Wow, what a year!
As I finish my thirtieth year, I look back and feel better about where I am than I ever have before. If I could sum up this year with a phrase, it would be travel and change... Between work, camping, hunting, visiting family and friends I have been on the road more than I ever have in my life. I probably spent more money than I ever had in any year previous. I have a fiance, a new boss, new skills and dreams and have visited new places. I learned a lot. I got better at keeping my word and serving others. It truly was a good year.
Here's the status of my U.S. Map:
- Red are states I have not yet visited
- Light green are states I have visited but not yet collected a soil sample
- Dark green are states I have visited and collected a soil sample
Firsts this year:
- Asked Katie to marry me!
- Started collecting a soil sample from every state I visit
- Visited the Redwood Forest on Easter Sunday
- Camped on a cliff above the ocean
- Drove through a tree
- Bought a second car
- poured a concrete driveway
- Visited two oceans and a great lake
- Saw a Bengal NFL game in Cincinnati, OH
- Saw the entire Hobbit trilogy at the movies (it took almost 10 hours)
New Places:
- San Diego Zoo
- Hollywood CA and the La Brea Tar Pits
- Portland, OR
- Mt. St, Helens, Washington
- Cincinnati, OH
- Pittsburgh, PA
- West Virginia
- Charlottesville, VA
- Walk on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean
- Walk on the beaches of Lake Erie
- Visited Dallas Texas and Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated
Great experiences
- Camping in the Uintas
- Visiting New Mexico
- Seeing the Toadies live in Park City
- Meeting with the missionaries and taking part in Katie's investigation of the Church
- Seeing my first Bengals game with Katie, Nick, Ashley and Gabe
- Taking Katie to the San Diego Zoo
- Eating some amazing southern fried food in Atlanta
- Date night at Flemming's Steak House with Katie
- Went on many walks an adventures with Katie, Doogan and Hazel
- Traveling to Texas for Thanksgiving to visit Katie's family
- Watching movies at home with my family and friends
- Playing Dota and Counter Strikeand listening to everybody yelling across the basement
- Having Friday morning breakfast with Katie, Gabe and Adrian
- Camping and hunting near Monticello, in the San Rafael Swell and the Uinta Mountains
- Walking barefoot on the beaches of California and Eerie, Pennsylvania
Not so great experiences
- Scraping my new car on a parking garage pillar
- Walking the Las Vegas strip
- getting chewed out by my boss
- falling off a ladder on a cabling job
- working some seriously long hours at customer sites
- spending some long hours fixing trucks and cars
- Having a miserable and expensive let down taking the Starline Tour in Hollywood
Great movies this year (saw a lot of movies this year)
- Captain America 2
- Interstellar
- Dracula - The Untold Story
- X-Men Days of Future Past
- Spiderman
- Big Hero 6
- The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies
- Meet the Mormons
- Hunger Games Catching Fire Part 1
- Unbroken
In the news and broad events this year:
- Roll-out of Obamacare
- September - Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson Missouri - rioting and looting
- Republicans gained control of congress
- Ice bucket challenges
- Ebola
- Missing Malaysian Flight 370
- Curved screen TVs and phones
- Bluetooth fitness wristbands
Also fun this year:
Mud bogging
Celestial burgers
Playing guitar
Shootin'
Christmas Devotional with the Elders
