby is to see a pelvic floor therapist! Mine has been life-changing.

3. We got Bricks, and they are soooo helpful.

4. We found a sealed copy of The Adventure Challenge Dinner Dates book at our favorite thrift store, so we gifted it to ourselves for fancy at-home dates.