This year felt pretty jam-packed. Starting in May, my summer was filled with trips, and I spent the fall recovering from all that activity. Here are some of the biggest parts of my year:
1. Ankle surgery (and so much physical therapy)
I started off the year with a much-needed surgery on my ankle. After 17 years of chronic sprains, my ankle had basically no stability. I could step slightly wrong on flat ground and turn it completely sideways. I unknowingly broke it summer 2024 and then injured it again just before that Thanksgiving, wiping out on the front walk of a friend’s house.
The surgery (and recovery process) defined much of this year. I graduated from physical therapy in mid-November and am still consistently stretching and mobilizing my ankle while working through a running program.
I wrote extensively about the recovery process in a series for Women’s Barbell Club called The Injury Diaries.
2. Siblings’ weddings
Two of my little siblings got married this summer, one in May, one in July. I traveled to Indiana and New York for their respective weddings and spent lots of time with family in the process.
During the reception of the first wedding, one of my nieces wanted to prank Uncle Matthias (my youngest brother) — hence this photo. The bunny ears were her idea, but I’m always down for some silliness with the kids.
3. New York in the summer
This July was my first time going home in the summer since 2016. I visited a few of my favorite spots in Cooperstown, including Council Rock and Willis Monie Books, a used bookstore you can easily get lost in.
The trip was extra special because all of my siblings were in town for my sister’s wedding. We reminisced over shared memories, ate food from a few of our most nostalgic places, and spent a Sunday evening swimming and cooking out at Gilbert Lake, a quintessential Sell family summer activity.
4. Fourth of July in Salida, Colorado
I spent an extended fourth of July weekend with my cousin and her husband’s side of the family in Salida. They were in the area for (another) wedding and needed childcare during the event, so my cousin recruited me. I spent the evening of the wedding babysitting three kids, and the rest of the weekend tagging along with my cousin’s family. Salida was a great fourth of July destination. We watched fireworks with the whole town from one of the main streets.
5. Camping in the Tetons
After all of the family trips in May and July, I took one last trip in August with my roommate and a couple friends, driving the eight hours up to the Tetons and camping in the national park for five nights. The exhaustion of all my trips piled up while I was there (goal for 2026: travel less over the summer), and I was reminded that I’m very much an introvert, but the trip was still a lot of fun. The scenery — absolutely stunning. It’s one of those places where every angle puts you in awe all over again. On one of our last days, we drove north out of the park to go to Yellowstone, but we didn’t see much of it so there will have to be a separate trip sometime. I loved the Tetons and will definitely be going back.
6. Diving into homesteading era research
I spent much of the year studying the homesteading era, in an effort to round out an in-progress nonfiction story on two sisters who homesteaded adjacent claims in the mountains. I already had a small collection of pioneer women history books which proved to be helpful, and I purchased a few more. I also visited some archives and dove into records from the National Archives. I’ll be writing the story soon and hopefully it will be published sometime this year. Stay tuned.
7. Finishing my biggest embroidery project yet, two years in the making
I started this project in 2023 after staring at the background fabric hanging over a blank spot on my living room wall for a few weeks. The mountains are machine-sewn in place. The embroidery is all hand-done. I took this project with me just about everywhere for the two years that I worked on it: my garden, public parks, camping, trips to visit family, etc. I finished it by stretching it over a canvas and stapling it in place. It now hangs in that same formerly blank spot on my living room wall.
8. The New Yorker and The Atlantic in print
This summer, in an effort to spend less time on my phone, I subscribed to The New Yorker and The Atlantic in print. “Do you read them?” a friend recently asked me. My answer: “I mean, I don’t keep up.” My aim isn’t to read them cover to cover, but to read what interests me and then pass the issues on to a friend. Ideally, it’s one issue in, one issue out, but I’ve fallen behind recently, so I might do a magazine stack reset before the end of the first week of January.
9. Alpha
Alpha is a dinner and discussion series that introduces the basic tenets of Christianity to people who are exploring faith. I helped with it as a table lead a few years ago and returned to the program this fall through my church. I led weekly table discussions with a small group of people with the aim of providing a comfortable environment where guests could be honest about their thoughts and experiences and ask any questions they had about Christianity. I enjoyed getting to know new people through Alpha this fall and am planning to volunteer with it again through the spring.
10. Trying new textile crafts
One gift of the internet is stumbling across textile and embroidery techniques that I otherwise knew nothing about. This fall, I tackled a bojagi (Korean patchwork) curtain for my front window, and over this holiday break, I patched a pair of pants with sashiko embroidery, a Japanese technique that uses running stitches to create functional, decorative designs. I’m looking forward to trying more sashiko in the new year.
11. Christmas tree cutting in the national forest
For the second year in a row, my roommate and I took a couple friends to cut down a tree in a designated part of national forest land. We went for a taller tree this time and cut it down to size so it fit perfectly in the living room. My favorite detail: the little pine cones toward the top, like built-in ornaments.
12. My new favorite sweater
I started a version of this sweater (Porcelain Sweater by LE KNIT) before my surgery so I could knit while I was recovering, but that version ended up being way too big so I started over. Then I didn’t touch the project again until October, after I finished my embroidery project. I still wasn’t sure if it was the right size but I decided to just go ahead and make it. I’d already redone the pattern math once and I didn’t want to do it again. I figured if it didn’t fit me, I could give it to someone else. Turns out, it fit perfectly, and the new colors were way better than what I’d originally chosen. I knit the project slowly through the rest of the year, and finished it the morning of Christmas Eve, after hours of weaving in ends. I put it in a gift bag under the tree so I could anticipate it like a child, and then I opened it a couple days after Christmas. I wore it the next three days.
It’s my sixth homemade sweater and by far the best one. Along with redoing the pattern math to work with thicker yarn, I made it more form-fitting (the pattern is designed to be oversized), added German short rows to the caps of the sleeves, and made the sleeves more bubble-shaped instead of open at the wrists. I’m thrilled with how it came out.
2025 felt like a big reset/rebuilding year after a rough 2024. The first few months after my surgery were pretty tough, and not being able to run or hike for most of the year was hard. The surgery recovery process was frustrating, and creative work became a much-needed outlet. I’m not sure what to expect of 2026. No real plans for it so far. But my hopes are for more time being active outside, less time traveling, and a greater sense of belonging.
Meredith Sell 
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