{"id":12198,"date":"2023-12-24T12:18:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T17:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/?p=12198"},"modified":"2023-12-24T12:18:04","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T17:18:04","slug":"life-2023-was-a-good-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/12\/24\/life-2023-was-a-good-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Life: 2023 was a good year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"View 'Harriet's Hamburgers with Matilda' on Flickr.com\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/adamjackson\/53319320810\"><img  decoding=\"async\"  style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"  title=\"Harriet&#039;s Hamburgers with Matilda\"  src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEUAAP+KeNJXAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAAlwSFlzAAAOxAAADsQBlSsOGwAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=\"  alt=\"\"  width=\"\"  height=\"\"  border=\"0\"  class=\" pk-lazyload\"  data-pk-sizes=\"auto\"  data-pk-src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/53319320810_9c5a3a4705_b.jpg\" ><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Throughout this year, I\u2019ve had a few very long posts about specific events:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I moved to North Carolina (the last month of 2022)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/01\/07\/photography-back-to-mirrorless-canon-r5\/\">I bought a Canon R5<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/09\/photography-leica-q2-minus-the-red-dot\/\">I bought my first Leica<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/09\/life-dyslexia\/\">I learned that I had dyslexia<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/16\/life-6-weeks-post-rotator-cuff-surgery-slap-labrum-repair\/\">I had rotator cuff surgery<\/a> and have spent the last 7 months in physical therapy recovering<\/li>\n<li>I went to a <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/16\/photography-2023-mint-hill-rodeo\/\">rodeo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/16\/photography-march-moto-madness-2023-in-tellico-plains-tn\/\">Tennessee<\/a>, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/05\/16\/photography-washington-dc-with-the-leica-q2\/\">DC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/06\/06\/travel-las-vegas-babymoon-2023\/\">Las Vegas<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/07\/29\/photography-nova-scotia-and-newfoundland\/\">Canada<\/a> (including Newfoundland), <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/07\/16\/photography-a-weekend-in-maine-july-2023\/\">Maine<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/07\/16\/photography-provincetown-july-2023\/\">Cape Cod<\/a> and spent the summer in <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/07\/16\/photography-july-4th-in-new-hampshire\/\">New Hampshire<\/a><\/li>\n<li>I took heather to her first SEC football game and my first Gators game in 20 years<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/09\/15\/life-37\/\">I turned 37 years old<\/a><\/li>\n<li>I had ankle surgery to remove a bone spur I\u2019ve had since I was 16<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/11\/12\/life-a-tattoo-story-7-years-overdue\/\">I got a tattoo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/11\/12\/hello-matilda\/\">I became a father<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/12\/01\/life-lasik-after-30-years-nearsighted\/\">I got nasik eye surgery<\/a> and now have 20\/15 vision after requiring glasses since 3rd grade<\/li>\n<li>I<a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/12\/11\/life-getting-my-teeth-straightened-with-invisalign\/\"> got Invisalign<\/a> and straightened then whitened my teeth<\/li>\n<li>I lost 34 pounds (so far) and a blog post will happen sometime in March\/April when I move to maintaining my weight<\/li>\n<li>I attained both my PMP and PgMP certifications<\/li>\n<li>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<\/li>\n<li>I spent about $75,000 in insurance billings to achieve all of the above health results and a few hundred dollars on gym memberships<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then there\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2023\/10\/09\/to-the-limit\/\">this October post<\/a> about what is currently on my plate none of which included a baby on the way.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p>It has been the biggest single year of my life in overall improvement and investment in myself. I\u2019m actually making less money than I did in New Hampshire so it\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019t even remember as she gets older.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There isn\u2019t much to say that wasn\u2019t already said other than just taking this brief moment to celebrate a really amazing year. I\u2019m still blown away at how much I accomplished. Maybe quitting 2 of my 3 jobs, being in a new place where I couldn\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re 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.\u00a0<span hidden class=\"__iawmlf-post-loop-links\" data-iawmlf-links=\"[{&quot;id&quot;:517,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/53319320810&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20231225171758\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.flickr.com\\\/photos\\\/adamjackson\\\/53319320810&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-03 16:13:43&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-12-19 04:03:11&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-24 23:12:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-11 22:47:57&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-22 14:22:07&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-05-06 00:05:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-10 18:27:13&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-17 22:46:02&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-27 14:06:36&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-07-04 19:36:12&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-07-09 08:58:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-07-22 