Throughout this year, I’ve had a few very long posts about specific events:
- I moved to North Carolina (the last month of 2022)
- I bought a Canon R5
- I bought my first Leica
- I learned that I had dyslexia
- I had rotator cuff surgery and have spent the last 7 months in physical therapy recovering
- I went to a rodeo, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, DC, Las Vegas, Canada (including Newfoundland), Maine, Cape Cod and spent the summer in New Hampshire
- I took heather to her first SEC football game and my first Gators game in 20 years
- I turned 37 years old
- I had ankle surgery to remove a bone spur I’ve had since I was 16
- I got a tattoo
- I became a father
- I got nasik eye surgery and now have 20/15 vision after requiring glasses since 3rd grade
- I got Invisalign and straightened then whitened my teeth
- I lost 34 pounds (so far) and a blog post will happen sometime in March/April when I move to maintaining my weight
- I attained both my PMP and PgMP certifications
- I spent all of 2023 in chiropractic care, working with a nutritionist, undergoing a lot of testing and labs with many physicians and I had over 50 physical therapy sessions
- I spent about $75,000 in insurance billings to achieve all of the above health results and a few hundred dollars on gym memberships
Then there’s this October post about what is currently on my plate none of which included a baby on the way.
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It has been the biggest single year of my life in overall improvement and investment in myself. I’m actually making less money than I did in New Hampshire so it’s not like I had some windfall of money. Heck, I saved more money than ever but I just became very strategic about where money went and how I spent my time. I also invested more heavily with a kid on the way in setting myself up for a healthy and happy future versus the previous 37 years where I sort of did what I wanted but less so things that were going to better myself. A lot of experiences for sure but my health and career were on auto pilot for a really long time.
Things are slowing down but in 2024 but there are some big projects going on. What certifications I get next, what areas I improve at my job and being there as much as possible for my daughter her first year on this earth which is a year she won’t even remember as she gets older.
There isn’t much to say that wasn’t already said other than just taking this brief moment to celebrate a really amazing year. I’m still blown away at how much I accomplished. Maybe quitting 2 of my 3 jobs, being in a new place where I couldn’t motorcycle as much and a much healthier work life balance to to thank. I also think, when Heather was carrying our child that I felt a clock ticking to the birth of Matilda and it inspired me to take up some long overdue things like carrying 70 more pounds than necessary or battling nearsightedness and not having any professional certifications to match my experience.
We’re a few days from 2024 but 2023 was a really great year. I have no regrets and am ready to see what the next couple of years before I turn 40 look like.