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2019 - A Year in Review

It's time for my year-in-review post! This post sets the record for being the most delayed, ever. Usually, I'm able to get it published by the end of January. Oh well, I hope you enjoy it!

In 2019, I did my best to work hard, play often, and travel to interesting places. I took my Dad to Hawaii, drove through the worst blizzard of my life, traveled to India for the first time, did a UK + Ireland JUG Tour, and indulged in several fun vacations with my family.

We bought some additional rafts for whitewater, rafted in Montana and Colorado, and celebrated a family reunion in Cape Cod. Our classic VWs continued to perform well, and Hefe won his class once again at the 2019 VWs on the Green show. We did have to replace a clutch in Stout the Syncro, but I'm OK with that since he safely transported me through the most treacherous driving conditions of my life.

I'm going to look back on 2019 using the following categories.

• Professional
  • Speaking
  • Community
  • Projects
• Personal
  • Stout the Syncro and Hefe the Bus
• 2020

Happy Birthday, Abbie!

Abbie turns 17 today! It's hard to believe, but true. For those that've followed me since the early 2000s, you might remember I announced her birth on this very same blog. It's crazy to think that I started this blog just a few months before she was born. Enough about me, what about Abbie?

You could say she's all grown up. She has a part-time job at the Gap, gets excellent grades, and is thinking about college. She's done a couple of college tours in the SE region of the US, and we're touring Tulane when we visit New Orleans in January. She's had a steady boyfriend for a while now. He even joined us on our family vacation in Montana last summer.

Happy 17th Birthday, Abbie! You're awesome!! 🥰

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Wahoo! Jack turned 15 today and got his learner's permit for driving!! His first DMV experience was short and sweet, and the drive home was nerve-wracking (for both of us). He was terrified to be behind the while, during rush hour traffic, turning onto a three-lane road. I was determined to maintain tradition and have his first drive be down Parker Road to Dairy Queen. The good news is we made it, and I got to see a lot of emotions he's been suppressing in his teenage years. 😅

Jack is a freshman this year and he's adjusting to high school nicely. It helps that his sister is a junior and offers advice daily. You can tell they're pals in their first-day-of-school picture.

Jack is now taller than me by a couple of inches. I'm OK with that since he's been helping me record Denver meetups lately. I especially like the one he did of Venkat's talk on Kotlin for Java Programmers at Denver JUG earlier this month. He and Abbie also taught a Devoxx4Kids Denver workshop in July. What can I say ‐ I'm a proud dad!

Happy 15th Birthday, Jack! We had a ball celebrating with you tonight.

July 2019: Road Trips, Family, Van Life, Cape Code, KCDC, and NYC

This July was one for the books! I started traveling with JHipster Conf and kept traveling until That Conference in August. There was some vacation mixed in (Montana and Cape Cod), but I also worked out of my VW Van for a few days, spoke at KCDC, attended a family reunion, and did a NYC JUG Tour.

I flew home just in time for Devoxx4Kids Denver and Trish and my 6th anniversary. A dream came true for me when I watched Abbie and Jack teach the Devoxx4Kids workshop.

The beginning of August kept the travel rolling with a company shindig in Napa, a friend's wedding in Half Moon Bay, and a crazy flight schedule to THAT Conference and back.

Let's just say I'm glad to be home. 😊

You can find more pictures from my summer adventures on Flickr.

Farewell to the 2018-19 Ski Season

Holy cow! 2018-19 was one of the best ski seasons ever!!

It all started in December with some gorgeous powder days and only got better from there.

Trish and I took her birthday off (December 17) and enjoyed a beautiful day with no crowds.

2018 - A Year in Review

In 2018, I spoke at several fantastic meetups, traveled a bit overseas, and enjoyed some fun family vacations. We had the time of our lives driving Hefe in the Denver St. Paddy's Day Parade!

We traveled to Crete for JCrete and had a blast with the Java community. We journeyed to Ireland with my folks, and I thoroughly enjoyed a speaking tour of Ireland JUGs and the Dublin JHipster Meetup. Our classic VWs had a great year with only minor repairs needed.

I'm going to look back on 2018 using the following categories.

• Professional
  • Speaking
  • Community
  • Projects
• Personal
• 2019

Professional

For those stumbling upon this post with no context, I'm a veteran open source developer that works at Okta as a developer advocate.

