Reflecting on 2021
This was a huge year for me both professionally and personally, in fact I can’t believe how much has changed.
We sold our home and moved into an RV!
The year started with incredible joy as we were finally able to have a viable pregnancy after adopting several embryos. Unfortunately not long after we suffered the loss of that pregnancy. With the new-found perspective of that loss we decided to stop putting off our dreams and decided we would sell our home and go full-time on the road in a fifth wheel trailer.
Selling our home was easy in the hot housing market, but actually getting our trailer on the road would take some time as we faced delays in getting a trailer hitch for our 2021 Cedar Creek 377BH. Finally in July we hit the road for our maiden voyage to Indiana. I’ve posted several blog posts about our RV travels throughout the year if you’d like to read more about the experiences we had!
Crys’ Bout with Sciatica
One of the biggest hiccups in our travel plans for the year was the long episode of sciatica that Crys endured most of the last half of the year. When we hit the road in July Crys was already having some back/leg pain but we assumed it would pass over time. It didn’t. While we were in Wisconsin Crys woke up one morning and wasn’t able to move enough to get off the bed. We ended up calling an ambulance to take her to the emergency room where they were able to tell us that her leg problems were likely sciatica and her only real treatment was physical therapy or surgery and pain meds. She improved slowly but it became clear we were going to need to go back to Texas so she could get the help she needed.
Throughout the remainder of the year she had physical therapy and while she’s not back to normal her mobility is greatly improved! She’s doing so well that we went back on the road December 26th and I can already tell that she’s doing much better.
Lilabean
Liliana has really come into her personality. She regularly makes me laugh with her quick wit and sense of humor. She’s also been doing so well at making friends and approaching other kids without timidity. I love her, but of course that goes without saying 😉
Focusing on React
If you know me you know that I love my work. Most of the time if I’m choosing my projects wisely it doesn’t feel like work at all. This year I decided to focus on improving my React skills as much as possible and I’m very happy with how things have gone. I managed to learn NextJS as well and now I’m even more excited about the possibilities. I’ve done almost no Vue this year which is fine by me.
One of my goals for the year was to rebuild this site in React + Headless WordPress which I completed earlier this year and even managed to upgrade it to NextJS before the end of the year.
Goals for 2022
- One of my professional goals for 2022 is to learn and adopt TypeScript. I’ve been putting it off but now is the time.
- Continue to explore the country in our trailer and prioritize new and memorable experiences.
- Be the best husband and father I can be, be more present even when it’s difficult.
