2022 → 2023

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Happy New Year everyone!

I’ve never written one of these “end-of-the-year retrospective” posts, and I’ve not been much of a new year’s goals guy in the past (you can set goals any day, really). That said, I’ve seen a bunch of friends post retrospectives and goals for the year, so I wanted to join in and see what all the fun is about. Maybe I’ll keep myself accountable to some goals and have a bit of a payoff come this time next year.

Looking back on 2022

some people standing on a wooden overlook. They're looking out into a mountainous valley with a river cutting through the middle.

Looking back, this year has gone by so damn fast but it’s felt nice to go back and write up a list of the accomplishments and fun stuff that happened throughout the year:

  • My wife and I had our first Anniversary. 1 year of marriage and 5 years together have gone by so fast!
  • The family went on a few trips after being cooped up during the pandemic. We had a few notable camping trips, visited Vegas for the first time, and had a few weekend getaways as well.
  • Wrote 29 posts on my blog (where you’re probably reading this). I’d love to keep this pace up next year.
  • Read 8 books this year! I’ve kept track via Goodreads and you can check it out there.
  • Tinybox had its best year ever! I have a few stealth projects that I’ve had lots of fun working on this year and I’m hoping can publicize some of the work this year.
  • I got really into making coffee and have gone from knowing basically nothing to being a semi-proficient at-home coffee fiend.

I didn’t keep any goals for 2022 so this is mostly a highlights list. The year was not all great unfortunately but it doesn’t really feel emotionally productive to go over the lows here.

Moving forward into 2023

My wife and I posing with some goofy happy new years props. I'm wearing a black dress shirt, tie, and pants. My wife is wearing a black dress.

Here are a few (mostly) smart goals I have for the year. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep the progress private or share it publicly but I don’t see a problem with listing them out here:

  • Read 12 books or 1 book a month.
  • Open-source 1 functional and well-documented software project on GitHub.
  • Write 24 blog posts, or 2 blog posts a month.
  • Build moderate exercise (30-45 minutes, 3 times a week) and better eating into my life.
  • Get better at separating work time from relaxation/fun time (not sure how to measure that)
  • Go on more dates with my wife; find more casual ways to tell her I appreciate her.
  • Continue indieweb-ifying my presence on the internet.