This year I focused on blogging more than speaking. I still spoke a fair bit, but I tried to focus on meetups more than conferences. The DevEx Team at Okta released a slew of SDKs at the end of 2017, so I had plenty to write about. Over the year, I found more and more developers had heard of Okta during my talks. I even found users in most audiences! This was quite a change from 2017, so it seems my team's advocacy efforts might be working.

Life Update: Thanksgiving in Montana, RWX2018, Devoxx4Kids, DJUG, and Trish's Birthday

For the first time in many years, we flew to Montana for the holidays. We typically drive, and it takes around 14 hours. It was quite nice to take off and land in just a couple of hours.

Happy Birthday, Abbie!

OMG. My daughter, Abbie, turned 16 today! We celebrated all weekend with her grandparents in town and lots of smiles. Abbie hosted a birthday party at our house on Saturday night with a bunch of balloons, a campfire outside, and a plethora of friends around. On Sunday, we took my parents and both kids to the Broncos game, and tonight we celebrated again at Abbie and Jack's mom's house.

The highlight of the weekend was when Julie (her mom) and Dave (her step-dad) surprised her with her very own car. It was a complete surprise to her and very well executed by Julie and Dave. Let's just say it was an emotional event that won't soon be forgotten.

Abbie's favorite thing to do these days is to hang out with her friends. She's got a good group of girls and guys that she pals around with. When she's not giggling with them, she's horseback riding with Trish. Trish has had an incredible influence on her life, and I'm amazed at how good they are at riding. We have several walls in our house that are lined with ribbons from the two of them.

Abbie is a sophomore in high school this year, with excellent grades, and an eye on what's next after high school. It sure is fun watching her grow up and become an awesome woman.

Happy 16th Birthday, Abbie!

The 14-Day Sugar Detox

Several years ago, Trish and I did a 21-Day sugar detox. I was unenthusiastic at the time, but the results were fantastic. I lost weight, my blood pressure improved, and it inspired me to eat better ever since. I created 21-Points Health to track my health and became the cook in our household.

This summer, I journeyed to JCrete, and enjoyed a couple weeks of vacation afterward. While we had a fantastic time, I didn't eat well or exercise much. When I returned home, I was motivated to be healthier before our next big trip.

Two weeks ago, Trish and I decided to do a 14-day sugar detox. We ate mostly meats and vegetables with some fruit (green apples and greenish bananas OK), drank a lot of water (no booze is allowed), and did mostly home-cooking. To step things up a notch, I decided to double my daily exercise and see if I could lose some weight. I started commuting 30+ miles per day to Thrive Workplace. They have two locations in Denver, so I'd pick the closer one depending on the day.

Did it work? I lost a bunch of weight the first week but then plateaued this week. I enjoyed the commute and fresh air, but I was hoping to lose more weight. I think 21 days might be the trick. Then again, my blood pressure is pretty good, so maybe all is well.

After two weeks, I lost 10 pounds (4.5 kg); my blood pressure dropped from 154/92 to 131/80.

What's next? I think eating a low sugar diet, exercising more, and keeping it to 10 drinks a week is the healthiest lifestyle for me. Next week, I’ll be sipping on sweet Guinness in Ireland. I’ve heard it’s good for you. ;)

Below is a screenshot of this week in 21-Points Health.

If I get three points tomorrow, I'll get 21 points two weeks in a row!

Thanks to Runkeeper for tracking my miles traveled and calories burned.

Questions or comments about no sugar or long bike commutes are most welcome. :)

Update: I managed to score 21 points, two weeks in a row! 🎉

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack turned 14 today. Last weekend we celebrated with his friends at our local Topgolf. I'd never been before, so I was eager to go, and we all had a great time.

However, the real highlight happened when we were cruising home in our '66 VW Bus amongst a gaggle of Lamborghinis. We had all his friends in the bus when four Lambos and a Bently pulled up alongside us. We cruised with them for a couple miles, grinning from ear to ear.

Jack's favorite thing to do these days is to play video games with his buddies, specifically Fortnite (a.k.a. "fork knife"). He's got some basketball skills too but doesn't play on a team. He excels at skiing because we make him go all the time and he's only a centimeter or two shorter than me. He's sure to be taller than me soon!

Jack is in 8th grade this year. This was the first year he traveled across the pond to visit Europe. He's getting in some miles: Paris in June, Crete in July, and we're heading to Ireland next week.

Happy 14th Birthday, Jack!