The New Year

[music] It was an absolutely beautiful start to winter. If I've learned anything though about where we live now, [music] that beauty doesn't always stick around all season. Some people hate the white stuff, but I believe it's supposed to be there for [music] a reason. Whether it's true or it's just a placebo, the sun starts to feel a little brighter after the winter solstice. [music] And of course, even brighter days are ahead.

By the time we finished the bare necessities of our home [music] being built and making it functional, there wasn't much energy left for the finishing touches. So, this year, we're going to try to remedy that one step at a time. And this is a photo that I took last summer that we're finally going to hang on the wall. More on that process later.

So, after I finished my last video, the it's been a year again video, if you haven't seen that, go ahead and check that out. It's sort of a recap of 2025. But these videos are interesting, especially when I wait for such a long time to put out something and compile so much stuff into it because it just feels a little bit like that project takes so long to put together. Someone asked me about how long it takes for me to do a project like that and video is close to 40 minutes long. So I guess they say that typically it might take about an hour per minute and I would say on this one that was probably pretty accurate. I was probably close to 40 hours of time that I worked on it. So by the time I picked music for it and then actually a lot of times these clips are just a whole bunch of random stuff especially when it's a year long. So, I have to figure out how those things sort of fit together. How does the music flow together? And I don't really know any of that ahead of time. So, I just sit down and I look at the clips that I have and I try to figure out sort of a storyboard of how that goes together. And then I write the script after that so that I have the narration. And so, it's really a process that takes quite a bit of time to figure all of that out. And then I also go through every single clip once I've figured out my general color grade that I would like. and I go through and adjust every single clip to make sure it looks exactly the way that I want it to or as much as possible. So it's quite an extensive process and so definitely it takes a long time and there's that anticipation of getting that out into the world and then once you hit publish and it is out to the public there's that feeling of kind of excitement of everyone seeing your work and then after that there's also a bit of sort of a letdown feeling I guess after that just because of the amount of time that you put into it and then that project is kind of over and you're just sitting there waiting for the next thing that you're going to create. I guess I would assume maybe it's like training for some kind of thing. You know, if you run some sort of race or you're doing some kind of big training work and you're working your way up towards that final event once the event is done, then you have to figure out what you're going to do with yourself and what you're going to do next.

So, that's sort of I guess where I've been feeling going into this new year here is just a bit of trying to figure out the next projects, trying to figure out what's keeping me motivated. But during December, I decided that I wanted to try to create something every single day. And I made it through December. I think maybe except for the last day. But I've been doing a lot more short form content over on my Instagram account just to keep those muscles going and to keep that creative sort of work going. So that's where I'm posting some of that stuff. I will also post some of it here just depending on if it fits sort of the feel of what I have going on over here. But that has definitely helped me, I think, to keep motivated and keep creating and keep my brain going. Typically during this time frame, it can be difficult for me with some seasonal depression and things that can kick in when it's so dark and gloomy. But, uh, this year, I've been keeping myself busy and trying to keep my creative work going, and that seems to be helping me a lot so far.

