2019 was undoubtedly one of the most transformative years of my life. In 2018 I got engaged to the love of my life, I also transitioned to running my own business as a freelancer, as it turns out that year set me up for success in 2019.
Broad Summary
In Feb of 2019 I was lucky enough to marry my fiancé and then take a week of holidays in Mexico for our honeymoon. Then in April I was able to hire my friend from my days at BlackBerry to work with me on some projects (He became employee #2). In May I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of my new sister-in-law in California (Joshua Tree Park) which was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. In July I attended Laracon VII meeting up with friends from around the globe. In August my little sister got married. Prior to September my wife and I were looking at houses and bought one, we moved into it in September. In October I gave my first real professional talk (remotely). In November my grandparents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary! And then I attended another wedding this time in Costa Rica for my wife's best friend. All in, its been the most traveling I've ever done, and the most weddings I've ever been a part of.
Personally
It's been a year of radical change, between becoming a home owner and getting married. This past year has emphasized the value of family, and how important good friends are regardless of their location. I'm looking forward to starting a new fitness regimen in 2020 since 2019 left little time to focus on fitness. I read a few books, but didn't do any audiobooks in 2019. I'm hoping to add audiobooks back into my life. I certainly wrote quite a bit more than previous years, but I'd also like to make more creative time for myself in 2020.
Professionally
I was incredibly lucky to be able to hire a friend this past year albeit for a temporary time. My company lost money overall (it was a very busy year personally). I suffered from some burnout regarding open source contributions. I had large goals for 2019 in the sense of refactoring my CMS and Builder packages, only to come to the conclusion in December that it is time to archive those projects. I started Sumday so I can have a better tool for managing my freelance hours. I gained a couple more clients for Grafite and even started producing some fun videos. Though it may not have been a year of great success business wise, its been a stable year and I've continued learning.
Plans for 2020
Given the gravity of 2019's personal life changes my plans and hopes for 2020 are mostly focused around my profession, though there will be some attention given to my overall fitness this year. I'd like to take on a couple courses this year to learn some new technologies. I'm also going to be investing some time into Statamic since I think it would be a great solution for my company to offer to our clients. I'm going to release Sumday as a SaaS product and I'm hoping to write far more frequently this year. I'll also be looking for a couple new clients for Grafite while I continue delivering the best quality work I can. 2020 overall, is a year of focusing on the basics.