(I know I’m a few days late, bear with me.)

So. It’s 2025. (5 days late, yes, but whatever!)

It’s been almost a year since I started this blog, and so I’m gonna give y’all a quick review on that!

In February I created The Faithful Wanderer’s website, and February 15, 2024, was my first blog post.

Now, 78 blog posts, 27 subscribers, and 11 months later, I’ve made a ton of progress! I’ve learned what I want to write about, in total I’ve written 35,705 words, I’ve done a couple interviews, and I’ve held two writing competitions.

So it’s been *almost* a year. What’s happened this year in my life??

Here’s a couple things:

1. I turned 16 (weird, I’m such a not-16-year-old)
2. I started YDubs (if you know you know)
3. My family decided where we’re going to move and retire from the military
4. I finished two writing projects I’d been working on
5. I started DRIVING (y’all, it’s terrifying and I really don’t like it)
6. I went to two concerts (Brandon Lake with Phil Wickham and gio. with bodie)
7. I read over 20 books but I have to go back and count them all😭 I’ll edit this later with that answer☝️
8. I listened to over 7,400 minutes (123 hours) of music, played 398 songs, and listened to 186 artists (according to my Spotify Wrapped)
9. I read the whole Bible in under a year! (Y’all, anything written by Paul is amazing just fyi.)

Now, like I said above, I listened to a lot of music. But, I wanted to show y’all my top favorite songs that I listened to on repeat in 2024. (And are still going to 2025.) I limited it to ten, but if you wanna see ALL my playlists then you can check them out here.

1. Anything by NF (actually, ALL NF. It’s too hard to choose.)
2. this is what autumn feels like by JVKE (it’s pronounced “Jake”, not “juke” or “ja-v-k”)
3. Pretty Little Devil by Shaya Zamora (this one’s my favorite but I love anything by Shaya Zamora🖤)
4. In The Stars by Benson Boone
5. mona lisa by bodie (this dude is awesome, his music is such a bop)
6. Fairytale by Livingston (it’s such a banger… like all his music🔥)
7. Too Bad by Connor Price (I like most of his music but this one was a favorite)
8. Call Your Mom by Noah Kahan (obviously!)
9. NEVER GET USED TO THIS by Forrest Frank and JVKE (dude it’s such a bop and such a fun song. It was the collab I never knew I needed!! Also I’m going to Forrest’s concert in May!!)
10. Count ‘Em by Brandon Lake (🔥. That’s all I have to say)

Now, I’m a big reader. And so I wanted to show y’all what books I read this year were I enjoyed. (These aren’t in order by the way.)

1. In 27 Days by Alison Gervais. (Super sweet romance, but not a masterpiece. I liked the plot and the boy MC though.😂)
2. The Shack by William P. Young. (Oh my gosh. I cried so much when I read this book, so it’s definitely good. (I never cry when I read.) Read it!!! Definitely a masterpiece! The movie is also incredible.)
3. The Left Behind series by Jerry B. Jenkins. (The first book terrified me but it also made me think about my faith in a different way. Really good and long series, I still need to finish the last book but I needed a break after 12 thick books.😅)

(I read more but these were all I could come up with that I’d read again.)

Welp. That’s all I got for now!

What big things did y’all do in 2024? Any resolutions or plans for 2025? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!

~Willow🖤