Baselining (2026)

Reviewing my previous year and performing a look-forward is a practice I’ve come to enjoy. Even if it comes a few months late (which for this year happened for good reason) it’s something that I spend quite a few thought-cycles on. I think about what I accomplished the previous year, if I met my own goals set from the year before, and I think about what it is in the coming year I’d like to focus on.

Truthfully when I looked back at last year’s entry, I hardly accomplished what I set out to do. When I reflect about a theme for what last year was about “Baselining” describes it perfectly.

Home Improvement Phase

In what will eventually become an ironic thought, I had a thankful approach that a job I was up for in Washington state fell through. Moving to Washington would have likely meant giving up my house, a yard, and a place for Piper (my dog) to play. This spurred a bit of a renaissance in trying to do things at my house to “make it nicer.” Especially being that it had been about ten years since I had moved in.

I spent a great effort repainting the outside of my house, by myself. Painting is not something I enjoy doing, however the results speak for themselves. There is no better way to improve the way something looks with the least amount of investment than to give it a fresh coat of paint.

I also did something I wish I had done sooner, got a patio cover built. I spent quite a bit of time researching types of grass, and working to revive the grass in my back yard. I even spent a bit of effort self-installing a reverse osmosis water filter.

By summer, I enjoyed sitting under the patio and watching Piper play in the yard.

Travel

In 2025 I didn’t quite get to take personal travel for recreation, but I did get to travel for work while also building in some time for exploring.

A few places I was able to visit was Boston, Tulsa and Dallas… Granted the last one isn’t that far from me.

In traveling, particularly for work, I’ve developed two rules of thumb that have served me pretty well.

• Book the earliest flight out possible, and the latest flight back. This maximizes the amount of time that can be spend exploring, trying new restaurants, or making time for an activity.
• Don’t try restaurants that you have at home. No chains, no well known eateries, eat somewhere you haven’t heard of.

In doing these I was able to make time to find cool spots for plane spotting in Boston, and even find the best pizza I’ve ever had in Tulsa (of all places.) The year before this rule helped me find an amazing hiking spot in Idaho and cool things to do in Spokane.

Quality Time With Piper

Dogs are our best friends, and I don’t want to not mention Piper when reflecting on my year before. So many great moments were with her, from the walks, dressing her up as a Pope for Halloween, and all of the quiet support. I had even purchased a book with activity ideas, which some worked better than others.

Professional Development

When considering all I listed as my goals from the year before, there was one I was able to meet. By the end of the year, I was promoted to an IT Support Engineer II at my job. To me this was such a great accomplishment, I remember my first day of work at this job being incredibly intimidated and having imposter syndrome rear its head constantly. I never could have imagined how much I would be able to learn and grow.

This leads into the look forward…

Part of the reason this entry is later than I would like is also part of the growth and professional development angle.

By the end of the year a unique opportunity arrived that would occur early 2026. The idea of having a role as a Network Support Engineer within a new organization and in a new city was too enticing to ignore. And so I actually write this from a restaurant called “Dough Zone” near downtown Seattle, where I’ve been living since mid-January.

This coming year, I really have just one goal, to make the most of the opportunity. I’m not sure how long this phase of my life will be where I’m able to work in an interesting role in a really interesting place. That means learning all I can, improving where I’m able, and exploring all the things there are to do in Seattle.