2024 Year in Review
A year of ups, downs, wins, and losses
What really matters? I asked myself that a bunch in 2024. I usually love January and went into the last one positive and energized and ready to shake off a really tough 2023. Instead, a job I thought was for sure I was going to get didn’t pan out and suddenly our finances got really tight. It would be another 4 months before I finally got that job, and the whole journey to get there was an experience in itself.
All of that disrupted my best laid plans but we adjusted and made it through somehow.
Un-Unemployed
The post in April that signified the end of my year-long journey to find a job was cathartic. It was also the last time I would write publicly in 2024 but you can forgive me for shifting my focus to my new job at Adobe. That story also resonated with a lot of folks and brought me a ton of great connections. It even sparked a speaking engagement at Rosenfield’s DesignOps Summit 2024. This was my first time speaking at a conference of any kind and was a really cool step in my career. Would I have preferred to speak about my trade instead of the struggle of being unemployed? Sure! But you gotta start somewhere.
The actual job I got was also a big step for my career, but in the year of ups and downs, I ended up switching to a different team in the last month. I was disappointed at the events that went down that led me to that decision but I’m also excited to start fresh with a new team in a role where I am confident I’ll be able to make an impact. So in a way I get another fresh start while staying at the same company right as the new year hits. I can’t really ask for anything more than that. Also, the people I work with are some of the best folks I’ve ever known so I feel really confident in the longevity of my career there.
K through Seven
In 2024, all of our kids officially became enrolled in the primary education system. Parker started Kindergarten which was a huge step for him and he has been doing really well - even when he has some difficult days. But for him to be diagnosed with Autism at age 3 and barely speak to talking as much as he does now and understanding so much and being able to go through a full day in a mainstream class is incredible.
Izzy started 3rd grade which feels crazy but also perfectly normal because she often is the most grounded and mature of our kids. She continued piano and played a recital (one of my favorite moments of the year). Izzy also started volleyball and really took to it and is going to play again in spring (I might coach, too!). Isabelle continues to do well in school as well and gets along with everyone. You will never meet a more creative and silly kid, she’s awesome.
Hudson is in 5th grade technically, his last year in his special education autism program he’s been in since we moved to Colorado. He’s communicating much more with his iPad talker and is as joyful and energetic as he’s always been. 2025 is going to be a big year for him as he will move to middle school and start a new program.
Dakota had a huge turnaround in 2024. After his big transition to identifying as a boy, he really settled in and has been killing it at school. His grades going into winter break were outstanding (all A’s and B’s) and he’s really focused on what he needs to do. He’s so young at heart and is so close with Hudson.
And finally, Zoe has been thriving as well. She’s struggled a bit in a school but has been improving lately. She’s been singing in choir, started cheer, and resumed her parkour classes. Zoe definitely is busy with a thriving social life. She remains a force to everyone she meets.
We still have our three dogs - Captain, Penny, and Nova - and our two cats Boone and Sawyer. They all continue to be the bestest boys and girls and live the life of luxurious food, treats, walks, and pets.
And Liz! I’m so damn proud of her. At the beginning of year she was going to start school and when I didn’t get that job she had to pull out. If you know her, she’s had this happen to her so many times that the guilt I felt over causing it again was a lot. She pivoted and got a job working with dogs to help us out and once I got a job and we got through summer, she took a big leap and enrolled in a Cosmetology program. This was big for her because this is something she’s always wanted to do and been blocked from completing.
Goodbyes
The best part of our year was when we visited my mother-and-father-in-law in California. The trip was planned last minute after Zoe and Dakota spent a few weeks with them but we are so glad we did. The week ended up being amazing. I don’t often feel relaxed when we take trips (for obvious reasons) and I felt so happy and relaxed the whole time we were there. Our kids played in the pool with their cousins, we rode ATVs, and enjoyed each other's company so so much.
I’m so grateful forever that we had that week, because a few weeks ago we lost my father-in-law, Peter. He had been dealing with ailments for years but he seemed indestructible to a degree. He made the decision to stop treatment after Thanksgiving, which was a decision we all respected but obviously struggled to accept. I’m grateful that I got to share my feelings and love for him by writing to him before he passed on. His death has not been easy for our family, he was the rare person that everyone loved and cherished. For me, he was a father figure in a way that no one else has been. I feel like in a different life he was my dad by blood, so losing him is akin to losing my father. We miss him dearly.
Disassociation & Self-Care
As far as the world outside of me and my family, I don’t really have much to offer that hasn’t been put out there by others. I’ve lost a ton of faith in our government to ever actually be for the people and I’m disillusioned by the state of capitalism, specifically in my own industry. The election was extremely disappointing and affirming of the disillusion I feel. While my values won’t change, I have adopted a more insular focus to myself and those around me. I will continue to fight the good fight when I can, but it’s hard to want to subject myself to the daily doomscrolling with any hope that this country is going to figure it out.
With all that said, my resolutions are aimed at bettering myself and those around me because that’s what I can control.
2024 Resolutions Review
Before I share my resolutions for 2025, I wanted to revisit 2024. I wrote down resolutions for myself for the first time in a while last year, so I thought it would be interesting to see how I fared. I’m going to give myself a “pass”, “fail”, or ‘in progress” for each of these.
