Hi friends.
Happy New Year. I’m really glad you are here. How were your holidays? I hope they were full in that familiar, beautiful way — college kids back home for a bit, puzzles on the table, cookies in the oven, grandparents and/or grand babies visiting from out of town, and the cozy chaos that somehow still feels like home. Or maybe your home felt a little quieter this year — more time for outdoor walks, a great book, or a soothing bubble bath. However you celebrated this year, I hope you found a moment or two that felt like your own. Moments that filled you up on a deep level.
This season of life has a way of making us pause and ask some pretty big questions — quietly at first, and then what feels like all at once. Who am I becoming now? What still fits? What’s ready to be released? You’re not alone. Empty Nesting. Midlife. Menopause. Change… they don’t arrive to break us. They arrive to awaken us. And while all of this unraveling can feel disorienting at first, it’s often the moment just before something more honest, more spacious, and more aligned begins to take shape.
Let’s be honest — 2025 was a doozy. I knew it would be a year of big changes for our family. However, I underestimated how overwhelmed I would feel experiencing so many of them all at once. Kids graduating high school and college. Selling our home. My husband leaving his job of 13 years. Moving to a new state. Losing a pet. Transitioning my mother-in-law into memory care. Figuring out where we would live next, all the while becoming Empty Nesters. It was a lot. In what felt like a blink of an eye, my surroundings and my sense of self completely rearranged. Thankfully, when it came to the Empty Nest part – college drop off, that tender goodbye – I was more prepared than I realized. Years of researching, reflecting, and planning had quietly done their work. My youngest was ready. And, in many ways, so was I.
What I didn’t anticipate was how much else would begin to loosen and fall away during this dynamic season — the quiet expectations I’d been carrying for myself, the unspoken agreements gradually (and sometimes abruptly) unraveling, and the roles that no longer fit who I was becoming. This year broke me open in ways I hadn’t planned for. But looking back now, I can see it was intentionally shifting me toward what was coming next. Something in me knew this wasn’t destruction. It was preparation.
As those layers loosened, I found myself standing in brand new territory. I began to ask myself: Who am I now without all of these familiar people, places, and things around me?
If your nest is shifting, maybe you’ve been asking similar questions. Did 2025 usher in more challenges and change than you expected? If so, you’re not alone. A new year doesn’t arrive with demands – it arrives with possibility, inviting us to step forward a little lighter and more grounded than the year before.
In the Chinese Zodiac, 2025 was the Year of the Snake — a symbolic season of shedding what no longer fits. Snakes don’t shed their skin because they’re broken. They shed because they’ve outgrown who they were. The old skin becomes too tight. Too restrictive. So it splits. And what emerges is tender, vulnerable — and new.
That’s what this year asked of me. To loosen my grip on roles that had grown too small.
To stop contorting myself to keep the peace. To let what no longer fit fall away. And it’s not always easy. Change can be painful. But it’s necessary in order to make room for what’s waiting just beyond your comfort zone.
“If keeping the peace costs you your authenticity and truth, that’s not love, that’s a contract. And it’s conditional. “
I made a promise to myself, no matter how difficult or challenging it becomes, that this is the year I stop carrying what no longer belongs to me. To let the old skin fall away — even when it’s uncomfortable. Even if it feels scary. Even when it’s imperfect.
In contrast, 2026 is The Year of the Horse, and frankly I am so ready for this shift. It represents movement, forward momentum, abundance, and stepping into your own power – especially after a season of constraint. The horse energy doesn’t wander. It runs fiercely and confidently towards its purpose. This isn’t a frantic hustle. It’s directed expansion – when your energy finally moves in the same direction as your values, your calling, and your purpose. But here’s the truth we don’t talk about enough:
You can’t create a new chapter from the same version of yourself that survived the last one.
And maybe that’s the invitation. The gift hidden within the breaking.
As the holidays began to unwind and I looked ahead to 2026, I knew I wanted this year to be different – not filled with overwhelming New Year’s resolutions, but shaped by small, positive and fulfilling changes woven into my daily life. On the last day of December, I thought What’s something small I can do for myself or someone else today that could have a big impact? What’s something I miss doing?
The answer surprised me — making a vision board.
