Kristen Woolsey

Over the years I've seen people talk about choosing a Word of the Year, and I've always thought it was a cool idea - but not something I thought I would try. How do you even choose one word?

Starting 2026, for the first time, I feel like I want to zero in on one intention. I have a lot of goals, but they sort all orbit around one idea. So, I turned to Chatgpt and asked to help me narrow it down to a word. Chat gave me a lot of options, but said I would know which one felt right - so odd, but that's exactly what happened.

Here's what I landed on for my word for 2026:

NOURISH

Body:

Right now I want to focus on nourishing my body with good, wholesome, fueling things. While I haven't made any long term commitments, I haven't had any alcohol for a few months - and I can't believe the difference. I'd like to keep that going, and just see what it looks like for me.

I've also made a goal to up my protein and other nutrition metrics and see what it does for me! I've got to nourish my body since I ask so much of it. Especially as we get closer to my half marathon.

My Oura ring has been so happy with me the last few months as I've slowly incorporated these changes at the end of 2025. I want to keep things going into this year.

Mind:

I want to nourish my mind in two ways. First, I want to cut out all the noise! I'm all about Bricking my phone and hopefully cutting my connection to social media. I just don't feel good when I spend a lot of time there. I love to see pictures from family and friends, but I am doing my best to turn off the rest.

I also want to nourish my mind by being kind to myself and working in more rest days. My ideal rest day is a day at home where I can just find peace and quiet. No pressure to do anything! Which is hard, because I rarely sit down, even at home. This is permission to relax mentally and not feel like I have to be accomplishing anything specific.

Life:

Nourishing my life means saying yes to what fills my cup, and avoiding what drains it. Gosh, this is so hard. I've had a hard time in the last few months with saying no, and just letting my batteries get low. I want to do more cup filling activities like focusing on my hobbies.

One thing that always fills my cup is my friends. I want to do more to nourish my friendships by doing more fun things together! I'd also like to get out of my comfort zone and invite more people over and try to reach out to new people. Focusing on other people always makes me feel better, it's just easier to stay home instead.

Have you ever dedicated a word for the year? Naming my goal really made me feel grounded. Now, to decide exactly how to implement all this...

-Kristen

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Word for the Year : NOURISH

Friday, January 2, 2026

Chair

1. WFH Set Up

Technically, Blake and I have a home office. It's a great spot to work! But, I've noticed on my work from home days, I'm not really inclined to go upstairs and stay up there all day. The dogs want to follow me everywhere I go, and if it's slow I want to throw a load of laundry in or whatever.

We had been using a desk as a tv console, so we replaced that, and I swapped my bedside table for the desk. I really love what we bought for under the TV. Blake gave me an older monitor and helped me set up a docking station for my work computer. It's been such an awesome workspace! It's the little things, ya know? Plus, this is so much better ergonomically that working from the couch.

2. Brick

Have you seen these? This little tool along with it's App can 'brick' your phone and turn it into something that just gets calls or texts. Actually you can set it up however you'd like. I've set it up to lock me out of social media. I find that the screen time controls built into my phone are too easy to bypass.

This thing is so genius, and gosh effective! I can't believe how many times I go to open Instagram just out of habit. Social media is not great for my headspace, and such a time waster for me.

3. Priorities

After a ROUGH couple of weeks, I had a very obvious moment of 'something's got to give'. My schedule was just unsustainable and I was dealing with people who were asking a lot of me. I realized my batteries were running super low. To have a lot going on, and then add half marathon training into the mix...I've been wiped.

I was able to take a few things off my plate. Including a tough choice to close my Etsy shop for the foreseeable future. I was also able to do a few things early, and that feels good to get them off the to-do list. Additionally, and most notably, I set some boundaries. It's hard to stand up for yourself, but ultimately it's worth the awkward conversations!

4. Reading Goals

My goal every year is to read 100 books. I'm at 90. This is obviously something to be proud of, but I'm so close, I'll be disappointed if I don't hit it! I'm asking for recommendations for any shorter books that you couldn't put down!!

This was a different reading year for me...there honestly haven't been too many stand outs. Normally there is a clear choice for my favorite book of the year. I am happy to report I read a lot more Classics this year, and reread a few favorite books, so it wasn't an unsuccessful reading year.

Skirt Outfit Details | Jean Jacket Outfit Details

5. Two Recent Outfits

I just love this time of year for clothes! Most of the year it's just too hot for anything other than shorts and tank tops. I love pulling out my cute fall pieces.

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 12-19-25

Friday, December 19, 2025

1. John Williams Symphony

We attended an outdoor concert over the weekend with Blake’s parents. It was a compilation of all the work by John Williams. Just amazing! He’s composed so many great scores to favorite movies - but he’s also done some other pieces, like the theme to the Olympics! The night was lovely, complete with the gorgeous full moon as a backdrop.

