I’ve been writing my annual Epilogue for 4 years. 

Yet, every time I sit down to write a new one, I forget how they start…

So, I have to go back and read the previous Epilogues — and let me tell you: what a RIDE. 

I have lived so many different lives since I first started writing these year-in-review posts. 

This time, though, I think I’m FINALLY living the one I want to be living. 

(But who knows! Maybe the 2026 Epilogue will be even better — I’m open to all possibilities!)

I’ve had the luxury of living a beautiful life for the last few years, but not without challenges. 

Now, though, any challenges in my life feel small. Minuscule, even! Manageable, definitely! 

And I haven’t felt like that for a longgg time. 

Earlier this year, I woke up one day and thought to myself “holy shit… I have everything I’ve ever wanted. And more.”

And that’s not a feeling most people talk about, because even though I’m sure lots of people DO have everything they’ve ever wanted… they don’t recognize it. 

Maybe it doesn’t look exactly the way they pictured. Maybe they thought they’d have it sooner. Maybe they thought a different person would be standing by their side when they achieved it. 

So, they don’t notice. 

They go about their day-to-day wishing for more, without even noticing that they already HAVE the life they want. 

Now more than ever, we’re focused on keeping up with the Joneses.

We’re thinking about how much greener the grass is on the other side, and we’re obsessed with achieving whatever new version of “successful” is being fed to us online each day. 

I don’t know if I’ve just lived in a very “you can only control what YOU can control” mindset for a long time, or if becoming a single mother with no support made me see the world differently, but I can honestly say that one of the biggest reasons I’m both HAPPY and CONFIDENT is because I don’t compare my life to anyone else’s, ever. 

I don’t compare my business. 

I don’t compare my money. 

I don’t compare my lifestyle. 

I don’t compare my free time. 

If I did, I’d be miserable! 

Someone else will always (look like they) have more. 

But you don’t know their whole story. You have NO idea what’s truly going on between the lines of anyone else’s life. 

So why compare yours to theirs, when you don’t have the full story? 

You are in charge of your own reality. YOU get to decide which thoughts you fill your brain with. And your thoughts become your life. 

Do you want to live a “ugh I wish I could do that” life? A “must be nice!” life?

Or do you want to be happy and confident in YOUR life?

I think you know the answer… and consider this your reality check to start acting like it, if you’ve been stuck in comparison hell. 

My Reality

For years, I viewed being a single mother with no support as a burden. I was jealous of my ex who got to go do whatever he wanted every single day, when I couldn’t even take a shower without interruption or leave the house to go for a walk in the morning. 

Until one day, I decided to just NOT. 

My situation was NEVER going to change, so why in the hell was I focusing on the “unfair” part? 

I’d be living in a perpetual state of Pissed Off if all I did was think about his life vs. mine. They were impossible to compare! 

(Plus, knowing what I know about his life now, I never would have wanted to trade with him for even one second.)

So, I got a fucking grip, and started making the best of the hand *I* was dealt. 

And guess what happened?

MY LIFE GOT BETTER. 

I want for absolutely nothing right now, save for maybe a bathroom renovation and an extra hour in the day for the gym. First world problems at their finest. 

If I were to go back and read the future journaling exercises I’ve done from years past — where I’ve written journal entries as Future Me but in present tense — they’d all sound like I wrote them today. 

And for that, I’m extremely thankful. 

I’m also extremely cautious. 

Because I never want to forget that I do, in fact, live the life I want. Now all that’s left is to maintain that life, and keep being grateful that I have it. 

It’s easy to let lifestyle creep or that scary “green” grass trick you into thinking you want or need more, and I refuse to let that happen to me. 

Not in a blocking-blessings way — I’m still on my journey to earn $1M in one calendar year — but in a gratitude way. 

So, I want to officially kick off this Epilogue by saying THANK YOU. 

Thank you for reading every newsletter. 

Thank you for listening to every podcast. 

Thank you for responding to every Thread. 

Thank you for coming to every workshop. 

Thank you for following along on Substack. 

Thank you for inquiring to work with me.  

When I started this business all those years ago, I had no idea what it would turn into. 

I was able to buy a house! By myself! I’ve purchased TWO cars with this BTL money! I flew first class to Paris! In fact, I fly first class everywhere now! I can afford a house cleaner! I get to take Fridays off if I want! 

I live in a constant state of “pinch me” because of how much you love Website Girl. 

And I simply want to say: I love you, too. 

Now… what the hell happened in 2025? 

Is it just me, or was this the longest year ever? 

