A Look Back
January 08, 2006 at 12:01 AM
2005 was definitely a year to remember for me. There were so many great things happened this year that this post could end up being a bit longer than I had originally thought.
2005 started off with a new job for me. Making the switch from working freelance full time to working a 9 to 5 job was a huge change for me, especially considering the commuting time to get to and from the office changed from a walk to my home office (a couple of steps) to a daily bus ride (1.5 hours each way) with 3 transfers. Even so, with everything else that happened this year, it was probably a good thing that I was able to limit my working hours to Monday to Friday so I had time to fit everything else into my schedule.
The rest of the winter kept me very busy but were somewhat uneventful. The former design for this site was ripped on a couple of occasions. SXSW ‘05 came and went with tons of great information being posted to attendee’s blogs for the rest of us to read. Sadly, I wasn’t able to attend, and that trend seems like it will continue on again this year…
April was a very exciting month for us. Krista’s niece Casey was born on April 26th. Krista was lucky enough to be able to fly to Nova Scotia to be with her family for this very special time.
As May rolled around, this site took on a new look (the current design) for the CSS Reboot.
In June we travelled south to Calgary near the end of the month to attend my cousin’s wedding. A great time was had by everyone that attended and it was also great to do some catching up with some friends and family from PEI.
The remainder of the summer and into the fall I kept very busy with work (both the day job and a bit of freelance) and spending time with Krista and some of our friends.
Things really started to pick up for us in November. The month started off with Krista and I buying a new car, the first one we’ve had since we moved out here a year and a half ago. The new vehicle has been a joy and has made both our lives much, much easier, even though Krista hasn’t learned how to drive it just yet (it’s a manual). On the 10th, Krista and I took off for a much needed week of vacation. We flew into Halifax to attend her brother’s wedding and to visit with some friends we hadn’t seen in over a year. After 4 or 5 days in Halifax we moved on to PEI for a day or two to visit with my family before returning to Halifax to fly back to Edmonton. The trip was great and just what both of us needed, but like all vacations, it was just much too short. The rest of November and the first half of December were pretty much a blur between being very busy at work and preparing for the Christmas season.
The Event of the Year
The biggest news of the year came on Christmas day. On Christmas morning, I proposed to Krista. We haven’t set a date for the wedding yet, but it will probably be sometime in early 2007, and will be somewhere south of the equator. Both of our families were thrilled to hear the news and the congratulatory emails and cards have been flowing in since then.
To wrap up the year, on New Year’s Eve I launched a redesign for my portfolio website. This was one of the most successful designs I’ve launched in a long time. The site was featured on 3 or 4 design showcase sites, and my traffic has increased by more than ten times what it was before the relaunch. That’s all I’ll say on that for now as I plan to do a little more in depth post on the redesign on a later date.
Overall, this was a great year. Krista and I made lots of new friends here in St. Albert, and we’ve achieved all the goals we set for ourselves this year.
2006
2006 looks like it will be a great year as well. I’ve set a lot of lofty goals for myself this year, both professionally and personally. A few of these revolve around this site as well as my freelance work. So even though you’ve heard me say it before, I’m seriously planning to write more here this year. I’m also looking to pursue some new professional ventures to hopefully further my career and improve my knowledge and skills. Stay tuned. Comments: 4 (comments closed)
