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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Welcome to my Christmas card!
Welcome to my Christmas card!
2021, the first year that we can actually say that hindsight is 2020 ;)
As I said last year as well, I truly think that this year most of us went through a lot of similar challenges, in addition to the normal rises and falls of all of our lives.
I am proud of every one of you. So many people that I know have been forced to - and chosen to - continue on, thrive, push back, move on, and learn. I have loved seeing you come to a hard point in the road and keep moving forwards.
As my grandpa has said many times: "When you come to a fork in the road and you are unsure which way to go, if you choose to go left, God will be with you, and if you choose to go right, God will be with you"
In the light, in the dark, to the left, and to the right, God is with you every step of the way.
I love every one of you!
Joseph
The beginning of this year started out with a few trips and a giant dump of snow.Â
My work moved locations down the street from a small shop and very small shared office, to a large shop and a very very large office. A lot of time was spent planning, scheduling, and building out the new space, all while being slammed with work. Thankfully the work came to a more reasonable pace later in the year.
I just passed 3 years of managing production at Construction Components.
An early in the year trip to Orcas island was much needed and the weather ended up being perfect for walking around outside and some hiking.
As usual, I love projects.
For the last 5-8 years I have cleaned up garbage that is dumped across the street from my parents house, the school is kind enough to accommodate and lets me throw all the trash in their dumpster! This year there was a particularly large amount of trash dumped.
I rebuilt my rear fence in my yard right when all the wood prices were peaked during the summer. I was resourceful and able to reuse a lot of wood to get it to stand and look good again.
I tried learning to make signs by routing and painting by hand, very time consuming, but I loved learning a new skill.
I am currently part way through installing ducting and a heat pump by myself in my house. Again, a huge learning curve and a ton of work, but I am getting closer to completing it and love learning anything new, and am a big fan of challenges that force me to process and think.
Camping, always.
For the Fourth of July my dad and I met our good friend James and his kids at the redwood forest and spent a long weekend camping and exploring. A trip to remember!
I got rid of my jeep after driving it too hard a couple of times, and realizing I need a lot more room if I want to bring Vinnie along (my 125 lb dog). I recently moved to an old 1 ton Ford Van (the green one in the pictures). I think it will be just right, a great project, and a whole ton of fun.
Some other trips below include Descend on Bend, camping in Eastern Washington, and many other non pictured trips
This year Gary and I went down for our yearly trip to visit David in Boise for his birthday. David is doing great and it is always such a blessing to spend time with him. I was able to visit David quite a few times this year, some intentionally, some unintentionally as you will read below.
A group of us were able to take a bike trip on a solid chunk of the Idaho BDR (Backcountry Discovery Route). We started in Nevada, at the bottom of Idaho with a goal of riding exclusively off road all the way to Canada. You may see a change of bikes in the pictures, that is because I had some technical difficulties and had to buy another bike a few days into the trip. It was a total blast and a lot of long days in hot sun, trying to dodge forest fires, getting lost, jumping in rivers, and beautiful sights. An amazing, encouraging, fun, and patient crew to go with.
Only two days into the trip my new-to-me bike had a critical failure due to a recall that was never fixed. I had it towed off the dirt road since there was miraculously a tow truck driving by, I then rented a uhaul and drove it to a bike shop in Boise (only a mile from Davids house) and had them look at it the next morning. The next morning they realized the part they needed was over a week away, so with a little encouragement from my dad I bought a bike that was on consignment there, packed up again, and surprisingly to everyone able to meet up with the crew again in under 24 hours from the breakdown. Later on I picked up the bike from Boise and had to swap the entire engine to get it to work again. More projects, I love them!
Early this year I had my cat Kiki stay with me as my parents were out of town, She was entirely inside and I realized quickly that an indoor cat in a small house makes my allergies go crazy. It was fun having a cat here for a bit.
Vinnie is still chillin' and as you can see below he gained a little puppy neighbor that he is always so excited to play with.
I spent thanksgiving this year in Dallas Texas at my parents house there, they are trying to be snowbirds, sometimes scheduling doesn't accommodate it, but they spend about half of the year down in Texas in the sun and the other half here in Washington.
Two of my great friends got married this year, Jacob Brisbane and Daniel Konzelman. Daniel and Erin are officially moved in next door to me in their house, it is a treat to have them as neighbors!
Friends and food are always around. New friends, old friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, random people you meet at a store, they all make me smile, and I cherish all of the moments I get to experience with each of them.
This summer my parents has a sheep that was injured and after a couple of months was not able to recover. The butcher was many months backlogged, so Darien and I butchered the sheep and processed the meat. I have never been hunting before so it was a another new experience for me.
I am glad you were able to catch up on my life!
Whether I see you every day, if I spent weeks with you, a weekend, an evening, we talked on the phone, texted, I saw you in passing, or even if we just like each other photos occasionally on social media, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my life. You are special, and special to me.
Don't be a stranger, I will see you in the same place next year! (or hopefully between now and then)
-Joseph
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