Amy’s Top 10 Favorite Things of 2024

Happy New Year to all of my family, friends & clients!  Each year, I make a list of my Top 10 Favorite Things for the year. Usually, the list contains a mix of favorite foods, gadgets, and books but this year, I realized after making it, that every one of the ten items is an experience. I suppose this says a lot about what my priorities were for this year—being present, soaking up every moment, wringing the best energy out of each and every experience I had.  I hope you enjoy my top 10 and cheers to an even more abundant 2025! 

Pickleball

I have played pickleball once a week for a few years but this year, I became part of a larger pickleball network and started playing almost every day. I laugh, I learn, I love playing this game, but more than that, I love the people that have become friends as I have played.

Concerts with Your Grown Kids

We loaded up #kempnation and headed up to Chicago to see Zach Brown Band and Kenny Chesney at Soldier Field this summer. We sang our hearts out together to every song, and sharing that experience was a highlight of 2024 for this mom.

Publishing my First Book

Since I was very young, I have known that I would write and publish a book some day, and this year, that dream came true! A huge thank you to everyone who purchased or downloaded I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More – Without More Work. If you haven’t read it or listened yet, you can find it anywhere you purchase books or you can listen via Audible!

Celebrating Publishing My First Book

Over 100 of my clients, family and friends gathered from 18 different states at our house for a party and for a workshop to launch I See You into the world! I felt so loved and supported that everyone took time out of their lives to celebrate with me.

U-Haul/Used Car Era of Parenting

With two kids in college, we have officially entered the era of parenting in which you are constantly moving them from one place to another and where your driveway is constantly filled with a collection of used cars, both theirs and those of their friends. I have loved every parenting era, but this one is particularly fun for me as they move into adulthood and start to appreciate us a little more.   

Beautiful Community Spaces

The Village of Bourbonnais made a significant investment in our community that opened this year called The Grove. There is a fantastic playground, a splash pad, a pavilion for live music, lots of green space and fire pits for anyone in the community to use. It is a beautiful gathering space, filled with people in all seasons for concerts, yoga, food trucks and festivals. It is a place of connection and a source of pride for our hometown.

Costa Rica

My friend Alex and I co-led a group coaching experience this year that culminated in a trip that Ryan joined to Costa Rica. I fell in love with the people, the food, the adventures and the beauty of this country! Pura vida and memories made for a lifetime for sure!

Graduations

This year, Anthony graduated from Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School and Avery graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Northwest Missouri State. While Avery will continue with three more years of graduate school and Anthony is just starting his college experience, we celebrated these milestones with gusto and enthusiasm! 

A Significant Investments in Our Kids

This year, I was asked to help lead a committee to communicate with our community about a bond referendum to fund some much-needed and significant improvements to our local high school. I am so proud of the committed group of people who worked diligently to communicate why this change was needed, and I’m even more proud of our community for saying YES to our kids on their ballots. This $70 million addition to our facility will affect the quality of education and our entire community for generations to come!

Eras Tour

We got to participate in an historical event by scoring tickets to the second round of shows on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. It exceeded my expectations, and the experience will live on forever in my memory.  Perhaps we can thank our girl Tay-Tay for more that a great three-hour show also. I just read this in a trusted economic newsletter, “I believe that with hindsight, the tour could come to best represent the post-pandemic consumer spending binge that staved off a widely anticipated recession and perhaps even a structural shift in how the average American thinks about consumption (experiences over goods, YOLO spending, etc.).”