2026 Goals and Mexico, Segunda Parte

The second excursion we did in Mexico was touring the ruins at Chichen Itza, eating some Mayan food, swimming in a cenote, and doing a little shopping. At the resort, Alex and Daryl’s favorite activity was ping-pong. They were at the ping-pong tables every day. Alex met kids from England, Guatemala, Mexico, and Canada, all by playing ping-pong.

We were also able to reserve time once on the pickleball court and once on the tennis court. The resort also had pools, waterslides, and a great stretch of beach. The unlimited Coca-Colas only caught up with Joseph, who had one rough night three days in. We switched him over to water.

I was a fan of the pina coladas and had one every day until the 1st. I’m doing Dry January because I never have before, and I want to see what the hype is about.

I have finally settled on my 2026 goals. I make personal goals because I want to be the best version of myself. For example, the reading goal is so I don’t just let my brain rot on Netflix and HBO Max. I still watch plenty of TV, but the reading goal makes me feel better about it.

I like goals because they give me something to focus on from month to month that is good for me. With a busy job and five kids, I like to make sure I am prioritizing some of my hobbies and things that are good for my health. I post here monthly for accountability, so you all get to come on the ride with me. I encourage you to set a goal too, and you can tell me how you did.

Here’s to lots of progress in 2026! We’ve got this!

Read 30 Books (up 6 from last year) 

Run 620 miles (down 30 from last year) 

Grow my savings by a number I know (I did hit my savings goal last year!) 

UFO (unfished objects) to be completed in no particular order

    Alpaca Quilt

    T-Shirt Quilt

    2 photo books for Daryl and Alex

    1 knit project from stash

    1 stitched project from stash 

We need to always have matching shirts! 

In spots it was a little rocky and there were cool tide pools, there was also a big section of beach with no rocks. 

Alex and I woke up early to see a sunrise, there was a dumb cloud in our way. It was still nice though. 

I think every January 1st there should be a mariachi band at breakfast! It made for a perfect send off from our resort.

2025 Goal Review, Matching Shirts and Christmas Vacation!

There has been so much fun the last week, this will probably be two posts. The quick version is, instead of gifts this year, Jeff and I took the kids to Cancun, Mexico for vacation. We stayed where the weather was in the 70s and 80s everyday and got off the resort twice to snorkel and to see the ruins at Chichen Itza. 

On our day to the island to snorkel, the family wore matching T-Shirts. They were a hit! The tour guide loved them and the other passengers said it helped them stay with the right group. Even the transport driver got a laugh out of them. The teenagers didn't like the extra attention but it is a small price to pay for a Mexican Vacation. LOL (If you are local, the business that did them for us was Shirts and Such in Overbrook; I highly recommend Kim for your custom gear!) 

I will write more later about some of the other activities we did, but the wildlife kept the kids entertained the entire time. There were what I will call "Mexican Racoons" all over the resort trying to get some trash or just the food off of your plate. There was a petting zoo were Daryl became good buddies with the resident donkey. And in the hotel lobby, a family of monkeys lived in the trees. It kept things interesting! 

Ok, 2025 Goal Recap! 

Read 24 Books 24/24 DONE

Finished three books in December-ish! Instead of missing pickleball with the boys on the resort, I saved the last hundred pages for the airport, and boy was that the right call. We got to the Cancun airport in plenty of time but going through customs and security in Dallas was so long, we missed our connecting flight. I was so thankful I had the best part of my book to get through. :-)   

Let Them, by Mel Robbins is such a great nonfiction book to help reframe where you spend your energy. I understand all the "Let Them" tattoos now, and I might need one. ;-) If you are trying to please everyone at the sake of your own peace. Read this book. 

The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell was one of the books I snagged from the Lawrence Library book sale. So far that haul is two for two, as this was a good book. Sisters growing up in Ireland projects (15 and 14?) find themselves without parents on page two, and how they take care of themselves with the help of a neighbor keeps you reading. I left it in Mexico with a note for the next person to enjoy! 

Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham was my Christmas present from Jeff. It is a non fiction telling of the first intelligence staff during WWII. America was new to the spy game, so they decided to do it their own way with Ivy League professors, librarians and book buyers. There was so much background in the first 100 pages, I was a little worried. But the last 200 pages were amazing things I never knew about warfare. Even if you aren't a WWII person or military person, this book was very interesting and will teach you more about real spies than Hollywood will. The Ghost war chapter was the best! 

Run 650 Miles 652/650 DONE

I ran 42 miles in December and made my yearly goal! Finishing strong this year is only because I joined two friends to run the Salina half, and we did our long runs together. We kept meeting on the weekends and it has helped me not slack off. My weekly run steak is up to 25! I took advantage of the Mexico weather this week and did two miles in 75 degree weather. It was nice! This goal was brought to me by Aron and Laura, thanks! 

Money Goals

Fund 3-6 month ER Fund - Done April 2025! Yay for selling my house! 

Pay off Car - Done April 2025! Yay for selling my house! 

