Happy Holidays - 2025

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2025.
The last year of the first quarter of the 21st century. Stare at that sentence to see if what we just wrote is correct, and then let your mind spin and break it down.

Now, on with the letter!

We started off 2025 in Kentucky, the Bourbon state, and it was a fitting theme for the year - there was lots that happened that could have you looking for a drink - both good and bad!  Lots of bad S going down in the world, lots of good S happening in our personal lives, and hell, there's a lot of good S to try out!

We did a lot of #castrotravels this year, including 2 trips to South America.  Our trip to Columbia in February had a lot of food, culture, street art - and about 24 hours of staring at ceilings and toilet bowls.  Probably something we ate.  Shout out to Nolan for saving us by buying local gatorade and crackers. And shout out to Becca for her continued reminder to share the bad parts of our travels as well as the good.  





In May we went to Costa Rica where we saw the deadliest snake in the southern hemisphere, smelled the stinkiest flip flops in the New World, and also got glimpses of our first live sloths in the wild (not pictured). 






The phrase "once in a lifetime" gets thrown around a lot, and we've had more than our fair share of those experiences, but in May we truly had one for the ages.  We attended a Metallica concert in Blacksburg, VA, in our home football stadium. watched them from the snake pit on our own Hokies' field, and got to meet the band in our own workspace.  Take a look at some of the photos and video. A truly unreal, "pinch yourself"  moment. Shout out to Brad for all his work to not only make it happen, but to make it special for us. 





Meeting Metallica!!



In 2025, we also attended our first World Pride in Washington, DC, and visited The Stonewall Inn in NYC, the birthplace of Pride.  Both places were inspiring, moving, and live-giving.

World Pride in DC in June

The Stonewall Inn in November

The Stonewall Inn in November














We also made a trip the the Grand Canyon with Stacie's mother Sherry and her husband Tom. Beautifully breathtaking.  Also breathtaking b/c we are out of shape. 





On the #castrolocals front, Stacie continues to thrive in her position as Controller with Hurt and Profit in Blacksburg, VA.  And HokieVision hasn't gotten wise to Jed's gig, and have yet to fire him.  So far, so good. 

Only half of us are looking at the right camera

Walking the OR Coast with Family in April

Troll in Portland, OR in April

Dinner with LA Family in May


We did celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and it's been clear to us how many people have influenced our lives together. We've done our best to see as many as we can, and yet many of you we have not yet to see. 2026 is a blank slate...well, not exactly blank as of now... but it does offer us new chances to get out and visit. 
In the meantime, along with our holiday wishes, we'll leave you with this quote/proverb:




Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 23, 2025 at 4:28 AM

    Always enjoy your year in review inspiring us to get out to try new adventures! Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michelle BergDecember 28, 2025 at 6:10 AM

    Love this! Great year in review and a real chuckle to read. We love you guys!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 4, 2026 at 8:35 PM

    We love these every year!! We’d love to travel with you sometime since you are the coolest!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shalom SanchezJanuary 5, 2026 at 5:34 PM

    it looks like it was an amazing year and I don’t know how you guys come up with the creative things you do every year for the card love it one day I will send a postcard or a Christmas card or some kind of card but it’s not this year

    ReplyDelete

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