I’ve wanted to visit the renovated Portland Airport to see the hyped timber ceilings and modernized welcome point for both visitors and residents. Jenni and I picked up my parents, and we enjoyed the main concourse without the deadline of rushing to a terminal for a flight.
I got to spend my birthday eating delicious hot pot with my family, introducing my brother to Marvel United, and dug deep into childhood memories for my brother’s trivia challenge.
The year went by in a blink. I’m grateful for the photos and videos we captured to remember all that happens while we’re busy with life.
What Happened?
“What Happened?” Meme from Adam Bobrow.
Hawaii has been a vacation destination with the kids for many years. What a gift it was to share it with them—and to have their best friends with them too.
One of the kids’ favorite games, Stardew Valley, got an update that allowed 8 players to cooperate in one game. Jenni and I joined our kids’ existing farm since they are multimillionaires and toured each of their mansions.
However, when Jenni and I were caught snogging in the game, the kids decided that we needed to get married so that we could be an official in-game couple.
They orchestrated a waterfall location for the proposal, provided the wedding ring, got us a tuxedo and wedding dress, and upgraded my trailer home to a log cabin.
It was fun letting them take care of us while Jenni and I childishly flirted.
Marvel Snap surprisingly dominated my gaming attention this year. I started in January and I have played over 300 hours. It’s a casual, competitive card game that is easy to pick up and play, but it also has nuance and variety to reward a deeper investment. More than the game and its Marvel theme, I found lessons in its game design and how they can apply to my life.
I joined Vernier as their first webmaster. They had a website that was maintained by summer interns and it was time to dedicate a full-time resource to it.
In my two decades at Vernier, I’ve grown so much professionally and personally.
Jenni’s parents celebrate their 70th birthdays this year and the family met in the middle between their birthdays (February and December). Jenni’s brother Rex flew in from North Carolina and we gathered at a beach house for three days to enjoy the surf, fireworks, digging in the sand, sous-vide steaks, and desserts.