Reflecting on 2014
To say 2014 was an exciting year for me is a bit of an understatement. This was a great year for taking ownership of my time and spending it how I want, and I was able to have some incredible experiences. As I’ve been reflecting on 2014, it’s actually quite difficult to remember what all I did throughout the year. Luckily technology greatly simplifies this, and I can instantly browse through thousands of photos on my phone to remind myself of how I spent the year. Here are the highlights:
- Got Lasik (technically it was PRK which, for the record, sucks. I like the outcome though)
- Finished the new bathroom in my house
- Started a new relationship with an awesome girl
- Broke my collarbone snowboarding (took me 30 years to break my first bone, not bad)
- Visited my friend Zhai in DC
- Finished another bedroom
- Visited family in Illinois and explored exciting new business venture possibilities
- Completely rebuilt the floor structure of an area of my house
- Visited Melissa’s family in Colorado and was treated to dirtbiking on a motocross track that was terrifying but awesome
- Biked to and camped at Devil’s Lake with Melissa
- Got 2 new roommates (my brother Wes and his dog Misha, after he graduated from college)
- Watched the Blue Angels from kayaks and explored the La Crosse area of the Mississippi
- Ran the 195 mile RAGNAR Relay from Madison to Chicago in 31 hours with 11 friends
- Took a trip to Oklahoma to visit my mom and stepdad in their new home
- Embarrassed myself in the 31st annual WGAS (Who Gives A Shit) Classic golf tournament
- Rode my bike for 25 days around Lake Michigan (damn Canadians)
- Spend a week kayaking and camping at Isle Royale with my great friends Will and Faulkner
- Took a road trip out west over a few weeks that was packed with activity:
- Visited my friend Mike at his new vacation house in Colorado and mountain biked Keystone
- Met Melissa in Seattle and explored Mt. Rainier National Park for a couple days
- Joined her family for a cruise to Alaska
- Hiked and camped in the North Cascades
- Visited my awesome Aunt Nanci and Uncle Pete
- Headed back to Mt. Rainier and hiked the awe inspiring 32 mile Northern Loop in two days
- Visited my cousin Brooke and her fiancée Jeff in Bend Oregon and helped a little with their new house
- Built, completely from scratch, a new and awesome kitchen
- Joined the exciting startup ‘ebullient’ with my friend Mike (wait, do I have a real job now?)
- Ran my first Half Marathon with Wes, my dad, and a different friend Mike
- Took a road trip with Melissa:
- Visited her mom in Colorado
- Camped and hiked in Arches National Park
- Went to the Grand Canyon and hiked to the bottom and back out with an overnight stay in between
- Visited my parents in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving
- Demolished my old kitchen, completely rebuilt the floor and sill structure, and rebuilt the area into a bathroom, entry way, and closet spaces in the span of about two months (ok, technically those spaces aren’t finished yet, but they’re close!)
- Got my house into a livable condition (which mainly meant finishing the above project and installing flooring throughout the lower level) and hosted Christmas for my family, complete with a reused tree picked up from the curb!
Dirtbiking in Colorado, loving life
Just before leaving for my 1755 mile bike trip
On a boat!
A great sunset from the water in Juneau
Wow, that was a long list. No wonder it feels like I’ve been so busy. I must point out, that I’ve had a ton of help with the house to accomplish everything on that list and get it to its current state. My friends Mike and Carrie have been incredible, especially when I was making the push to get the house ready for Christmas. Showing up whenever I needed help, bringing dinner, and staying until 1 AM; I honestly couldn’t have done it without them and I owe them big time now! Melissa has also helped a ton (sorry you’ve had to clean the stove so many times), and Wes certainly did his share during the time he stayed with me as well (although somehow he always seemed to miss the fun big projects).
2014 will be a difficult year to top, but I’ll certainly try. It will be hard now that I have another job though (more on that in a future post). So how is 2015 shaping up? That’s hard to say since my new work schedule will limit my ability to travel for extended periods of time. I do have a few trips planned, but for now I’m focusing my energy for the coming year into goals and activities that are compatible with a relatively normal work schedule. “Goals” sounds a lot like resolutions, especially this time of year.
I frequently compare New Year’s resolutions to diets, and I’m not a proponent of either. If you focus on attaching your goal to a specific event – or eating well and losing weight as part of a diet – you’re just setting yourself up for failure the rest of the time. To me, both these are better approached as long-term lifestyle adjustments. If I have a specific goal like driving less or eating healthier, it is much more effective for me to adjust my mindset so that is just the norm rather than some temporary behavior that I’m trying out as part of a resolution or diet. That said, I do still like to take the New Year as an opportunity to look back on the previous one and forward to the next, and ensure that I am still on course to live the kind of life I want.
So, here are some of the things I want to continue to focus on:
Health and Fitness
I consider myself to be in decent shape and fairly healthy. I haven’t been eating as well as I’d like though, and I need to get back to more of a vegetarian diet with meat only occasionally. This has obvious health benefits, as well as ethical ones. I think Michael Pollan offers the best and simplest advice: eat food – not too much – mostly plants. See michaelpollan.com for great writing on this topic.
As far as fitness, I ran more than I ever have in my life last year and really enjoyed it. Winter makes it hard (I hate treadmills), but I want to make sure I continue running regularly in 2015. I’m definitely doing the RAGNAR race again this year, and Mike and I are working on putting together a semi-competitive team. I also signed up for 2/3 of a Half Ironman with Melissa (she’ll swim, I’ll bike and run). Mike was the motivator behind this as well, and he’s signed up to do the whole thing! I plan to put some focus on strength training as well, which I’ve never done regularly.
Writing
I devoted a lot of time to this blog while on my bike trip, and I enjoyed the writing part quite a bit. Having the blog is also a great way to go back and re-live great experiences like that. It takes a decent amount of time, but I want to make writing a regular habit. Effectively conveying thoughts and ideas is, after all, the most powerful tool known to man!
Work
The new job at ebullient (ebullientcooling.com if you want to check it out) is ripe with opportunity, and I want to do everything I can to make this a successful company. I’ve always taken pride in being good at my job, and since this is a new field for me the learning curve is steep. It will be a challenge to balance committing enough time and energy to be successful with letting the job consume too much of those precious commodities. Much like the Formula SAE team, the endless tasks that come with a startup will devour any time that isn’t closely guarded.
Life
John Lennon said “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans”. It’s been almost 8 years since I graduated college and that saying has never rang more true. While I frequently try to appreciate the nuances of everyday life instead of focusing on the next big thing, the truth is it’s hard. Time passes ever more quickly as we age, life becomes more routine, and experiences blend together. What the best way is to prevent this, I’m not sure. I want to continue to live mindfully though, and enjoy the small things. I think writing about my experiences helps, as it forces me to think through and reflect on all that has happened.
There’s certainly plenty of writing to be done, and I intend to expand on some of the aforementioned highlights of 2014 in full posts. It looks like there will be plenty of new adventure in 2015 as well. Indeed, this year is shaping up to be another good one. Life is what you make of it though, so I guess it’s up to me to enjoy and make the most of whatever lies ahead!
Hiking Mt. Rainier National Park
The new kitchen shortly after moving into it
Dad, me, Wes, and Mike after finishing the Madison Half Marathon
Christmas Dinner in a semi-finished house