UFOs (unfinished objects) that need Finished 

T-Shirt Quilt (have the shirts)

Alpaca Quilt I got all of the lantern rows sewed on my Girl weekend this month. I am currently cutting out Alpaca pieces! 

Placemats - Done April 2025 

Alex and Daryl Photo Books 2021-2023 Just missing 2023 at this point. 

Will still have some quilts and photo books to make for 2026. Oh well! The 2026 Goal post will be next! 

Our best family picture! 

Showing off our shirts! "Christmas hits different when it's warm!"

My favorite place to read my real life spy novel. 

Monkey!

Everyone had to say goodbye to our Donkey when we left yesterday.

They were cute but I don't think any of us are going to miss these guys! 

Merry Christmas from the Bergles!

Today has been the easiest Christmas that I can remember. It’s probably because we weren’t really celebrating today, but we did have three of the kids home and took it easy, and that was nice. Speaking of nice, the 50-degree weather was perfect for a run and an hour of reading on the sun porch!

I reached my running goal for the year today, and I finished one more book. That makes 22, and my goal was 24. I’ve started 23, and we shall see what happens.

I should have taken time to sew on my alpaca quilt, but instead I worked on making Jeff and me matching T-shirts. He got a Sasquatch shirt for Christmas, but it was the wrong size. He really liked the shirt, so he found his size and was going to exchange it. I talked him into getting the shirt in his size, and I made the wrong-size shirt my size! We are going to wear our matching shirts on Saturday. Aren’t we exciting?! LOL

We did have our Potwin Christmas on Saturday, that is always so fun. We even got to see Santa this year! I hope everyone had a restful day, and I hope those in my neck of the woods got outside.

Here’s to a happy New Year and more matching outfits!

Grandma Rosie brought us presents on Saturday!

Santa was just hanging out in Potwin, so we snagged a pic after our horse drawn carriage ride!

The before shirt

A few pins and an hour later

A shirt that fits! 

Wrestling, Junior Year Edition!

This weekend I got to watch Daryl wrestle at the JV Leavenworth tournament. Last year, he won 1 match, lost 3 and had to forfeit his final match. This year, he finished with 4 wins and 1 loss. He placed second in his bracket. The improvement was incredible, especially considering this is only his third year in the sport.

I love his determination. He isn’t discouraged at all about wrestling JV and continues to challenge the varsity wrestler in his weight class each week. I truly admire his drive to earn a varsity spot and the way he treats every JV match as a learning opportunity rather than a setback.

I also managed to get some good reading time in while waiting for Daryl’s matches. Wrestling Saturdays are good days. 😊 I have three books left to finish this month to meet my yearly goal, and I’m planning to really lean into reading over Christmas break.

Deck The Halls!

 It may be December 14th but that is technically the first half of the month! When Alex got home tonight he and Joseph helped me put up the tree and the stockings. This month is going quickly but so far it is treating us well. Aaron and Joseph both had school concerts last week and Alex has his on Tuesday. 

Next week is the last week of school and then the kids will be out till January. During that time we will watch some Christmas movies, go to the beach and go see some holiday lights. You know, December stuff ;-) 

November Goal Check

The first week of December has already flown by. I really need to get the tree and decorations out. This week was packed with work stuff, and Daryl just started wrestling. It feels like this whole month is going to be busy. I also just finished ordering our holiday cards, so they’ll probably show up late, oh well!

I’ve got to keep my goals in mind. Still struggling to get up and run in the mornings, but whatever… let’s do this. Finish the year strong!

Read 24 Books 21/24

Finished two books in November!  

Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall was another Library recommendation and I really enjoyed it. There were enough surprises and twists throughout the book to keep me turning pages. This would be a good one to take on a vacation. 

The Women by Kristin Hannah was recommended to me by another passenger waiting at the airport months ago. I was reading The Nightingale by the same author and a woman sitting across from me let me know that is not even her best book. I very much enjoyed The Nightingale, so I was intrigued! She told me that she liked The Women even better. While this book was excellent and I am open to reading more of Hannah's books I think you like the one you read first. LOL I did enjoy that this book was from an era that I don't read about a lot. Set during The Vietnam war it is a story of all the Woman who served in that war as Nurses and how coming home affected them as well as the male soldiers.

Run 650 Miles 610/650

I ran 61 miles this month. And let me tell you, that last ten miles was a STRUGGLE. It got cold, I don't like cold. Now I'm even a little doubtful I will get 40 in December to end this year! UGH!! 

Money Goals

Fund 3-6 month ER Fund- Done April 2025! Yay for selling my house! 

Pay off Car - Done April 2025! Yay for selling my house! 

UFOs (unfinished objects) that need Finished 

T-Shirt Quilt (have the shirts)

Alpaca Quilt I got all of the lantern rows sewed on my Girl weekend this month. I am currently cutting out Alpaca pieces! 

Placemats - Done April 2025 

Alex and Daryl Photo Books 2021-2023 Just missing 2023 at this point. 

We worked really hard on our Thanksgiving puzzle this week. 

At Alex's Dec. Infusion he got to meet the therapy dog. In two years this was a first! 

Finished it on Thursday! Go Team!