In years past, I’ve found myself reflecting about how fast the time went by… but this year, I’m over here thinking HOLY SHIT THAT WAS ALL IN 2025?

I literally had to look back at my camera roll to write this post to see wtf even happened. 

And after that trip through memory lane, I have so many highlights to share with you!

Let’s start with my personal wins… 

The Best Part of Sara’s Year 

🩵 Bachelorette trip in Scottsdale — aka my dream location, obviously. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how special Arizona is to me, so when my fiance friend told us we were going there for her bachelorette trip, I was ecstatic.

I had the best time making new friends, terrorizing men at the bar (please remind me to tell you about kissing Kyle in an upcoming newsletter), spending strangers’ money at the casino, and treating myself to Postino and Cala and Swig and dramatic Dutch Bros chai lattes.

🩵 Visiting my besties in California — I got to fly first class (the LA Delta One; IYKYK!) to visit my URL-turned-IRL friends, Xanthe and Frank. Yes, that Xanthe and Frank. Spending time with them is one of my favorite splurges of the year, because they’re the type of friends who GET ME on a level few others do. 2025’s trip was Disney Land (much to Xanthe’s dismay), and 2026’s trip is BARCELONA! I can’t wait.

🩵 Taylor’s wedding — one of my best friends got married and I swear I have never looked better in my LIIIIFE than I did in that bridesmaid makeup. I’m still thinking about how much fun I had with my friends that night. I know a lot of people complain about having to be in weddings, but I love it.

🩵 “Energy shift” & actually living life for me — after traveling to LA and immediately going to Taylor’s wedding, I felt the need for what can only be described as an energy shift.

I was sick of sharing my dating escapades for other people’s entertainment. I was sick of not caring about my body in the ways I wanted to. I was sick of cheap dopamine. I was sick sick sick sick SICKKK of my situationship (which was off and on since high school).

So, I decided to ruthlessly remove everything that no longer served me, from bad habits to people with bad attitudes.

This stretch of 2025 was truly transformational for me, so it was a completely random, unexpected left turn when I semi-accidentally met my now boyfriend.

You may remember from the 2023 Epilogue that I swore off dating apps for the foreseeable future, forbidding myself from using them in 2024.

I was wildly successful with that goal… but likely only because I met someone in person 4 days into January 2024, and spent way too much time dating that fuck ass man.

Then, when 2025 rolled around, I felt dating apps could be an option for me again — but not until I’d truly given myself a chance to become the “me” that I really wanted to be.

The “energy shift” had such a positive effect that I felt like I was that version (or at well least on my way to becoming her), so I chose to give them ONE more chance before swearing them off for life.

I gave myself 7 days of Bumble.

But, apparently, all I needed was 1 match to not only swear off dating apps for life, but also any other men, period.

I made my choice.

🩵 Meeting my boyfriend — you all know him as Side Character, but he’s truly the Main Character to me. The growth of our relationship was is of my most cherished experiences not only of this year, but of my life. I love that man so much.

🩵 Cheering on my bestie at the Boston Marathon — I knew I’d have fun at this event, but I did NOT know how life changing it would be for me. I am now a marathon spectator for life. I cannot believe I’ve never been before this year?? Like, hello??? With how much I love yelling AND how much I love New England?

Gabby ran Boston with Dana Farber and I was proud to donate to her cause, but even more proud to see her run by us on Heartbreak Hill, knowing how hard she worked to be there.

(And my parents were proud when they saw me on multiple news channels with my “no one likes a quick finisher” sign.) 

🩵 Going to Paris with my mom — a privilege I do not take for granted! My mom is recently retired, so I randomly asked her on a whim to go to Paris with me this Spring, and her response was “sure, why not?”

One month later, we were in business class on our way to check into Hotel du Louvre. Gail has never been to Paris before, and she was elated. Her two favorite things in the world are bread and shopping, so aside from almost being killed by way of asthma attack on the stairs inside the Arc de Triomphe, she spent every second thriving.

I will cherish that experience forever (and not just because of my time spent in the Goyard flagship store or the BTL blue Louis Vuitton heels Gail bought me).

🩵 A beautifully full Cape cod summer — my parents recently bought a home on Cape Cod, which has been my lifelong DREAM since I was old enough to pronounce the word beach. It was so special to bring Wesley to camp on Cape Cod and give him the summer I always wished I had as a child. I could not possibly be more grateful to have the privilege of spending so much time in my favorite place.

🩵 Woo being wicked smart — my lil man started first grade this year, and he is consistently complimented on how freaking SMART he is. While raising a squirrelly child isn’t always easy, I feel so blessed that he loves school (and learning!) so much.