05:43:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-07-22 05:43:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout this year, I\u2019ve had a few very long posts about specific events: I moved to North Carolina&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-12-24T17:18:49Z","apple_news_api_id":"4ae3619c-9e8c-4f70-ad1f-9c3f62e593ac","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-12-24T17:18:49Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ASuNhnJ6MT3CtH5w_YuWTrA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-life","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-3aK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5422,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/01\/30\/i-bought-a-blackberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":0},"title":"I Bought a Blackberry","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"January 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I honestly wish there was some way I could convey my excitement to you all. I love Blackberry and I can\u2019t wait to make this my only phone. Not kidding. I\u2019m stoked.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Technology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2016 01 30 at 12 05 54 AM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Screen_Shot_2016-01-30_at_12_05_54_AM.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6073,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/08\/11\/linked-xbox-fitness-users-will-soon-lose-access-to-workout-videos-they-bought\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":1},"title":"Linked: &#8220;Xbox Fitness users will soon lose access to workout videos they bought&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"August 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"via Ars Technika: \"I bought 140$+ worth of content just this year\u2026 I don\u2019t want a refund, I want to be able to continue to use what I PAID for !!!!!!!!!!!\" Xbox Live user QuickSilver wrote. \"My worst fears about buying into digital or cloud-dependent content are realized,\" user chH4MMER\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Linked&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4392,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2014\/12\/24\/look-who-finally-broke-down-and-bought-a-freaking-kilt\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":2},"title":"Look who finally broke down and bought a freaking kilt?","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"December 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After many years (almost 10) of seeing men in Kilts @ computer expos, Mac User Groups, Photoshop World and lately, beer festivals, I decided last week to buy a kilt. Utilikilts is the one I kept hearing about. I just put this on this afternoon so I\u2019ll wait a few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Thoughts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Thoughts","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-thoughts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My Utilikilt Workman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7484\/15469395244_c5e7a3a51d_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7484\/15469395244_c5e7a3a51d_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7484\/15469395244_c5e7a3a51d_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2511,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2014\/12\/15\/im-not-ordering-from-crush-wine-anymore\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":3},"title":"\u2605 I&#8217;m not ordering from Crush Wine anymore","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"December 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Received this today: There are a lot of ways to sell these hard to get Bourbon and Rye bottles. You can do a lottery, raffle or offer them to your most loyal customers but what you shouldn\u2019t do is jack up the price. I don\u2019t care that Old Rip van\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beer News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beer News","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/beer\/beer-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screen Shot 2014 12 15 at 12 52 13 PM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/beer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-15-at-12.52.13-PM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/beer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-15-at-12.52.13-PM.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adam-jackson.net\/beer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-15-at-12.52.13-PM.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1997,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2011\/03\/22\/please-stop-making-3d-phones\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":4},"title":"\u2605 &#8220;Please Stop Making 3D Phones&#8221;","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Gizmodo's Sam Biddle: Two things make 3D worth any semblance of a shit at all: size and content. A 3D phone is going to lack both of these things\u2014and with that subtracted, what's left? Pure, undiluted gimmick. We'll pass. Gizmodo's John Herrman back in January (re connected TVs): It's hard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Linked&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Linked","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/linked\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4803,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/07\/16\/photography-the-canon-5d-mark-iii-arrived\/","url_meta":{"origin":12198,"position":5},"title":"Photography: The Canon 5D Mark III Arrived","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"July 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As indicated in my last post,\u00a0I\u2019ve reached a new elevation in photography. Amid rumors of a Canon 5D Mark IV arrival next year, I still bit the bullet because at my level, this is a fantastic camera that will treat me well for many years. It\u2019s bigger and heavier than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Photography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Photography","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}