A quick look back at 2025 and the potential of the year ahead…
As I look back over the year I am actually amazed at all the changes that were put in motion. Last January I was attending a Wellness Convention in California and by March I was flying down to Nashville to learn more about products to help the disabled and elderly remain in their homes and increase their chance of aging in place with dignity.
“Change can be a beautiful thing. Not always easy. Not always planned. But necessary for the next day to outshine the last.”
I also reached a personal sales goal with Custom Decorators as a rep for Kirsch window treatments, which is a side gig I have kept, even when I didn’t always have the time to pour into it.
On another, more personal business front, we navigated the turmoil of a small town as it tried to rewrite history as a way to force us out of a future we were planning for…
A future we have worked towards…
A future we earned…
A future our family rightfully deserves.
We learned that sometimes you have to fight to keep what is yours.
And sometimes you have to grow, to expand on all your wildest ideas-
To make sure no one ever tries to take it from you again.
As far as a few of my favorite writings here on the website from over the year-
I wrote about the roadside road trip oddities that are abundant in Wisconsin when you venture off the beaten path. From the Maiden Lake stone houses to the sculptures of concrete and broken bottles by Fred Smith, these longer drives for work gave me time to reflect, gave me perspective.
Best Hiking Trails with a View
And as I wrote in Concrete Ambitions:
“It reminded me that in a world that often feels like it is moving too fast – it’s never too late to be an artist, if that is something deep in your soul. You don’t have to do everything- be everything- all at once. Sometimes it’s tempting to focus on what we haven’t accomplished. Maybe Fred [Smith] needed to be a lumberjack first, a husband, a father…maybe that life of experiences is what made his statues feel so special.”
Along with that appreciation for accidental art came another reoccurring theme.
“I recommend this place to all who wander. To all who wonder. To anyone who has kept that stray piece of rusty metal because someday it might be perfect for a project…You know who you are. You’ll feel right at home here.”
“You can tell when a place is more to the owners than just somewhere they work. It feels lived in and welcoming. And it’s that homey feeling that will make you want to return.”
Hickory Corners and Krueger’s Kustoms
“It’s the kind of place you would have followed your father into as a child. A place comfortable with rust and collections- collections of signs and gas cans, of any old thing of interest that can be leaned against a wall or rested on a ledge.”
“The kind of place that would have sounded like work getting done and smelled of motor oil and dust rolling in from the street… The kind of place every good old small town would have once had.”
And then there are the garages that share their space with other ventures…
And the motor condos that are creating community and elevating the way we use our spaces…
“A development like this might be perplexing to some. I would wager they are people who have never got caught up in a project that they spent all day and night working on outside their home. The folks here have a passion for their collections and a desire to be among people who share their interests.”
Looking back at the direction my writings leaned throughout the year it is hard to deny a pattern emerging. I may have started this year invested in learning holistic and therapeutic ways to help people feel physically better in their everyday lives but I am ending it by realizing how much you can encourage better mental health by acknowledging hobbies, bringing back tradition and surrounding yourself with the “stuff” that makes you feel like you belong.
In my Summer Business Series I proclaimed-
“Because I am who I am, I first noticed the rusty yard art before the bright blue shipping containers proudly announcing their name.”
If this resonates with you then- c’mon-
Let’s build a community around shared interests and family.
Let’s do it for ourselves, the lovers of the loud rumble and the weather worn mementos of another time…
Let’s do it for those that can see potential and appreciate humble beginnings…
For those that know that sometimes greatness comes when you break the rules.
Because I am who I am, and if you are who you are…then we can do this…together.
Happy New Year!
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