Outfit Details

2. Sourdough

Consider this my new personality. I bought a freeze dried starter over on Etsy and used some YouTube videos and this recipe. I’m so excited to have been successful! The bread is absolutely delicious and I’m having fun with this new hobby.

3. Fun Times with Friends!

We've been fortunate enough to have scheduled some quality bff time this past month! It's annoying that we have to struggle to find a date that works for everyone, but it's SO worth it when the fun makes it out of the group chat.

4. Fun Times with Family!

Also grateful to have had my brother in town recently. We did a lot of FSU themed activities, including going to a basketball game (and making it onto the jumbotron!)and then having a family UF v FSU game night. We are a house divided so it's always fun.

5. Glasses

I think I talked about this is my last Friday Five post. I shared that my doctor told me I had an astigmatism but my vision was good enough that lenses weren't necessary. Well, they ended up sending me a letter about a week later and basically said 'yeahh we should have made you get glasses'. I just find that hysterical! They missed a sale, but they enclosed my prescription.

I used EyeBuyDirect which was awesome experience!! Love my frames and I couldn't believe how sharp everything looked when I slipped them on. It was very easy to order, and you can use insurance.

-Kristen

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Friday Five | 11-12-25

Friday, December 12, 2025

We are on week 10 of our Half Marathon Training! 81 Days to go. Things are going really well, I'm just struggling with fitting these long runs into my schedule without feeling overwhelmed. I'm actively working on removing some things from my plate and hopefully that helps.

Total Miles Run: 101!

Favorite Run: My sister and I started making an effort to run together now that we are hitting higher miles. My favorite one was the first one we did together which was a 5. It was our first big push, and we just enjoyed it because we were talking the whole time.

Least Favorite Run: By far and away, the seven miler I did on the treadmill. It was so hard and it took foreverrrrr. The miles just barely move on a treadmill.

Favorite Playlist/Song: I ran to the Wicked For Good soundtrack last week and it was so enjoyable it felt like I was watching the movie.

Confidence Level: Decent!! It's going to be hard, but I remember from the Half I did in 2020 that after 8 miles it was really like 'what's one more'.

Want to do anything differently?: I need new shoes sorely. Mine already had some wear, but I've put so many miles on them recently. I want to try to make it until January to buy them, but I might not be able to.

-Kristen

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Half Marathon - 2 MONTH Update

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

We stayed in Stirling overnight, and I was very pleased to go for a run (a very chilly run!) while we were there. We started our morning at Stirling Castle! Well, to be fair, we started our morning at the cafe at Stirling Castle. I can't imagine a yummier breakfast!

I was actually very impressed with this place. The exhibits are so well done, and we enjoyed the audio tour that was an additional 3 euro. Plus, they had tour guides in period costumes that were so interesting! I'm glad we did this tour after Edinburgh, because there were so many references to places we had visited just a few days previous.

We drove back to Edinburgh for some more sites, and ate at Wagamama which I'm still day dreaming about. This was our last full day in Scotland! After 9 days of Airbnbs we were all thrilled to check into our lux hotel for the night. I would have slept for days except we had such an early flight and had to reorganize all our junk!

-Kristen

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Stirling and One More Day in Edinburgh | Scotland

Monday, November 17, 2025

We arrived at Eileen Donan castle just as it opened for the day! Such a photogenic place. They have cafe, and we nestled up to the window overlooking the castle as we sipped on tea and ate scones with clotted cream.

Then we drove for what felt like forever..but my eyes never left the window! Beautiful views left and right as we drove. We stopped in Fort William for lunch and a little walking around. Then we drove through Glencoe which was just breathtaking.

We stopped as much as we could. Below you'll see pictures from The Three Sisters of Glencoe, and the Wee White House. These were popular stops and had parking lots full of people like us that were obsessed with the views.

-Kristen

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Glencoe | Scotland

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

I think the photos will be in reverse order, but from Edinburgh we travelled to Inverness. Stayed there for a night and then traveled over to Isle of Skye. On our way over we stopped and did a cruise on Loch Ness! We loved that. It was a great boat with a funny tour guide, and they even provided little plaid blankets to keep you warm. I learned so much, and I think we have a Nessie believer over here. I had no idea Loch Ness was such a unique place on the planet.

We also stopped at The Singleton and did a tour with them featuring some whisky cocktails. It was fabulous and that is my favorite distillery we visited. The vibes are awesome, they've got a really fresh bar and lounge areas. Plus, I think their whisky was my favorite from all the ones we tried.

In Isle of Skye we stayed in Portree, a very adorable fishing village. If you googled Portree, we stayed in the colorful pink building on the water that's in all their promotional photos. SO adorable. We didn't have as much time here as I wished. We did some cool trails and went to another distillery - Talsiker. We also had my favorite meal of the trip! We ate at the Old Inn next door to Talisker. As we approached the building, down the steps, I wondered if it was even open. But then the door swung open and boisterous pub noise filled the air. It was so quaint and warm! The thick accents of the waiters were just the icing on the cake. We went home with full bellies!