2023 Retrospective

Another year has come and gone. I’m a year older and I suppose a little wiser, though the latter one is a little hard to judge. I had a good year and really can’t complain.

Looking Back at 2023

The biggest happening of 2023 was probably Lauren and I celebrating our 10 year anniversary. We ended up spending almost 2 weeks in Aruba and it was amazing. Hot, but amazing. Sometimes I find it hard to believe we’ve been married for 10 years. There are times where it doesn’t feel nearly that long, and there are other times where I can’t remember a time without her.

Some other things that happened:

• Won the I-League Championship: The team I play goalie for won the championship in the winter season. It’s just beer league hockey, but it was fun and memorable.
• Started Writing More: I started to write more at the end of September. I started writing a story and have been writing more blog posts.
• Worked on Side Projects: Over the course of the year I’ve worked on various side projects (never finishing any of course) using React, TypeScript, Blazor, Astro, and more.
• Went on Some Trips: Traveled to Hershey, PA, Cape May, NJ, New York City, Baltimore and more. Mostly just weekend or long weekend trips, but they were still fun.
• Rebuilt My Site: I rebuilt my site using Eleventy. Seeing the JS bundle size of Next.js going up, I decided to switch over to a different platform.

My 2023 Goals

1. Re-Learn Guitar

I wanted to teach myself 10 “modern” rock songs. Can’t say I even learned one. The only thing I can say is that I’ve been playing with my guitar most days of late and am starting to get the hang of switching chords again.

2. Read 30 Books

I’m on my 42nd book of the year now, so this was a resounding success. Most nights I’ve been spending a good 45 minutes to an hour reading before crawling into bed. Hockey nights especially since I’m generally too amped up to sleep anyway.

3. Write 12 Technical Posts

I can’t say I hit 12 technical posts, but I did hit 10. Better than last year, but I also have written more this year for my blog than any other so the failure is a little muted.

4. Hit the 1,000 lbs. Club

My goal this year was to hit 1,000 lbs. total across deadlift, squat, & bench press. I managed 400 lbs. on deadlifts, 365 lbs. on squats, and 240 lbs. on bench press for a grand total of 1,005 lbs. Mission accomplished. I immediately deloaded and have been slowly working my way back up focusing on reps as well as sheer weight.

5. Bike & Run 400 Miles Each

Yeah, this didn’t happen. I never really got into the groove much with running and hip/groin injuries didn’t help matters.

6. Take More Photos

Outside of taking photos for my sister-in-law’s wedding, I didn’t end up taking my camera out any.