Write more - In Progress
The goal: Songs, newsletters, case studies, whatever comes to me. I wrote so much about my career issues last year and would like to focus on the many other things I find interesting.
The result: I did not write nearly as much as I wanted to and I certainly did not write about non-career things. But, I wrote a post about my job search journey that turned into a lot more than I anticipated. I ended up making a lot of connections and even speaking at the DesignOps Summit which was an awesome experience. So I’m giving myself an “in progress” for this one.
Create more space for my brain to pursue things I love - Fail
The goal: With so much of my time wrapped up in job searching, I lost so much energy toward music and writing and other things I love to do. I want to get better at piano, guitar, and music production. I want to actually release music this year.
The result: I probably played music less this year than I did in 2023. I’m looking for a spark to reignite myself going forward, but there was a lot more burnout than I anticipated in 2024.
Get healthy - Pass
The goal: 2023 took a toll on my physical health by way of my mental health. I gained weight. I stopped exercising as much as I should. I ate poorly. I slept poorly. I did my best but I intend to be better this year. I walk the dogs daily but I need to do more in terms of exercise. I need to actively remind myself to eat and sleep better, or else all the bad habits will come back.
The result: I lost 25lbs, which has been awesome for my psyche, my health, and my energy. I’m not at my goal weight yet but I’m taking steps to be more healthy going forward. I stayed pretty consistent in walking the dogs but haven’t added much more to my routine. I hope to change that.
Get out - Pass
The goal: I want to travel and experience more things in 2024. I’ve mentioned traveling again, but I also want to attend more concerts, explore Colorado, go to more events with my family. I want to live a bit more out loud in 2024 after spending a year in what feels like hibernation.
The result: I traveled to California 3 times in 2024. Twice for work and once to spend a week with family. That trip ended up being the best memory of 2024 and allowed me and the family to see my father-in-law Peter, who passed away this month. I’m so grateful we all got that last time with him but I wish we had more. I also attended a Twenty One Pilots concert with Liz but missed out on some other shows I wanted to attend. 2024 was an improvement, but still not where I’d want to be with living a more exciting life.
Live and Love with Intention - In Progress
The goal: I spent so much of the last year trying to keep my head above water that I often felt disengaged from life around me. I’ve lost people close to me in the last few years and it didn’t feel good being so caught up in my own issues that I put aside relationships with family and friends. I want to be more present and engaged in the world around me.
The result: In retrospect, this resolution wasn’t very clear but the sentiment made sense. I did make more of an effort to connect with friends and family but not as much as I’d like. I also want to be more present with my kids and wife but I definitely felt like I improved this year.
So that’s 2024. I’m happy enough with how I fared but I certainly can do better. That leads me to 2025.
2025 Resolutions
So much was uncertain heading into 2024, I didn’t have a job yet (and I wouldn’t for another 5 months) and our family was in flux while we had no steady income. Now that more is settled, I feel like my resolutions can be clearer. I also wanted to simplify my resolutions in the spirit of this excellent piece by Liz Plank about doing less in 2025.
Optimize My Health
Last year the goal was to simply “get healthy” which I did to an extent. I lost weight and gave myself a better baseline for eating well and being active. In 2025, I want to take that to the next logical step and actually optimize my health and put myself in a place where I don’t just feel good, I feel great. This looks like actually working out, sleeping better, increasing my energy levels, and improving my health markers (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc).
Make Things
This is similar to the resolution I failed in 2024, but that failure makes me motivated to turn this trend around. I was stressed the first half of the year trying to find a job and then stressed the second half of the year onboarding to a new job and stabilizing our home life. I have a better jumping off point now. So much of being creative and making things is having the energy and motivation to do it. I know what I want to do - make music, write, even build legos! - but it starts with re-energizing myself and making room to do these things. That’s the goal.
Eliminate Debt & Save
This one is pretty cut and dry. After a year of financial struggle because of my unemployment, we have an opportunity to get ahead financially. The first step is to pay off as much debt as possible. We accumulated a lot of debt over the last year or two and my goal is to pay it off. The bonus goal here is to see if we can also get ahead and get some savings. We have a long term goal to buy a new home in 2027, so I’d love to make significant progress toward that.
Take Pictures
This one is also simple (notice a theme here?). In 2024, I lost my father-in-law and when I was going through my photos to post about him, I realized I had none with just me and him. I’ve long hated taking pictures of myself, even when it’s a selfie with others. But being faced with that harsh reality of so few memories of someone I loved and lost should be enough to snap me out of this. Also, my kids are growing up way too fast and I’m not capturing it enough. I’m never going to be the person who takes too many photos, so I can stand to be more mindful of this.
Have Experiences
For my final resolution, I want to continue to experience things. This goes hand-in-hand with downsizing and having fewer things. I’m generally a more minimal person but I want to be mindful about getting rid of things more than adding things. If I feel a void from fewer things, I can fill them with experiences. More date nights, more concerts, more travel - whatever it is. That is where the joy in life comes from. More of that please!
So that’s 2024. As for what matters? Well, I’d say that the people close to you and the things we make from love and passion are what matter. Hold onto that.