I headed off to our local Hobby Lobby to buy magazines, scissors, and glue sticks. Oh my! As I wandered the aisles, something in me softened. I felt like I was returning to a part of myself I hadn’t visited in a long time. I used to spend hours in stores like this shopping for scrapbook supplies, choosing designer theme-inspired paper, and turning ordinary moments into keepsakes for my girls. I’d lose track of time just being in the moment. (Cheers to my fellow Creative Memories friends.) Standing there, it hit me hard how much I missed this feeling. Creating without an agenda and letting my imagination lead instead of my responsibilities. I was excited to get back home and spend a few hours making these with my daughters.
When an employee asked me what I was shopping for and I told her I was making a vision board, she promptly asked me, “What is a vision board?” For some reason, that question stopped me in my tracks — not with judgment, but with awareness. So many of us have never been invited to imagine our lives intentionally. To pause and ask: What do I want now? What do I want to create this year? I explained what a vision board means to me — how it gives shape to hopes we’re often too busy, or too tired, to name. She smiled and said, “Thank you. I’m going to do this with my daughter, too.” It was a small moment, but a meaningful one. A gentle pause in the middle of the holiday hustle. And it left me hoping for more moments like this — for all of us. We could all use a little more face to face connection.
Here’s what I know now, after years of working with empty-nesters, and walking this path myself: some of us grew tired — not because we did anything wrong, but because we cared deeply. We built lives we love. We showed up. We held it all together. We created magic for everyone. And it was incredible. But somewhere along the way, without realizing it, we stopped checking in with ourselves. When I finally took a moment to pause and reflect, the awareness didn’t hit me headfirst. It landed in my body — a soft exhale, a sense of safety. Like my nervous system unclenching and whispering, “This is okay. She’s tuning in now. She’s listening. Good.”
As I step into a new year, I’m not chasing a version of myself anymore.
I’m letting myself arrive. The skin that carried me this far did its job. And now, with gratitude — I let it go. My wish for you is simple: that this year, you give yourself permission to pause. To listen. To trust what’s quietly asking to emerge in this next phase of your life. What do YOU want to create for yourself? What magic are you craving in your life? Because I promise, it’s already waiting for you — no rushing required.
I’d be honored to walk beside you — a lantern, not a spotlight — as you step into your next best chapter. I’ve learned so much in these past several years and can’t wait to guide you through your own Empty Nest journey.
P.S. February 1st, 2026, I’m launching my “Best Empty Nest” course — intentionally not on January 1st. Not from hustle or resolution energy, but from a place of permission. Real change doesn’t come from pressure. It comes from pausing long enough to ask:
Who am I now? What do I want to create next? And most importantly, How do I do it?
I know many women, including myself, that carry a lot of guilt around courses they purchased but never finished. Statistics say 97% of courses are not completed. I wanted the opposite to be true for you. I’ve spent three years carefully designing this experience in digestible, weekly content — to set you up for success and help you carry this all the way across the finish line where real transformation is waiting. This course isn’t meant to sit half-watched on your laptop or become another thing you feel bad about. It’s a guided, intentional journey – one I walk beside you step by step, as you create your next chapter that feels aligned, doable, and deeply yours.
I’m so confident in this process that my goal is simple: 97% of the women who start this course will finish it—because it meets you exactly where you are and gently guides you forward into your next best chapter. And I would love for one of them to be you.
Here’s a glimpse of what we will explore together inside the course:
Look back (The Past)
• Take time to reconnect with your younger, motherhood-version of yourself
• Create a personal highlight reel of your favorite moments that shaped your journey
• Hear from your children about the memories and moments that mattered most to them
Take stock of where you are now (The Present)
• Clarify what you’re passionate about right now—not who you used to be
• Choose one meaningful focus instead of trying to overhaul your entire life
• Quiet the inner critic and learn to listen to your inner compass
Design what’s next (The Future)
• Envision exactly what you want your life to look like one year from now
• Create a clear, realistic blueprint to get there
• Build a game plan made of small, intentional steps that actually feel achievable
This course is all about creating a future that gently pulls you forward—one aligned choice at a time—until your empty nest feels less like an ending and more like the beginning of the life you’ve been craving.
If you feel that quiet nudge—the one whispering this year has to be different—I’d love to invite you to join the waitlist for this transformational course. Your next chapter is closer than you think.
*Remember this: You don’t have to figure this out alone. I’m holding the lantern as you find your way forward. We’re in this together — one step at a time*
Love love love this post. You were so creative with the snake analogy and so vulnerable. It has inspired me to think differently about this year. I’d love you to share your vision board when you are done.