🩵 Running my first 5k — and not needing a stretcher.

The Best Part of BTL’s Year

I won’t lie, I’m genuinely SO overwhelmed with how great this year was work wise, that if I were to list every single thing, I’d get carpal tunnel.

So, I’m gonna leave you with a cop-out list. I’m sorry. But these hands pay for my lifestyle so I need to preserve their typing abilities.

• Starting my podcast
• Growing on Substack 
• Every single website I wrote for a client
• Launching my new GIANT website
• Hiring my podcast editor
• Hiring my online business manager
• Speaking at Spark
• Getting recognized in person for my podcast
• So many Success Story students and 1:1 mentees trusting me to support them
• Earning the most money I’ve ever made in my life while spending a lot this year… chilling, honestly
• Becoming a top 10% global podcaster

2025 By The Numbers 

The number you may be searching for if you’ve been following along since The 2025 Prologue is likely $1,000,000.

I regret to inform you that I did not, in fact, earn one million dollars in 2025.

However, I am delighted to inform you that I did, in fact, earn more than $400,000 in 2025 — the most I’ve ever earned in business!

Each year my income improves, and each year I am filled with gratitude for this business that allows me and my family to live our best lives day in and day out.

(I will absolutely be setting my sights on that million-dollar year in 2026, though — it’s my golden year, so maybe it’s meant to be!)

Now, for the rest of the numbers…

1 full year living in the house I own

1 newsletter content subscription created

1 decision to write a book about ADHD for entrepreneurs

1 pants size gone up

1 decision to focus on myself

1 first date

1 love of my life accidentally acquired

1 boyfriend (+ 1 pitbull) moved into my house

1 copywriter-only newsletter created

1 ADHDer-only newsletter created

1 trip to Paris

1 trip to LA to see Xanthe and Frank

1 trip to Connecticut for my bestie’s wedding

1 trip to Maine for my other bestie’s wedding

3 trips to Arizona (less than my typical yearly average)

1 speaking gig at Showit’s Spark conference

1 30+ page website copy project (with a $30,000 invoice)

2,700+ pages of copy written in Google docs

1,000+ pages of copy edited in Google docs

70+ pages written for my own website copy

1 new massive BTL website launched

99% of clients were dream clients, except for one dude who told me he disliked every copywriter he ever worked with and thought I’d be his savior — biggest red flag ever, idk who I thought I was taking that project on — then also told me he’d ask for “diplomatic immunity and 100 acres of ancestral land” for his birthday

14 weeks spent on Cape Cod

3 Build-a-Bears created

Way more chai lattes consumed than one might deem humanly possible

Countless new friends made

The “10k followers” hump surpassed on Instagram

3,200 new Threads followers

1 Pinterest account that got pushed to the wayside but will be revived in 2026

1 new OBM added to the team

49 podcast episodes recorded for Point of the Story

Too many tantrums to count (between me and Wesley) but definitely less than 2024, so we’re considering it a win

5 new tattoos (one matching with my bestie Xanthe, one matching with my boyfriend)

6 months on my leaf

6 months completely abandoning any sort of health or wellness goal

Couldn’t tell you how many books I read, because tracking that kind of thing is way too hard for me, no matter how many apps or tricks I try

1 revival of my collage journaling obsession

Not as many TikTok videos posted as I would have liked

$46,802.27 earned in October, during my highest revenue month

$20,547.19 earned in February, during my lowest revenue month

Infinity squirrel-related things sent to me by friends, acquaintances, followers, listeners, and subscribers

1.5 months spent sad

10 months spent happy

290 (probably) days of Morning Pages

14 days procrastinating writing The 2025 Epilogue because I know for sure I’m missing so many great things on this list

Between The Lines Of (Some Of) My Favorite Accomplishments

✨ Having so much fun recording podcast episodes that I decided to shift from “hopefully three 10-episode seasons” to a full-blown WEEKLY podcast!

✨ Another year of sending a weekly newsletter every single week without EVER missing one! This means I now have more than five years of consistent weekly newsletters. December 30th will mark the 262nd edition of the Tuesday Table of Contents.

✨ So many of my Success Story students choosing to continue support after initially only signing on to be my mentee for 3 months. I’ve now been serving some of them for over a year and a half! It’s been such a rewarding experience to see these copywriters grow, scale their businesses, and start soaring past the initial goals they set.

What’s Next For Between The Lines?

I don’t know how I’ll top 2025… but I can’t wait to find out. 

To read my predictions, plans, and what I’m plotting for 2026, make sure you read The Prologue 🩵