There's often so much hustle and bustle surrounding the holidays, and then just like that, [music] it's over. We usually take a couple days to decompress. Winter also brings a few common themes. [music] Those gloomy and dark days were upon us. They're so common that when the sun finally shows up again, it almost seems like the impossible has happened. [music] >> [music] >> And the smell of hearty winter meals in the crock-pot filled year as Kelsey works to perfect her specialties in the Westberry kitchen. We post most [music] of our Westberry content on our Instagram if you're interested in more. And maybe someday we'll start a newsletter or a site [music] just for Westberry. [music] And this one is still green. So, this one I'm not sure. It appears green up here, but this looks like it maybe is dying off. And then this one, I think, died off. So, we might be down to only two. Darn it. >> [music] >> US National Weather Service has issued a snow squall warning. It'll be in effect until [music] December 28th, 12:00 p.m. CST. >> [music] [music] >> Up until [music] now, I had never been in a snow squall before, but now I can say that I have. [music] [music] [music] There's always new experiences in life to discover, and there's always light at the end of the [music] storm. >> Yep. >> It's a natural freezer. [laughter] That's why you only do this in the winter time. >> So, it is absolutely 100% true that we in the Midwest find one of the coldest days in the upcoming time frame, whenever that is, and we empty our freezer so we can defrost them and we use the outdoors as a proper freezer. So, tonight is going to be well into the 20s and then with what it's changing to tomorrow, it's going to be below zero as far as windchill and all that goes. And Kelsey will have all of this done in that time frame anyway. But it's super nice to be able to open the freezers, move everything that you need to outside, keep it frozen, and then move it back in. So, one of the joys of living in the Midwest. Try my best to take in the [music] afternoon sunsets. And remember that photo hanging project I talked about earlier. [music] [music] No way. [music] >> [music] [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> So, happy new year to all of you. I hope you have a great 2026. Kelsey and I were discussing when the new year changed over how a long long time ago for most of my 20s and 30s, the holiday, if you want to call it that, of the new year holiday was always something that was pretty difficult for me because I was just really unhappy with where I was in terms of my life and what I wanted to be doing with it. And so every year that we would get to that kind of milestone where most people are looking at their resolutions or they're looking at what they want to change, I would just be sort of feeling that dread of I'm just not where I want to be and I haven't changed. And I actually used to change some of my passwords around that time frame to change [music] it and then the next year. And so that would be kind of a reminder every single time. And maybe it wasn't a good reminder because it made me feel worse. But what it did was it kind of helped me understand that if I wanted to change, I needed to do it on my own and I needed to be that person that made that change. And it took a long time for me to get the courage, I guess, but also just to find the right thing that I wanted to actually go towards. There's so many paths in life and I think that a lot of people also put pressure on younger people saying that, you know, you got to figure out that one thing you want to do. And what I've learned over time is that for me specifically and I think a lot of creative people, there's probably not one path. And if there is, that's great. But, you know, you can do many different things in life. And if it only means 2 or 3 years of driving towards something else and then you want to change and do something. You know, we only have one life to live. I know it's a major cliche [music] to say that, but it really has become more apparent to me over time and as I've gotten a little bit older that, you [music] know, you do only have one life to live. and you have to make the choices that you want to make in order to do what you want to do.

So around 2018, I finally did make that big leap of faith. And I was working at a job that was quote unquote safe. You know, I could have stayed there probably until the end of time and it had good benefits and all of that stuff. But I left that because there was something else inside of me that said there has to be something more for me. And so I took that leap of faith and it wasn't an easy one to take, but Kelsey was very supportive of that. we were both getting to a point where we wanted to make some changes and so uh I took that leap first and then eventually later on she took that leap and came and work for our business now. So we've both kind of taken something like that over time but that leap of faith really led us into a whole new journey in our lives. And so without that moment there and without that decision, you know, things could look drastically different right now. So I guess all I'm saying with that is that maybe some of you feel that way right now. It doesn't matter what age it's at. I'm kind of feeling similar right now that I need a new leap of faith and I haven't figured out exactly what that is yet, but I'm working towards a few different ideas. And so, I don't think it matters what age it is. I think that it's just important to realize that if you're feeling that that thing inside of you that says something needs to change or you're just not living up to your own potential, then you need to listen to those voices inside of you and try to work towards that. It doesn't mean necessarily it's going to happen in a day, but it does mean that you have time to figure out something else to to take a leap of [music] faith into something. And maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But the safe road, I feel like, is often less safe for our soul, if that makes any sense. And it often leads us to feeling that dread inside of us that maybe is worse than anything else.

So, so I just wanted to share a little bit about my New Year's and how things have gone from when I was younger to that middle age now. And as I said, I'm I'm still feeling some of those things now, but I don't feel that dread of the New Year holiday when everyone's making their resolutions and looking at what they accomplished and feeling just so sad about not living up to my own potential and knowing that I could do more with my life. So, if you're out there feeling similar, just know, give it your all. Give it everything you have. And in the end, that's all you can really do. But I think you're going to sleep better at night if you at least give it a shot. Speaking of new adventures, we have a big one on the horizon. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music]