We started the practice of writing a year recap blog in 2024, and after some procrastination, we are back with another episode of it for 2025. Will we be able to keep this up in 2026, who knows? Maybe we should consult the digital magic 8-ball.
2025 had its ups and downs– one of the most confounding was wrapping our heads around another year of lightning-fast pop culture trends that ultimately force us to reckon with our age and relevance. While maybe Alex’s Spotify Wrapped claims he is young at heart (his algorithm aged him as a fresh-faced 18 year old), our lackluster scores on the New York Times Do You Speak 2025 made us question everything we thought to be true about the year.
January kicked off with Alex traveling to Nashville, Tennessee to film testimonial content for a behavioral health technology group. The trip marked the beginning of a new chapter for McKline Visual Media and opened the door to more work in the behavioral healthcare space throughout the year.
In February we giddily set our out of office replies and headed to Thailand for our honeymoon. We started in Bangkok, headed south to Phuket, and then relaxed on the island of Koh Yao Yai. We could go on and on about our itinerary, but we don’t want to lose our readers this soon in the blog post, so we will let the photos speak for themselves. While we globe trotted, Lucy enjoyed an extended stay with her best friend, Addi, under the care of her doting Uncle Brandon and Aunt Laken.
They say every honeymoon phase comes to an end, and it sure did when upon our return home Kath found herself applying for unemployment benefits as a result of the sweeping cuts that Elon Musk, at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, made to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Our annual trip to Myrtle Beach to visit Kath’s parents marks the unofficial start of spring– a change of scenery, warmer weather, and an opportunity to connect with family always serves as a much-needed reboot after a long winter. This year, Alex’s longtime friend Brian Boone joined us, which gave us space to catch up, talk through the growth of his drone business, Boone UAS, and capture new photos to support the year ahead. At the same time, Kath was deep in an intense job search—more than 90 applications and 20+ interviews in. The persistence paid off, and by early June, she had landed a new role.
We also made a trip to Baltimore to visit long-time friends John and Lea just before they welcomed their first baby. We ventured to Baltimore for their annual Oyster Shuck, but stayed for some good old fashion Orioles fun. Along the way we tried our first lemon stick and it was “mid” (as the kids say).
Later in the season, Alex traveled to Atlanta to spend time with his friend and mentor Dan Morgan, who recently had released his breakout memoir - Hiraeth: The Voice of Home, and catch up with family. A quiet highlight of the trip was a downtown Decatur and a stop at Opo Coffee—well worth the visit.
As spring heated up into summer, there were ample opportunities to dust off the camera gear for Hue & Cline! This year brought a number of senior portrait sessions and more events than we have ever done before!
Summer was a blur of long weekends and road trips.
Alex headed to Asheville to reconnect with Drew, Cameron, Carter, and the rest of the crew - it was the first time visiting since the Hurricane Helene.
Kath & Fam camped out at Maumee Bay State Park, relying on Ted’s meticulous meal planning to keep everyone fed.
One weekend was spent in Cleveland, where Lilly and Alex caught Tyler, the Creator on the Chromakopia Tour—an impressive, intricate music set. Tyler is Lilly's favorite artist, and she knew every bop he played.
When Kath’s parents visited, she showed them a quintessential western Pennsylvania summer weekend, complete with a day trip to Fallingwater, Cucumber Falls, Laurel Caverns, and Picklesburgh.
Kath spent much of the season on wheels. She skated weekly with the Three Rivers Inline Skate Club, clocking hundreds of miles around Pittsburgh, and squeezed in trips to events in Houston and Boston.
There were smaller joys too—nights at regional wrestling matches, a DE'WAYNE concert, and a quick trip to West Virginia so Alex could see family. Somewhere between it all, Alex started golfing; grateful to the friends and family who are encouraging!
As the weather cooled, life shifted closer to home. Alex flew to Charlotte to meet up with Brian and Joe; they flew drones, swapped stories, and hung out at the U.S. National Whitewater Center.
In September we started shopping for new digs, and in October we bought a house. Thanks to Denise Serbin’s steady guidance, we navigated the paperwork without losing our minds. Homeownership quickly became a crash course in adulthood: watching tutorials on how to cut in paint, borrowing tools we didn’t know existed, and facing our first HVAC failure with equal parts panic and laughter.
We grew attached to our new neighborhood by exploring it: morning coffees at Needle and Bean, burgers from Red’s Good News, shopping vintage finds at Forage, and movie nights at the Hollywood Theater. Brookline & Dormont quickly began feeling like home, especially with the business districts being a short walk from our house.
To cap the year, we hosted our annual McHugh family party. After months of travel, new responsibilities, and constant change, gathering familiar faces under one roof felt like exhaling.
